A senior official in the Biden administration told "Fox News" that during the presidency of President Donald Trump, at least three Chinese spy balloons apparently passed over the United States - like the one that was intercepted this weekend after staying in American airspace for almost a week.
According to the source, these balloons were not detected at all during the Trump administration during the term of President Donald Trump between 2017 and 2021.
He emphasized that those who established this estimate are "intelligence agents" and that the number may be three times higher.
According to other administration officials, in at least one case the balloon crossed Texas and Florida.
The official noted that the intelligence community knows for sure about "one case during the beginning of the current presidency, but three times during the previous presidency."
He emphasized that there has never been a case where the balloon stayed so long in American airspace as the one that was intercepted this weekend.
A military official also told "Fox News" this weekend that under Trump there were three cases of Chinese balloons that passed for a short time in the US.
Former President Donald Trump, Photo: AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
Trump and former senior officials in his administration were quick to deny the claims and accused the Biden administration of spreading falsehoods.
"It never happened, it couldn't happen because China respected us a lot," Trump said today.
He added "It never happened, and if it did happen, we would have intercepted it immediately; it's disinformation."
He attacked Biden and accused him of defaming him because "they [the Biden administration] are in such bad shape, as usual."
The national security adviser under President Trump, John Bolton, also claimed that he had never come across information that Chinese spy balloons had been penetrated during his presidency.
His replacement, Robert O'Brien, also said that there had never been such a case that he was aware of during Trump's time.
Another reinforcement came from the acting head of the American intelligence system under Trump, Rick Grenell.
"I delved into the issue of China enormously and the scope of their espionage and it never came up."
At the same time, it became known that another Chinese balloon crashed four months ago off the coast of Hawaii.
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