EXCLUSIVE — The Department of War is planning to relocate internally and de-resource the cross-functional team responsible for successfully investigating so-called “Anomalous Health Incidents,” also known as “Havana Syndrome.”
Havana Syndrome rose to prominence in 2016, following reports of unexplained nervous system ailments suffered by U.S. diplomats and CIA officers at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Hundreds of subsequent incidents have been reported globally by American diplomats, intelligence officers, and military personnel. AHI symptoms include dizziness, auditory disruption, traumatic brain injury, and loss of gait. Some victims have suffered serious disabilities and premature death. There is even circumstantial evidence that former President George W. Bush may have been a victim.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, four current and former Department of War and other government officials have stated that the Pentagon is in the final stages of planning to relocate responsibility for the cross-functional team from Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby to Undersecretary for Research and Engineering Emil Michael. The plan has been orchestrated by Colby, Undersecretary for Intelligence and Security Bradley Hansell, and Ricky Buria, an aide to War Secretary Pete Hegseth. It would see the cross-functional team’s current staff reassigned or fired, and, via the team’s significant downsizing and Pentagon relocation, its bureaucratic power reduced.
There is concern by victims and on Capitol Hill that this plan is designed to suppress information and investigative efforts that risk politically toxic consequences for U.S.-Russia relations should they become public. The Washington Examiner understands that the cross-functional team is now confident as to how Havana Syndrome is caused. Two sources further suggested that Hansell has delivered inaccurate briefings on the team’s latest assessments and recently prevented the team from providing briefings requested by the congressional intelligence oversight committees.
In a statement, a Department of War official told the Washington Examiner that “We have nothing to announce regarding a reorganization of our AHI Cross-Functional Team and we will not address speculation about supposed concepts or plans.” The Department of War did not respond to a request for comment on questions related to Hansell, but instead requested more time to provide a response (a response will be added post-publication if it is offered in a reasonable time).
The cross-functional team is viewed positively by numerous Havana Syndrome victims and government officials. They believe that it has provided a far more effective investigation of this issue than efforts at other government agencies, especially the CIA. While the symptoms of many AHI reporting victims are believed to be the result of more easily explainable medical conditions, as the Washington Examiner has previously reported, there is considerable public and classified evidence to suggest that Russia is responsible for attacking a significant number of other Havana Syndrome victims.
This evidence suggests that compartmented units of the Russian intelligence services, likely at least previously supervised by former national security adviser Nikolai Patrushev, are using novel pulsed microwave weapons of different sizes and capacities to attack U.S. personnel. Russia has previously claimed possession of just such weapons, directed energy being an enduring priority focus for Russian military-intelligence research and development.
While a Sept. 2022 report by a panel of intelligence community experts identified microwave weapons as a plausible cause for the biological effects reported by victims, intelligence community analysts, at the CIA in particular, have long resisted evidence pointing to Russian culpability. Suggesting the CIA’s disinterest in following Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s effort to reassess Havana Syndrome analysis, the former CIA lead for investigating Havana Syndrome was promoted to his current role as head of the CIA’s directorate of analysis (the Washington Examiner is withholding that officer’s name at present).
The Washington Examiner sought comment on the cross-functional team’s impending disbandment from three Havana Syndrome victims who suffered traumatic brain injuries while serving in the line of duty. Two of the three have received continuing care at Walter Reed military hospital.
Former senior CIA operations officer Mark Polymeropoulos, afflicted while on an official visit to Moscow in 2017, said that “The AHI victims are getting very anxious, as this apparent dysfunction in [the Department of War], the lack of public statements from the congressional oversight committees, and the long rumored but still not released Director of National Intelligence report on [Havana Syndrome] all leads us to a growing suspicion that the Trump administration, despite their very promising statements early on in support of furthering the [Havana Syndrome] investigation, are going to betray the victims exactly like Biden’s intelligence community did.” Polymeropoulos added, “the Cross-Functional Team has been the single most effective, reliable and honest interlocutor for [Havana Syndrome victims. Their compassion and desire to uncover the truth has been a rarity in the government. The victims are deeply indebted to them and any efforts to dismantle this team would be a travesty.”
One former CIA operations officer ‘Adam’ who served in Havana, claimed that Colby was putting his political interests before military and government personnel. He added that the plan showed political officials were “continuing to put the swamp above the truth and national security.”
State Department diplomat Mark Lenzi observed that “Even the prospect of emasculating the Cross-Functional Team is having profound ramifications with the administration’s relations with GOP members of Congress who are among the team’s biggest proponents. This dysfunction is not only needless and frustrating but will only embolden the perpetrator of these attacks: Russia.” Lenzi emphasized that he is also a former New Hampshire Republican Party spokesman.
EUROPE ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT HAVE FREER SPEECH THAN THE US
Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) has scrutinized the intelligence community’s response to and investigations of Havana Syndrome as a priority. Speaking previously to the Washington Examiner, Crawford lamented obstruction from the intelligence community in relation to congressional oversight. Even as they criticize the Pentagon’s plan, numerous victims emphasize their special praise for Crawford and Gabbard’s work on this issue. A House Intelligence Committee spokesperson declined to comment except to state that “The Department of War has been a bulwark in keeping faith with the warfighter, intelligence officers, and diplomats affected, as well as in the investigation of [Havana Syndrome], and we trust that continues.”
It is unclear the degree to which Hegseth is aware of the plan to dismantle the current cross-functional team. Regardless, it risks appearing to break with the president’s pledge of transparent government, and Hegseth’s repeated promises that when it comes to military personnel, he will “have their back.”
