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Message: <blockquote data-quote="powerlifter405" data-source="post: 8828576" data-attributes="member: 685736">You made the statement on the 5th.  Surprisingly CNN was flying this on the 4th w/ the former defense secretary saying that there was no briefing to Trump on any balloons.  Again, people in the government knew, but withheld information.0:43 p.m. ET, February 4, 2023<h2>3 Chinese spy balloons flew over United States during Trump administration, defense official says</h2>From CNN's Michael CallahanA senior US defense official said Saturday there were three instances during the Trump administration when China briefly flew a surveillance balloon over the continental United States.The “PRC (People's Republic of China) government surveillance balloons transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the prior administration and once that we know of at the beginning of this administration, but never for this duration of time,” the defense official said.Mark Esper, the former Secretary of Defense under President Donald Trump, told 'CNN This Morning’ on Friday that he was “surprised” by the Pentagon’s statement that similar incidents had happened during the Trump administration.“I don’t ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States,” Esper said, adding that “I would remember that for sure."Esper served as Secretary of Defense under Trump from July 23, 2019, through November 9, 2020. He served as Acting Secretary of Defense from June 24, 2019, to July 15, 2019.</blockquote>

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