FBI and DHS confirm buying and using Chinese drones, as ban hasn't happened

Jerry Dunleavy

July 14, 10:21 PM July 14, 10:21 PM

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are purchasing and using Chinese-made drones from a company with close links to the Chinese government, according to testimony by top Biden administration officials.

The confirmation about the U.S. government's Chinese drone purchases came the same day that the House approved the National Defense Authorization Act, which, despite efforts by some congressional Republicans, did not include a ban on U.S. government agencies from using Chinese drones. The United States considers Chinese government-backed Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies, which commonly goes by DJI, to be a “Chinese Military Industrial Complex” company.

Brad Wiegmann, the deputy assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday that the FBI is indeed buying and making use of drones from DJI. Samantha Vinograd, DHS’s acting assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention and law enforcement policy, was more cagey in her responses before the Senate but also confirmed her department was buying and using foreign drones in limited circumstances.

A ban on the purchase and use of Chinese drones by federal agencies was unsuccessfully pushed for by Republicans such as Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the top Republican on House Foreign Affairs Committee. Gallagher’s office said, however, that the version of the NDAA that passed does include “a ban on the use of DJI drones by federal contractors,” such as those working for the Pentagon.

The Financial Times reported Thursday that DJI “has hired two lobbying firms — Squire Patton Boggs and the Vogel Group — to persuade members of Congress not to back the American Security Drone Act," which would ban the U.S. government from purchasing Chinese drones.

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“This is just the latest example of how the CCP uses the swamp against us,” Gallagher told the Washington Examiner. “There is a bipartisan recognition that Congress needs to mitigate threats posed by DJI drones, but these efforts have been undermined by lobbyists who would rather sell out the country than lose a lucrative contract. The threats posed by DJI drones are clear and well-documented, no matter how much the CCP spends on the swamp, and we will continue to work to make sure these devices get nowhere near the federal government.”

The leaders of the Law Enforcement Drone Association, the Drone Service Providers Alliance, and the Airborne Public Safety Association had also sent a letter to Congress in June claiming to be worried that bans on Chinese drones “could undermine the use of drones for essential public safety by state, local and federal agencies” and contending that “public safety agencies across the country successfully, safely, and securely use drones manufactured in China.”

At the Senate hearing Thursday, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) noted that the American Security Drone Act, which was not included in the House’s NDAA, is part of the Senate’s United States Innovation and Competition Act, which he hopes gets adopted by the House.

“I’m very concerned about reports of the purchase by DHS and DOJ law enforcement of Chinese drones and the national security risks that this poses,” Portman said, adding, “DJI has servers in China. They have support from the Chinese government. The Chinese state security services is one of their customers.”

When asked if the FBI currently purchases and uses Chinese drones, Wiegmann said simply, “We do.” When Portman repeatedly posed the question to Vinograd, she was more evasive.

“DHS has prohibited the purchase of foreign-made drones … absent waivers in very specific circumstances. … With specific waivers, DHS can purchase certain foreign-made aircraft. … With certain waivers, we are purchasing certain foreign-made aircraft," she said.

Vinograd added: “In a closed hearing, I can provide more specific details, sir.”

Portman went on to say: “I can’t believe we have to write legislation to force U.S. agencies to ban the use of Chinese-made drones.”

The DHS official replied, “I share your concerns about these drones,” with the DOJ official adding, “We share the concern as well, senator. We want to shift away from the use of Chinese drones, and the FBI is working and other parts of the DOJ are working on that objective.”

It was reported by Axios in September 2021 that, according to records obtained by IPVM, the Secret Service, which falls under DHS, purchased eight DJI drones in July 2021 and that records on the USA Spending website showed the FBI bought 19 DJI drones the same month.

"Claims that somehow DJI products are transmitting customer data back to China, or to DJI, or anywhere they're not supposed to be ... are just false,” a DJI spokesperson told the outlet. “No one has ever found a deliberate attempt to steal data, or any of the other fantasies promoted by some of our critics. It simply isn't true.”

The FBI procurement records said the bureau’s Evidence Response Team Unit wanted the DJI drones because it “is the only commercially available consumer small unmanned aerial systems to combine all these capabilities at an acceptable cost.” The Secret Service records said, “The equipment will supplement the Agency’s existing fleet of small unmanned aircraft and improved mission support through the use of the most up-to-date equipment and software.”

The U.K. Ministry of Defense is reportedly buying DJI drones as well.

The Commerce Department added DJI to its blacklist in December 2020, and the Treasury Department designated it as a “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex” company in December 2021, in part because it “has provided drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which are used to surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang.” The Xinjiang Public Security Bureau was designated in July 2020 for being responsible for “serious human rights abuse.”

The Pentagon had determined in July 2021 that DJI systems “pose potential threats to national security.”

A DHS intelligence memo in 2017 stated that the Special Agent in Charge Intelligence Program in Los Angeles “assesses with moderate confidence” that DJI is “providing U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese government” and with “high confidence” that it “is selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.”

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IPVM reported in February that “at least four People's Republic of China government entities have invested in DJI.” The Washington Post reported that month that DJI had “obscured its Chinese government funding while claiming that Beijing had not invested in the firm.” The outlet pointed to Chinese state-owned Chengtong Holdings Group, the Shanghai government-run Shanghai Venture Capital Guidance Fund, the Chinese state-run Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding, and the state-run SDIC Unity Capital fund all investing in DJI.

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Tom Cotton (R-AR) recently also introduced the Countering CCP Drones Act to add DJI to the Federal Communications Commission’s list of national security threats.