The House Oversight Committee may be holding a public hearing on UFOs later this week, but that doesn’t mean its chair, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), is well-versed on the claims of the whistleblower at the center of it all.
“Have you looked into the claims of the whistleblower, David Grusch?” we asked Comer at the Capitol Thursday.
“No,” Comer replied. “I’m coming to learn. I know nothing about this.”
Comer says he’s fully empowered Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to co-chair the public hearing. Its centerpiece is slated to be former US intelligence official turned whistleblower David Grusch who claims the US government has recovered craft of "non-human origin" and hidden it from Congress.
Grusch appeared before Senate Intelligence Committee staffers who briefed the committee’s chair, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and vice-chair, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Not so with the House Oversight Committee.
“I'm just gonna be there to learn,” Comer tells Ask a Pol.
The UAP (or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, July 26th.
With the ensuing media frenzy, it’s slated to take place in the Oversight Committee’s ornate and expansive main hearing room, even as it’s being conducted by The Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs.
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s interview with Chair James Comer, slightly edited for clarity.
Matt Laslo: “What are you expecting out of it?”
James Comer: “I expect a lot of interest in it, but, again, Burchett and Luna are the ones that know more about it than I do.”
ML: “Yeah, I’ve been talking with them.”
JC: “I'm just gonna be there to learn.”
ML: “Oh, yeah?”
Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) pulls Comer, his fellow Kentuckian, away momentarily to say hello to some visiting constituents.
ML: “What happened with those witnesses? We've heard that…”
JC: “I think everything’s good. I don't know what the drama is about the witnesses, but they’re...”
ML: “A couple of the witnesses that you said didn't pass the committee's muster, and then we heard the Pentagon…”
JC: “I think they ended up coming. I think he's getting the witnesses that he wanted, Burchett.”
ML: “But the Pentagon has pulled out one that they wanted, and I guess NASA pulled out?”
JC: “I'm not, I’m really not that—I'm letting Burchett lead that.”
ML: “So you haven’t been too involved? Has your staff been kind of handling it?”
JC: “Well, we’re doing what Burchett wants. And some of these, it’s been a challenge.”
ML: “Why? Has there been pushback? Or whispers?”
JC: “Nope. No. We work with him and say ‘alright, this is the, what we've got on this witness’ and ‘is this who you want, Burchett?’ And he says ‘yes.’”
ML: “Some people are starting to say, like, ‘oh, this the House,’ you know, ‘far-right, they're gonna run wild with this conspiracy.’ What do you make of that?”
JC: “Well, I feel good knowing that Schumer's been doing some work on this too. So it's not just the far-right ‘crazies.’”
ML: “Right? Have you looked into the claims of the whistleblower, David Grusch?”
JC: “The whistleblower talking about the UFO?”
ML: “Yeah.”
JC: “No. I don’t know, I’m probably the worst person you can interview about this issue. I’m coming to learn. I know nothing about this.”
ML: “Interesting. That’s my job, I learn everyday. ‘Preciate ya.”
Matt Laslo is a veteran congressional correspondent and founder of Ask a Pol—a people-powered press corps. Find him on most social media @MattLaslo.
We’re @Ask_a_Pol or @askpols on Insta.
Ahead of UFO hearing, Chair Comer hasn’t looked into whistleblower’s claims