In the years leading up to his death Tuesday, former CIA Director James Woolsey suffered from the mysterious ailment known as Havana Syndrome, his wife revealed.
Woolsey, 84, who died of a stroke at his Washington, DC, home, led the spy agency for two years under former President Bill Clinton in the early 1990s – making him perhaps the highest-ranking government official to have been afflicted by the debilitating disorder.
“We have traveled the world trying to find a cure and a treatment, which sadly we never found,” the former CIA director’s wife, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey, told the Washington Post.
Sarnoff Woolsey claimed her husband’s health began to deteriorate as a direct result of Havana Syndrome, which produces symptoms that include ear pain, memory lapses, fatigue, migraines, dizziness, cognitive problems and hearing loss.
The ex-spy chief began experiencing the condition following a 2017 incident in Washington and one in Istanbul the following year, his wife said.
Over 1,500 cases of Havana Syndrome have been reported by American intelligence and diplomatic personnel in dozens of countries, including the US, since it first started popping up in Cuba in 2016.
In June, former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard rescinded two controversial Biden-era assessments that concluded Havana Syndrome – which the government refers to as anomalous health incidents (AHI) – was unlikely to be the result of foreign adversaries attacking US personnel.
The Republican-led House Intelligence Committee had called on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in January to retract the Biden-era findings amid mounting evidence that a microwave weapon may be responsible for the puzzling illness.
Multiple sources have previously told The Post that US intelligence agencies internally believe Russia may be behind the attacks.
In 2024, undercover American agents secretly purchased a miniaturized microwave weapon from a Russian criminal network for roughly $15 million as part of a Pentagon-backed effort aimed at determining the cause of Havana Syndrome, CBS News reported in March.
The classified weapon was tested on animals at a US military lab and produced neurological injuries similar to those seen in Havana Syndrome patients, the outlet reported.
The CIA did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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