The Pentagon disclosed on Tuesday that a U.S. Navy sailor attempted to unlawfully access President Joe Biden’s health records three times in February. The sailor, whose identity has not been released, tried to retrieve Biden’s restricted medical information from an internal government database on February 23, days before Biden’s annual physical results were made public.
Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a Navy spokesman, stated that the sailor, stationed at the Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command in Fort Belvoir, Va., searched for Biden’s name in the Military Health System’s electronic health record system, MHS Genesis, driven by curiosity. The breach was reported by a co-worker, marking a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
“The record that the sailor inappropriately accessed was not the electronic health record of the president of the United States,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary. He also noted that the Secretary of Defense and the White House were informed promptly after the Navy became aware of the incident.
The Navy Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) investigated the breach, concluding their inquiry on April 24. This event occurs amid increasing questions about Biden’s health and mental fitness, particularly after his debated performance against Donald Trump on June 27.
