Driven by “curiosity,” a U.S. Navy corpsman tried to entry President Biden’s medical data final yr following a bunch dialogue along with his colleagues about navy safety protocols for utilizing authorities computer systems, in keeping with the federal felony investigation obtained by CBS News.
In July, CBS News reported a junior U.S. Navy sailor tried to achieve access to Mr. Biden’s medical records however was unable to take action and was subsequently administratively reprimanded for the unauthorized question.
CBS News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the civilian regulation enforcement company answerable for felony investigations throughout the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. On Friday, NCIS launched its closed investigation to CBS News.
The investigation particulars how a low-ranking U.S. Navy corpsman tried to entry the president’s medical data and the penalty he acquired for doing so — a nonjudicial punishment for dereliction of obligation underneath the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the legal guidelines and laws governing the U.S. navy.
The corpsman, whose identify the Navy is not going to disclose, was demoted in rank to E-2 from E-3, given 20 days of additional obligation and solely acquired half pay for the following six months. Base pay for an E-2 with two to a few years of service is roughly $2,260 monthly.
On the afternoon of Feb. 22, in keeping with the NCIS paperwork, the Navy corpsman sat at his desk, surrounded by the regular hum of computer systems and the murmurs of his coworkers on the Naval Medical Readiness and Training Center at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. A civilian described as a licensed nurse and a U.S. Army soldier labored close by.
The scene was customary bureaucratic fare till a close-by colleague left her workstation, leaving her Common Access Card, or CAC, behind — which was nonetheless logged into her account. This small, unassuming piece of plastic, roughly the dimensions of a bank card, is described by the Defense Department as a “good” key, granting entry to every part from locked doorways to navy laptop networks.
The group of medical professionals struck up a dialog and began speaking in regards to the safety threat of leaving a CAC unattended in a pc.
One of the unnamed people identified the evident vulnerability: “Someone might maliciously use your CAC whenever you stroll away,” they stated, in keeping with the narrative of the group dialogue throughout the NCIS investigation.
Another voice within the group floated the concept somebody might use an unattended CAC account to listen in on the president’s medical data. The notion hung within the air. The Navy corpsman responded with obvious disbelief — might he truly pull up the medical data for the president of the United States? He determined to check it, in keeping with the NCIS investigation.
The Navy corpsman informed NCIS investigators he was pushed by curiosity, so he pulled up the affected person search database within the Genesis Medical Health System — the database for the navy medical system — and typed within the identify “Joseph Biden.”
Obtained by CBS News
A single report with the identify “Joseph Biden” appeared, with a birthdate connected. The NCIS investigation said that when the file popped up, the Navy corpsman and his coworkers had been “freaked out,” with one in every of his colleagues strolling away from the pc.
The Navy corpsman then turned to Google to lookup Mr. Biden’s birthdate, and noticed that it matched the birthdate on the medical file. He clicked into the report to see what data was inside.
The corpsman would later inform NCIS investigators that “there was not a whole lot of data within the report, besides two cases,” and “[he] didn’t bear in mind the specifics of the cases, however remembered a physician’s identify was listed.” The corpsman turned to Google once more and looked for the identify of Mr. Biden’s physician, which didn’t match the identify listed on the Genesis report, in keeping with the investigation.
The corpsman informed NCIS brokers that he realized at this level he ought to cease trying on the report and closed out the file. A forensic evaluation confirmed that the “Joseph Biden” file was accessed for about 20 seconds, between 1:22 p.m. and 1:23 p.m.
A feminine colleague, who was conscious the corpsman searched the system for the president, suggested him to report himself to his supervisor. The corpsman said he knew he was going to be reported for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the federal regulation designed to guard sufferers’ well being data.
He did not instantly report himself, however informed investigators he felt responsible so he reported himself the following morning. By then, nevertheless, one other colleague had already reported the violation up the chain of command. The corpsman waived his rights and confessed to accessing the report out of curiosity.
The corpsman stated he didn’t “print, save, e mail, obtain, {photograph}, or in any other case doc the report.” Another colleague informed investigators that they had by no means heard the corpsman categorical “something about his political views or background,” and that he was “nonchalant” till the file popped up, describing him as “freaked out.”
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched its investigation on Feb. 26. On Feb. 27, the deputy director of the White House medical unit — recognized as a U.S. Army officer within the NCIS report — informed investigators that the report accessed by the corpsman was not a legit digital well being report of the president.
The president was knowledgeable in regards to the sailor’s makes an attempt to entry his medical data inside hours of White House employees being notified in regards to the tried breach by the Defense Department, a White House official informed CBS News in July.
The president underwent his annual bodily at Walter Reed on Feb. 28, two days after the Navy’s felony investigation started. The president was deemed “fit for duty” by his physician after the bodily that lasted about two and a half hours.
NCIS brokers additionally regarded by means of the corpsman’s social media accounts. Agents discovered that his profile image on Instagram, when run although a reverse picture search, “revealed imagery probably related to the net ‘hactivist’ group Anonymous.” It’s not clear from the investigation if any precise hyperlink was confirmed by NCIS brokers between the corpsman and Anonymous.
The corpsman’s MSI laptop computer and Apple iPhone had been seized by NCIS investigators, with the corpsman cooperating totally. The laptop computer’s web browser historical past confirmed that the sailor carried out searches for “Biden, Doctor, Flights, Anonymous, President, POTUS.” A textual content message reveals the corpsman telling an unnamed individual that he “regarded up Joe Biden.” The laptop computer and telephone had been later returned.
None of the others current through the incident are reported to have been disciplined.
Read the NCIS investigative report right here:
