MIAMI — A House Republican chairman accused US intelligence agencies on Tuesday of “definitely” being implicated in a “cover up” concerning “Havana Syndrome,” the strange illness that has afflicted hundreds of US officials — both at home and abroad.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) told The Post that his inquiry into the Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) has also led him to conclude that “at least some of those attacks were perpetrated by a foreign entity.”
“I definitely think there’s been a cover up,” Crawford said during an interview at the House GOP’s annual retreat at the Trump National Doral resort in Florida when asked about the Intelligence Community’s handling of employees reporting Havana Syndrome.
Since 2023, the House intel panel has been probing complaints from federal employees hit with sudden symptoms of vertigo, migraines, hearing loss, blindness or other cognitive impairment — but Crawford’s interest in the health issues stretches back at least 10 years.
The name “Havana Syndrome” took hold after the incidents were first reported by American diplomats at the embassy in Cuba in 2016.
Crawford said that initially the House investigations had focused on why the diplomats and other federal employees weren’t being properly treated for their injuries — and having their concerns dismissed.
“Some people,” he noted, “viewed it as a career-killer.” Several were also “threatened to some degree” from disclosing symptoms, according to Crawford.
Those findings were previously noted in a December 2024 interim report from the Intelligence Committee that faulted intel agencies for having “tried to impede” lawmakers’ inquiries “at every turn” and producing a “misleading” assessment of the syndrome that was “developed in a manner inconsistent with analytic integrity and thoroughness.”
The interim report also stated that it was “increasingly likely a foreign adversary is responsible for some portion of reported AHIs.”
“We’re still aggressively investigating this,” Crawford added, saying the obfuscation by the Intelligence Community has created “recruiting and retention problems” for the workforce.
“The fact remains that the agencies have not been forthcoming with the nature of these attacks, their role in how they responded to individuals who had reported being attacked,” he said.
“And in the process of that investigation we actually did uncover some things that have caused us to now expand the scope of our investigation.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has also been pushing to make internal findings public about prior assessments stemming from the attacks in Cuba a decade ago to now, sources familiar with the matter have said.
In April 2025, Gabbard blamed the Biden administration’s intelligence leaders for having authored an “incomplete and in some cases contradictory” assessment on AHIs.
“American intelligence professionals around the globe face constant targeting from adversaries,” she added. “I am committed to initiating a new investigation into Anomalous Health Incidents and making the findings public.”
An ODNI spokesperson said Tuesday that the agency’s “review of this issue will be comprehensive and complete before it is released.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe has also supported the internal review and eventual publication of findings about the incidents.
“Director Ratcliffe supports DNI Gabbard’s efforts to review the AHI issue and looks forward to her report on this important matter,” a CIA spokesperson said. “The health and security of CIA personnel is of the utmost importance to the director.”
Former intelligence officials have indicated that Russia was responsible for those first incidents in Havana and at least one of Moscow’s devices has been recovered — a breakthrough finding that was first reported by CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
“We can’t necessarily attribute every single attack to a foreign actor or a foreign state, whether it’s a non-state actor or a state actor or a state-sponsored actor,” Crawford said, declining to confirm that Russia was behind the incidents.
“Yes, it happened, but we’re not ready to name names yet,” he also said. “We’re comfortable saying that at least some of those attacks were perpetrated by a foreign entity.”
Ratcliffe, Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and other agency heads are scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats on March 17, where they will likely face questions about Havana syndrome.
