OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:28 PM – Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Tennessee GOP Rep. Tim Burchett said during a Tuesday interview that he believes the Biden administration and government are purposely withholding information and lying about their knowledge of the recent onslaught of mysterious drone activity in the Northeast United States.
Burchett’s (R-Tenn.) comments came during an interview with NewsNation’s Blake Burman, where Burchett also stated that he believes the government doesn’t “have control” of the ongoing situation.
“You think the government is lying?” correspondent Burman asked. “I don’t wanna put words in your mouth, but you think they’re – they’re lying on this issue, Congressman?”
“Oh yeah, I mean, when – when have they ever told us the truth on anything? … Come on, this thing has been going on, and … I don’t think they have control of it, and they don’t know what to do, so they’re just gonna lie,” Burchett responded.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced on Monday that the drones that Americans are reporting on the east coast are “lawful” drone hobbyists, citing a rule change coming from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which allows drones to be flown at night. They also claimed that many of the recent drone videos caught on camera are simply “stars mistakenly reported as drones.”
“We recognize the concern among many communities,” stated the FAA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense in a joint statement.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, 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,” they continued.
“We continued to support state and local authorities with advanced detection technology and support of law enforcement. We urge Congress to enact counter-[unmanned aircraft systems] legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge,” the statement added.
Members of the House Intelligence Committee convened for classified briefings from 28 individuals in the FBI, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday.
Following the briefing, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) shared two takeaways. He claimed that the drones are not “federal government operations,” and “No. 2, they remain committed to their message, that there is zero evidence of laws being broken by any of these drones.”
Burchett is not the only member of Congress to accuse the government of deceiving the public, as Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) has similarly spoke out against President Biden’s handling of the situation.
“It’s astonishing to me that the Biden administration cannot get their arms around this. I think it’s embarrassing for the country, and I think it falls into a pattern,” LaHood said.
President-elect Donald Trump also previously spoke on the Biden administration’s downplaying of the drones, claiming that “something strange is going on.”
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy,” Trump stated on Monday. “Because if it was the enemy, they’d [want to] 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.”
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