Obama adviser John Podesta's biggest regret: Failure to break UFO secrecy

© AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File

John Podesta

Outgoing senior Obama adviser John Podesta reflected on his latest White House stint Friday, listing his favorite moments and biggest regrets from the past year. Chief among them: depriving the American people of the truth about UFOs.

Podesta's longtime fascination with UFOs is well-documented, as his brief political hiatus following four years as President Bill Clinton's chief of staff freed him up to pursue his otherworldly passion.

At a 2002 press conference organized by the Coalition for Freedom of Information, Podesta spoke on the importance of disclosing government UFO investigations to the public.

"It's time to find out what the truth really is that's out there," he said. "We ought to do it, really, because it's right. We ought to do it, quite frankly, because the American people can handle the truth. And we ought to do it because it's the law."

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Following Podesta's tweet, Friday, the recalled an exchange one of its reporters had with Podesta in 2007. Karen Tumulty had asked Podesta about reports that the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, had been bombarded with Freedom of Information Act Requests specifically seeking email correspondence to and from the former chief of staff including terms like "X-Files" and "Area 51." Podesta's response, through a spokesperson, was "The truth is out there," the tagline for the TV show of which Podesta was known to be a fan.

A 2010 editorial in Missouri's disparaged reports that Podesta had asked an outspoken UFO photographer to stop discussing his knowledge of extraterrestrial activities in public.

"One wonders why Podesta would do such a radical reversal, given his former plea for UFO disclosure," the editorial implored.

But contrary to the 's concerns, Podesta had clearly not abandoned the cause. He wrote an introduction to the 2010 book

Unfortunately, Podesta will likely have little time to fill out FOIA requests in his new job at Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Perhaps, as his tweet suggests, he's passing the torch to columnist Maureen Dowd.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

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