DNI Gabbard Formally Retracts Two Intelligence Assessments on Anomalous Health Incidents

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard formally rescinded two Intelligence Community Assessments on Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI), commonly known as Havana Syndrome, in a two-page memo transmitted to congressional leaders on June 11. The two assessments, declassified versions of which were released in March 2023 and January 2025, had both concluded that a foreign adversary was "very unlikely" to be responsible for the health incidents reported by hundreds of U.S. intelligence and diplomatic personnel beginning in 2016. The retraction is among Gabbard's final official acts; she is departing her post next week to be with her husband, who is battling cancer.

The memo identifies specific analytic failures in both prior assessments. According to Gabbard's office, the retracted ICAs selectively excluded intelligence and evidence that did not support their conclusions and relied on an "ethically flawed medical study without noting methodological critiques." The assessments also mischaracterized sources "to suppress alternative analyses" and omitted key information related to source quality. These deficiencies constitute a departure from the Intelligence Community's own analytic standards, which require sourcing transparency, alternative hypothesis consideration, and methodological disclosure, obligations codified under Intelligence Community Directive 203 governing analytic standards. Prior assessments had instead attributed reported symptoms to pre-existing medical conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors.

The retraction follows sustained legislative pressure and a convergence of intelligence agency leadership positions. In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, Acting NSA Director Lt. Gen. William Hartman, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse all stated that the 2025 National Intelligence Council report should be retracted. CIA Director John Ratcliffe indicated he would defer to Gabbard's review and align with her conclusion. Ratcliffe had also stated at his Senate nomination hearing in January 2025 that he would aggressively review CIA analysis on AHIs to determine whether they were caused by enemy directed-energy weapons. In January 2026, the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee formally called on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to retract the Biden-era findings amid mounting evidence that a microwave weapon may be responsible.

The investigative record that informed that pressure is substantial. A joint investigation published in March 2024 by The Insider, CBS's 60 Minutes, and Der Spiegel concluded that AHI incidents "may have their origin in the use of directed energy weapons" wielded by Russia's foreign military intelligence agency, the GRU, and pinpointed GRU Unit 29155 as the responsible unit. The investigation uncovered documentary evidence that Unit 29155 had been experimenting with weaponized technology consistent with a plausible cause for the syndrome, and that senior unit members were praised and rewarded for efforts related to "non-lethal acoustic weapons." Separately, in 2024 the House Intelligence Committee concluded in a report that the 2023 ODNI assessment "lacked analytic integrity and was highly irregular in its formulation" and stated that it "appears increasingly likely that a foreign adversary is behind some cases." On the hardware side, in 2024, undercover American agents acquired a miniaturized microwave weapon from a Russian criminal network for approximately $15 million as part of a Pentagon-backed effort; the classified weapon was subsequently tested on animals at a U.S. military lab and produced neurological injuries similar to those documented in AHI patients, CBS News reported in March 2026.

The retraction fits a broader pattern of the current administration revisiting prior-administration ICAs on analytically contested topics. CIA Director Ratcliffe released a "lessons learned" review in July 2025 focused on the January 2017 ICA on alleged Russian election interference, sharply criticizing former CIA Director John Brennan over the inclusion of the Steele dossier. The AHI retraction is the second high-profile ICA rescission in less than a year, raising institutional questions about the durability of intelligence products across administrations and the adequacy of IC analytic standards review mechanisms.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., published the memo publicly upon receipt. Crawford welcomed the action, stating it was "huge news for the AHI victim community, analytic integrity, and for the American people," and charged that the assessments "caused significant harm to some of our nation's bravest." According to Politico, Crawford and Gabbard are also reported to be working jointly on a new AHI assessment, though it is unclear whether it will be released before Gabbard's departure on June 19. President Trump has named Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to serve as acting DNI and has nominated Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, for the position on a permanent basis. ODNI did not respond to requests for comment.