China expert Gordon Chang on Monday said President Joe Biden has "reason to dismiss" the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley for not briefing Biden earlier on the Chinese spy balloon that floated across America.
In an interview on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Chang called the spy balloon a "critical national security threat."
"Clearly the national security establishment of the United States failed because it should have been shot down as soon as [the balloon] entered Alaskan airspace," he declared.
According to Chang, the "real issue" is the Pentagon's lag in informing the White House about the spy balloon.
"Biden says that he was not informed about the balloon until Wednesday, well after it had transversed both Alaska and Canada, where it could have been shot down over uninhabited territory quite easily — and should have been shut down as soon as it entered Alaskan airspace," he said.
"If that is indeed true, then I think that the President of the United States has reason to dismiss the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs for not briefing him on a critical national security threat," Chang asserted.
Chang said that although it's not clear, it also appears nothing was said to Trump administration officials, including then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former President Donald Trump.
"So there seems to be a problem in the Pentagon about not informing the political leadership of clearly something that they should have known about," Chang said.
Chang called the spy balloon fiasco "an intelligence bonanza for China" and "a complete failure on the part of our national security officials."
The balloon was finally shot down over the Atlantic off the Carolinas on Saturday.
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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