Top U.S. Intelligence Official Seeks to Declassify COVID-19 and Havana Syndrome Records Ahead of June Exit

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is moving to declassify intelligence related to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and a cluster of medical incidents known as Havana syndrome before she leaves the Biden administration at the end of the month, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. An official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said Gabbard is working against a June 30 deadline to make the material public.

“DNI Gabbard is actively working to declassify information about the COVID-19 pandemic and Anomalous Health Incidents before June 30,” an ODNI official told the DCNF. The official did not provide additional details about the scope of documents targeted for release or how much material could be declassified under the accelerated timeline.

Anomalous health incidents (AHIs), commonly referred to as Havana syndrome, first drew attention in 2016 when a CIA officer stationed in Havana, Cuba, reported a cluster of symptoms. U.S. diplomats, intelligence personnel and other officials serving overseas have since described experiences including loud noises and sensations of pressure in the head and ears, followed by severe headaches, cognitive difficulties often described as brain fog, blurred vision, tinnitus and vertigo. The phenomenon has spurred years of investigation within the intelligence community and the federal government.

A declassified January 2025 intelligence community report showed divergent assessments across agencies about the incidents’ origins. According to that summary, five agencies assessed it was “very unlikely” the incidents were caused by a foreign adversary. One agency judged it “likely” that a foreign actor developed a novel weapon that could account for some symptoms, while another agency assessed roughly a 50-50 likelihood. Those varying judgments underscore continuing uncertainty within the U.S. government about the source and mechanism of the illnesses.

The origins of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have likewise remained a subject of intense public and congressional interest since the pandemic began in 2020. In 2023, Congress passed a law requiring the declassification of intelligence related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the high-security laboratory that has been central to debate over whether the virus emerged from a laboratory incident or natural zoonotic spillover. Then-Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines published a brief summary report in response to that requirement, but some current and former intelligence officials and whistleblowers say that summary did not capture the full scope of relevant material.

CIA whistleblower James Erdman III testified to the Senate in May that individuals within the intelligence community suppressed evidence pointing to a lab accident in Wuhan, China. Erdman told senators he had reviewed thousands of pages of material that he said were not released in the Haines summary. He also alleged that Anthony Fauci, whose institute at the National Institutes of Health directed research funding that went to the Wuhan lab for coronavirus engineering studies, had a role in steering attention toward scientists who supported the natural-origin theory. Those allegations have not been independently verified by the ODNI or other agencies in the public record provided to date.

If Gabbard follows through with wide-ranging declassification before her departure, the release of previously withheld documents could add new information to debates over both Havana syndrome and the origins of COVID-19. The timing — tied to her planned exit from office at the end of June — could also influence congressional oversight, media scrutiny and ongoing scientific and policy discussions. ODNI officials have not specified which documents they plan to declassify or how quickly the material would be released to the public once a decision is finalized.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reported these developments based on its conversations with an ODNI official and public testimony and records. Officials at other intelligence agencies and at the Department of Health and Human Services did not provide immediate comment to the DCNF for this report. As the June 30 deadline approaches, lawmakers, investigators and public-health experts will be watching closely for any disclosures that might change understanding of two of the most controversial intelligence and public-health issues of the past decade.