Jeff Van Drew

I'm here at the airport. I'm about to board my flight for San Salvador. The goal of this mission is to let the Trump administration, to let the government of El Salvador know that we are going to keep fighting to bring Albrego Garcia home. The MS-13 guy. Until he returns to his family. I hope to meet with representatives of the government.

I hope to have the chance to actually see Kilmar and see what his condition is.

We are going to keep fighting because this is a miscarriage of justice. The Supreme Court has ruled nine.

Nine to zero that he was illegally taken out of the country and put in a prison in El Salvador. And – This is about due process. This is about.

He just brazenly lies to you. Rule of law. What bullies do is they begin by picking on the most vulnerable. But if we get rid of the rule of law, due process, the United States, it's a short road from there to tyranny.

in this worst prison in El Salvador.

No comment. Okay, who lives here? Who lives here, ma'am? No comment. No comment.

Do you believe that?

is just a gross violation of basic human rights and human decency. And, you know, I asked the vice president if I came back next week whether or not I could go visit Kilmar. And the answer was no, I couldn't guarantee that. I said, look, I may be the first member of Congress here, the first senator, but I can assure you more will be coming. And you cannot continue to keep this man locked up

So here is the deal. Yes, they're giving everybody the runaround. So you're correct. It is scary at any level because if they know what's going on and they are hiding it, that's wrong. If they don't know what's going on and they are at that level of incompetence, which is very possible, that is terrible and that is frightening as well. Here's what I know.

I know that there are no commercial enterprises within the continental United States that have this capability that we know of. There are no hobbyists that have this capability that we know of. We can't imagine that the U.S. government would be flying all these drones, some of them that are the size of minibuses, in the air that we know of. We can't imagine the U.S.

government would do that and scare its people. What I do know is that I've been contacted because I'm the vice chair of the Transportation Committee, and I sit on the committee, the aviation subcommittee that deals with all this, that deals with drones, and that I have been contacted by well-placed,

high-level sources with high security clearances that do not want to tell who they are, understandably so. They're concerned, but they're also concerned that this isn't coming out, that in the port of Iran, that one of their motherships had left weeks ago. We do know that, and we know for sure that Iran does have these capabilities through China because they're dealing with them.

These high-level sources that I have believe that there's a very real, significant possibility that there is an Iranian mothership out there and that it is releasing these high-level, sophisticated drones.

Good to be with you, Dan.

So here's the deal. Yes, they're giving everybody the runaround. So you're correct. It is scary at any level because if they know what's going on and they are hiding it, that's wrong. If they don't know what's going on and they are at that level of incompetence, which is very possible, that is terrible and that is frightening as well. Here's what I know.

I know that there are no commercial enterprises within the continental United States that have this capability that we know of. There are no hobbyists that have this capability that we know of. We can't imagine that the U.S. government would be flying all these drones, some of them that are the size of minibuses, in the air that we know of. We can't imagine the U.S.

government would do that and scare its people.

What I do know is that I've been contacted because I'm the vice chair of the Transportation Committee and I sit on the committee, the aviation subcommittee that deals with all this, that deals with drones, and that I have been contacted by well-placed, high-level sources with high security clearances that do not want to tell who they are, understandably so.

They're concerned, but they're also concerned that this isn't coming out that in the port of Iran that one of their motherships had left weeks ago. We do know that, and we know for sure that Iran does have these capabilities through China because they're dealing with them.

These high-level sources that I have believe that there's a very real significant possibility that there is an Iranian mothership out there and that it is releasing these high-level sophisticated drones You know, no hobbyist is doing this. These drones have special lights on them for nighttime. They are sophisticated in how they operate, how they move, and, of course, in their size.

This needs to be detailed. We need to know more. But the very fact that there's a very real possibility that this is what it is should be of concern. I had two choices. One was to hold this information, where the other was to expose it, and I believe that it needed to be exposed, which is what I did. And you know what I say to the government? Prove me wrong. I hope they do.

I hope that it's some mishap where it's the government itself. But I can't imagine them doing that. There's no hobbyist that can do that and no commercial enterprise that would do it. So what the hell is it?

And the bottom line is with the balloon, they waited until they got all the information they needed and wanted and it was transmitted. And then we finally shoot the balloon down. Here's the deal. These drones need to be pulled down, and they should be able to evaluate what's got to be done there. If they can be shot down, I don't think there are flammable liquids on them.

I think this is probably battery operated, but they need to evaluate that. But they need to be down. They are getting information. New Jersey is in a vital area. It's along the corridor between Washington and New York City. and they shouldn't be obtaining this information.

And for God's sake, I say it over and over again, but I really want people to think about, if it is not what my high-level source says it is, then what is it? Is our government really doing to that, this to us, with no regard of how much it frightens people? Or is it somebody in the private sector that has this ability? I don't think so, but they're being allowed to do it.

And this all speaks to, Dan, this is the most important part of this. We've got to get on the stick. We are 10 years behind China with drone UA technology. We've got to be number one. We are not number one. They are way ahead of us. It's got to stop. We have to be able to deal with this, understand it, and be number one with it. We're not, and we need to move forward.

We need the FAA to be able to deal with this, get organized. Stop worrying about people's pronouns. Stop worrying about EI stuff. Stop worrying about all the nonsense. Let's focus on what we are supposed to be, the strongest, fastest, most focused military on the face of the earth. And I don't believe that sometimes we are.

They haven't at this point, other than my connections that I have here because of my involvement with the drone industry. Remember, I have a very large FAA facility technical center in my district. So I've been involved with folks for a while on this. And again, my sources who are reputable, these aren't gadflies. These aren't some people that fly drones in their backyard and have some opinion.

Highly placed. very competent, very reliable, with high security clearance, telling me this stuff. And it's stuff we should have a handle on. We should know. Obviously, we do. I believe the military is on alert, from what I hear from my sources as well, but has not shared that with Congress and has not shared it with the public. And I do believe probably our current president of the United States,

has no idea whatsoever on what's going on. I mean, I think the balloon could have smacked him in the head that was flying around last year, and he wouldn't have known. And that, Dan, for all your listeners, is of the most concern. And the reason I point it out is because we've got to turn a new leaf. We've got to stop worrying about all this nonsense that we're worrying about in America.

And all I know, this is my formula, I want America to be number one. I want us to be the strongest, fastest, most secure nation. That is what we are meant to do, and we've got to do that. And when we don't do it, we let our people down. So that's what I'm going to focus on.

And, you know, I know there will be some people, part of the establishment, that might be aggravated with me for speaking out about it, but I do what is right. I couldn't sleep at night if I didn't tell the truth of what I've heard.

Absolutely. And they went all the way down to South Jersey and even parts of Southern New Jersey. Remember, the 177th Fighter Wing, also in my district in Atlantic County, protects the Washington to New York City corridor. We're in that corridor. It is extremely important to make sure that we are secure in that corridor. So that's one reason.

Second reason, Bedminster, the home of the president-elect in the state of New Jersey, Again, in that corridor in New Jersey, extremely important, besides all the other reasons that you mentioned. And the fact, the temerity to come to the American public and state senators and state assemblymen and even U.S.

members of Congress and say, no, we don't know what it is, what's happening, what's going on. But we know you shouldn't worry. You know, that's like going to a doctor and saying, I've got a horrendous pain in my chest. I don't know what it is. And the doctor's saying, yeah, I don't know what it is either, but don't worry. Don't worry about.

They can't. I don't think they really know. And either way, if they don't know, it's gross stupidity. That's even worse. And if they do know, that level of deception is not fair.

Always appreciate you, Dan. Take care.

What did Abrego Garcia tell you? He told me about the trauma he had been experiencing, both in terms of the abduction and the fact that he was originally sent to Seacott, which is this notorious prison. He told me how much he missed his wife and his kids.

He specifically mentioned his five-year-old boy who has autism because that boy had been in the car with him when US agents had stopped them and handcuffed him. Whose fault was that? And then taken him away. So he described all that and he told me that he had moved recently to a new prison facility. So those are some of the highlights.

My heart goes out to the Moran family. Oh, shut up. They suffered, experienced an unspeakable tragedy in the murder of their daughter. And I said at the time that my heart goes out to the Moran family. My view is you can crack down and hold guilty people accountable. and also respect the due process rights of everybody who is in court.

And I'm not sure why Abrego Garcia's rights should be denied based on an awful murder that he had absolutely nothing to do with.

No evidence linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any terrorist activity has been presented to the court. That's where to litigate this. That's been it's been litigated in many other places. So I'm not going to get into the details because the whole purpose of our court system is for them to adjudicate these things, not for Donald Trump to go off on social media.

I didn't ask him that because I know what his answer is.

We're not being told the truth. They are dealing with the American public like we're stupid. They don't know what it is. They don't know what it's about. They haven't taken one down to analyze it. They have no idea where it comes from, but they know that it's not that. I mean, that's nonsense. They do not know what they're doing.

Why don't they take one of them down, analyze it, and let us know what's really happening?