The Trump administration has been accused by US diplomats and spies of refusing to properly investigate a mysterious illness that affected officials in China, Cuba, and Russia.
Some of the diplomats and spies have gone as far as to allege there has been a coverup.
The incidents in question in 2016 when both US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba reported hearing strange sounds and reported symptoms of headaches and nerve damage.
At the time doctors stated that the symptoms were caused by mild traumatic brain injuries.
In 2018, while in Guangzhou, China several US officials reported hearing mysterious sounds and suffered similar symptoms.
They were also diagnosed with mild brain injuries.
On Monday the New York Times reported that some senior CIA agents who visited foreign stations experienced similar or the same symptoms. The agency however does not believe an attack took place.
The Trump administration “took a softer approach with China,” The Times reported.
At first Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo stated the cases were “very similar and entirely consistent” with the Cuban cases. He went on to share that some employees were evacuated. Later the State Department described the health issues as “health incidents,” and at no time was an investigation opened.
The Times reported that six US officials stated that the department realized it could not take the same path with the Chinese cases as it did with the Cuban cases because it would cripple the US’s diplomatic and economic relationships with China.
The Times went on to cite interviews with more than 30 government officials as well as doctors and lawyers. According to the Times report the American personnel affected in China “have spent more than two years fighting to obtain the same benefits given to the victims in Cuba and others attacked by foreign powers.” Those personnel members said that their fight resulted in retaliation by the government that could permanently harm their careers.
State Department employee, Mark Lenzi was one of the officials that experienced symptoms like memory loss after visiting Guangzhou.
He spoke with the Times and shared that he had filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against the department.
“This is a deliberate, high-level cover-up,” Lenzi said. “They have hung us out to dry.”
You can hear Lenzi discuss the situation in the video below:
