Congress to Examine U.S. Spy Agencies’ Work on Havana Syndrome

The House Intelligence Committee is investigating how U.S. spy agencies examined cases of Havana syndrome, a potential challenge by Congress to their conclusions about the mysterious illnesses.

At the beginning of the Biden administration, intelligence agencies began a push to determine the causes of the anomalous health incidents, the government’s term for Havana syndrome. As a result of that work, intelligence agencies concluded that environmental causes, undiagnosed medical conditions or stress, rather than a sustained global campaign by a foreign power, had caused most of the ailments.

But the House investigation will look at the spy agencies’ analysis and the integrity of their work. The inquiry, depending on what it discovers and concludes, could reopen the debate over the causes of Havana syndrome, which quieted after the intelligence community said it was not the result of an adversarial country.

Havana syndrome is the name for a collection of debilitating symptoms — including migraines, vertigo and other ailments — first seen in diplomats and spies working at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba in 2016 and 2017. The symptoms often came after people felt pressure in their heads or heard strange sounds.

Eventually there were hundreds of reports of possible cases, creating a sense of crisis. But in recent years reports have diminished to a small number, officials said.

The House committee announced the investigation in a letter sent to Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, on Thursday. In the letter, Representative Rick Crawford, Republican of Arkansas, said the inquiry would examine “allegations of improper suppression” of information related to the incidents between intelligence agencies and between the