Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is reportedly working to declassify additional intelligence related to the origins of COVID-19 and the mysterious health incidents known as Havana syndrome before she leaves the Trump Administration at the end of June.
According to an Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) official, Gabbard is racing against the clock to make more information public before her departure.
“DNI Gabbard is actively working to declassify information about the COVID-19 pandemic and Anomalous Health Incidents before June 30,” the official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The effort comes as questions have gone unanswered about both the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and the unexplained ailments that have affected American diplomats, intelligence officers and government personnel around the world.
Havana syndrome — officially referred to by the government as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) — first emerged in 2016 after U.S. personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, reported experiencing strange symptoms. Many described hearing an unusual noise or feeling intense pressure in their heads before suffering headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, vertigo, blurred vision and cognitive difficulties.
Despite years of investigation, intelligence agencies remain divided over the cause.
A declassified intelligence assessment released in January 2025 found that five agencies concluded it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible. However, one agency assessed that a foreign actor likely developed a novel weapon capable of causing some of the reported symptoms, while another agency concluded the odds were roughly even.
The COVID-19 origins debate remains equally contentious.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, intelligence agencies, scientists and policymakers have sparred over whether the virus emerged naturally or leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
The issue gained renewed attention in May when CIA whistleblower James Erdman III testified before the Senate that intelligence suggesting a laboratory accident may have been suppressed.
According to Erdman, thousands of pages of intelligence and investigative material were never publicly released despite growing congressional interest in the issue.
Congress unanimously passed legislation in 2023 requiring the declassification of intelligence related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese laboratory at the center of lab-leak theories. In response, then-Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines released a summary report, but critics argued it provided only a limited glimpse into the underlying intelligence.
Erdman told lawmakers that he personally reviewed substantial amounts of material that never became public.
He also alleged that Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases helped fund coronavirus-related research connected to the Wuhan lab, worked with intelligence officials and outside scientists to bolster the theory that the virus emerged naturally rather than through a laboratory accident.
Supporters of greater transparency argue that Americans deserve access to all available evidence related to both the pandemic and Havana syndrome, particularly after years of public debate and conflicting government assessments.
Gabbard has made intelligence transparency a central theme during her tenure, frequently criticizing what she describes as excessive secrecy and bureaucratic resistance to disclosure.
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