originally published June 23, 2023 (on Laslo’s old Patreon)
There’s one massive difference between the latest Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP; formerly UFO) whistleblower and similar ones who’ve come before, according to Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chair Marco Rubio: The inspector general vetted former US intelligence officer David Grusch, found him credible and then referred him to Congress.
“We’ve heard those claims in the past. This is the first one that’s gone through this process,” the Florida Republican tells me in an exclusive interview at the United States Capitol.
Rubio also confirms, it’s not just Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)—a member of both the Select Intelligence and Armed Services Committees—actively vetting Grusch in the Senate.
“He’s interviewed with staff already,” Rubio tells me of the Intelligence Committee.
Below is a transcript of my brief—if revealing—interview with Rubio, as he rushes to cast a vote on the Senate floor. The audio and transcript are also available on Soundcloud.
PSA: Stay tuned: more exclusive, breaking congressional UAP news to come in the ensuing days and weeks.
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Matt Laslo: “Do you have any questions lingering for the whistleblower?”
Marco Rubio: “Um, do I have any questions?”
ML: “Do you think he classifies as a whistleblower?”
MR: “Well, the inspector general has deemed it an urgent and credible threat to the…so that’s how it’s been referred to us, so I have no reason…”
ML: “Yeah? So you’re taking it credibly? Do you want to hear from him and others—behind closed doors? In the open?”
MR: “Well, we’ve begun that process. Obviously, it’s up to the chairman [Mark Warner] to decide what direction to go, but I know we’ve already begun that process. I think, he’s interviewed with staff already, so.”
ML: “What do you think of the notion that there are SAPs hidden from Congress?”
MR: “Those claims have been made for years, and that’s certainly something we’d be very disturbed by—and that’s what the gist of the whistleblower’s claim is, that there are programs that should have been notified to Congress that were not. So we’re gonna be interested in that no matter what the topic is.”
ML: “And that’s kinda new compared to others in the past?”
MR: “Well, we’ve heard those claims in the past. This is the first one that’s gone through this process.”
ML: “Interesting.”
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(RE-POST) EXCLUSIVE — Marco Rubio: UFO whistleblower first credibly vetted, referred to Congress