罗德岛州法官就司法部律师处理跨性别医疗调查事宜提请纪律处分

Rhode Island judge refers DOJ lawyers for possible discipline over handling of transgender care investigation

June 5, 2026 / 3:09 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal judge in Rhode Island referred Justice Department lawyers for possible discipline on Friday over their handling of an investigation into transgender youth care at a hospital in the state, after previously finding that the lawyers misled the court and withheld information.

The referral came after U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy quashed an administrative subpoena that the Justice Department issued to the hospital seeking years of sensitive medical information for every minor transgender patient who received medical care at Rhode Island Hospital, as part of a sprawling investigation into gender-transition treatments.

McElroy, who was appointed by President Trump in 2019, wrote in a decision last month that the subpoena lacked a congressionally authorized purpose and was issued “for an improper purpose in bad faith.” She also lambasted the Justice Department in her ruling, calling the difference between the “honorable conduct” expected of prosecutors and the department’s tactics in the case “unsettling.”

The Justice Department, she wrote in her May 14 opinion, “possesses immense prosecutorial authority and discretion. As citizens, we trust that federal prosecutors, when wielding this awesome power against a state, a company, or certainly against vulnerable children, will play fair and be honest with its counterparts and the judiciary. DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case. “

McElroy went on to accuse Justice Department lawyers of misrepresenting facts under oath and withholding information from her court and a federal court in the Northern District of Texas. She accused government lawyers of doing so “in an obvious effort to shield its recent investigative tactics — previously rejected by every other court to review them — from this Court’s review, in favor of a distant forum that DOJ deems friendly to its political positions.”

The judge was referring to the Justice Department’s decision to seek an order from a judge in Fort Worth, Texas, that would compel Rhode Island Hospital to turn over the documents sought by the administrative subpoena last 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.”