Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) slammed the Pentagon on the eve of a UFO-focused hearing slated to be held by a House Oversight subcommittee on Wednesday.
Fox News’s Martha MacCallum asked Burchett what people should expect from the hearing, where three witnesses will address the Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs. MacCallum also showed footage of the so-called “Tic Tac” videos that were released by the Department of Defense of suspected unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).
“So this — the Tic Tac videos, which you showed earlier ... The military denied that that even existed, and then it was put out and they said they were fakes and then they eventually came around," Burchett said.
“The Pentagon is coming around because they smell dollars, man, the war pimps at the Pentagon, all they want to do is drain more dollars from us,” he continued. “We don't need any more dollars. All we need is transparency. That's the job of you all in the media and us in Congress.”
When reached for comment, Burchett doubled down on his criticism of the Pentagon to The Hill.
“You hear me talk about them all the time,” he said. “The industrial war complex always wants to hit a lick so they can go fail another audit or misplace the money. The Pentagon loses over a billion dollars a year. We can’t have that.”
During the hearing, titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency,” lawmakers are expected to hear from three witnesses: David Grusch, the whistleblower who has accused the government of withholding information related to UFOs, Ryan Graves, the executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace, and Rt. Commander David Fravor, the former commanding officer of the Navy’s Black Aces Squadron.
Frustrated lawmakers have been demanding more information on UFOs and UAPs after Grusch claimed that the government is holding some back.
Burchett, who has been a leading voice on getting more information on UFOs, said Tuesday that members have spoken to pilots who destroyed evidence in connection to the UAPs.
“We need to turn loose the files, and we need to quit with all the nonsense,” he said. “This is ridiculous. We have Mr. Grusch is a — he's a combat veteran and apparently he's decorated. You know up here in Washington that doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot obviously, but in Tennessee it sure as heck does. We value our veterans and we value their opinion.”