Outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard rescinds ‘ethically flawed’ Biden-era Havana Syndrome findings

Outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard rescinded two controversial Biden-era assessments Thursday that concluded the condition known as Havana Syndrome was unlikely to be the result of foreign adversaries attacking US personnel.

The retracted Intelligence Community Assessments selectively excluded evidence and intelligence, mischaracterized sources “to suppress alternative analyses,” omitted key information related to source quality and relied on an “ethically flawed medical study,” Gabbard’s office said in a memo to congressional leaders.

The two assessments – declassified versions of which were released in March 2023 and January 2025 – both concluded that a foreign adversary was “very unlikely” to be responsible for the anomalous health incidents (AHI) reported by hundreds of US intelligence and diplomatic personnel beginning in 2016.

The assessments suggested pre-existing medical conditions, conventional illnesses and environmental factors could be to blame.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard (Aaron Lukas) Revokes Biden Era Assessments Created Inside Weaponized CIA Analyst System

June 12, 2026 | Sundance

It gets a little into the weeds; however, you might remember last year when DNI Tulsi Gabbard took the National Intelligence Council (NIC) out of the CIA and brought the analyst system under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

The NIC was where the sausage was made; where the assessments were constructed; where CIA Directors manipulated information through a very political system of control. The NIC is where people like Eric Ciaramella worked. This sub-silo was where intelligence was analyzed, informed, shaped, controlled and then presented for wider distribution.

The NIC was the weaponized information bureaucracy within the larger intelligence community. DNI Gabbard fired the heads of the NIC, took control and moved it out of the CIA where their analysis could no longer hide behind the black wall of the CIA. Gabbard put intelligence analysis back into a position where it could be scrutinized.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard then began scrutinizing prior NIC work product and having the non-political intelligence analysts look at the information. Yesterday she revoked the NICs Intelligence Community Assessment on Anomalous Health Incidents.

NEW YORK TIMES –

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, revoked two Biden-era intelligence assessments that cast doubt on the idea that the mysterious ailments known as Havana syndrome that American spies and diplomats had reported were caused by a foreign adversary, officials announced on Thursday.
In a memo, Ms. Gabbard said the earlier assessments had improperly excluded evidence, suppressed alternative analyses and relied on an ethically flawed medical study.
Ms. Gabbard’s actions were immediately hailed by former officials who have suffered from the ailments, but it is not clear whether the action will open up a new wide-ranging inquiry.
Representative Rick Crawford, the Arkansas Republican who leads the House Intelligence Committee, had long called on Ms. Gabbard to recall the earlier work
Havana syndrome, which the government called anomalous health incidents, is a diverse range of symptoms including headaches, dizziness and balance problems. Many patients said the symptoms began after they heard a strange sound and felt intense pressure in their heads.
Ms. Gabbard is expected to step down as the director of national intelligence at the end of next week, which means that the revocation of the assessments was probably one of her final acts but that she will not be in place to supervise further investigations of what may have caused the ailments. (more)

HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford:

“These flawed, fraudulent, and manufactured Intelligence Community Assessments (ICA) have caused significant harm to some of our nation’s bravest. ICAs carry a great deal of weight, particularly when declassified as part of a public messaging effort, as was done with the AHI ICA. The assessment was deliberately manufactured and used to discredit some of our nation’s bravest and impede their access to medical care. As was the case with other high-visibility intelligence assessments, it fell far short of analytic integrity standards. Today’s action by DNI Gabbard is a glimmer of hope for our nation’s intelligence officers, service members, and diplomats stationed around the world who have defended this country in austere locations and subsequently had the nation they served turn its back on them. Thank you to Director Gabbard for keeping her commitment to this Committee and me, and for her overall willingness to do the right thing. I am incredibly grateful.”

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