Marc E. Polymeropoulos

Marc E. Polymeropoulos is a former American intelligence officer who served 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations, retiring in June 2019 as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service. His final position was overseeing CIA clandestine operations in Europe and Eurasia.

Early life Polymeropoulos was born in Athens, Greece, to a Greek father and Jewish-American mother. He moved to the United States shortly after his birth.

Career Polymeropoulos served multiple overseas assignments as chief of station and deputy chief of station in Europe, Asia, and high-threat environments.

Polymeropoulos holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University.

Havana syndrome

In December 2017, while serving as deputy chief of CIA clandestine operations for Europe and Eurasia, he traveled to Moscow on official business.

He stated that the CIA's Office of Medical Services initially determined his symptoms were not consistent with those of diplomats affected in Havana. He retired from the CIA in 2019, citing his inability to work due to persistent headaches.

Polymeropoulos has been featured in major investigative reporting on Havana syndrome, including Julia Ioffe's 2020 GQ investigation "The Mystery of the Immaculate Concussion"

He has also briefed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on anomalous health incidents.

Post-CIA career After retiring, he authored Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA, published by HarperCollins in June 2021.

He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, specializing in hybrid warfare. The letter was signed by 51 former intelligence officials.

In April 2023, he testified before the House Judiciary Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in a transcribed interview. He stated that Morell told him that "someone from kind of the Biden world had asked for this".

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order revoking the security clearances of the letter's signatories.