Who?
Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) — House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence aka HPSCI
Ask a Pol asks:
Is there bitter blood on HPSCI after Chair Mike Turner and co. booted former ranking member, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)? Or did getting him off there heal things?
Key Bera:
“I mean, it’s still pretty non-partisan. We still work well together. I think he’s done a good job with Ranking Member Himes,” Bera exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “I think we’re just resetting the committee, right? I think [former Speaker] Kevin McCarthy and [Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries from the get-go, when the committee convened, met with us and said, ‘This is a super important committee — most important in Congress. And let’s put the past behind us and everyone’s got to work together.’”
Telling on HPSCI and UAPs:
“Has the UAP issue been on your radar at all?” we asked. “David Grusch who testified in front of Oversight in July?”
“No,” Bera replies. “The UFOs?”
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LISTEN: Laslo & Bera
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.
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Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Laslo & Bera
Matt Laslo: “How are you doing?”
Ami Bera: “Good. How about yourself?
ML: “Got my pulse. What do you think of Turner? What happened there?”
AB: “Eh, I’m staying out of it. I’m on Intel, so, I mean, it was his call.”
ML: “Is the Intel Committee over here still bipartisan to non-partisan? Was this more him signaling to elements of his party?”
AB: “I mean, it’s still pretty non-partisan. We still work well together. I think he’s done a good job with Ranking Member Himes.”
ML: “But there’s not, like, bitter blood after they booted Schiff? Or did getting him off there heal things?”
AB: “I think we’re just resetting the committee, right? I think Kevin McCarthy and Hakeem Jeffries from the get-go, when the committee convened, met with us and said, ‘this is a super important committee, most important in Congress. And let’s put the past behind us and everyone’s got to work together.’”
ML: “Do you think Himes and Turner got a good relationship?”
AB: “Yeah, I think they’ve got a strong working relationship.”
ML: “Last question: do you agree with Turner that this stuff should be declassified?”
AB: “I mean, I think there’s information that we sometimes see on committee that we think is important for other members to see. I think that was the situation. There was debate about the decision that was made.”
ML: “Has the UAP issue been on your radar at all? The David Grusch who testified in front of Oversight in July?”
AB: “No.”
ML: “No. What I figured.”
AB: “The UFOs?”
ML: “Yeah.”
AB: “Unidentified aerial phenomena?”
ML: “Yeah. Now it’s UAPs, according to NASA.”
AB: “I’m not sure individual members have found enough things.”
ML: “Appreciate ya.”
AB: “Okay.”
ML: “Have a good recess.”
Rep. Bera says Intel members are "resetting" HPSCI; UAPs not on agenda