House Republicans are seeking answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about reports that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) purchased a device allegedly linked to Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI), commonly referred to as “Havana Syndrome,” during the Biden administration.
Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) of the House Committee on Homeland Security, along with several subcommittee chairmen, sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem requesting details about the procurement process for the device. The letter asks for information on how the device was acquired, its cost, the results of testing conducted over a year, and its intended operational or analytical use by DHS.
The letter notes differing views within the intelligence community regarding AHIs. "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. 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.”
The lawmakers also wrote: "According to recent reporting, at the end of the Biden Administration, HSI acquired a device in an undercover operation involving the expenditure of millions of dollars, some or all of which was allegedly sourced from funding provided by the Department of War (DoW). The exact amount of money expended to acquire the device, as well as the source and location from which HSI obtained the device, is unclear, but the total amount paid is alleged to be in the range of ‘eight figures’—which would indicate a price in excess of ten million dollars.”
This inquiry follows previous actions by Congress related to AHIs. In an earlier session, committee members requested information from White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan regarding how many AHI cases had occurred within U.S. borders and what measures were being taken in response.
In May 2024, Subcommittee Chairman August Pfluger led a hearing focused on “Havana Syndrome,” featuring testimony from Christo Grozev, lead investigative journalist at The Insider; Greg Edgreen, retired United States Army lieutenant colonel and founder of Advanced Echelon LLC; and Mark Zaid, founding partner at Mark S. Zaid PC.
