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The Biden administration purchased a pulsed energy weapon suspected of being the type that may have caused “Havana Syndrome” which caused a series of mysterious ailments for U.S. diplomats and government workers in Cuba.
The weapon was bought at the end of the Biden Administration and has since been tested by the Pentagon, Fox News has learned. House Republicans are demanding answers amid reports of the purchase of the device.
In a letter to Homeland Security Kristi Noem, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is asking for information on the procurement process for the weapon, its costs and the findings associated with its year-long testing related to Havana Syndrome, officially known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI).
HAVANA SYNDROME ‘PATIENT ZERO’ REJECTS INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY FINDINGS THAT FOREIGN ADVERSARY ‘VERY UNLIKELY’
The U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba is seen on Jan. 4, 2023. An array of advanced tests found no brain injuries or degeneration among U.S. diplomats and other government employees who suffer mysterious health problems once dubbed “Havana syndrome,” researchers reported Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)
“The device in question is described as capable of producing pulsed radio waves and containing Russian components, though it is supposedly not entirely Russian in origin,” the letter states. “Following HSI’s successful acquisition of the device, it was reportedly transferred to DoW, which spent more than a year testing the device and its capabilities.”
Some U.S. intelligence agencies have said a foreign adversary could be behind the mysterious ailment.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Adam, a former government employee whose identity Fox News agreed to protect, is considered to be “Patient Zero.”
He was first attacked in December 2016 while living in Havana on assignment. During his time on the Caribbean island, Adam experienced multiple attacks and described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.
HAVANA SYNDROME: FOREIGN ADVERSARIES’ MICROWAVE WEAPONS CAPABILITIES EXPLAINED BY PHYSICIST
Workers at the U.S. Embassy in Havana leave the building on Sept. 29, 2017, after the State Department announced that it was withdrawing all but essential diplomats from the embassy. The Department of Homeland Security purchased a pulsed energy weapon suspected of being the type that may have caused “Havana Syndrome.” (Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“While assessments from the Intelligence Community (IC) do not conclusively identify the factors causing AHIs or any foreign actor responsible, an assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) presented a majority view concluding that it was ‘very unlikely’ that a foreign actor ‘used a novel weapon or prototype device to harm even a subset of the U.S. Government personnel,’ with five out of seven agencies agreeing with that assessment,” Garbarino wrote in his letter.
“However, two agencies dissented from the majority view and assessed that there was a chance that foreign actors may have developed some sort of ‘novel weapon or prototype device’ that could have harmed U.S. personnel,” he added.
However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the report and held a background call with reporters on Friday explaining that new reporting “led two components to shift their assessments about whether a foreign actor has a capability that could cause biological effects consistent with some of the symptoms reported as possible AHIs.”
New evidence suggests Russia behind Havana Syndrome attacks. (Getty Images)
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“This shift consequently led two IC components to subtly change their overall judgment about whether a foreign actor might have played a role in a small number of events,” the agency said.
Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.
