AARO records on attempts to engage with Grusch (FOIA 24-F-0266)

accordance with
the law,
and
the tone
of
the
interview would
be
friendly
and
non-
confrontational,
as are all
AARO interviews.
F.
On
October
6
th
, 2023, AARO
staff
conducted
a
secure
call
and interview
with Interviewee
(b)(6)
land
asked
that
he
also encourage Mr. Grusch
to
agree
to
a
secure interview
so
that Mr.
Grusch's
cl.
is
ii
ight
be
introduced into
the
U.S. Government
record in support
of
the
HRR.
6
b)()
Interviewee
( s
known
to
be
a
close associate
of
Mr. Grusch.
G.
During
the
previous several months, Director, AARO, asked
a
PSM
with the U.S.
Senate
Committee on Armed Services
to encourage Mr. Grusch to provide information
to
AARO duringan official interview.
H.
On November
10
th
,
2023,
Mr. Grusch contacted AARO, at the
urging
of
Congressional
StaffMembers, and agreed to be
interviewed
in
Arlington,
VA
on
November
14
1
h,
2024. AARO
provided Mr.
Grusch
with
a
memorandum from
the
Director
of
Special Access Programs,
Department
of
Defense that made
it
clear AARO is authorized to receive compartmented
information (Enclosure
1).
Mr. Grusch was also told that AARO would obtain a similar
memorandum
from the Director, Controlled Access Programs Office, Office
of
the
Director
ofNational Intelligence.
I.
On November 14
th
,
2023,
Mr. Grusch failed to show
at the
agreed
upon location and time
for
an interview with AARO. Upon contacting Mr. Grusch,
he
stated that he is not convinced that
AARO
is
authorized
to receive varying levels of
classified and sensitive information.
J.
On
November
19
th
, 2023, AARO, again contacted Mr. Grusch via email and stated,
"We
invite
you to speak to AARO regarding any
U.S. government programs
or
activities related to
unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) dating back
to 1945.
In
accordance with the James
M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal
Year 2023, AARO
is
authorized to
receive any information related to UAP regardless
of
classification, and notwithstanding any
nondisclosure agreement you may
have signed. We would be glad
to
meet with you
in
a
SCIF
sothat you
could share information with us." This specific invitation was coordinated with the
Office
of
General Counsel, Department
of
Defense. Mr. Grusch, again, declined the invitation
despite previously agreeing to an interview. And, again, Mr. Grusch cited various security
concerns that AARO is authorized to receive information
of
any classification level regarding
UAP.
K.
On January
8th,
2024, AARO provided Mr. Grusch with a memorandum from the Director,
Controlled Access Programs Office, Office
of
the Director
of
National Intelligence that states
AARO is
authorized to receive information which
is subject to a U.S. Government
Nondisclosure Agreement (Enclosure 2). AARO also informed Mr. Grusch that there is a
standing invitation to
be interviewed by AARO regarding his claims
of
UAP and U.S.
Government activity and events.
3. During interactions between AARO and Mr. Grusch from November 2023 to January 2024, it
became evident that Mr. Grusch had no intention of providing AARO with information regarding
his claims. This assessment stands despite the NDAA for FY 2023 and the enclosed
memorandums from the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National