An FBI investigation with roots leading all the way back to 2017 has revealed the jaw-dropping details of a suspected Chinese Communist plot through Huawei and others to undermine U.S. national security.
The probe and subsequent actions also show the staggering level of complacency that nearly allowed this vulnerability to go unnoticed — and still allows it to perpetuate.
“This gets into some of the most sensitive things we do,” an FBI official with knowledge of the matter told reporters.
In an exposé the likes of which the mainstream media hasn’t produced since the Wikileaks scandal, CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis revealed that the CCP, through various actors including Huawei, ZTE and Wendi Deng Murdoch, a prominent Chinese-American businesswoman, has undertaken alarming projects near or adjacent to sensitive U.S. military installations that could “impact our ability for essentially command and control with the nuclear triad,” according to the CNN source within the Department of Justice.
“That goes into the ‘BFD’ [Big F****** Deal] category.”
“If it is possible for that to be disrupted, then that is a very bad day,” this person added.
CNN Exclusive: FBI investigating whether U.S. cell phone towers are equipped with Chinese spyware. CNN's @KatieBoLillis reports. @kasie pic.twitter.com/UibCMRtatK
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) July 25, 2022
Here’s the breakdown:
Back in 2017, the People’s Republic of China was geared up to invest $100 million into a massive and elaborate Chinese garden to add to the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. On the surface, it seemed like a fantastic cultural addition to the Capitol, similar in nature to the historic donation of cherry trees to the United States from the people of Japan in 1912. But officials would find good cause to look this particular gift horse directly in the mouth.
According to CNN, the installation would be “complete with temples, pavilions and a 70-foot white pagoda.
“[T]he project thrilled local officials, who hoped it would attract thousands of tourists every year. ”
But of course, the red flags (and not just the one with five stars on it) started popping up:
- The 70-foot-tall pagoda would be situated on one of the highest points in Washington, D.C., providing an incredible platform for signal interception and birds-eye view of military and/or law enforcement movements throughout much of the Capitol.
- This site is a mere two miles from the Capitol building, the White House, the Washington Naval Yard and slightly further from Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling, where the USAF 11th Wing is based.
- In what CNN described as an “alarming” development: Chinese officials reportedly sought to construct the pagoda from materials that were shipped to the U.S. in diplomatic pouches, which cannot be searched by U.S. Customs officials due to diplomatic immunity.
The Chinese Garden installation at the National Arboretum reportedly has been canceled.
Next, we jump across the nation to the rolling plains of the rural Midwest, particularly where the United States Strategic Air Command houses the land-based leg of the nuclear weapons triad in the form of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and Strategic Bomber Forces. Intelligence concerns regarding the potential susceptibility of infrastructure developed by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE are well known now in 2022; however, CNN’s unnamed FBI source revealed that such equipment was already deployed within cell towers located near several U.S. military installations, dating back to the days of the Obama administration.
And this is not a small or limited assessment, CNN reported. “It was described to CNN by more than a dozen sources, including current and former national security officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.”
Even more concerning is that one of the largest rural telecommunications providers in the Colorado-Montana area, with territory extending into Nebraska and along I-25, has mounted live streaming traffic and weather cameras on their towers adjacent to sensitive military installations, allowing essentially anyone in the world with an internet connection to monitor them in real time.
After the FBI investigation in 2019 was revealed, the FCC under President Donald Trump took action, ordering that the telecommunication firms who receive federal subsidies to provide cellular phone service in remote areas must “rip and replace” the problematic Huawei and ZTE equipment, according to CNN. Trump signed an executive order in May of that year, “allowing the Commerce Department to stop U.S. companies from doing business with companies ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of a foreign adversary, clearing a path to bar transactions with Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant that officials have labeled a national security threat,” according to Roll Call.
However, Congressional appropriations for the project fell short by more than half at $1.9 billion. As a result, the telecom firms have largely kept the equipment in place.
It’s still there today, in operation, right now.
The Chinese government has vehemently denied any efforts to spy on the United States. However, sources familiar with the technology employed at these cell towers have stated that there is absolutely no question at all that these devices can be configured to intercept or disrupt radio traffic that is outside of their stated purpose, such as military and other restricted transmissions. It is merely a question as to whether or not they have. These systems, by their very presence, provide an opportunity for a sophisticated spy operation to be undertaken and present a strategic vulnerability.
FBI Director Christopher Wray told CNN in an exclusive interview that the FBI is opening new China counterintelligence investigations at an unprecedented rate of one every twelve hours.
“That’s probably about 2,000 or so investigations,” Wray said. “And that’s not even talking about their cyber theft, where they have a bigger hacking program than that of every other major nation combined, and have stolen more of Americans’ personal and corporate data than every nation combined.”
When you take all of this together with recent news developments on enormous land grabs by Soros-related organizations and Bill Gates through various entities, the implications are enormously disturbing and leave one wondering: Who truly owns The United States of America?