Who?
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) — Co-Chair of Congressional UAP Caucus
Ask a Pol asks:
“Anymore details on the next UAP hearing?”
Key Burchett:
“No. I’m going to talk to the speaker, [Mike Johnson], this week about it though,” Burchett told Ask a Pol Feb. 7th.* “He’s coming to Knoxville for an event for me, so he said he’d give me a couple of minutes.”
Location for upcoming UAP field hearing?
“Oh, I don’t know. [Rep. Anna Paulina] Luna had some good ideas of where she would like to have it, so I might just yield to her or [Rep. Jared] Moskowitz,” Burchett tells us. “They’re probably more well-versed in locations than I would be. I don’t really care where we have it.”
Has a Select UAP Committee been shelved?
“I don’t know. Everybody pushed towards that. I don’t know if that’s even a possibility. Really. I can’t see — I don’t know. And they’d have to devote resources to it, and it’s just gonna be a — that’s just all new details, and I don’t know if they’d wanna do it or not,” Burchett tells Ask a Pol. “I’ll push for it, but I’m not — it’s not a beach I’m going to die on.”
Caught our ear: Burchett weighs in on Kirkpatrick
“To himself, anyway, he’s being dishonest. I think these guys are so compartmentalized,” Burchett tells us. “I don’t like him degrading others that have obviously been involved in the thing.”
*sorry for the delay in posting this. The first part of the interview is for a feature Matt Laslo’s doing for a client on former Speaker Kevin McCarthy targeting Burchett and the other 7 who booted him from the Speaker’s Chair last summer.
We’re also training a new team and making up a new filing system on the fly, and this fell through (too many…won’t happen again!) cracks. W
UPDATE COMING ASAP:
Once we found it this eve we posted it and texted Burchett to see how his meeting with Speaker Johnson went. Congress is on its President’s Day recess this week. We’ll alert you as soon as we hear anything. Apologies.
Content posted at AskaPol.com is copyrighted. Use our original content to move the story forward, and, please, link to us.
LISTEN: Laslo & Burchett JUST UAPs*
*slightly condensed. Cuts out minute or so of background noise as Laslo goes through security while Burchett chats up folks in the lobby of the Longworth House Office Building before the interview starts back up.
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.
Ask a Pol — asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol. @Ask_a_Pol or @askpols
Transcript: Laslo & Burchett
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), slightly edited for clarity.
SCENE: Burchett is leaving the Capitol heading to his office across the street, so Laslo tags along.
Tim Burchett: “…goes back to the last thing [McCarthy] said to me was, ‘I really wanna be Speaker.’”
Matt Laslo: “Yeah? Sums him up.”
*FULL McCarthy conversation is part of a feature already commissioned by one of Laslo’s clients (shhh, with Burchett here, Laslo’s interviewed 5 of the 8 Republicans who ousted Speaker McCarthy — and who McCarthy’s now targeting with millions). While not public yet, that part of the interview is available below as a ‘Thank you; trust you’ to our supporters.
Matt Laslo: “Do you — anymore details on next UAP hearing?”
Tim Burchett: “No. I’m going to talk to the Speaker this week about it though.”
ML: “Yeah? And you guys are…”
TB: “He’s coming to Knoxville for an event for me, so he said he’d give me a couple of minutes.”
ML: “Oh, cool. Are you, umm — would you like him in Tennessee or…?”
TB: “Oh, I don’t know. [Rep. Anna Paulina] Luna had some good ideas of where she would like to have it, so I might just yield to her.”
ML: “Cool.”
TB: “Or [Rep. Jared] Moskowitz. One of those guys is — they’re probably more well-versed in locations than I would be. I don’t really care where we have it…”
NOTE: EDITED AUDIO — where we cut :45 or so secs. in condensed audio
ML: “Were you able — with the Speaker, are you going to broach the idea of a Select UAP Committee? Or is that shelved?”
TB: “Yeah, I don’t know. Everybody pushed towards that. I don’t know if that’s even a possibility. Really. I can’t see — I don’t know. And they’d have to devote resources to it, and it’s just gonna be a — that’s just all new details, and I don’t know if they’d wanna do it or not. And I’ll push for it, but I’m not — it’s not a beach I’m going to die on.”
ML: “Have you been able to look at Kirkpatrick’s op-ed when he left, saying it’s a bunch of whackos?”
TB: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
ML: “What’d ya make of that?”
TB: “Well, I don’t know that he’s — to himself, anyway, he’s being dishonest. I think these guys are so compartmentalized. Goes back to my original point about compartmentalization and the puppet masters only allow people to see so much. But I don’t like the fact that, I don’t like him degrading others that have obviously been involved in the thing.”
Burchett’s now opened the door to his congressional office.
ML: “Yeah.”
TB: “We good?”
ML: “Yup. Preciate ya. Have a good one.”
SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT*
*Student? Lost your gig? Hard times? Been there. Got you. No questions asked. Just ping us.
SNEAK PEEK: Laslo & Burchett RAW-RAW, including UNPUBLISHED Speaker Kevin McCarthy
*REMINDER: One of Laslo’s clients has dibs on some of this Burchett content for a feature on the 8 Republicans who lopped McCarthy’s gavel arm off last summer, and the former speaker’s current revenge tour on the primary trail. It promises to be gruesome…
UNPUBLISHED — (please) DO NOT SCREENGRAB (yet!) — tho discuss away
ROUGH transcript — Laslo & Burchett on McCarthy
Matt Laslo: “What do you make of McCarthy now looking to come after you but coming after some of the other 8?”
Tim Burchett: “Yeah, I mean, I knew he was going to. I knew it when I made that decision. And I knew that he was going to use his $17 million that was given to him by Republicans to beat Democrats that he has obviously (inaudible). That’s — that’s the world we live in.”
ML: “Does this show that you guys were right?”
TB: “Absolutely.”
ML: “Yeah?”
TB: “Absolutely.”
ML: “Cause it shows he just cares about himself?”
TB: “Well, he didn’t stay. Said he cared about the party, and then he leaves after he’s dethroned and puts us in a worse spot. So I think that shows exactly — goes back to the last thing he said to me was, ‘I really wanna be Speaker.’”
ML: “Yeah? Sums him up…”
Preciate ya fam! - Laslo
Burchett on Select UAP Committee: "I don’t know if that’s even a possibility"