Senators are ramping up their criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the United States following reports that Beijing was able to transmit information it collected in real time.
Sen. Steve Daines , who has been outspoken since the balloon was flying over Malmstrom Air Force Base, home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields, said the report proved the administration mishandled the incident.“The administration’s explanation that the balloon had ‘limited additive value’ is little comfort to Montanans and the American people and weak spin on an issue the administration mishandled from start to finish,” Daines said in a statement.
Despite the U.S. military’s efforts to move around potential targets and block the balloon’s ability to pick up electronic signals, NBC News found China controlled the balloon so it could make “multiple passes” over some sensitive military sites, “at times flying figure-eight formations,” while beaming “electronic signals,” including"communications from base personnel,” back to China.
When the news first came out about the balloon in early February, Tester was critical of the Biden administration, saying it needed to “justify” its handling of the incident. After a classified briefing on the topic on Capitol Hill, the vulnerable Montana Democrat said the U.S. military made the right decision at the time.
“These revelations clearly demonstrate that the administration made an unacceptable mistake,” Wicker said in a statement on Monday. “I will not abandon my oversight efforts to discover the full range of information related to this event, and I intend to hold this administration accountable.” On Monday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the “precautionary steps” taken to limit Chinese intelligence collection were largely successful but could not elaborate further on what kind of information may have been transmitted to China.
The surveillance balloon was shot down over the Atlantic after it flew over sensitive military sites in Montana and drifted eastward for days. In the immediate aftermath, some Democratic lawmakers tried to characterize the incident as a win for the U.S.
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