Navy sailor tried to access Biden's medical records multiple times

A junior Navy sailor attempted to access the medical records of President Biden from a military medical database three times in February but was unable to do so, the U.S. Navy confirms to CBS News.

The sailor, whose name the Navy will not disclose, was administratively disciplined after an investigation into the attempted breach ended in late April. 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, according to a U.S. official familiar with the situation.

The sailor accessed the Genesis Medical Health System — the database for the military medical system — three times on Feb. 23, but "he did not pull up the right Joe Biden," the U.S. official said. 

"The MHS Genesis system is a secure health system and at no time was the President's personal information compromised," Navy Commander Tim Hawkins, said in a statement to CBS News.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation Feb. 26, after a co-worker of the sailor reported what had happened, the U.S. official said. 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, a White House official told CBS News. This official would not say when the White House learned about the attempted breach. 

While the sailor was part of the Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command based at Fort Belvoir, the president's annual physicals and any emergency medical care is provided at the Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., just outside Washington. 

The president underwent his annual physical at Walter Reed on Feb. 28, two days after the Navy's criminal investigation began. 

But the White House official said the president's physical "was previously planned and was not impacted by this incident."

The president was deemed "fit for duty" by his doctor after the late February physical that lasted about two and a half hours. The White House released a summary of the physical several hours later, and it closely mirrored the assessment from 2023, with a new diagnosis for sleep apnea. 

"The president feels well and this year's physical identified no new concerns," Kevin O'Connor, physician to the president, said in a memo released the day of the physical. "He continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations."

The president's physical and the attempted breach came a few weeks after a report issued Feb. 5 by special counsel Robert Hur, who did not recommend criminal charges against the president for mishandling classified documents during the years after he served as vice president but described Mr. Biden as someone who during a trial "would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

That conclusion infuriated the president and ignited a fresh round of debate over whether the 81-year-old commander-in-chief is equipped to serve another four years in office. In early February, for example, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley revived her calls for Mr. Biden and her GOP rival, Donald Trump, to take mental competency tests amid concerns about their advanced age. 

It also revived questions by White House reporters over when the president might undergo his annual physical.

Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

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• Joe Biden

Ed O'Keefe

Ed O'Keefe is CBS News senior White House and political correspondent. He previously worked for The Washington Post covering presidential campaigns, Congress and federal agencies. His primary focus is on President Biden, Vice President Harris and political issues across the country.

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