As the Chinese spy balloon fiasco unfolded Republicans and Donald Trump leapt at the chance to attack President Joe Biden for appearing “weak” by not immediately shooting the thing down. (At the advice of military leaders, the balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina where there was minimal risk of civilian injury from the falling debris.) However, Biden’s right-wing critics soon had egg on their face as reports began to surface that multiple spy balloons were spotted over the country during Trump’s administration.
In Trump’s defense, he didn’t know about the intrusions. It’s believed that he was never informed by the Pentagon and that has now been confirmed by intelligence officials. Like the spy balloon shot down by Biden, these also traveled near military bases.
The suspected balloons detected during the Trump era were smaller and flew at a much lower altitude and for a much shorter duration than the one downed on Feb. 4. They were detected over Navy sites in Coronado, Calif., Norfolk, Va., and Guam, the officials said, adding that unlike the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast, these unidentified aerial objects didn’t travel across the country.
The data on these prior suspected balloons was collected at the time from a variety of Defense Department sources, including intelligence assets. Agencies often share that type of information, but they aren’t required to do so, particularly when dealing with a highly specialized issue such as unidentified aerial phenomena, the officials said.
According to The Wall Street Journal, several Trump administration officials were briefed this week about the balloons after claiming they never heard of the events and publicly claimed the Chinese spy balloon shot down by Biden was “unprecedented.” Obviously, that was not the case, and the Biden administration is reportedly making efforts to brief even more officials who worked for Trump. Just a friendly little meeting to politely ask, “You were saying?”
(Via The Wall Street Journal)