A federal prosecutor pursuing the case against a Texas surgeon who exposed a children’s hospital for performing sex change procedures on minors has been practicing law with a suspended license, according to a Wednesday court filing.
Attorneys for Dr. Eithan Haim, who was indicted in June, informed the judge that U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari has been under an administrative suspension that made her ineligible to practice law since Sept. 1. The Texas Bar confirmed to the DCNF that Ansari was placed on an administrative suspension for failing to pay her membership fees, but that she was reinstated to active status Thursday after paying the outstanding dues and a late penalty.
“If a complaint was filed with the Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s office regarding this attorney, then the CDC may take into consideration that she [was] practicing while suspended,” Karen Rebernak, membership department director of the Texas Bar, said in a statement to the DCNF. “Ms. Ansari is likely eligible for a one-time expunction of the suspension (under Article III, Section 9, State Bar Rules), since it is the first suspension on her record, she reinstated[sic] within 90 days, and she has no grievances on her record.”
During the period her license was suspended, Ansari was still filing documents.
The Texas bar now shows that Ansari’s license is active.
The state bar’s public affairs director, Claire Reynolds, told the DCNF the Texas Bar cannot disclose disciplinary information “unless it results in a public sanction.”
BREAKING: Federal prosecutor Tina Ansari, who is trying to put whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim in prison, has been practicing law without a license. License was suspended on September 1. pic.twitter.com/JPEl26wDJo
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) September 19, 2024
The Department of Justice (DOJ) manual explains that an attorney with a bar lapse must be directed to “cease performing representational or counseling work for the United States, or rendering any legal advice to the United States, pending reinstatement to an active bar membership status.”
Haim provided documentation to journalist Christopher Rufo in 2023 showing the Texas Children’s Hospital was still performing pediatric sex change surgeries after it publicly claimed it had stopped. The DOJ indicted him on four felony counts for allegedly “obtaining protected individual health information for patients that were not under his care and without authorization.”
“I’m not going to be silenced, I’m not going to be intimidated,” Haim previously told the DCNF. “The most likely chance we have of winning, is to win this in court.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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