Helena, MT - New reporting that uncovered that Tim Sheehy “endorsed” and “conducted business” with DJI, a Chinese drone company that admitted to sharing data with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has been sanctioned by two administrations is drawing attention.

Sheehy “personally petitioned” the FAA for permission to use DJI drones. Following approval of his exemption, “DJI admitted to complying with the Chinese government’s request to hand over data collected by its drones.” 

“Sheehy continued to pursue DJI drones and highlighted the use of ‘a world class surveillance drone’ on Bridger Aerospace’s website as recently as 2017,” long after the data surveillance concerns were made public.

Sheehy’s business ties to DJI drastically undermine his “tough on China” campaign claims. 

Read more below.

Heartland Signal: Before his ‘tough on China’ Senate run, Tim Sheehy praised Chinese drones linked to CCP data breach
July 8, 2024
Richard Eberwein 

- Montana Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy previously endorsed and attempted to utilize Chinese drones built by a company which was sanctioned by two administrations for leaking American data to the Chinese Communist Party. 

- The businessman regularly espouses “tough on China” rhetoric; Sheehy specifically decried the danger of Chinese technology in a recent debate with his opponent Sen. Jon Tester (D).  

- He claimed that China has “spies outside of every single one of our bases, and they’re infiltrating our entire technology to where no one can walk around without a piece of Chinese microchips somewhere in their phone, their headset, their care, their cameras.” 

- In contrast to his recent words, Sheehy once conducted business with a Chinese tech company called DJI. In 2015, Sheehy personally petitioned the FAA for an exemption to allow his wildlife firefighting company Bridger Aerospace to utilize drones made by DJI.  

- After this petition was granted the following year, DJI admitted to complying with the Chinese government’s request to hand over data collected by its drones. DJI has said as recently as January that the only information they keep is information that users consent to sharing. 

- Despite this potential data breach by Chinese technology that he now condemns, Sheehy continued to pursue DJI drones and highlighted the use of “a world class surveillance drone” on Bridger Aerospace’s website as recently as 2017, according to snapshots from the Internet Archive. 

- Just before leaving office in 2021, then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. agencies to outline security risks involved with the use of Chinese-made drones. In December 2021, the Biden administration specifically restricted the investment in DJI drones, citing ethical surveillance concerns.

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