Who?
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — Armed Services and Intelligence Committees
LISTEN: Laslo & Kelly uncut
Ask a Pol asks:
Was curious on your thoughts on what the White House said about the ‘drones’ yesterday, that the FAA knew all along what was freaking the public, local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, local officials, members of Congress and military leaders out?
Key Kelly:
“That's what the last White House said,” Sen. Mark Kelly exclusively told Ask a Pol. “They're drones. You know how many drones are, like, bought on Amazon every year?”
So that's just what's flying over Arizona’s Luke Air Force Base?
“Well, you know, some of that stuff could be adversaries,” Kelly says.
“You know, when I was stationed down at Pax River*, right? — test center — we used to have, like, the North Koreans, you know, on the fence,” the former astronaut* recalled to Ask a Pol.
*Pax River, according to Britannica:
Both brothers graduated from the US Navy Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1994. That year Mark also received a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California…
US Navy Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland
* BONUS *
FREE LIFETIME SUB:
If you were the one who 4-starred the Integrated Battleship Simulation and Test Department, we got your beers tonight.
Lifetime Ask a Pol subscription to true patriots like you. Please reach out. Cheers!
Yeah?
“So, how do you get better video of something? You can get better video from a drone over the field than you can by standing at the fence of a military base,” Kelly said. “So, you know, some of this is irresponsible hobbyists.”
Yeah?
“You know, I think, there is an aspect of this, it's our adversaries. It just makes sense that they would do this,” Kelly told Ask a Pol. “The stuff over New Jersey? It's just — it’s drones.”
REPLAY:
Kelly questioned Joint Chiefs of Staff chair about “consistent incursions around sensitive government facilities”
US Senate Armed Services Committee, April 2024
Caught our ear:
“We don't,” Sen. Kelly told us. “Because we don't.”
ICYMI — many senators disagree with Kelly…
Sen. Kaine: Trump’s answer on NJ UAPs "definitely not the case" for Langley incursions (No paywall)
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Mark Kelly
SCENE: Sen. Kelly’s making his way through the basement of the Capitol when Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo grabs his attention, before hopping a ride on his elevator up to the Senate chamber.
Matt Laslo: “I was curious on your thoughts on what the White House said about the drones yesterday — that it's all FAA (approved…).”
Mark Kelly: “Well, I think that's what the last White House (said) — it's not all FAA, it's just, they're drones. You know how many drones are, like, bought on Amazon every year?”
ML: “So that's just what's flying over Luke Air Force Base?”
MK: “Well, you know, some of that stuff could be adversaries...”
ML: “Yeah?”
Unlimited: FREE VIP Ask a Pol subscriptions available.
*Student? Lost your gig? Hard times? Been there. Got you.
No questions asked. Just ping us.
MK: “You know, when I was stationed down at Pax River, right? — test center — we used to have, like, the North Koreans, you know, on the fence.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “So, how do you get better video of something? You can get better video from a drone over the field than you can by standing at the fence of a military base. So, you know, some of this is irresponsible hobbyists.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “You know, I think, there is an aspect of this, it's our adversaries — it just makes sense that they would do this.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “The stuff over New Jersey? It's just — it’s drones. You know, it's not, uh...”
ML: “But it's just FAA — so FAA’s proved all these? You believe...”
MK: “Well, I think some of them are — like, what the White House said yesterday about this, I saw some of it.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “That makes sense to me. You know the big giant drone? You know what that was? It was a V-22 Osprey, which is a vertical takeoff and landing military logistics airplane that the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps fly.”
ML: “Because it's interesting, what shut down Langley for those...”
MK: “Yes...”
ML: “…for those — 16-17 day period.”
MK: “Well, that becomes a problem when you have, you know, an adversary that's trying to collect intelligence flying over an air base. You could have airplanes crash into those, into those drones, or, you know, somebody who lives in the area who's flying their hobby drone and they either lose control over it or they decide, oh, ‘I'm going to go take a look and see what's on the air base.’ These, these are, they're big problems. That's why I've got legislation on this with Chuck Grassley about flying over military installations. If you're a hobbyist, that's not allowed.”
INSANE SALE: VIP subscriptions available for pennies
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “And there's penalties.”
ML: “Because [Sen. Tim] Kaine and [Intel Committee Vice-chair Mark] Warner just had a classified briefing a couple — a month or so ago — and both of them are furious, saying, after a year, no one in the government knew what was flying over Langley.”
MK: “Well, we don't, because we don't.”
ML: “But that doesn't mesh with what the White House said yesterday.”
MK: “No, I I think the White House was talking about what was going on in New Jersey.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “Unless I missed the whole point. I only saw that brief portion. I think they were talking about...”
ML: “They said, ‘Jersey,’ yes.”
MK: “Yes.”
ML: “But the Jersey delegation was asking — I mean, we're seeing these incursions, Gillibrand saw them — or heard complaints about it in Nevada when she was on a classified briefing at the start of last year.”
MK: “Yeah, and I think some of this could be adversaries.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “And some of it could be, could be hobbyists. I'd say for the most part — probably most of them — are people that are operating their drones under FAA rules or they're military airplanes. Or they're just civilian airplanes that people are suddenly thinking, ‘oh, there's this whole thing about drones — that must be a drone.’”
ML: “Yeah?”
MK: “So.”
ML: “Thank you.”
Kelly heads towards the Senate chamber where another reporter tries to grab him for an interview.
Other reporter: “Can I ask you a question* about that [Tulsi] Gabbard hearing…”
Nicolae Viorel Butler contributed to this report.
*Press corps PSA:
Don’t ask to ask a question. Be human. Just ask your question. — Prof. Laslo
Content posted at AskaPoluaps.com is copyrighted. Use our original content to move the story forward. And, please, link to us.
Share this post