In a recent revelation, it has been reported that the Biden administration had sought a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to gather intelligence on a Chinese spy balloon that crossed U.S. airspace in early 2023.
The balloon, which utilized U.S. internet service providers for navigation, was a subject of interest for the administration, which desired access to the balloon's data from these providers. Despite this, the administration publicly downplayed the balloon's significance.
NBC News reported that current and former U.S. officials confirmed the administration's pursuit of the secretive court order, established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to gather intelligence while the balloon was over U.S. territory.
The order, if granted, would have permitted U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct electronic surveillance on the balloon as it communicated with China during its journey across the U.S. However, the court's ruling remains unclear.
The surveillance would have encompassed communications transmitted via an American internet service provider, which the balloon used to send and receive messages to China.
Officials disclosed to NBC News that this connection enabled the balloon to send burst transmissions, or high-bandwidth data collections over brief periods.
Earlier in December, it was disclosed that the Biden administration intended to "study it and let it pass over and not ever tell anyone about it," according to a former administration official.
A phone call on January 27 between Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck and Gen. Mark Milley, previously unreported, unveiled an eight-day-long debacle within the Biden White House regarding the balloon's handling.
Following the phone call, the U.S. military confirmed the balloon as a Chinese spy balloon equipped with surveillance gear.
President Biden was informed on January 31, several days after the balloon was spotted and identified as originating from China. Media reports about the balloon sighted over Montana emerged shortly thereafter on February 2.
China continues to assert that the spy balloon was a weather balloon that was inadvertently blown off course. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, reiterated to NBC News, "As we had made it clear before, the airship, used for meteorological research, unintentionally drifted into U.S. because of the westerlies and its limited self-steering capability."
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