Outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked two U.S. intelligence reports on brain injuries suffered by U.S. diplomats and intelligence personnel called Havana Syndrome, an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Friday.
The two reports were described by the official as “Biden-era Intelligence Community Assessments” that were rescinded — government jargon for canceling or reversing the findings due to faulty tradecraft.
“This fulfills her promise to initiate a review of the assessments, make the findings public, and ensure the mistreatment and dismissal of those impacted by AHIs is never again tolerated,” the official said, using the acronym for anomalous health incidents, the official term for the syndrome.
Intelligence assessments of the syndrome dismissed suspicions that the brain injuries and other symptoms were caused by some type of directed energy weapon.
The assessments instead linked the causes to psychological problems or environmental factors, angering many of those affected.
Havana Syndrome was first reported by American diplomats in Cuba in 2016.
Since then, hundreds of diplomats, intelligence personnel, and law enforcement officers have reported being affected by AHIs.
Incidents have been reported domestically by one FBI agent and at overseas U.S. facilities in China, Austria, Colombia, Georgia, Germany, India, Poland, Russia and Vietnam.
Most victims reported hearing loud, unexplained sounds such as grating noises and feelings of ear pressure that lasted about 30 seconds. Afterward, those experiencing the sounds reported various medical conditions that included tinnitus, vertigo, head and ear pressure, nausea, and cognitive difficulties.
Ms. Gabbard stated in a memo to analysts that “a substantive recall of these ICAs” was needed and appropriated “due to concerns about analytic bias negatively impacting the objectivity and soundness of analytic judgments,” the official said.
Among the analytic lapses identified by the director were a failure to use all available sources of intelligence information and selectively excluding intelligence and evidence that did not support the analytic conclusions, the official said.
Analysts also mischaracterized the contents and sources of underlying information used to support analytic conclusions and to suppress alternative analyses.
The assessments also misrepresented and omitted information needed to understand the quality and reliability of intelligence sources used in making the reports.
Also faulted was the inclusion and reliance on “an ethically flawed medical study while omitting information critical of the study and its methodology,” the official said.
Corrupt analysts also limited operations and intelligence collection in a bid to maintain “an analytic line which relied on the absence of evidence,” the official said.
“DNI Gabbard directed the intelligence community to take further action in the coming months to review this topic, ensure analytic integrity, and bring the truth to the American people,” the official said.
The action by Ms. Gabbard follows strong criticism of intelligence studies on the malady by Rep. Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Mr. Crawford, Arkansas Republican, welcomed the intelligence correction.
“This is huge news for the AHI victim community, analytic integrity, and for the American people,” Mr. Crawford said in a statement.
“These flawed, fraudulent, and manufactured Intelligence Community Assessments (ICA) have caused significant harm to some of our nation’s bravest.”
Mr. Crawford said the 2023 assessment was “deliberately manufactured and used to discredit” some U.S. officials and limit their access to medical care.
“As was the case with other high-visibility intelligence assessments, it fell far short of analytic integrity standards,” Mr. Crawford said.
Mr. Crawford in December had urged the executive branch to review what he said is faulty intelligence analysis of AHIs.
The committee published a report in 2024 that said the intelligence community mishandled analyses of cases involving AHIs. The report concluded there is direct evidence that the 2023 Intelligence Community Assessment on the incidents was corrupted and produced using poor analytical standards and facts.
The 2023 assessment said the AHI incidents were “very unlikely” to be caused by foreign adversaries.
Then in January 2025, analysts at the National Intelligence Council, an analytic group within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, doubled down on the 2023 finding. An updated assessment stated that “most” agencies continue to conclude that foreign enemies are “very unlikely” to be the cause.
The January update, however, said two intelligence agencies that were not identified believe the chance that a foreign actor was causing the problems was “roughly even.”
The fiscal 2026 Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Trump in December required Ms. Gabbard and other intelligence leaders to produce standard guidelines for reporting AHIs.
Congressional investigators determined in 2024 in an interim report that it was increasingly likely a foreign adversary is behind some of the incidents.
Suspects include the intelligence services of Russia or China that may have conducted directed energy attacks against U.S. personnel.
“American intelligence professionals around the globe face constant targeting from adversaries,” Ms. Gabbard said in April. “Ensuring their health and safety is a top priority, and I am committed to investigating the threats they face, including potential causes of AHIs.”
Ms. Gabbard said the Biden Administration reports into the cause of AHIs was incomplete and in some cases contradictory.
“This is unacceptable, as is the mistreatment and dismissal of those who have been impacted by AHIs,” she said, noting a new investigation was launched in the spring.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said during his Senate nomination hearing in January 2025 that he would aggressively review CIA analysis on anomalous health incidents to determine whether they are caused by enemy-directed energy weapons.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.