A senior administration insider told AWN on Sunday that the transit of three suspected Chinese surveillance balloons over the continental US during the Trump administration was only detected after President Joe Biden entered office.
The official did not specify when or how those occurrences were found.
The intelligence community, according to the individual, is ready to brief key Trump administration officials on the Chinese monitoring operation, which the Biden administration believes has been deployed in countries across five continents over the previous several years.
Following the announcement last week by the Biden administration that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was floating above Montana, the Pentagon stated that similar balloon incidents had occurred during the Trump administration. Former Trump administration Defense Secretary Mark Esper told AWN on Friday that the announcement “surprised” him.
“I don’t recall anyone ever coming into my office or reading anything about the Chinese having a surveillance balloon above the US,” he added.
This week, former President Donald Trump remarked on Truth Social that claims of Chinese balloons passing the US during his presidency were “false disinformation.”
According to a Biden administration official, the instances were found after the Trump administration had already left. However, the official did not specify how or when those occurrences were found.
According to AWN, the Pentagon briefed Congress on earlier Chinese surveillance balloons that sailed near Texas and Florida during the Trump administration.
In a statement to AWN, Rep. Michael Waltz acknowledged that “currently, we understand there were incursions between Florida and Texas, but we don’t have clarification on what kind of devices were on these balloons or if these incursions occurred in territorial waters or overflew land.”
Another Chinese spy balloon briefly transited the continental US at the start of the Biden administration, according to a senior administration official. The balloon shot down by the US military on Saturday, however, was exceptional in both its trip down from Alaska and Canada into the US, as well as the length of time it loitered above critical missile facilities in Montana, officials said.
According to a senior government official, the investigation into the capabilities of the balloon fired down on Saturday is still ongoing. However, “closely studying the balloon in flight has allowed us to better comprehend this Chinese operation and further established its objective was surveillance,” the person added.
Republicans have chastised the Biden administration for failing to shoot down the balloon after it was discovered above Alaska on January 28. According to AWN, House Republicans are considering passing a resolution denouncing the Biden administration’s handling of the balloon this week.