Who?
Rep. William Timmons (R-SC) — Oversight Committee; JAG Officer; Captain in South Carolina Air National Guard
LISTEN: Laslo & Timmons
Ask a Pol asks:
What did you make of responses — and non-responses — to your questions in the public House Oversight UAP hearing on Nov. 13th?
Key Timmons:
“I do think that the government is trying to assess whether it's China or non-human. I think that's really the underlying question,” Rep. Timmons exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “They have advancements that we don't have, which is not good. But if it's non-human, then, well, we don't know why they're here. So, you know, both of those deserve additional resources to figure out the answer to.”
ICYMI — Chair Mace comments on Nov. 13 hearing: “we need more whistleblowers”
Do you worry about SAPs — Special Access Programs — hidden from Congress?
“I actually don't care about that at all. I get it, some people want information. There's a lot of information that government has my colleagues should not have, I shouldn’t have. You know, I am one of five members of Congress still in the Air Force. So, I mean, you know, there's information that Congress might eventually get, but also might never get,” Timmons says. “Absolutely not. You know, these people can't go through a meeting without tweeting about it. We're gonna give them, like, highly classified information? No!”
Caught our ear:
“This is next level,” Timmons tells us. “This isn't like 10 years ahead of where we are. This is like 50 or 100 years ahead of where we are.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. William Timmons
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo greets Rep. William Timmons in the hall outside the Nov. 13th hearing (while Laslo’s still listening to Timmons questions on C-SPAN in his earbud).
Matt Laslo: “Hey, how are you? I think I was just listening to you on C-SPAN.”
William Timmons: “Yeah, what's up?”
ML: “You were just questioning them on the UAP hearing?”
WT: “I was, yeah.”
ML: “What did you think of their responses? Or how frustrating is it to not…?”
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WT: “So it's actually — here's the thing. I do think that the government is trying to assess whether it's China or non-human. I think that's really the underlying question. Cause if it's China, it's bad because they have technology that we don't understand. And they're...”
ML: “Yeah?”
WT: “They have advancements that we don't have, which is not good. But if it's non-human, then, well, we don't know why they're here. So, you know, both of those deserve additional resources to figure out the answer to.”
ML: “And that's like — the way you're framing it is kinda simple; not simplistic but simple. Do you think that's an easy case to make to the incoming Trump administration? Like, hey...”
WT: “Yeah, I mean, it doesn't take — this is not an Elon Musk task. This is a task that can be assigned to a lot of people. But, you know, this is the thing: the patterns in sightings can easily be predicted, and I actually think there's a coordination between — a correlation between military training, military activities in the US and these sightings. So it would not be difficult to figure out if it's China because if it is indeed China, they're using their technology to assess our military capacity, and we can create the systems through which they would then respond, and we'll be like, ‘Okay, it's China.’ Or maybe they don't take the bait and then it's not China — or it might not be China.”
ML: “Have you entertained any idea of military contractors? Do you feel like that part of it?”
They enter an elevator.
WT: “Yeah, I mean, that's definitely a variable because we have a lot of — we spend a lot of money to allow the private sector to develop technologies because we don't have the expertise. So, absolutely. But, again, this is next level. I mean, this isn't like 10 years ahead of where we are. This is like 50 or 100 years ahead of where we are. And, you know, we've all seen — I mean, six years ago, I remember seeing what the world then saw on 60 Minutes, like a year or two later. And, I mean, look, I got my private pilot’s license, I understand physics, I understand propulsion. I'm not Elon Musk, again, but I have a pretty good grasp of that. We have nothing that can do what I've seen. So if you have no existing technology, either the Chinese are kicking our ass or it's something else. Either way, we need to know, because if the answer is brought to us, it might be too late.”
ML: “Yeah? And how worried are you just the idea of SAPs [Special Access Programs] hidden from Congress? Like the Constitution gives you guys the power...”
WT: “I actually don't care about that at all.”
ML: “Interesting.”
WT: “Yeah, I mean, you know, I get it, some people want information. There's a lot of information that government has my colleagues should not have. I shouldn’t have. You know, I am one of five members of Congress still in the Air Force. So, I mean, you know, there's information that Congress might eventually get, but also might never get. And we have systems in place, checks and balances, and then you go to the — you know, I mean, the example I use is — you know, if the intelligence community has an asset in a foreign government, should we know that? F— no!”
ML: “Right? Amen.”
WT: “Absolutely not. You know, these people can't go through a meeting without tweeting about it.”
ML: “Right?”
WT: “We're gonna give them, like, highly classified information?”
ML: “Yeah?”
WT: “No.”
ML: “Yeah?”
WT: “So, no, that doesn't bother me at all. But, I mean, there is a role for that because we are responsible to our constituents. And when Langley Air Force Base has 19 days of consistent UAP activity, I have to answer questions to my constituents. And that's where the interplay becomes a little more complicated.”
Laslo speaks off mic about the then-upcoming Senate hearing with AARO investigating UAPs.
WT: “So, I have to be very careful, because I have two hats I wear. But, yeah, there's a lot of incidents. Some publicly reported, some not. But, I mean, you know, this isn't the first time that UAPs have been over military installations, and it seems that they are becoming increasingly brash, and I think we're doing that to show the US military, to show the American people that, ‘Don't mess with us,’ because we can do things that you can't do.”
ML: “And that's where [Sen. Tim] Kaine was pushing, I think, the head of North and Southcom, because he's like, we don't have rules of engagement for doing these things.”
WT: “There's no authorities. There's no authorities. That's one of the things I said. I said, we've got to get authorities for law enforcement, we've got authorities for military. We have to get — they don't know what to do. Like, if your base commander at Langley, like, everything that they have is an SOP [Standard Operating Procedures] for what you're supposed to do. There's none for this. We've gotta get to this.”
ML: “Preciate you. Have a good one, sir.”
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