WASHINGTON — Key House and Senate lawmakers are demanding that top federal law enforcement officials immediately brief them about mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and New York as the White House downplayed any potential threats to national security or the public.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Thursday he expects to receive a classified briefing about the drones soon, saying it’s “a quandary” and he’s “anxious to find out” more.
On Thursday afternoon, John Kirby, the White House spokesman on national security matters, told reporters that the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies “have not been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings” of the drones.
Upon reviewing images of the sightings, law enforcement officials have concluded that “these are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully” and that there have been no confirmed drone sightings in restricted airspace, Kirby said, adding that they have uncovered no malicious activity.
A White House National Security Council official told NBC News when asked about the drones, “We have no evidence at this time that these reported sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”
But lawmakers say they — and the public — need more information after weeks of sightings in New Jersey and other states.
Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, all Democrats, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Whitaker on Thursday demanding a briefing on the drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
“The potential safety and security risks posed by these drones in civilian areas is especially pertinent considering recent drone incursions at sensitive military sites in and outside of the continental United States over the past year. Protecting civilian infrastructure, safety, and privacy as well as military assets and personnel will require a comprehensive response from Congress and the executive branch,” the four senators wrote.
“For this reason, we request that the briefing you provide also include any authorities, tools, or staff your agencies may require to address these ongoing incidents and the broader security challenge posed by UAS,” they continued.
Senate staffers were expected to receive a briefing later Thursday, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and other senators have requested individual briefings, as well.
In the House, former Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., now the committee’s ranking member, said he would be on a classified call Thursday about a number of subjects and expected the drone issue to come up.
“When do we view these as a physical threat or even a security threat that is worthy of taking down?” Smith asked. “And we need clear answers on that.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., a member of the Intelligence Committee, said he received briefings about the drones last week and this week. He called on law enforcement agencies to share more information with the public.
“Based on briefings I received from the FBI, Homeland Security Department and governor, I don’t think there are any immediate threats to public safety,” Gottheimer said in a phone interview, referring to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. “But the public deserves to know more, and it’s up to the FBI and Homeland Security to brief the public immediately.
“This can’t be the Wild West of drone activity,” he said.
Murphy and other New Jersey state officials, as well as a representative from the Department of Homeland Security, held a briefing on the drones for local officials Wednesday, according to those who attended.
For weeks, residents have been spotting and taking videos of drones, which officials have described as commercial-grade devices, not typical “hobbyist” drones. Eyewitness reports and officials confirm the drones are up to 6 feet in diameter.
Many of the videos have gone viral, racking up tens of thousands of views on social media and sparking worry among people. But the public grew even more alarmed Wednesday after Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said on Fox News that the drones were coming from an Iranian “mothership” off the “East Coast of the United States of America.”
He called for the drones to be “shot down.”
The Defense Department, however, emphatically rejected Van Drew’s remarks.
“There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, who added that they are not military drones and that there is no evidence they originate from a foreign adversary or entity.
Still, constituents are worried about the drones and are reaching out to their elected officials for answers.
“Listen, nobody wants unidentified drones flying over their home, flying over their cities, over our military installations,” said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a member of the Intelligence Committee.
“People, you know have a right to be concerned by that, and I share that concern, so we’re going to look into it,” he said. “We’re going to try to get answers, and we’ll go from there.”
So far, an all-member House briefing on the drones has not been scheduled, though some individual members have been briefed.
Another Intelligence Committee member, Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., said the hesitation of holding public hearings on this drone topic is that “we don’t want our adversaries watching our open hearings, looking for context clues.”
