The ABC News report about warnings that Iran could possibly launch drones against the West Coast is fake news, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
Leavitt’s statement on social media came after the outlet said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had warned law enforcement in California that the Middle Eastern country wanted to retaliate for the U.S.-Israeli joint attacks by launching drones.
ABC News cited an “alert” it reviewed, but Leavitt said the post and story should be “immediately retracted” because the outlet provided “false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”
“They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY? TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” she added.
Officials in California were aware of the initial report and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office was working with state, local, and federal authorities to ensure residents’ safety, according to Breitbart News.
However, Newsom later said there was no imminent threat despite the apparent warning from the FBI, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Thursday.
Newsom said “We’ve been aware of that information… It’s all about a posture of preparedness for worst-case scenarios.”
Meanwhile, several federal and state authorities told CBS News, “There is no known credible specific threat underpinning that alert,” a reporter for the outlet said Wednesday.
“This information shared last week with local law enforcement by the FBI’s Los Angeles division stems from an apparent tip in early February that surfaced prior to the war with Iran about unmanned aerial vehicles off the coast of the U.S. homeland,” she stated.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Newsom wrote, “I am in constant coordination with security and intelligence officials, including at @Cal_OES, to monitor potential threats to California — including those tied to the conflict in the Middle East.”
“While we are not aware of any imminent threats at this time, we remain prepared for any emergency in our state,” he concluded.
