Motivated by “curiosity,” a U.S. Navy corpsman last year approached President Biden after a group discussion with his colleagues about military security protocols for using government computers, according to a federal criminal investigation obtained by CBS News. Tried to access medical records.
In July, CBS News reported that a junior US Navy sailor attempted to achieve Access to Mr. Biden's medical records But was unable to do so and was later administratively reprimanded for the unauthorized question.
CBS News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the civilian law enforcement agency responsible for criminal investigations within the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. On Friday, NCIS released its closed investigation to CBS News.
The investigation details how a low-ranking U.S. Navy corpsman attempted to access the president's medical records and the punishment he received for doing so – under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the laws governing the U.S. military and A non-judicial punishment for dereliction of duty under regulations. ,
The corpsman, whose name the Navy would not disclose, was demoted from E-3 to E-2 rank, given 20 days of additional duty and received only half pay for the next six months. Base pay for an E-2 with two to three years of service is approximately $2,260 per month.
According to NCIS documents, on the afternoon of Feb. 22, the Navy corpsman sat at his desk at the Naval Medical Readiness and Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, surrounded by the constant hum of computers and the murmurs of his coworkers. A civilian, described as a licensed nurse, and a US Army soldier worked nearby.
The scene was standard bureaucracy until a nearby colleague walked out of her workplace, leaving behind her Common Access Card, or CAC – which was still logged into her account. This small, simple piece of plastic, about the size of a credit card It has been told Touted by the Department of Defense as a “smart” key that provides access to everything from locked doors to military computer networks.
The group of medical professionals struck up a conversation and started talking about the security risk of leaving CAC unattended in computers.
According to the narrative of the group discussion within the NCIS investigation, one of the unidentified individuals pointed out the apparent vulnerability: “Someone could maliciously use your CAC while you're gone.”
Another voice in the group floated the idea that someone could use an inaccessible CAC account to spy on the president's medical records. This notion hung in the air. The Navy corpsman responded with obvious disbelief – could he really pull the medical records of the President of the United States? According to the NCIS investigation, they decided to test it.
The Navy corpsman told NCIS investigators he was motivated by curiosity, so he pulled up the patient search database at Genesis Medical Health System — the database for the military medical system — and typed in the name “Joseph Biden.”
Obtained by CBS News
A single record surfaced under the name “Joseph Biden”, with a date of birth attached. The NCIS investigation said that when the file was revealed, the Navy corpsman and his co-workers “panicked”, and one of his co-workers walked away from the computer.
The Navy corpsman then turned to Google to look up Mr. Biden's date of birth and saw that it matched the date on the medical file. He clicked on the record to see what information was inside.
The corpsman later told NCIS investigators that “except for two instances, there was not much information in the records,” and “[he] Couldn't recall specifics of the instances, but did recall that a doctor's name was listed.” The corpsman again turned to Google and searched for Mr. Biden's doctor's name, which did not match the name listed on the Genesis record. Investigation Investigation.
The corpsman told NCIS agents that he realized he should stop viewing the records at this point and close the file. A forensic analysis revealed that the “Joseph Biden” file was accessed for approximately 20 seconds between 1:22 pm and 1:23 pm.
A female co-worker, who knew that the corpsman had searched the system for the President, advised him to report her to her supervisor. The corpsman said he knew he would be reported for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the federal law designed to protect patients' health information.
He did not immediately report himself, but told investigators he felt guilty so he reported himself the next morning. However, by then, another colleague had already reported the violation to the chain of command. The corpsman waived his rights and confessed to accessing the records out of curiosity.
The corpsman said he “did not print, save, email, download, photograph, or otherwise document the records.” Another co-worker told investigators that he had never heard the corpsman express “anything about his political beliefs or background”, and that he was “unconcerned” until the file surfaced, in which he was Was described as “nervous”.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service began its investigation on 26 February. On February 27, the deputy director of the White House Medical Unit – identified in the NCIS report as a US Army officer – told investigators that the records accessed by the corpsman were not available. Valid electronic health record of the President.
A White House official told CBS News in July that White House staff informed the president about the efforts to access the sailor's medical records within hours of being informed about the attempted breach by the Defense Department Had gone.
On February 28, two days after the Navy's criminal investigation began, the President underwent his annual physical examination at Walter Reed. The President was “deemed”fit for duty“After a physical examination by his doctor which lasted for about two and a half hours.
NCIS agents also looked at the corpsman's social media accounts. Agents found that his profile picture on Instagram, when run through a reverse image search, “revealed imagery possibly associated with the online 'hacktivist' group Anonymous.” It is unclear from the investigation whether any actual connection between the Corpsman and Anonymous was confirmed by NCIS agents.
The corpsman's MSI laptop and Apple iPhone were seized by NCIS investigators, with the corpsman cooperating fully. The laptop's Internet browser history revealed that the navigator searched for “Biden, Doctor, Flights, Anonymous, President, POTUS.” A text message shows the corpsman telling an unidentified person that he “saw Joe Biden.” Later the laptop and phone were returned.
None of the other people present during the incident are reported to have been disciplined.
Read the NCIS investigative report here:
