At the beginning of her first White House press briefing, which was held Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the drones were "authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.”
Leavitt said that statement came straight from President Trump to her before the press briefing to update the media and the public.
“This was not the enemy,” she said, referring to speculation the drones were the property of China or other U.S. adversaries.
Bob Maginnis, a senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council, tells AFN he was unsatisfied with the White House explanation.
"We deserve far more explanation than we've had,” he says. “There may be national security reasons for not saying anymore, which is not unusual. It could well be something far more sinister than any of us suspect and the administration does not want to alarm the American people."
A related article by Breitbart pointed out Leavitt’s comment about “research” could mean many things as well as her vague reference to “various other reasons.”
In the middle of December’s drone hysteria there was speculation the drones were U.S. government property, in particular radiation sniffers, that were monitoring the East Coast for a terrorist dirty bomb.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican congressman from New Jersey, voiced concerns in December that foreign adversaries were operating the drones hovering above his state. He stood his ground, too, when the Pentagon denied his claim which he said came from reliable intelligence sources.
In a statement released after Leavitt’s comments, Rep. Van Drew credited the Trump administration for showing what “transparency” looks like and said New Jerseyans “finally have some answers” about what was happening.
“But let's be clear: what we have learned is alarming,” the statement continued. “We are nearly a decade behind China in our drone technology, and our enemies are far more advanced than we thought. This is our wake-up call.”
It was not clear from the statement if Van Drew is backtracking from his previous statements. AFN is seeking comment from his office.
Gary Bauer, who leads the Campaign for Working Families, says he agrees with Maginnis about unanswered questions.
“I don't think their investigation is finished. I think they'll keep digging around,” he predicts. “There's always the possibility that something happened involving the drones that really is a serious national security problem that they can't tell the American people."
