Republicans Discuss Information Provided During Closed-Door Briefing

On Tuesday, senators were given a closed-door briefing about the three unidentified “objects” that were shot down flying over North America over the weekend.

Due to the fact that the briefing was classified, senators were barred from making much of the information public — but senators on both sides of the aisle argued that the Biden administration needs to be more transparent with the American people.

“There is a lot of information presented to us this morning that could be told to the American people without any harm to sources or methods or national security,” argued Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) noted while speaking with reporters that “President Biden owes the American people an explanation.”

The Arkansas Republican went on to say that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken with his citizens about the matter, adding that “surely” it can’t be true that Trudeau is a “more decisive and forceful leader” than President Joe Biden.

Thus far, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has provided the most information about the closed-door briefing — pointing out that, until a few weeks ago, he was under the impression that the presence of foreign objects in U.S. airspace was a new thing.

After the briefing, Kennedy realized that this has been going on for “many years” — since at least 2017.

“Many people, intentionally or otherwise, have been given the impression that [until] a couple weeks ago, our skies were clear, and then all of a sudden we have spy balloons and other unidentified flying objects raining down on us like confetti,” the Republican senator said. “That’s not accurate. These objects have been flying over us for years, many years.”

Kennedy went on to say that “They’ve known about them” — apparently meaning that the people who briefed him indicated that they were aware of the ongoing problem, but may have not known what they were until the Chinese surveillance balloon.

“What’s different about the last two weeks is that we started shooting them down,” he said, while noting that the Biden administration is apparently unable to find the remnants of the three unidentified “objects” that were allegedly shot down.

“They’re lost. They can’t find them. The remnants are in very difficult terrain,” Kennedy explained.

The Louisiana senator then declared that it is clear this is “not a recent phenomenon,” but the Biden administration hasn’t explained why they are only now shooting the objects down.

One reporter asked Kennedy whether it was a “wagging of the dog” situation designed to make Biden look better — which would make sense, especially in light of severe criticism the president faced after the refusal to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon until it finished its journey across the United States.

Kennedy didn’t appear to want to answer the question definitively, though he did say: “We need more transparency…now that this cow is out of the barn.”

The Republican senator argued that both Biden and the Director of National Intelligence needed to explain to Americans what these objects were, where they came from and whether they pose a threat — “and if the answer is no, how do they know that?”

“The only thing I feel confident saying right now is that if you are confused, you understand the situation perfectly,” Kennedy added.

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