Who?
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) — Senate Intelligence & Armed Services Committees
LISTEN: Laslo & Rounds
Ask a Pol asks:
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) recently met with AARO — All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office — interim director Timothy Phillips, have you reached out to AARO recently?
Key Rounds:
“I've met with the folks from AARO, yeah. Oh, a month ago,” Sen. Mike Rounds exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “I actually think that they’re — from what I can see — I think, they're getting invited into areas where they're getting access to more and more information, which is good.”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
Secret silos
“I don't know if we've solved the problem of the silos that you find within DOD [the Department of Defense] where everything is so secretive at the special access level — between the IC community and the DOD community, in general — that there is not a lot of overlap between folks who see the different programs. And, I think, AARO is recognizing that,” Rounds says. “I think they're probably going to be able to shed some light without threatening national security with some of the information.”
*Student? Lost a gig? Hard times? Been there. Others had us; we got you. No questions asked. Ping us for full access to all content, if needed.
Caught our ear:
Are you confident that Congress now knows of every SAP or Special Access Program?
“No,” Rounds tells us. “I'm not confident yet.”
Are you confident that AARO is on the hunt?
“I am. I think the preponderance of the evidence is that AARO is on the hunt,” Rounds tells us. “Time will tell whether or not they are successful in actually getting into and asking the right questions. I think part of it is is, you have to ask the right questions to the right people in the right setting in order to get an answer.”
Some whistleblowers still don't trust AARO…
“Yes. I understand,” Rounds says.
Do they understand that?
“Yeah, I mean…,” Rounds tells Ask a Pol. “I'm not saying that I have full confidence in it. I'm just saying, right now, the evidence is that they're trying hard and that they seem to be making some inroads, but time will tell and we're not going to let up on our interest in it. Hopefully, we're successful in maybe answering some of those questions.”
Schumer UAPDA Redux in NDAA?
Are we going to see a redux of your UAP amendment with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act — or NDAA — or tweaks to it?
“Tweaks,” Rounds replies. “But I can't talk much more than that about it.”
But the talks have started?
“Oh yeah, oh yeah,” Rounds exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “There’s some work being done.”
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Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), slightly edited for clarity.
FULL TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Mike Rounds
SCENE: Rounds and an aide are standing just outside the unforgiving doors of the Senate tram as the senator wraps up an AI interview. Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo waits til last second before — just after the tram’s bell ominously tolls — hopping on the tram with the senator.
Mike Rounds (wrapping up AI interview): “…if something was illegal before, it's still illegal now with AI. If it was legal before, it would still be legal with AI. But it's a matter of: do we have the right type of legislation in place that recognizes AI in the mix?”
e-Tram bell starts ringing.
Reporter 1: “Yeah?”
Tram door starts lumbering to a close.
Reporter 2: “Thank you, senator.”
The other reporters stay at the Capitol as Ask a Pol’s Laslo slides onto Rounds’ tram back to his office at the last moment.
Matt Laslo: “How are you, sir?”
MR: “Good. How you doing?”
ML: “Livin the dream.”
MR: “Oh, I can see it.”
Rounds laughs.
ML: “Have you talked to Gillibrand? She met with Timothy Phillips over at AARO.”
Rounds — a former governor — flashes his blank poker face. Laslo’s unclear whether he understands the question, so he rephrases it.
ML: “Have you reached out to the interim director at AARO?”
MR: “I've met with the folks from AARO, yeah.”
*Student? Lost a gig? Hard times? Been there. Others had us; we got you. No questions asked. Ping us for full access to all content, if you need.
ML: “Yeah? How long — recently?”
MR: “Oh, a month ago.”
ML: “Oh, yeah?”
Rounds nods affirmatively.
ML: “How's it feel? Cause I know after Kirkpatrick left…”
MR: “I actually think that they’re — from what I can see — I think, they're getting invited into areas where they're getting access to more and more information.”
ML: “Interesting.”
MR: “Which is good.”
ML: “Yeah.”
MR: “I don't know if we've solved the problem of the silos that you find within DOD [Department of Defense] where everything is so secretive at the special access level, between the IC community and the DOD community, in general, that there is not a lot of overlap between folks who see the different programs. And, I think, AARO is recognizing that. And I think they're probably going to be able to shed some light without threatening national security with some of the information.”
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ML: “Yeah? Has it just been Pentagon? Not Department of Energy or…?”
MR: “There's — you know, it's more IC and Pentagon is where a lot of the special projects are at.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “And, you know what? Every nation has these projects.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “So — but it's a matter of not giving away your technical capabilities. And that's the part that I was concerned with, is that I didn't want to give away technical capability just to explain to somebody why what they think they've seen is — they might not be able to have an explanation for it, but there is an explanation for it in some cases.”
ML: “Are you confident that Congress now knows of every SAP?”
MR: “No.”
ML: “No?”
MR: “I'm not confident yet.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “Yeah.”
ML: “Are you confident that AARO is on the hunt?”
MR: “I am. I think the preponderance of the evidence is that AARO is on the hunt.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “Time will tell whether or not they are successful in actually getting into and asking the right questions. I think part of it is is, you have to ask the right questions to the right people in the right setting in order to get an answer.”
ML: “Some whistleblowers still don't trust AARO…”
MR: “Yes. I understand.”
ML: “Do they understand that?”
MR: “Yeah, I mean…”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “Well, you know, I'm not saying that I have full confidence in it. I'm just saying, right now, the evidence is that they're trying hard and that they seem to be making some inroads, but time will tell and we're not going to let up on our interest in it. Hopefully, we're successful in maybe answering some of those questions.”
ML: “Is your UAP amendment with Schumer — are we going to see a redux of that or…?”
MR: “Uhhh.”
*Student? Lost a gig? Hard times? Been there. Others had us; we got you. No questions asked. Ping us for full access to all content, if needed.
ML: “…tweaks to it?”
MR: “Tweaks. But I can't talk much more than that about it.”
ML: “But the talks have started?”
MR: “Oh yeah, oh yeah.”
Rounds and his aide enter the ‘Senators Only’ elevator in the basement of the Senate Hart Office Building.
ML: “‘Oh yeah’? I asked you a month ago and there was none.”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ Rounds in March
MR: “There’s some work being done.”
ML: “Preciate ya. Have a good one.”
Laslo to Rounds’ aide.
ML: “Thank you!”
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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Congress aware of all SAPs? "No. I'm not confident yet,” Sen. Rounds says after AARO meeting