Contradicting what U.S. spy agencies have publicly said, senior National Security Council officials told a group of Havana Syndrome victims in a meeting at the White House that they have seen information that undercuts the intelligence community’s assessment that no foreign adversary was behind the incidents.
In a meeting in the Situation Room on Nov. 18, deputy assistant to the President and NSC Coordinator for Intelligence and Defense Policy Mahar Bitar and other NSC members told the group that some of the conclusions in the March 2023 intelligence assessment — in particular that there was no evidence that a foreign adversary had the ability or involvement — “were no longer valid,” two people present in the room told the Miami Herald.
“They said they believe us,” said one of the meeting participants, who asked to be identified only as Patient Zero because he was the first to report an incident in Havana in late 2016.
The participants who spoke to the Herald said they pressed the NSC officials during the meeting to make their views public.
“We look forward to the NSC publicly acknowledging it and greatly appreciate their courage to speak truth over politics and start to rebuild the shattered trust the American people and other agencies have in our institutions,” Patient Zero said.
Patient Zero said he believed the NSC likely saw the same information that prompted a House intelligence subcommittee overseeing the CIA to conclude in an interim report in December that “it appears increasingly likely…that a foreign adversary is behind some” of these incidents.
But on Friday, U.S. intelligence agencies are set to release an updated version of their assessment that still concludes no foreign adversary is behind the Havana Syndrome — with one caveat: one of the several intelligence agencies involved would dissent from the conclusions, sources said. The sources believe that organization is the National Security Agency.
Reached for comment, an NSC official said the intelligence assessment is one in “a range of different work and expertise that informs the policy steps that we have taken,” which also includes medical and scientific research.
The official cited an earlier intelligence community’s expert panel, which he said “has important recommendations for ongoing clinical work, but also ongoing research work to understand better the effects that different sorts of directed energy can have on the human body.”
That panel, convened by the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the agencies leading the investigation, concluded that energy weapons built with readily available technology were likely the culprit.
“We have approached this with humility,” the official said. “Just like with other health challenges that have affected government personnel, it can take years to get to the bottom of things.”
The group invited to the White House included six active and former intelligence officers who were injured in what the government has called “anomalous health incidents” that have happened in several countries around the world, including Cuba, Russia, and China. Some, like Patient Zero, had been medically retired because of the injuries suffered.
Victims have described experiencing pressure or hearing a noise coming from a particular direction, after which they developed symptoms like migraine, tinnitus, balance issues and cognitive problems associated with brain injuries.
The Herald sources said that NSC officials apologized at the White House meeting for the treatment the harmed officials received in their quest to obtain medical care and recognition within their agencies.
“We do not question the symptoms and the experiences of our colleagues, and we do believe that it’s important that there be ongoing investigation, ongoing medical work, ongoing research to better understand what has happened,” the NSC official told the Herald. The official said the Biden administration prioritized the investigation and ensuring victims get treatment and compensation.
Havana Syndrome victims have told the Herald the Biden White House has been supportive and involved in efforts to ensure agencies other than the CIA continue pursuing the investigation.
Early on in the investigation, American and Canadian spies first injured while stationed in Havana—and their injured spouses and children— were told their symptoms were caused by mass hysteria. Some victims were denied medical treatment and faced retaliation.
Publicly, the 2023 intelligence assessment blames the victims’ ailments on pre-existing conditions or environmental factors. But after Congress passed legislation, the CIA and other agencies have been paying compensation and providing medical care to those with illnesses that a doctor certifies has no known cause, undermining the intelligence agencies’ public stance.
An investigation by CBS’s 60 Minutes, the Insider and Der Spiegel uncovered new information linking a Russian military intelligence unit with some incidents. The former leading investigator into Havana Syndrome at the Pentagon told 60 Minutes he believed Russia was behind the attacks.
The House intelligence subcommittee report questioned how the 2023 assessment was written and accused the intelligence community of stonewalling the congressional investigation into how the spy agencies handled the issue.
In a press conference, subcommittee chairman Rick Crawford, whose office published the report, said he was not speculating. “This is me telling you we have collected evidence that I can confidently say we can attribute many of these… attacks to foreign adversaries,” he told reporters.
The CIA and the Office of the National Director of Intelligence rebuked the congressional report and told the Herald at the time that they left “no stone unturned” in the investigation.
But accusations of “a cover-up” by the intelligence agencies have been floating around, including in congressional hearings, and some of the victims hope the incoming administration continues looking for answers.
“We look forward to the incoming administration taking a fresh look at the issue and holding those that have betrayed the American people accountable,” Patient Zero said.
