Month: July 2024

The U.S. Navy confirmed to CBS News that a junior Navy sailor attempted to access the restricted medical records of President Joe Biden from a military medical database three times in February, but was unable to do so.  The sailor, whose name the Navy will not disclose, was administratively disciplined after an investigation into the attempted breach ended in late April.

A U.S. official told ABC News that the incident took place on Feb. 23, and the unidentified sailor searched “Joseph Biden” three times. The sailor accessed the Genesis Medical Health System — the database for the military medical system, but “he did not pull up the right Joe Biden.” Navy Commander Tim Hawkins, said in a statement: “The MHS Genesis system is a secure health system and at no time was the President’s personal information compromised.”

The person responsible for the breach is a junior enlisted sailor serving in the Navy’s hospital corps and is based at Fort Belvoir, in Virginia, a major medical hub.  The U.S. Navy said in a statement: “On February 26, 2024, Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Fort Belvoir was notified of an unauthorized access to medical records by an active-duty service member. A Sailor assigned to NMRTC Fort Belvoir searched the name ‘Joseph Biden’ in MHS Genesis, the Military Health System’s electronic health record, out of curiosity. A co-worker reported the Sailor’s breach of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).”

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation Feb. 26; during the probe, the sailor admitted he looked up the president’s name “out of curiosity.” The investigation concluded on April 24, and according to the official, determined the sailor “never reached the president’s medical record” and could not have reached it by searching the Genesis system because the president’s medical record is restricted.

The president was informed about the sailor’s attempts to access his medical records within hours of White House staff being notified about the attempted breach by the Defense Department.   Biden underwent his physical on Feb. 28, two days after this investigation began. The White House official said the physical was “previously planned and was not impacted by this incident.” The White House released a summary of the physical several hours later, with the president deemed “fit for duty” by his doctor after the physical that lasted about two and a half hours. Kevin O’Connor, physician to the president, said in a memo released the day of the physical: “The president feels well and this year’s physical identified no new concerns. He continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.”

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Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the woman who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her involvement in the killing of her abusive mother Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard in 2015, announced on Tuesday that she is expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Ken Urker, 31. Blanchard was released from prison in December 2023 after serving eight years of her sentence, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the murder of her mother, who abused her for years via Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

The 32-year-old Blanchard shared the pregnancy news in a video titled “I’m Pregnant, My Journey So Far” posted on her YouTube channel on Tuesday, July 9:  “I know the rumors have been flying around for quite some time now, and I’m happy to announce that I am 11 weeks pregnant. Ken and I are expecting our very first child come January of 2025 … This was not planned at all, it was completely unexpected, but we’re both very excited to take on this new journey of parenthood.”  Blanchard added: “I know that there are going to be people who feel like I’m not ready to be a mother, and I don’t know if anyone’s really ready to be a mother. I don’t know anybody that said, ‘Okay, I’m ready, I’m doing this … All the things that I wanted in a mother, I want to give to this baby. I am a mother now, I am happy, and I just want to be a good mother for my child. I want to be everything my mother wasn’t.”

Blanchard and Urker first connected as pen pals while Blanchard was still in prison. Urker proposed in 2018, however their relationship at the time ended years prior to her 2023 prison release. Blanchard later married her ex-husband, Ryan Anderson, while still in prison.  However following her release from jail and subsequent split from Anderson in March, Blanchard and Urker reconnected. Blanchard told PEOPLE in May: “Ken and I reconnected as friends. It wasn’t like, jump out of a marriage and then let me meet up with you, and boom, we’re in a relationship. We had kept a friendship for the longest time. He was in a relationship. I was with Ryan, and so we were living different lives with respect to our partners, a ‘wish you the best’ type of thing.” After her marriage to Anderson fell apart, Blanchard said she reached out to Urker: “It wasn’t until I knew that my marriage was over that I was like, ‘I would like to see you and let’s hang out because we never got to hang out before when I was in prison’. I would say that Ken is my first love because that’s when I honestly felt like a mature love. It wasn’t based off of a fantasy. It was actually based on a connection that two people have for each other.”

Blanchard’s story was explored in the Lifetime docuseries The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, released in January.  She is currently appearing in  Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up, which airs Mondays at 9/8c on Lifetime.

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In a letter (seen in full here via The New York Times) to congressional Democrats on Monday, President Joe Biden reiterated that he is not stepping down as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 President Election. The president has faced calls to step aside following his weak performance in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump last month. The majority of primary voters cast ballots for Biden in the spring, who is expected to be officially nominated at the Democratic National Convention beginning on Aug. 19. One senior Democratic aide confirmed Monday that offices had received the letter, which comes as both chambers of Congress return from recess for the first time since the Biden-Trump debate in Atlanta on June 27.

Biden called for the Democratic Party to unite behind him as he campaigns for re-election, highlighting his performance in the nominating process. While saying he’s “not blind to” the concerns within his party about his re-election bid, some of which he allowed were in “good faith,” Biden wrote in the letter (obtained by news outlets and posted to Biden’s Instagram page): “I want you to know that despite all the speculation and press elsewhere I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race and to the end, and to beating Donald Trump .. We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively. The voters — and the voters alone — decide the nominee of the Democratic Party. How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party? I cannot do that. I will not do that .. I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”

Biden added: “The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task head only helps Trump and hurts us.”

Biden also phoned into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, and fairly stated that the voters have chosen him and dared his Democratic critics who want him out to challenge him at the party’s August convention. Said Biden: “I’m getting so frustrated by the elites in the party. … They know so much more. If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. Announce for president — challenge me at the convention!”

Biden is expected to call more lawmakers this week to reassure Democrats that their concerns are being heard by him, according to a campaign official.

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Columbia University said on Monday that it has removed three administrators from their positions and will keep them on leave indefinitely after finding text messages that were exchanged during a campus discussion about Jewish life “touched on ancient antisemitic tropes.” The administrators have been permanently removed from their positions at the university’s undergraduate Columbia College. The college’s dean, who previously apologized for his part in the text exchanges, will remain in that role.

University President Minouche Shafik wrote in a letter to the community that the messages “revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional, but also, disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes …Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community that is antithetical to our University’s values and the standards we must uphold in our community.”  Provost Angela Olinto wrote that the administrators’ conduct was “wrong and contrary to the mission and values of our institution. It revealed, at best, an ignorance of the history of antisemitism.”   Olinto also said that Josef Sorett, the dean of Columbia College, has taken full responsibility for his actions, wrote an apology to the community and will be working with the campus to rebuild trust.

The administrators were first put on leave last month after a conservative news outlet published images of what it said were text messages they exchanged while attending the May 31 panel discussion “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future,”and were first revealed by conservative outlet The Washington Free Beacon . The House Committee on Education and the Workforce also published some of the messages last week.

Four administrators engaged in the text messages, including Cristen Kromm, former dean of undergraduate student life; Matthew Patashnick, former associate dean for student and family support; and Susan Chang-Kim, former vice dean and chief administrative officer. Dean of Columbia College, Josef Sorett, participated in the group but was not removed from his position. Said Sorett: “While not intended as such, some of the text messages exchanged may call to mind antisemitic tropes. Any language that demeans members of our community, or divides us from one another, is simply unacceptable. I am deeply sorry that this happened in a community that I lead and, that I was part of any of the exchanges, and I pledge to spearhead the change we need to ensure this never happens again.”

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