Congressional hearing with UFO whistleblowers slated for July 26

Matt Laslo
Substack
Fri, 14 Jul 2023 19:03 UTC

At the US Capitol, sneers, eye-rolling and gossip are starting to replace the inquisitive awe that initially accompanied whistleblower David Grusch's claims the federal government has recovered otherworldly craft and kept those programs secret from Congress.

At the end of June, Republican leaders poo-poohed some potential witnesses and now NASA officials have reportedly pulled out altogether from the House Oversight Committee's upcoming hearing into UFOs, but the two Republican lawmakers spearheading the investigation still plan to hold the public hearing on Wednesday, July 26.

"Yeah. Yup. We got the hearing - so we got the date confirmed," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) tells Ask a Pol. "We'll be releasing names about a week prior."

EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: Luna confirms UAP hearing date to Ask a Pol

Ask a Pol has learned Luna and her co-chair for the hearing, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), have gotten "some pressure from the Pentagon and NASA" since announcing their formal investigation into UFOs (aka UAPs, or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, according to NASA).

People familiar with planning for the hearing confirm NASA's stopped cooperating but one source adds, "I don't care, because they're covering it up anyway."

At the end of June, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told Ask a Pol at least two witnesses didn't pass his investigator's political background check. "We had to reshuffle the deck on a few witnesses because of some issues," Comer said.

Burchett disagrees. He contends there was nothing egregious in the potential witnesses' backgrounds and wishes the public could have judged for themselves.

"That's the job of the committee. That's the job of the hearing, I think. Find out if they're legitimate or not," Burchett tells Ask a Pol. "These people out here saying all these claims, then we bring them in and they say, 'Well, that's not really what I meant.' We get to the bottom of it. It narrows the scope."

Even with all the roadblocks, the two Republicans remain undeterred.

"I promise you guys won't be disappointed," Luna says.

And, even as they've had to reshuffle their desired witness list, they're still promising an all-star lineup.

"It'll be superstars," Burchett says.

July 26^th is the last week Congress is in session before lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington for the entire month of August. One way or another, Burchett says, they're holding the hearing.

"If they don't give us a hearing like we want, I'll just do a field hearing and do it myself," Burchett tells Ask a Pol. "I'll do it in my front yard at..."

EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: Burchett holds court at Capitol

*In the Burchett audio, you'll hear three spots of dead air, per the congressman's request to talk frankly with us. You'll also hear some slapping sounds, which is the congressman high-fiving a bipartisan smattering of his House colleagues - including freshman Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), son of Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. - as they funnel past making their way to the House floor to vote.

Matt Laslo is a veteran congressional correspondent and founder of Ask a Pol — a people-powered press corps. Find him on most social media @MattLaslo.

Comment: Ask a Pol's previous conversation with Luna (a Trump endorsement) and has some more details:

"So what we're focusing on is, one, getting the information out to the American people: Clearly, this is a big galaxy that we live in and that there is very likely technology that we are unaware of where it's come from — and so, does this pose a national security threat?" Luna tells Ask a Pol.

Number two:

"It's important that instead of trying to make this conspiratorial and poo-pooing it, that people are actually understanding that it's very likely that there's other life forms out there and that we're not alone in this universe and that we can address these things with a scientific mindset," Luna says.

Last month, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer confirmed he tapped Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) to lead his committee's investigation into new claims made by whistleblower David Grusch, who claims the federal government has recovered otherworldly craft. And also hidden it from Congress.

"So Burchett and Luna, on my committee, are the two that are kinda taking the lead in that. It's interesting. It's not an issue I'm an expert in so I don't know anything about it, but apparently Burchett and Luna are so they're really excited and our staffs are real excited about it," Comer told Ask a Pol.