In his opening remarks at the Senate confirmation hearings for incoming DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, GOP Senator Rand Paul, Chairman of the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, laid out brilliantly, the case as to why the behemoth that is DHS, begs for some serious oversight.
Senator Paul characterized DHS as a very powerful agency that was created after the 9/11 attacks to secure the homeland, but has since veered from its intended course, and into attacks against Americans simply exercising their free speech rights.
#BREAKING: @SenRandPaul : "Think about it, an agency [DHS] commanding over $110 BILLION annually, CAN'T account for its own activities. This is not just bureaucratic incompetence, it's emblematic of a deeper issue. An agency unsure of its own boundaries and commitments."😳 pic.twitter.com/m9C4drVSwe
Sen Paul: “Think about it, an agency [DHS] commanding over $110 billion annually, can’t account for its own activities. This is not just bureaucratic incompetence, it’s emblematic of a deeper issue. An agency unsure of its own boundaries and commitments.”
He went on to add that DHS is increasingly focusing on people’s social media posts, and even placing people on terrorism watchlists based on such posts—a total travesty.
Sen Paul for 🏆: "Instead of focusing on critical threats like securing the southwest border, DHS has shifted its gaze INWARD, targeting LAW ABIDING Americans. DHS…has often used its vast powers to target Americans exercising their constitutional rights. It's become an agency…
Bottom line folks, the criticisms Senator Paul levels at DHS are well founded and longstanding. The only question now is whether he’ll follow through, and use his position as Senate Homeland Security Chair, to provide the much-needed oversight DHS cries for.
Sadly, if the past is anything to go by, Sen Paul’s oversight promises might devolve into his just using his lofty committee chair perch to score political points by digging into, idk, Hunter Biden files. Let’s hope that doesn’t end up being the case, but I’ll readily admit, I would not be surprised.
Bombshell testimony at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing (05/08/24) regarding Havana Syndrome, opened up new leads for investigators to follow up on. The unmistakable message from all the three witnesses however, all of whom have deep experience/ties to the U.S. intel community, was that U.S. intel agencies, and the CIA in particular, were not leveling with the American public as to the cause of these ailments. More importantly, that the continued coverup threatens our national security because it provides an incentive for Russia and our other adversaries to ramp up the attacks.
The expert witnesses at the 05/08/24 hearing were Retired Army Lt. Colonel Gregory Edgreen (led DIA’s probe into havana syndrome), leading National Security Attorney Mark Zaid and award-winning journalist currently working for The Insider, Christo Grozev
We are not going to focus here on the technical/scientific issues surrounding havana syndrome but rather, the bombshell coverup allegations made by all the three expert witnesses. Reasonable people will agree that this by itself–a national security compromising coverup–should be sufficient cause for President Biden to do some “housecleaning” at the top echelons of our intel agencies.
Lt. Col Edgreen began by putting out some important context, and that is, the U.S. government has a long history of slowly responding to emergent national security threats, adding that the lax havana syndrome response “is nothing new”.
Edgreen(10:16): “As a country, we have been here before. Most people think this all started in Havana in 2016, the wildly reported Havana Syndrome…but before Havana Syndrome, there was the Moscow Syndrome. Soviet intelligence bathed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow with microwave transmissions. The health effects were similar to what we see today. There are many examples of syndromes and ailments from Americans injured in the line of duty, that the government did not recognize for many years, which were eventually proven. Agent Orange used in Vietnam, the Gulf War Syndrome, Burn Pits during the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In all of these examples, America took too long to acknowledge these injuries, and our service members languished without care. Havana Syndrome is no different. The gaslighting of AHI survivors continues to this day, as history repeats itself.”
Regarding documented reports of CIA officers being harassed overseas. Lt. Col Edgreen said(13:26): “There were reports of CIA incidents which included harassment, room intrusions, houses being defiled, tossed, pets poisoned, assaults on our personnel, and diplomats being drugged, doxxing, families harassed and attacked via directed energy, a red line to many because of the debilitating nature of these weapons…” Notice that these are the exact same complaints raised by targeted individuals in the United States, only to be summarily dismissed by the mainstream media as some form of “mass paranoia”.
Regarding the coverup, Lt Col Edgreen said(15:50): “I think the bar for AHI attribution was set so high because we do not, as a country and a government, want to face some very hard truths: Can we secure America? Are these massive counterintelligence failures? Can we protect our people on American soil? Is this an act of war?” Edgreen added, “It’s time to take action. This is a nonpartisan issue which has spanned several administrations. Let’s start to get this right with executive and legislative action…most importantly, pressure the government to fight back.”
Award-winning Journalist Christo Grozev testified that he had initially relied on information from U.S. government officials in his Havana Syndrome reporting, but was approached by an intel official in Europe, and advised to seek independent sources–Exhibit A as to a coverup, and a sad state of affairs indeed.
Attorney Mark Zaid testified(27:00): “A recent investigation by 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel and The Insider identified potential credible links between AHIs and alleged Russian operatives for military unit 29155. This included activities within the United States. What was the government’s response? CIA doubled down that there’s nothing to see, and that it knew of, and had already ruled out the same evidence. That is blatant falsehood that has infuriated many serving members of the intelligence community because so much of the evidence, to the contrary, is available to them in reports, briefings and cable traffic. Of course, this evidence is classified.”
Zaid added that regular law enforcement officials should be allowed to pursue investigations into Havana Syndrome rather than maintaining the status quo, where the CIA hogs such probes.
During the question and answer session, Christo Grozev said(29:59): “One of the most disturbing denials that I’ve seen in some of the publications leading up to our findings being published, was an attempt to create the impression that no technology would allow this impact on the human brain. That is provably untrue…There is sufficient evidence that it’s possible.” Grozev added that a Russian intelligence official told him that the Russians were doing this because America has been doing it to their intel officials as far back as the 80s. So this idea that AHIs are some mysterious occurrences requiring “new research” is highly questionable.
The biggest bombshell during the question and answer session came from Attorney Mark Zaid, when he was asked whether he believed the government was blocking some information. Zaid responded(37:44): “Information is absolutely being blocked from one agency to the other, particularly at the CIA. I mean, that’s who we’re going to point to the most, of information that the CIA has, that its sister intelligence agencies it hasn’t been shared with, and I can identify a number of specific classified documents in a proper setting.”
Bottom line folks, there’s no way to sugar coat this. Three esteemed expert witnesses testified in Congress on 05/08/24 that our intel agencies, and the CIA in particular, are not only engaged in a coverup when it comes to Havana Syndrome, but that the coverup threatens our national security because it provides an incentive for further such attacks. Heads must roll!!
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