Rep. Matt Gaetz is calling on Attorney General William Barr to ground all Da Jiang Innovations drones owned and operated by U.S. government entities, including local and state law enforcement, over cybersecurity concerns that they may provide data to China.
Gaetz wrote in a Monday letter to Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen that there are considerable national security threats that could come from drones that are produced by the Chinese company DJI and are then distributed to state and local agencies.
The Florida Republican called his efforts a move to stop the potential transmission of sensitive information to China and credited authorities that have already banned the Chinese-made drones. The U.S. Army and Interior Department have previously suspended the use of these drones over possible security threats.
“The reason for these bans has been national security, grounded in well-established assessments that DJI UAS (drones) may transmit sensitive information to China,” Gaetz wrote.
To help mitigate the coronavirus pandemic, DJI recently announced its Disaster Relief Program, which aimed to help equip public safety agencies throughout the United States with high-end technology for their operations during the COVID-19 spread. In April, the company announced it was distributing 100 drones to 45 police, fire, and public safety organizations in 22 states.
Gaetz said at least two drones were provided to the Daytona Beach Police Department in Florida.
“These ‘donations’ are deeply troubling to us,” he wrote.
The company has responded to claims of spying, saying there is no ulterior motive to the drones being distributed to states and localities.
“Some people are trying to score ideological points by discouraging the use of important equipment and tools that save lives and protect American first responders,” DJI Technology spokesman Adam Lisberg told Fox News.
Gaetz also appeared on the network’s Tucker Carlson Tonight on Monday to discuss pressuring the Justice Department to investigate and ground these technologies.
“We should not be spied on by our own government and giving the information then to a foreign government that’s hostile,” Gaetz told Carlson.
