the Cuban government either did this or they know who did it, and they cannot say because whoever did it is either a third-party country that they cannot take on, or elements within their own regime that they do not want to reveal for…

The law says in the case of any serious injury related to a U.S. government mission abroad, the Secretary of State shall convene an accountability board.

The hotels where these attacks happened were owned by the Cuban government.

What I think is not in dispute is that there are 24 Americans who either work for the U.S. government or were there as a dependent of a U.S. government employee, who during their time in Havana have experienced symptoms that are consistent…

Which third country would want to disrupt the U.S. presence there, and the logical conclusion is Russia and Vladimir Putin.

the idea that somehow someone could conduct an attack so sophisticated that we do not even know what it is without the Cuban government at least knowing about it... is outside the realm of reasonable--it is ridiculous.

Is that your answer because it is--you do not want to discuss something that is not in the proper setting, or is that just your--you just have never heard it?

The bottom line is the State Department did not follow the law in setting one up within the 120-day period in my opinion.

I think that is the biggest takeaway from this hearing, other than I remain concerned about the State Department's unwillingness to stand up the ARB.

Does anyone disagree with the assessment that the City of Havana is the most monitored and surveilled city within the island of Cuba?

I think this is really important because this is an oversight committee, okay, and our job is to conduct oversight over the Department of State.

And so, what we know for a fact is that 24 Americans that were in Havana on--either related to or on government business for a significant period of time--for a period of time have come back with these symptoms.