The congressional investigation into UFOs may be the most bipartisan thing in Washington these days, which was on display during whistleblower David Grusch’s testimony earlier this week.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) isn’t on the Oversight Committee, but he stopped by the hearing on UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, to NASA).
While Cohen’s buddies with his fellow Tennessean, Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) — who has been spearheading the House UFO investigation — the nine-term Democrat says he’s never believed what he’s heard from government sources.
“Maybe they’re trying to protect us from knowing that the Russians or the Chinese have capable equipment that is beyond ours, but I don’t believe that’s true either,” Cohen exclusively told Ask a Pol. “So, I don’t know, but I think there’s a lot of reason for people to feel uncomfortable with what the government has said to date.”
Ask a Pol caught up with Cohen as he was leaving the hearing and then hitched a ride on his elevator where we learned he was briefed on the issue a couple years ago and left “totally dissatisfied with what the results were.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s interview with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), slightly edited for clarity.
Matt Laslo: “Hey, how are you Congressman?”
Steve Cohen: “Good.”
ML: “I was curious, why’d you peek your head in there?”
SC: “I wanted to find out if there were UFOs or not.”
ML: “Oh yeah? What’d you find out?”
SC: “That I’m not going to sleep well tonight.”
ML: “Are you – you’re not on Oversight, are you?”
SC: “No, no. I’m buddies with Burchett, and I knew he was interested…”
ML: “Yeah? How much are you keeping an eye on this issue?”
SC: “I’ve been doing it for a long time. I think it’s a concern.”
ML: “What have you thought of this whistleblower, David Grusch?
We enter elevator.
SC: “What did he say?”
ML: “He just, with one member, said that he’s heard from people in the government who’ve confirmed the craft. He hasn’t seen it with his own eyes, it seems. But he said that he’s got confirmation from people who know about the SAP or special access program.”
SC: “I had a hearing about two years ago of a briefing from some members who were working on this, and I was totally dissatisfied with what the results were.”
ML: “Why is that?”
SC: “It didn’t seem like they were — it was just government gibberish.”
ML: “Yeah.”
SC: “And it wasn’t being frank. They were saying ‘These could be balloons, these could be whatever.’ Balloons? Balloons don’t go that fast. They don’t do this stuff.”
Cohen wobbles his hand side to side.
ML: “Right?”
SC: “So maybe they’re trying to protect us from knowing that the Russians or the Chinese have capable equipment that is beyond ours, but I don’t believe that’s true either. So, I don’t know, but I think there’s a lot of reason for people to feel uncomfortable with what the government has said to date.”
ML: “And after we saw the Chinese balloon, the government — within three days — the Air Force shot down three different objects. They still haven’t ID-ed the one in Alaska.”
SC: “Oh, I know. I asked the folks when we had our hearing why the government didn’t shoot down them, these objects that they saw, and they said they didn’t know what they were. I thought, ‘Shoot ‘em down.’”
ML: “Is that Pentagon folks?”
SC: “Yeah.”
ML: “Interesting. It feels this Congress like there’s more lawmakers taking it seriously. It feels like there’s more pressure on Pentagon officials on this.”
SC: “I can’t really speak to that.”
ML: “Fair. ‘Preciate ya.”
SC: “You’re welcome.”
ML: “Have a good one, sir.”
Matt Laslo is a veteran congressional correspondent and founder of Ask a Pol—Washington’s new people-powered press corps. Find him on most social media @MattLaslo.
Camila Aponte and Noah Kolenda contributed to the production of this transcript. Take typos up with Congress (and ping us, please! Our apologies in advance).
We’re @Ask_a_Pol or @askpols on Insta.
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Cohen “totally dissatisfied” with Pentagon briefings on UFOs