House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul revealed Sunday
that the Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States "did a
lot of damage."

Speaking on CBS News' "Face the Nation," the Texas Republican explained
that by not preemptively downing the balloon, the Biden administration
essentially allowed China to gather intelligence on areas sensitive to
national security.

The noteworthy revelation came after host Margaret Brennan asked McCaul
about new restrictions enacted on six Chinese companies whose
technology was used in the spy balloon's construction.

"It will be one of my number-one priorities, as the chairman of the
Foreign Affairs Committee in this Congress, to stop the export of
technology to China that then goes into their most advanced weapons
systems, in this case a sophisticated spy balloon that went across
three nuclear sites," McCaul responded.

"I think it's important to say, in plain view of the American people,
you know, in Montana � the triad site, air, land, and, sea nuclear
weapons � in Omaha, the spy balloon went over our Strategic Command,
which is our most sensitive nuclear site; it was so sensitive that
President Bush was taken there after 9/11. And then, finally, Missouri,
the B-2 bomber� that's where they are placed.

"It did a lot of damage," he said.

Full interview: Rep. Michael McCaul on "Face the Nation with Margaret
Brennan"www.youtube.com

Publicly, the government has said it mitigated the spy balloon's
intelligence gathering capabilities. But McCaul said he is not
convinced.

"My assessment � and I can't get into the detail of the intelligence
document � is that if it was still transmitting going over these three
very sensitive nuclear sites, I think if you look at the flight pattern
of the balloon, it tells a story as to what the Chinese were up to as
they controlled this aircraft throughout the United States," he said.

"Going over those sites, in my judgment, would cause great damage.
Remember, a balloon could see a lot more on the ground than a
satellite," he added.

Later in the interview, McCall hypothesized that China sent the spy
balloon to assess U.S. military capabilities in the event that China
and Taiwan end their cold war.

"It was done with provocation to gather intelligence data and collect
intelligence on our three major nuclear sites in this country," McCaul
said.

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Let's go Brandon!