Four Groups Call for Rep. Turner’s Removal Following Vague National Threat Warning

Four groups are urging House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner to resign due to his vague warning about a “serious national threat,” which led other lawmakers to downplay the urgency of the situation.

“The near-panic you caused by exploiting this potential future threat for immediate political gain is beneath a Member of Congress, and in particular the committee you currently lead, which was formed to rein in — not be a mouthpiece for — warrantless domestic spying.

“This week is the culmination of months of bad-faith tactics that collectively demonstrate you should not continue as Chairman,” the groups said in a letter to Turner.

They argued his actions “undermined your credibility, your committee, and national security.”

The letter was signed by Adam Brandon, the president of FreedomWorks, Jason Pye, the director for rule of law initiatives at the Due Process Institute, Sean Vitka, the policy director for Demand Progress, and Alex Marthews, the national chair for Restore the Fourth, signed the letter, according to Politico.

Turner, R-Ohio, earlier this week publicly requested that President Joe Biden “declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.”

The intelligence was related to Russian capabilities in space, according to media reports.

FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group. The Due Process Institute is a bipartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to fairness and rule of law in the criminal justice system.

Demand Progress is an internet activist-related 501(c)4 entity, with 501(c)3 sponsorship from the Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund specializing in online-intensive and other grassroots activism to support Internet freedom, civil liberties, transparency, and human rights, and in opposition to censorship and corruption.

Restore the Fourth is a nonpartisan, nonviolent advocacy and protest movement demanding an end to the United States’ unconstitutional surveillance methods.