Sailor tried to access Biden medical records multiple times, Navy says
A junior Navy sailor unsuccessfully attempted to access President Biden’s medical records in February via a military medical database, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
CBS News first reported that the sailor, whose name has not been released, used the Genesis Medical Health System three times on Feb. 23 to search “Joseph Biden” but did not pull up the correct person.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was notified of the attempted breach in February, when the Navy became aware, and the White House was also notified through channels at the time, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder later told reporters.
“The bottom line is that they confirmed that at no time was the president's personal information compromised, and that the record that the sailor inappropriately accessed was not the electronic health record of the president of the United States,” Ryder said.
An investigation into the incident was launched by Navy Criminal Investigative Service on Feb. 26 after a co-worker of the sailor reported what had happened, Navy spokesperson Cmdr. Tim Hawkins told The Hill.
The junior enlisted sailor, who was serving in the Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command based at Fort Belvoir, Va., admitted he looked up the president's name “out of curiosity,” Hawkins said.
The investigation, which wrapped up April 24, concluded that the record the sailor accessed was not the electronic record of the president and the sailor could not have used the Genesis system to do so as Biden’s medical record is restricted.
“The MHS Genesis system is a secure health system and at no time was the President’s personal information compromised,” Hawkins said.
Biden underwent his annual physical Feb. 28 at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. At the time, the president was deemed “fit for duty,” according to a summary of the examination the White House later released.
That assessment has been called into question after Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, with some Democrats contending that he lacks the mental acuity to stand as commander-in-chief for another four years.
The White House on Monday also sparred with reporters over whether the administration has been honest about Biden’s health after reports indicated visitor logs showed a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease was at the White House eight times over an eight month period.