AUDIO: Senate Intel. Chair Mark Warner
Rumors are floating around Capitol Hill that Republican House leaders want to strip bipartisan, Senate-approved UAP provisions out of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner tells Ask a Pol, if that’s the case, it’s news to him.
“You heard that, how?” Warner replied to Ask a Pol on a quick elevator ride yesterday. “I’ll check.”
Even with a government shutdown looming over Washington, the Senate recessed until Tuesday, so we’ve yet to follow up with Warner.
If House leaders are taking aim at any Senate UAP provisions in the NDAA—which Ask a Pol has NOT confirmed—it’s unclear which ones.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) secured “full funding” for All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in the measure.
And, in the wake of UFO whistleblower David Grusch’s explosive allegations, Gillibrand fought to include a provision in the measure barring funding for any government program—Special Access Programs or SAPs—funded outside of the normal congressional appropriations process.
Then there's also the UAP amendment sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (“It’s not related to Grusch,” the leader’s office told Ask a Pol nack in July), Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and a bipartisan group of four of their colleagues. That’s the measure with the repetitious use of “non-human intelligence”—a definition Rounds tells us was intentionally left broad enough to encompass artificial intelligence.
House conferees were only appointed to the House-Senate Conference Committee for the FY2024 NDAA this week, so there have been no formal negotiations between the bicameral group yet.
As we briefly hitched a ride on a Capitol elevator with Warner as he was rushing to vote on the Senate floor, we also asked for an update on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Grusch.
“I know he’s been in to talk to staff,” Warner said. “I’ve not had a meeting.”
Warner seems to be referring to the meeting Senate Intelligence Committee staffers conducted with Grusch in a SCIF months ago.
(Anonymous AF) SUBSCRIBER SHOUT OUT: Thanks for the tip that became the foundation for this exclusive interview with Chair Warner. Cheers to you, nameless Ask a Pol subscriber! Please, keep the questions coming—Ask a Pol’s only as strong as our subscriber family (love ya all), thus we’re now a force at the Capitol!
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For subscribers, below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s interview with Sen. Mark Warner on 9-20-2023, slightly edited for clarity.
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