A report linking the mysterious “Havana Syndrome” illness to microwave weapons originating in Russia led U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to say she will continue pressing the defense and intelligence communities to declassify new research on the topic.
The condition emerged a decade ago after U.S. and Canadian officials overseas reported a loud sound accompanied by cognitive issues, loss of balance and dizziness. Hundreds have qualified for treatment for the condition, but it is not recognized by the medical community. Intelligence agencies deem it “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary is behind it.
A Sunday report from CBS News’ “60 Minutes” called those findings into question, saying the U.S. obtained a portable microwave weapon from a Russian criminal network that has produced a similar condition that has damaged the brains of sheep and rats in laboratory tests. It cited descriptions of security camera footage showing attacks on Americans abroad.
Former President Joe Biden signed a Collins-led 2021 law that directed the State Department, the CIA and other agencies to make payments to overseas personnel who suffer brain injuries while on their federal assignments or in connection with war or other parts of their service.
In a statement, the Maine Republican said she will “continue to direct efforts to move with speed” to declassify information around the emerging research into the condition.
Earlier this year, Collins and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, wrote to President Donald Trump’s Defense Department to urge them against a plan to reduce resources for the Pentagon team in charge of researching the condition.
The federal government’s handling of the issue has been criticized across the Biden and Trump administrations, with officials who say they have been sickened telling “60 Minutes” that they feel the serious implications of foreign adversary using a weapon against U.S. personnel have led the government to short-shrift the response.
“We remain committed to delivering the truth that the American people deserve,” the office of Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s national intelligence director, told the show in a statement.