Ex-Trump Homeland Security Officials Report Experiencing Havana Syndrome Symptoms in D.C.
‘PARALYZING PANIC ATTACK’
A number of Trump-era Homeland Security officials in Washington, D.C., say they were stricken with mysterious, debilitating symptoms similar to those that have affected U.S. diplomats 0verseas without explanation since 2016. Known as Havana syndrome, symptoms can include brain injury, vertigo, confusion, and memory loss—but have never before been reported as occurring on U.S. soil. DHS counterterrorism adviser Olivia Troye told CBS’ 60 Minutes she experienced a “piercing feeling” on White House grounds multiple times in 2019 and 2020 that rendered her “nauseous” and disoriented. “It was like a paralyzing panic attack,” she explained. The former chief of staff of Homeland Security, Miles Taylor, said that more than once he’d felt sick the day after hearing a digital “chirping” sound outside his D.C. home. “That, to me, as a homeland security professional was a big blinking red light. I mean, to me, this said: ‘Five-alarm fire,’” Taylor said. Former national security adviser John Bolton corroborated the accounts of several more unnamed officials who spoke to the network. Though many of the reports of Havana syndrome in foreign countries have been linked by intelligence officials to environmental factors or outstanding medical issues, enough remain unresolved to cause concern.