Dainty DoD is Concerned UAP Hearings Have Sullied Its Reputation
Although Congress is still on break for another couple weeks, we’re back with a bit of news. Reps. Burchett and Luna are still pushing to get a SCIF to hear Grusch’s classified testimony, but claim the DOD is stonewalling them. Ross Coulthart says the Pentagon and Intel Community are applying pressure to Congress to drop the UAP thing, and suddenly Rep. Turner says there will be no more UAP hearings in the House Oversight Committee to protect the reputation of the DOD. Plus, White House national security spokesman John Kirby dodges an opportunity to deny Grusch’s claims, while Gov. Christie laughs off a UFO question at the Republican presidential debate.
Congress Still Wants Grusch in a SCIF
- Rep Luna: “As you heard from Grusch’s testimony, there were some things that he couldn’t address in that hearing due to the classification of that information. The excuse the DoD is using for us not being able to get a SCIF, is that Grusch doesn’t have an active clearance. So unless he has an active clearance, they’re saying he can’t divulge that information to us, which, one, I believe false, and two, supports the point we’re trying to make that the DoD is trying to stonewall us. But the status is as follows: One, We are working on getting him a clearance. Two, we’re working on getting access to be allowed to use a SCIF. The good thing is that we have multiple lawmakers that have signed onto a letter that Rep Burchett has put forward.”
- Jeremy Corbell: “Grusch has been effectively muzzled this last week by people who are invested in him not being able to talk. It’s not going to last.”
- The gang (Reps Burchett, Luna, Moskowitz) is also pushing forward on other fronts.
- They wrote to the ICIG asking “Which intel community members, positions, facilities, military bases, or other actors are involved” with UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering programs.
- And they also sent a request to Speaker McCarthy and HOC Chairman Comer to appoint a select committee on UAPs with subpoena power.
Rep Turner Shuts Down HOC UAP Hearings
- Chris Mellon, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence: “Sadly, it appears that there is little prospect at this time of further hearings on the UAP issue by the House Oversight Committee (HOC). However, the Intelligence and Armed Services committees remain engaged and there is far-reaching legislation in the DOD Bill that establishes a process for declassifying unprecedented amounts of UAP data.”
- Klaus: “House Oversight wasn’t even involved in the UAP issue until Burchett spearheaded the recent hearing. Even then, it almost fell apart the night before and nearly didn’t happen at all. Disappointing, yes, but certainly not the disaster some are making it out to be.”
- Ross Coulthart: “The pushback is happening behind the scenes. I'm talking to people in Congress who are telling me that the lobbying from the Pentagon and the intelligence Community is intense. It's being made very very clear by very powerful members of the Intelligence Community, if you like, the gatekeepers to a lot of this information, that they do not want public hearings.”
- A staffer in Rep Burchett’s office revealed that Rep. Mike Turner (the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) convinced Rep Comer (the chairman of the HOC) that any more UAP hearings by the HOC "Would cause serious harm to the reputation of the DOD in the eyes of the public, and should be avoided for the foreseeable future."
- Rep Turner, asked about Grusch: “I always love it when you have somebody who comes forward and testifies about things that they don't know anything about. I mean, the most striking aspect of all of the testimony was repeatedly over and over again the whistleblowers had to say, ‘actually I don't have any knowledge of this, somebody else told me that.’ I mean really, this would take thousands and thousands of people for such an unbelievable cover-up to be occurring. And for people to speak with such confidence over something that they do not know is something certainly everybody needs to be concerned about.”
- Liberation Times said this about Turner: “The representative for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has previously been suggested in a media report which lists his affiliation with defense contractors, as a politician who represents ‘the unhealthy intersection between Congress and the defense sector’.”
- David Grusch: “I personally briefed the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s staff director at the time, its General Counsels, and Congressman Turner’s personal staffer. Congressman Turner has not followed up with me, and based on his public statements, it appears he has not asked for a briefing on my testimony or has failed to ask the Intelligence Community’s Inspector General for more information.”
John Kirby Does Not Deny Grusch Claims
- John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the national security council in the white house, responding to questions about Grusch’s allegations of a secret UAP retrieval and reverse-engineering effort: “I have no information on that to provide for you today one way or the other. I would just say what I said last week when I got asked about this: We obviously take the issue of UAP seriously. There is a whole office at the Pentagon that is stood up to analyze the data, collect reports, collate those reports, and forward them up appropriately. And that's, I think, testament of the fact that we know that in some cases, these phenomena have impacted military training, have then impacted military readiness.”
- Speaking of spokespeople and non-denials: Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki was recently asked if she was privy to UFO info: “I will say, I had a lot of access to classified information. But there’s this thing called need to know, and if you don’t need to know, you don't necessarily have access to it. I wasn’t on the alien or UFO portfolio.”
UAP Question at Republican Debate
- The Republican presidential debate happened recently, and someone asked about UAPs!
- Moderator: “Do you believe that the recent spike in UFO encounters…”
- Gov. Christie: “I get the UFO question?” (audience laughter)
- Moderator: “We’ve been hearing a lot of testimony in Congress, and people are taking this a lot more seriously, and we’re hearing that there are things going on that people aren’t aware of. So, if you were president, would you level with the American people about what the government knows about these possible encounters?”
- Gov. Christie: "I think it's horrible that just because I’m from New Jersey, you asked me about unidentified flying objects and Martians. We're different, but we're not that different."
- Chris Mellon: “Asked at somewhat of a poor moment and thus produced a fairly uninteresting answer from an otherwise well-spoken candidate, but shows just how much the public consciousness has been punctured in the last few years.”
- Ryan Graves, former Navy pilot and founder of Americans for Safe Aerospace: “When is laughter ever an acceptable response to a national security question? Advanced UAP present a clear and present national security problem, so I invite Gov. Christie and any presidential candidate to meet with Navy pilots who have witnessed advanced UAP that exceed our tactical jets. Americans deserve answers and transparency, not jokes about aliens that perpetuate stigma and suppress reporting.”
- Interestingly, Vivek Ramaswamy, another republican presidential candidate, tweeted this before the HOC UAP hearing: “Ahead of the House Oversight Committee’s UFO hearing today, I’m calling on Committee members to publicly ask witnesses the following 7 questions. We can handle the TRUTH.” And then he proceeded to list seven extremely informed questions.
References
- Rep Luna: “We’re working on getting Grusch clearance and access to a SCIF.”
- Jeremy Corbell: “Grusch has been muzzled, but it won’t last.”
- Rep Burchett: “We wrote to the ICIG for details.”
- The Hill: “Lawmakers want subpoena power in UFO inquiries”
- The Hill: “UFO whistleblower claims not denied by John Kirby”
- Jen Psaki: “I wasn’t on the alien or UFO portfolio.”
- Chris Mellon: “Sadly, no further UAP hearings in the HOC.”
- Klaus: “Lack of HOC hearings not the disaster some make it out to be.”
- Ross Coulthart: “The pushback from Pentagon and IC is intense.”
- Rep Burchett staffer: “Rep Turner convinced Rep Comer UAP hearings would harm DOD reputation.”
- Liberation Times: “Pressure Mounts On House Intelligence Chairman Following Dismissive And Baffling Approach To “Credible And Urgent” UFO Whistleblower Allegations”
- The Debrief: “Questions About UAP Enter the 2024 Presidential Race”
- Vivek Ramaswamy: “We can handle the truth.”
Episode 27, posted on