The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul (R-Tx.), went rogue Tuesday and issued a statement claiming that the recent drones sighted around the U.S. are from China - as the government maintains that everything is normal.
Breaking with the Biden administration's assessment that the drones are harmless, McCaul said their behavior suggests they are here to spy on the U.S.
“We need to identify who is behind these drones,” he said. “My judgment based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China.”
The reports of drones started in New Jersey and started spreading along the East Coast, leading to public concern and speculation about the drones' origin and purpose. The Biden administration has attributed the drone sightings to a combination of benign causes, including hobbyist drones and commercial aircraft, but skepticism abounds.
McCaul said the Biden administration "can't explain" why drones are being sighted near military installations. At least one air base, in Ohio, shut down last weekend because of drone sightings.
“We want answers but the response I’m getting is ‘We don’t know whose drones these are,'” McCaul told reporters Tuesday.
“I was with the NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, he said that these drones have been reported over military sites, military bases. I would not think those are friendly. I would think those are adversarial,” McCaul said.
The House Intelligence Committee received a briefing Tuesday from the FBI, CIA, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The intelligence community has publicly assessed that the drones are not a threat.
"We assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones," a joint statement from the Pentagon, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and FAA said.
A Chinese spy balloon famously flew across the U.S. early last year, prompting criticism of President Biden's delayed response in shooting it down.
This week, President-elect Trump fueled speculation that the Biden administration is engaged in a cover-up over the recent drones.
"Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense," Trump told reporters at Mar-A-Lago.
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy,” Trump added. “Because if it was the enemy, they’d blast it out — even if they were late, they’d blast it. Something strange is going on. For some reason they don’t want to tell the people, and they should.”
