{"id":2379482,"date":"2024-12-12T16:21:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T21:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawmaker-weighs-possibility-china-is-spying-after-fbi-dodges-on-new-jersey-drones-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T16:22:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T21:22:30","slug":"lawmaker-weighs-possibility-china-is-spying-after-fbi-dodges-on-new-jersey-drones-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawmaker-weighs-possibility-china-is-spying-after-fbi-dodges-on-new-jersey-drones-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmaker weighs possibility China is spying after FBI dodges on New Jersey \u2018drones\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawmaker-weighs-possibility-china-is-spying-after-fbi-dodges-on-new-jersey-drones-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2379482&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) has raised concerns that unidentified flying objects resembling small drones,spotted over New Jersey and New York,could represent a national security threat potentially \u2063linked to \u2063China. These drones have been sighted near sensitive \u2064military sites and a private golf resort owned by Donald Trump as mid-November, prompting an investigation by the FBI and other authorities. Despite efforts by the Department of Defense to downplay these fears, the sightings have sparked bipartisan\u200c concern among lawmakers. Rep. Jeff Van \u200bDrew (R-NJ) has\u2062 suggested the \u2062drones may\u200d originate from Iran, criticizing the pentagon&#8217;s\u200d response as\u2063 insufficient. During a congressional\u2064 hearing, lawmakers expressed frustration over the lack of actionable intelligence and the potential risks these drones pose, including fears \u2062of carrying harmful materials.\u200c The hearing ended without significant\u2063 insights, leading to calls for clearer dialogue \u2062from government officials regarding the ongoing \u2064investigations and possible threats associated with these unidentified objects.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Lawmaker weighs possibility China is spying after FBI dodges on New Jersey &lsquo;drones&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1908926\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/illinois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Raja Krishnamoorthi<\/a> (D-IL) suggested Wednesday that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3256124\/new-jersey-lawmakers-concerned-mysterious-drones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">unidentified objects<\/a> spotted flying in New Jersey and New York could pose a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-considering-not-giving-trump-intelligence-briefings\/\" title=\"Biden Considering Not Giving Trump Intelligence Briefings\">national security risk<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">China<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The mysterious aerial vehicles, which the FBI is investigating, have been described as <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">resembling small car-sized drones<\/a> and have been flying over a New Jersey military installation, as well as President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s Bedminster private golf resort.&nbsp;Residents across multiple New Jersey counties have been reporting them in nightly sightings since the middle of November. More recently, people have reported seeing them flying over New York.<\/p>\n<p>Krishnamoorthi, who is the top lawmaker on the congressional committee on relations between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, agreed during a <em>NewsNation<\/em> interview that China could be &ldquo;nefariously&rdquo; conducting the activity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nontrivial chance,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a possibility and the likelihood that they can then access data that is collected by these drones is very high.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Chinese Communist Party hearing on Chinese government support for American adversaries as committee ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) questions witnesses, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo\/Stephanie Scarbrough)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although the Department of Defense has dismissed his worries, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3258865\/nj-lawmaker-pentagon-stupid-drones-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">warned <\/a>the objects could be from Iran and ridiculed the Pentagon&rsquo;s investigation into the situation as &ldquo;incredibly stupid.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers&rsquo; concerns about the unidentified objects have grown since they first appeared around Nov. 18. They flew over sensitive military and infrastructural areas, including Picatinny Arsenal and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey state and law enforcement officials, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI have been<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3249508\/fbi-involved-after-mysterious-car-sized-drones-near-trump-golf-resort\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> coordinating<\/a> efforts to investigate the &ldquo;drones&rdquo; since early December.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A congressional hearing that investigated the situation on Tuesday largely failed to provide any insight into the mysterious objects, invoking criticism from lawmakers who asked why authorities have not shot down the &ldquo;drones&rdquo; or determined where they are coming from.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Noting that &ldquo;these things have been flying over New York and New Jersey, over military installations,&rdquo; Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) asked during the hearing: &ldquo;What if they were carrying chemical weapons or something?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Robert Wheeler Jr., the assistant director of the FBI&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-told-nashville-police-release-of-school-shooter-writings-would-lead-to-conspiracy-theories-inaccurate-info\/\" title=\"FBI advised Nashville Police that publishing the school shooter&#039;s writings would fuel &#039;conspiracy theories&#039; and spread &#039;inaccurate information\">critical incident response group<\/a>, responded to Malliotakis&rsquo;s question by acknowledging that the unidentified flying objects could potentially pose a variety of threats.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I am cognizant, and we all are in the FBI, of what this threat can look like,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Anywhere across the spectrum of sophisticated state actors, adversaries that want to hurt us, all the way through counterterrorism matters, cyber, WMD, criminal, all the way down to a nuisance drone that could cause harm.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After the congressional hearing failed to bring clarity on the situation, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepMTG\/status\/1867237355737751878\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">suggested<\/a> that the Department of Defense is withholding information about the &ldquo;drones&rdquo; and called for the resignation of top officials if they &ldquo;actually don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It&rsquo;s a slap in the face that the Pentagon continues to tell the American people they don&rsquo;t know who is flying the drones over New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>I think the Pentagon absolutely knows, but they&rsquo;re full of crap.<\/p>\n<p>And if they actually don&rsquo;t know, these officials should resign in disgrace.&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/48jM7jAuxw\">pic.twitter.com\/48jM7jAuxw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene&#127482;&#127480; (@RepMTG) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepMTG\/status\/1867237355737751878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, New Jersey Republican state Sen. Jon Bramnick has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3256124\/new-jersey-lawmakers-concerned-mysterious-drones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">supported<\/a> a limited state of emergency banning all drones and called for the unidentified objects to be grounded until authorities determine what exactly they are.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our military doesn&rsquo;t have an answer,&rdquo; he said during a Fox News interview Wednesday. &ldquo;If the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-levin-uses-6th-grad-econ-test-to-show-harris-why-her-inflation-plan-wont-work\/\" title=\"Mark Levin Uses 6th Grad Econ Test to Show Harris Why Her Inflation Plan Won&#039;t Work\">federal government doesn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t have an answer, we should all be worried if our military has no clue what drones the size of cars are flying around New Jersey.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">These drones need to be grounded until we find out more about them. Had a great conversation with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@foxandfriends<\/a> discussing how a &ldquo;limited state of emergency&rdquo; should be implemented until we get to the bottom of this. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bramnick2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bramnick2025<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dKuvlRimKs\">pic.twitter.com\/dKuvlRimKs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jon Bramnick (@JonBramnick2025) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonBramnick2025\/status\/1866873707047600373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While officials have yet to release details on what the unidentified flying objects are, Gov. Phil Murphy&nbsp;(D-NJ) has warned that they appear to be &ldquo;very sophisticated&rdquo; and urged residents to take them &ldquo;deadly seriously.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Washington Township Mayor Matt Murello, who oversees an area where many of the phenomena have been spotted, said earlier this month that while he has seen recreational drones in his county, &ldquo;these don&rsquo;t appear to be that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1908926\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1908926\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawmaker considers potential Chinese spying amid NJ drone sightings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2379483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Drones.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4501,7237,5591,9541],"class_list":["post-2379482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-china","tag-drones","tag-fbi","tag-spying"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Drones.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2379482"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379486,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379482\/revisions\/2379486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2379483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2379482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2379482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2379482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}