Matt Laslo

Capitol Hill reporter whose Ask a Pol hallway interviews put lawmakers on the record about UAP legislation, briefings and hearings.

Current role: Founder and chief correspondent, Ask a Pol, including the Ask a Pol UAP newsletter; Capitol Hill reporter; adjunct journalism professor in Washington, D.C.

Former roles:

Congressional reporter for WIRED, VICE News, Rolling Stone, Playboy, The Daily Beast and NPR member stations

@MattLaslo on X

Background

Matt Laslo has covered Congress since 2006 for WIRED, VICE News, Rolling Stone, Playboy, The Daily Beast and NPR member stations, and has taught journalism in Washington since 2016. He founded Ask a Pol, a reader-funded newsletter that puts subscribers' questions to members of Congress in Capitol hallways, with a dedicated UAP edition. Because he records lawmakers in their own words, his UAP items are a frequent Tier 2 source for this site, and many of the on-record quotes on the Key People pages for members of Congress come from his interviews. The about page describes the format.

On the record

2026-09-22 – Ask a Pol UAP, Ep. 489 – Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of House Oversight, on the future of UAP oversight: "I think we're not going to make any decisions until we know what happens after November." – Ask a Pol
2026-02-25 – Ask a Pol UAP – Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Task Force chair: "I've been actively communicating now with the teams that are running point on that, so whether it's ODNI, FBI, Pentagon or the White House on that." – Ask a Pol
2025-10-23 – Ask a Pol UAP, Ep. 415 – asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "Sir, did your UAP Disclosure Act get gutted again?" and "Do you know who in the House keeps targeting your measure?" Schumer did not answer and entered an elevator. – Ask a Pol
2025-07-30 – Ask a Pol UAP – Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said she was "Working on legislation with [Senate Intelligence Committee] Chairman [Tom] Cotton on giving more authority to take them down", referring to UAP over military sites. – Ask a Pol, 2025-08-06
2025-07-16 – Ask a Pol UAP – Rep. Luna said several whistleblowers approached to testify in a SCIF had declined, citing fear of being the only witness, safety and clearances. – Ask a Pol
2025-05-15 – Ask a Pol UAP – Rep. Eric Burlison said members had been briefed by the FBI's UAP team: "They said they've actually — these guys, some different people on the team have actually seen objects". – Ask a Pol
2025-02-11 – Ask a Pol UAP – after the Task Force announcement, Luna said "We're doing USOs and UAPs" and spoke of "looking into what we can get declassified from the Pentagon, if there is anything." – Ask a Pol, 2025-02-12
2023-06-13 – WIRED – "UFO Whistleblower, Meet a Conspiracy-Loving Congress", on how Grusch's claims would land on Capitol Hill and on the classified briefings that followed the February 2023 balloon shoot-downs. – Black Vault podcast discussing his reporting, 2023-07-25

Timeline of involvement

2006 – begins covering Congress
2023-06-13 – WIRED piece on Grusch and Congress
2023-07-25 – previews the House UAP hearing on the Black Vault podcast
2025-02-11 – first Ask a Pol interview with Luna on the new Task Force
2025-10-23 – Schumer elevator exchange on the UAPDA
2026-09-22 – Garcia interview on post-midterm UAP oversight

Relevant links

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-10-10. Spotted an error? Reach out.