Washington — In a significant development, a federal judge in Rhode Island has taken steps to potentially discipline Justice Department attorneys due to their conduct during an investigation into transgender youth care at a local hospital. This decision follows previous findings where the court was misled, and critical information was withheld by the department’s legal team.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy took action after nullifying an administrative subpoena aimed at Rhode Island Hospital. The Justice Department had sought extensive medical records for all minor transgender patients treated at the facility as part of a broader inquiry into gender-transition treatments.
McElroy, who assumed her role in 2019 courtesy of an appointment by President Trump, criticized the subpoena in a decision issued last month. She argued that the subpoena lacked legitimate congressional backing and was pursued “for an improper purpose in bad faith.” Her ruling strongly rebuked the Justice Department, highlighting the contrast between the expected “honorable conduct” of prosecutors and the questionable tactics employed in this case.
In her May 14 opinion, McElroy underscored the vast power and discretion held by the Justice Department. She emphasized the public’s expectation that this authority would be exercised with integrity when directed against states, corporations, or vulnerable children. However, she concluded that the Justice Department had failed to meet these expectations consistently throughout this case.
McElroy’s accusations extended to the misrepresentation of facts under oath and the withholding of essential information from both her court and a federal court in Texas. She alleged that these actions were part of a strategy to conceal investigative methods previously deemed unacceptable by other courts, favoring a forum perceived as more sympathetic to the department’s political leanings.
The judge specifically pointed to the Justice Department’s maneuver to obtain an order from a judge in Fort Worth, Texas, which would have forced Rhode Island Hospital to comply with the subpoena from the previous year.
In its effort to obtain the order from the Texas court, a Justice Department lawyer named Lisa Hsiao said in a declaration that Rhode Island Hospital failed to comply with the subpoena and stopped communicating with the department in February. But McElroy, the Rhode Island judge, said that claim was “clearly misleading, if not utterly false,” because representatives from Rhode Island Hospital had responded to an email from Justice Department lawyers about search terms for compliance with the subpoena.
“This reckless disregard for the duty of candor owed to a federal court is appalling,” McElroy wrote.
The judge also questioned the Justice Department’s decision to pursue enforcement of the subpoena in Texas, noting that Hsiao and other government lawyers who appear to be assigned to the investigation are based in Washington, D.C. Still, the Texas court went on to grant the Justice Department’s bid to enforce compliance with the subpoena and ordered Rhode Island Hospital in late April to turn over all records covered by the demand. The hospital has appealed the decision.
The Justice Department’s Civil Division denied McElroy’s claims about its lawyers in a statement earlier this week.
“Such accusations against Department attorneys are rare and serious. The Department treats them accordingly and is committed to taking all appropriate remedial action where warranted,” it said.
The Justice Department continued: “The Civil Division has thoroughly reviewed the District Court’s allegations and concluded that they are without merit. Our attorneys did not misrepresent facts, withhold relevant information, or otherwise mislead the Court.”
