Last Updated on July 27, 2022
The FBI led an investigation into Chinese cellphone company Huawei which revealed the company could intercept and disrupt private communications between the Department of Defense (DoD).
Huawei equipment was placed by the Chinese company on top of cell towers located in rural Midwest areas where US military bases were nearby.
The Huawei equipment would be able to capture DoD communications, including conversations initiated by the US Strategic Command, the government group that overlooks US nuclear weapons.
“This gets into some of the most sensitive things we do…It would impact our ability for essentially command and control with the nuclear triad,” a former FBI official told CNN of the discovery on Monday.
“If it is possible for that to be disrupted, then that is a very bad day,” the anonymous source added.
But, CNN’s anonymous intelligence sources claimed there was no way to showcase definitive proof that the Chinese siphoned off any confidential US data.
The Chinese government has denied they weaponized the Chinese telecom company against the U.S.
During the Obama administration, the FBI began its investigation into Huawei after they began purchasing enormous amounts of land in unconventional areas near US military bases.
In 2017, the Chinese offered the US government 100 million to build an expensive Chinese garden in Washington DC. Their offer was denied since the garden included a decorative 70-foot tall pagoda, which would be one of the highest structures in the Washington, DC area, only two miles from the Capitol.
It would be an efficient way to intercept signals over which important US intelligence discussions were held, CNN reported. FBI leadership reportedly nixed the proposed project before construction began.
According to CNN’s sources, the Chinese government insisted the $100 million project would have its materials shipped from China but refused to allow US customs officials to inspect the deliveries.
In 2020, the US Congress approved the spending of $1.9 billion to remove Chinese-manufactured Huawei technology across most of rural America. However, two years later, most of the Chinese equipment is still in working order since rural telecom companies are still waiting to receive federal reimbursement money.
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.
