GOP Rep/nuclear sub vet on China: 'Assume that whatever that balloon saw, they saw also'

New York Republican Rep. Brandon Williams, the first nuclear submarine veteran to serve in Congress, told Just the News he has no doubt that China was able to see whatever their suspected spy balloon saw from the sky.

The balloon, which Beijing has claimed was a lost weather balloon, overflew U.S. territory for as many as four days before it was shot down Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina.

"I would know that we would be monitoring that balloon for any admissions that [the Chinese] were making right across the radio spectrum," said Williams, a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee during a pre-State of the Union media event held Monday on Capitol Hill. "What that actually looked like or what they really did, I'm sure the government knows. I don't, but I think we should assume that whatever that balloon saw, they saw also."

Remotely monitoring the balloon from China is well within the communist power's technological capacity, according to Williams.

"That kind of communications via satellite is not complex," he said. "And it's clear, they certainly have that capability to be able to receive that data in real time." 

Louisiana Republican Rep. Tim Johnson, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, argued that the Biden administration mishandled the test of wills posed by the spy balloon's flight over U.S. territory.

"I think China is watching this with glee," he said. "I think they've had sport with this. I think they've effectively embarrassed us on the world stage, and this is a dangerous time because they're a very aggressive adversary. But we have others as well, and we cannot project weakness on the world stage. That's our principal concern here is that, what message are we sending to the rest of the of the globe?

"We're the United States. We shouldn't put up with this from anybody, certainly not China. And if you don't push back on the bully in the schoolyard, they'll continue with their antics, and that's a real concern."

Williams said there is no doubt the Chinese were using the balloon to surveil sites on U.S. soil.

"We don't believe anything the Chinese Communist Party says, and they're obviously spying on us," he said. "We know that, everyone knows that, every American knows that. I can tell you that I had a lot of constituents in Louisiana that were hoping that it came over our state because they wanted to take a shot at it themselves, right? I tried to explain it was 60,000 feet in the air and your 50 cal is not going to reach it."

The Pentagon said in a statement Monday that similar balloons from China overflew the U.S. during the prior administration, but former President Trump forcefully denied the claim on his social media platform Truth Social.

"China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP’ for this to have happened, and it NEVER did. JUST FAKE DISINFORMATION!” Trump said.

Just the News asked Williams if he was aware of any similar incidents under the Trump administration.

"We have a lot more questions than we have answers right now," he said. "There are conflicting reports. We're of course demanding the answers from the administration and from the Pentagon. And we'll be gathering some of that information, hopefully, early this week."