On Capitol Hill, the freshman year is winding to a close for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), even as he spent the previous decade representing Oklahoma on the other side of the Capitol, as a member of the US House of Representatives.
In the House of Representatives, Mullin served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (or HPSCI), where he remembers being “read in on some stuff” in regards to UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena or UFOs).
In the Senate, Mullin’s now one of 25 US Senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) where “we’ve had a little briefing on” UAPs.
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When we interviewed Mullin in July — the day after the House Oversight Committee had its public UAP hearing — he had heard of UFO whistleblower David Grusch, but he hadn’t “read any articles on it.”
While some members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have investigated Grusch’s allegations, the vast majority of SASC members — including the committee chair and ranking Republican — have barely taken notice of his claims or the ongoing investigation by the Congressional UAP Caucus.
EXCLUSIVE — SASC & Senate Intel on Grusch
On the other side of the Capitol, the committee’s roles are, seemingly, reversed.
While Mullin’s former colleagues on HPSCI have — publicly, at least — dismissed the Grusch investigation, some members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) have shown more willingness to let the investigation proceed, especially Congressional UAP Caucus member Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).
Still, HASC Chair Mike Rogers seems to have — reportedly with the help of HPSCI leaders and the intelligence community — played a role in winnowing down Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s UAP amendment to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
While we’re currently locked out, we’re set on uncovering the truth.
Congressional Intelligence and Armed Services Committees are opaque by design, but the more questions we ask, the more clarity we get — even if the clarity remains cloaked in government-sanctioned secrecy. For now.
In the New Year, we now have a much clearer picture of which members of Congress are serious — and which are jokes — when it comes to investigating Grusch’s allegations.
Even with limited resources, Ask a Pol’s prepared to keep the pressure up on members of the 118th Congress.
That’s a sea change. Federal lawmakers have gotten complacent on UFOs after dismissing the topic as sci-fi for the past few decades.
Even with all of 2023’s disappointments, federal lawmakers were taught an important lesson this year: Matt Laslo and Ask a Pol are on the case.
And we don’t quit. When they hide, we get energized. Buckle up for 2024!
While these interviews were conducted over the summer, little to nothing has changed on Capitol Hill since then. Few US senators take Grusch seriously. Fewer seem to care.
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Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s interview with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Laslo & Markwayne Mullin
Matt Laslo: “Have you looked into this UFO-UAP whistleblower David Grusch?”
Markwayne Mullin: “I haven’t. A reporter caught me a while ago and asked me. I said, ‘I really haven’t.’ I’ve been paying attention to NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act], and a little bit of stuff with Hunter Biden because Jason Smith lives with me and so I'm, you know, he's right in the middle of all this.”
ML: “What do you mean, ‘lives with you’?”
MM: “Well, he — I have a house and so he rents a room off of me.”
ML: “Interesting.”
MM: “Well, Jason is one of my best friends.”
ML: “That’s fascinating.”
MM: “So it’s Jason, McCarthy, Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Kennedy, Kristi Noem – we're all still really close.”
ML: “That’s fascinating.”
MM: “But anyways, so I haven't really paid attention to it all. When I was on Intel [in the House], I was, you know, we were read in on some stuff. And then of course with DOD [Department of Defense], on Senate Armed Services, we’ve had a little briefing on it. But what they're seeing right now — just the stuff I've seen, like, on Instagram and on social media, I haven't read any articles on it — I'm not recalling anything that they’re saying that we’ve been told. So I don’t know.”
ML: “You should talk to Rubio about it.”
MM: “Yeah.”
ML: “Because Rubio – where Rubio gets into it, the guy has two claims. One is recovered craft. The second claim is that there's these hidden SAPs that the bureaucracy and the federal government are keeping secret from Congress, Special Access Programs. That's the one that really woke up a lot of senators.”
MM: “Maybe that’s so. I just haven't seen it. If there’s something, they need to tell us on Intel.”
ML: “You got a day job.”
MM: “Yeah.”
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps, asking your questions at the Capitol. @Ask_a_Pol (or @askpols)
Ask a Pol is a new, people-powered press corps, asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol. Follow us on the socials @Ask_a_Pol (or @askpols on Insta).
EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Mullin & SASC members not investigating UFO whistleblower David Grusch