Who?
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)
Ask a Pol asks:
Did it feel like your UAP conversation resonated with Speaker Mike Johnson?
Key Burchett:
“Very much so. He wrote it down,” Burchett exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “That’s a big thing with Johnson. If he writes it down, it’s hit. And I just need to follow up. Obviously, we got everything else* going on in that [Oversight] Committee…”
*The impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is being run through the House Oversight & Accountability, Ways & Means and Judiciary Committees.
Another public UAP hearing at US Capitol? Maybe.
“I talked to the Speaker about it. He made some notes about it, and he didn’t seem like there’d be any problem having a regular committee hearing like we did before,” Burchett says, which would be a second public hearing in Washington on top of the field hearing the Congressional UAP Caucus is planning. “Yeah. We can do field hearings without anybody’s approval, apparently.”
BONUS BURCHETT:
“The way I approached it to him was, ‘Look, we spend literally millions of dollars on an issue that our government says does not exist,’” Burchett tells Ask a Pol.
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LISTEN: Laslo & Burchett
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
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Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Tim Burchett
Matt Laslo: “Do you have any idea where you guys might want your next hearing?”
Tim Burchett: “No, I don’t. I don’t know. I talked to the Speaker about it.”
ML: “Yeah, how did that—?”
TB: “It went really well. I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you on that. I was too busy.”
ML: “Oh, it’s all good. You got a day job.”
TB: “But yeah, I talked to the Speaker about it. He made some notes about it, and he didn’t seem like there’d be any problem having a regular committee hearing like we did before.”
ML: “And you guys still want a field hearing?”
TB: “Yeah. We can do field hearings without anybody’s approval, apparently.”
ML: “Yeah?”
TB: “But the Select [UAP] Committee, I don’t think that’s — that’s staffing, that’s money, that’s hassle….”
ML: “Yeah?”
TB: “So I just don’t see that happening.”
ML: “How was — like, Speaker Johnson, was he familiar with the issue or he’s got a lot to learn?”
TB: “Yeah. Yeah. And the way I approached it to him was, ‘Look, we spend literally millions of dollars on an issue that our government says does not exist.’”
ML: “Yeah?”
“Thank you so much,” a constituent visiting from Tennessee thanks Burchett for speaking to their school group.
TB: “Yet they — and, you know, and now they’re telling us they don’t exist, but then they won’t show us what they found in those studies. So, that’s the way I’m approaching it now to people in Congress. Because, you know, they don’t want the stigma — the saucers or the little green — although several of them have seen saucers.”
Laslo laughs.
ML: “Did that — did it feel like that resonated with Johnson?”
TB: “Very much so. He wrote it down.”
ML: “Yeah?”
TB: “That’s a big thing with Johnson. If he writes it down, it’s hit. And I just need to follow up. Obviously, we got everything else going on in that [Oversight] Committee.”
ML: “Yeah. Especially — I get it. About how long did you meet with Johnson?”
TB: “A good bit. He came to Knoxville.”
ML: “Yeah. I saw that. Good to see you!”
TB: “Thanks brother.”
Laslo bends down to pet Burchett’s perfectly manicured and dolled up lil pup, Lady.
ML: “Oh, I gotta pet this little Lady.”
Laslo talks to Lady and pets her soft fur.
TB: “Her name’s Lady.”*
ML: “Oh, I know. She’s beautiful. Have a good one y’all.”
*cover image is pic of Miss Lady in Burchett’s lap. She’s a really good girl!
Burchett says his UAP meeting with Speaker Johnson “went really well"