New questions are being raised about the Biden administration’s controversial decision to buy Chinese drones and drone parts following the revelation that the decision was made over the objections of the Pentagon.
According to internal government documents reviewed byThe Washington Times, the Pentagon warned against the purchase of surveillance drones manufactured by a Chinese drone-making company Da Jiang Innovations in July, citing cybersecurity concerns, but the Biden administration went ahead with the purchase anyway. Biden’s Department of Homeland Security approved the transaction.
Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) was blacklisted by the Trump administration for national security reasons.
The Secret Service, which purchased the drones, refused to comment. A spokeswoman said in a statement that “in order to maintain operational security, the U.S. Secret Service does not discuss operational means and methods.”
The transaction occurred three days after the Pentagon’s warning that DJI drones “pose potential threats to national security.”
The FBI also acquired blacklisted DJI drones this year. An anonymous FBI official told the Washington Times that the FBI “cannot comment on specific operational equipment procured by the FBI, but can assure the public that the FBI, as a general matter, takes all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of its operations.”
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe blasted the Biden administration’s decision.
“The Biden administration, through the FBI and Secret Service, purchased from DJI, which is a company that the Trump administration actually flagged in 2017,” Ratcliffe said on Fox News. “Department of Homeland Security said that that specific company was using its drones for the purpose of providing information on U.S. critical infrastructure to the Chinese Communist Party. And that was moderate confidence that that was taking place, which is why our administration took all of those out and basically advanced a policy where we wouldn’t use that Chinese technology.”
Some sources claim that the DJI drones may have been acquired in order to analyze them and reverse-engineer the technology, but there’s no indication that the drones were procured for research purposes.
The blatant disregard for national security raises serious questions, particularly in light of Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s long-established shady business ties to China, and his own knowledge of it. Is Joe Biden ignoring national security in favor of personal profit for his family? The evidence keeps stacking up.
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