'Havana Syndrome' whistleblower seeks congressional probe for alleged State Department retaliation

A "Havana Syndrome" victim and whistleblower has called for a congressional investigation into alleged retaliation against him by the State Department.

Senior Foreign Service officer Mark Lenzi, who was diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after being medically evacuated from China in 2018, provided Punchbowl News with documents that included a pre-drafted cable from last week requesting a “curtailment of tour of duty” for “personal reasons.”

Lenzi refused to send the cable and contacted both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's, D-N.H., office to investigate the Department of State for retaliation against him, the news outlet reported Wednesday.

A spokesperson for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the panel “takes whistleblower complaints very seriously and is currently looking into Mr. Lenzi’s case.”

Shaheen's spokesperson said the senator’s office has “been in touch with Mark to provide him with resources available to State employees to help navigate through this situation.”

Lenzi alleged the State Department is trying to silence him over an op-ed he wrote in September that was cleared with the department before publishing. And he says the department is trying to push him out of his position at the U.S. embassy in Helsinki.

The Office of Special Counsel’s Investigation and Prosecution Division has already opened an investigation, and Lenzi has received a total payout of more than $1 million from the federal government.

“My goal is to work with Congress on whistleblower retaliation legislation for the Department of State,” Lenzi told Punchbowl News. “Morale is extremely low at the State Department right now because of a lack of accountability.”