Officials ‘Don’t Know’ If Spy Balloon Got Sensitive Information — Despite Claims It Didn’t
While Biden administration officials claim that the Chinese surveillance balloon that they allowed to fly across the United States did not obtain any sensitive information, the reality is that they don’t actually know if that is true, according to Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT).
During a Thursday appearance on “CNN Newsroom,” Stewart stated that we have no idea what information was obtained by the surveillance balloon, noting that officials have not given any follow-up to prove their claims that China didn’t get any information.
CNN co-host Bianna Golodryga asked the Republican congressman about his reaction to the claims from Biden administration officials and whether he thinks they will provide any more information.
“Officials also say that they’re confident that the balloon didn’t get any sensitive data on U.S. nuclear sites. But they also weren’t able to provide any specifics as to what information the balloon did glean. What do you make of that, and do you get a sense that you will get some of that information?” she asked.
Stewart responded by pointing out that China’s surveillance balloon had hovered over missile fields in Montana during its cross-country trip.
“I think we will get some,” he answered. “And so, there [are] actually two questions there, to the first one, they’re confident that they didn’t get sensitive information. We don’t know that at all. I mean, as you know, this thing hovered or loitered for quite a while over one of our missile fields and we just don’t know what information they gleaned or what information they were able to transmit. They’ve also said —”
Golodryga then interrupted, asking: “So, did they provide any follow-up as to that claim that there was no sensitive information that the balloon got?”
Stewart replied by noting that the Biden administration has not given the American people, or Congress, any proof for their claims — adding that there may never be an answer as to how much information China was able to obtain.
“No, not at all,” he responded. “And they just don’t know that yet…and we may never know what information they were able to glean from that.”
