‘Pretty alarming’: Biden administration ignored Pentagon concerns with Chinese drone purchase
Republicans say drone purchases is evidence that president is weak on China
By Guy Taylor and Ryan Lovelace - The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 12, 2021
The Biden administration ignored an explicit warning from the Pentagon about “cybersecurity concerns” tied to Chinese-made drones and drone parts, proceeding with the purchase of such materials from a top Chinese company that the Trump administration blacklisted for national security reasons.
A review of internal government procurement documents by The Washington Times found that the Secret Service went ahead with buying eight commercial surveillance drones manufactured by the Chinese drone-making giant Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) after the Pentagon issued its warning in July.
The Secret Service has declined to comment on the purchases, but the contract has triggered mounting scrutiny from Republican lawmakers over the extent to which the agency has run afoul of restrictions on U.S. government use of equipment from certain Chinese companies — even if that equipment is available for purchase by U.S. citizens via e-commerce companies such as Amazon.
...
READ MORE: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/12/biden-ignored-pentagon-concerns-chinese-drone-purc/