Prosecutors: Undercover FBI video shows Hopkins doctor sharing private medical records to help Russia
BALTIMORE -- Video played for jurors shows Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist Anna Gabrielian inside a hotel room with her laptop open, accessing the confidential medical files of her patients for a foreign government, according to prosecutors.
Gabrielian shows the woman she believes is a Russian operative everything on the screen including names, medical conditions, phone numbers and addresses.
The Russian operative was really an undercover FBI agent recording the encounter with a hidden camera.
It was one of five meetings the physician had with the agent after contacting the Russian embassy months earlier using her work email account, asking how she could assist Russia in the war with Ukraine.
This is the text of that email, which was written in Russian: "My husband and I are both doctors. I am an anesthesiologist. He works in intensive care. We are ready to help if there is need for that. We are for life, and we do not want to cut off Russia from the international community."
Gabrielian's husband, also a physician, was inside that same hotel room.
Dr. Jamie Lee Henry, an Army Major who was nearing the end of his active-duty service, was trying to access the medical records of patients on his computer but was getting frustrated with technical difficulties. He then presented a notebook to the agent that contained medical information on patients, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. government alleges the couple was trying to show the Russians they were eager to help their cause. Meanwhile, the defendants allege the undercover agent entrapped them when they only wanted to offer humanitarian aid.
The videos shown to jurors at the federal trial lasted roughly five hours and are pivotal to the government's case.
In one meeting, Gabrielian told the FBI agent, "My loyalty is still with my country and that's a very deep loyalty I can't get rid of." The agent said she understood Gabrielian was referring to Russia. The doctor is a naturalized citizen who moved to Maryland with her parents when she was eight years old.
Her husband told the agent, "I've always loved Russia, but I'm not willing to lay down my life for any country, including the United States."
He said the U.S. is "too cowardly to declare war against Russia" and is "hiding behind Ukraine."
Henry ridiculed the Ukrainian president, calling him a "comedian" and questioned "why can't Europe stand up to the United States?"
Henry also discussed the United States military's vulnerabilities and asked the agent "Do you guys have people at Fort Detrick?" He was referring to the strategic Army installation in Frederick. "That would be the place to be regarding what capabilities the U.S. is concocting."
In another portion of the meeting caught on video, his wife noticed she was being recorded and expressed concern it was "a horrible set up" and told the undercover agent, "if we get jailed for being stupid, our children will suffer."
Gabrielian said on video she "did not want to be another Anna Chapman" the alleged Russian spy, exposed by the United States in 2010.
Lawyers for the doctors believe the government sting operation went too far, essentially entrapping the defendants. They claim their clients had no intention of harming national security and only provided medical records because they were fearful of the Russian government once they reached out to offer their assistance.
Johns Hopkins said in a previous statement, they were cooperating with the federal investigation.
The trial is expected to wrap up next week.
