The unverified report of an Iranian retaliation was widely spread by media outlets.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to reports published by media outlets earlier this week of an alert from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about a possible drone attack on California planned by Iran in retaliation for the U.S.’ Operation Epic Fury. The press secretary said that the story was misleading and that the news publisher should have included the word “unverified.”
Press Secretary Leavitt stated, “This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”
The press secretary continued, “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.”
The FBI’s assistant director for public affairs also followed up, stating, “We recently acquired unverified information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United States homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event the U.S. conducted strikes against Iran. We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Press Secretary Leavitt and other White House officials as they review and respond to media claims and news stories.
- For Director Patel and FBI agents as they investigate potential national security threats and provide alerts to other law enforcement agencies.
Sources: Fox News, PJ Media, The Hill
