Congressman Turner Advised Biden Administration Prior to Security Alert

February 15, 2024 TruthUSA

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said he consulted with the Biden administration before issuing a warning Wednesday of a serious threat to national security.

But the White House said Thursday it did not issue a green light for Turner to go public with the warning, which the White House said was related to Russia’s capability to use nuclear weapons against U.S. satellites.

Turner faced criticism for the warning, with Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., calling it “reckless” and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., saying it was “suspicious.” Both claimed the warning was only to provoke lawmakers to favor foreign aid to Ukraine, and Ogles alleged another ulterior motive was to gain backing for “passage of an unreformed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”

“The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence worked in consultation with the Biden Administration to notify Congress of this national security threat,” Turner said Thursday in a statement on his committee’s website. “In addition, language in the bipartisan notification issued by the Chair and Ranking Member to all Members of the House was cleared by the Administration prior to its release.”

Turner said the committee voted 23-1 to “make this information available to Members of Congress.” He said White House officials confirmed that, in their view, the matter was “serious.” He did not say who was the only no vote.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday during a press briefing that Turner’s warning was “regrettable.”

“If there’s a presumption here that somehow the administration gave a green light for this information to get public yesterday, that is false,” Kirby said. “That is not true. That did not happen.

“We were eventually going to get to a point where we were going to be able to share it with the American people. And we still will as appropriate. … We will keep you as informed as we can. Now is not that time for us to go into any more detail.”

Kirby did say Russia’s capability has not been deployed and “though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety.”

Turner on Wednesday called on the Biden administration to declassify all information relating to the threat “so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.”

But Kirby said, “The intelligence community has serious concerns about a broad declassification of this intelligence.” He added private engagement would be a more productive approach.