The Pentagon may have “deliberately” hidden information from then-President Donald Trump about Chinese spy balloons roaming above the United States over fears Trump would act immediately and “aggressively” in response, according to Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a member of the House Armed Services Committee whose suggestion comes in the wake of his briefings with former officials.
Joining FOX Business host Stuart Varney on Monday, Waltz, who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, addressed reports that Chinese spy balloons previously flew over the U.S. during the Trump administration, calling it a “spin on the Biden White House’s part” in order “to say, ‘Well it happened back then, they didn’t shoot it down,’ and therefore to justify their dithering inaction here.”
Noting his office “has been briefed by the office of the Secretary of Defense of the current Pentagon” that past incidents of Chinese spy balloons traversing the country under the previous administration “happened before,” Waltz maintained that the matter leaves open “more detailed questions,” such as: “Did the Pentagon under the Trump administration brief the Trump White House and give them the option to take action or did they decide not to brief them for whatever reason?”
After briefing with Trump White House officials over the weekend, Waltz described “speculation” that the Pentagon “deliberately” did not inform then-President Trump over the matter because they feared his response “would be too provocative and too aggressive.”
“So that’s what we need to get to the bottom of,” he said.
Waltz, a colonel in the National Guard as well as a former White House and Pentagon policy adviser and the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress, also noted that he is still awaiting comments by Gen. James Mattis, who served as Secretary of Defense during that time period.
“What did he know and what did he decide to pass on and brief to the president?” the congressman asked.
On Sunday, former President Trump denied claims by the Department of Defense (DoD) of previous incursions of Chinese spy balloons during his term.
Many other former senior officials also denied the claims.
In this photo provided by Brian Branch, a large balloon drifts above the Kingstown, NC, area, with an airplane and its contrail seen below it. (Brian Branch via AP)
The matter follows the discovery of a rogue Chinese “surveillance” balloon — which Beijing confirmed originated in China but claimed had accidentally drifted far afield of its original course and into both Canada and America — flew for days across the western seaboard before confused onlookers in Montana began filming it in the skies, prompting the DoD to confirm the Chinese vessel had breached U.S. airspace.
Pentagon officials originally claimed they could not shoot down the balloon — which was flying at an estimated height of 60,000 feet, far above commercial aircraft — out of concerns that the resulting debris could injure people on the ground.
Public pressure mounted over the weekend, however, from both concerned citizens and members of Congress, that the balloon was equipped with advanced surveillance technology China could use to gather intelligence on sensitive American military sites.
After initially informing Americans that they should brace for the balloon to hover overhead for “a few days” on Friday, the Pentagon confirmed on Saturday that an American F-22 fighter aircraft had shot down the balloon over the waters off of South Carolina.
In response, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expressed outrage over the downing of the spy balloon, calling it an “obvious overreaction.”
On Wednesday, Waltz slammed President Biden’s “terrifying” assessment minimizing the threat of nuclear war, as communist China “triples the size of their nuclear arsenal and are developing hypersonic nuclear missile capabilities that we can’t defend against.”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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