Trump would have been charged with same spy balloon failure, says Junior

Donald Trump would have been indicted a third time if a suspected foreign surveillance balloon had been found to have entered US airspace for several days during his tenure, according to the former president’s eldest son.

Donald Trump Jr. has once again weighed the spy saga surrounding an alleged Chinese balloon. The balloon was shot down by a US fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, February 4, after it first entered US airspace in Alaska on January 28 and was later seen flying over Montana.

The Pentagon said it would have to wait until the balloon was above open water before attempting to dismantle it over fears of falling debris landing on civilian areas. The delay in launching the balloon led to criticism of President Joe Biden from Republicans.

Trump Jr., who was one of those who previously suggested civilians should try to shoot down the balloon several miles in the air themselves, said his father would have come under much more scrutiny if the Chinese surveillance ship did so would have flown openly in US airspace for days while he was in office.

“Trump would have been indicted a third time if foreign spy vehicles had been parked over the US for four days – and ‘whistleblowers’ in the IC and DOD would have seen to it. Complete and total bullshit,” Trump Jr. wrote on social media.

Trump Jr.’s comment came after military and defense officials said balloons similar to the one shot down over the weekend flew over the United States at least three times while Trump was president and at least once early in the Biden administration.

“PRK [People’s Republic of China] Government surveillance balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the previous administration and once, as far as we know, at the beginning of this administration, but never for that period,” a senior defense official told reporters.

“We spoke directly to Chinese officials through multiple channels, but instead of addressing their intrusion into our airspace, the PRC issued a statement that lacked any credibility.”

The official said China had claimed the balloon shot down on Saturday was a “weather balloon that went off course,” which the US called “false.”

Trump has dismissed claims that Chinese spy balloons entered US airspace during his tenure.

“China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP’ for this to have happened and it NEVER did. JUST FALSE DISINFORMATION!” The former president wrote on Truth Social.

It is reported that the discovery of the Chinese balloons entering US airspace during the Trump administration was made only after Biden entered the White House.

John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser between April 2018 and September 2019, told Fox News he “can say with 100 percent certainty” that no Chinese balloons entered U.S. airspace during his tenure.