Who?
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) — Member, Armed Services Committee
LISTEN: Laslo & Sherrill
Ask a Pol asks:
Curious your thoughts on what Trump and the White House are saying about the New Jersey drones — or whatever — saying ‘oh, FAA approved them all.’
The New Jersey delegation had a classified briefing with [then-DHS Sec. Alejandro] Mayorkas a couple months ago and that’s not what he told y’all, right?
Key Sherrill:
“Trump has said a lot of things about the drones that don’t appear very credible to me,” Rep. Mikie Sherrill exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “They don’t comport with what was being briefed at the time.”
ICYMI — New Jersey senators say White House lying too
Caught our ear:
“…we got them on the ground after a lot of pressure that I put on different entities,” Sherrill tells us, “but it took too long.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Mikie Sherrill
SCENE: Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s walking up to the US Capitol on a phone call ahead of a vote in the US House when Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo gently approaches for a brief interview, as Capitol Police motorcycle units whiz past and as lawmaker’s cars pass through the large, creaky metallic gates in back of them.
The congresswoman ends her call.
Mikie Sherrill: “Hey!”
Matt Laslo: “Hey, how are you? Just curious what your thoughts on what Trump and the White House are saying about the New Jersey drones or whatever, saying "‘oh, FAA approved them all?’ You guys just had a classified briefing with [former DHS Sec. Alejandro] Mayorkas, and that’s not what he told the Jersey delegation, right?”
MS: “Trump has said a lot of things about the drones that don’t appear very credible to me.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MS: “They don’t comport with what was being briefed at the time.”
ML: “Yeah? So, are you guys still trying to investigate to that?”
MS: “Really, what I’ve been working on is making sure that in the future we have the capabilities to track and understand where the drones are coming from more quickly, which we got them on the ground after a lot of pressure that I put on different entities, but it took too long.”
ML: “Ahuh?”
MS: “So, making sure now that, if this happens again... I’ve already spoken to the general at the base, he’s given updates to the surrounding towns about what capabilities they have, county commissioners and the state senator. And so, just making sure in the future we’re able to better understand and protect our assets there.”
ML: “Cause there’s efforts like [Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand in the Senate and then [Sen. Jerry] Moran in the Senate, Republican, they’re both pushing measures so that we can shoot down over military bases, because there’s a disagreement on whether the Pentagon has that authority or doesn’t and they kind of want to clarify it?”
MS: “They have the authority. They just haven’t given the authority to every base.”
ML: “Yeah?”
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MS: “So…”
ML: “Interesting.”
MS: “…getting a better understanding, because it takes expertise, you don’t want a — if a drone is the size of a semi, you don’t want it shot down over a house, and so what I think needs to be understood better is, how to ensure that we not only have the capability, but we have the capability of doing it safely.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MS: “What are the rules of engagement here? Because a lot of people from my district wanted these drones shot down without really thinking about, do you really want a drone landing on your house?”
ML: “Yeah. Do you think...”
MS: “We have the most densely populated state in the nation, so it’s not like we’re going to be shooting something down over the tundra.”
ML: “Yeah? Do you feel like the Pentagon has a good grasp of it? Even what they are?”
MS: “I think the Pentagon would be the place that should get a good grasp of it. There were a lot of different entities involved when this happened that I spoke to, and there was a lot of stovepiping of who was in charge.”
ML: “Ahuh?”
MS: “So, that’s why when I put out my suggested plan, it had NORAD, because they have capabilities to track things in federal airspace. There was even misunderstandings from mayors on the ground saying, like, ‘oh, this is a state issue.’ It’s not. It’s called the FFA cause it’s federal airspace.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MS: “So, we really do need the federal response, in coordination with the states. The states obviously need to be engaged and brought into it, and they were very helpful and New Jersey law enforcement was really helpful in tracking all this, but we just need…”
Capitol Police officer on motorcycle rides past.
MS: “The thing I’m worried about now is making sure that, should this ever occur again, we have assets on the ground almost immediately. We can track track them and can tell people what’s going on.”
ML: “Yeah? Great.”
MS: “Thanks.”
ML: “You gotta get back to that call. Appreciate ya!”
Nicolae Viorel Butler contributed to this report.
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