A conservative lawmaker demanded Thursday that House Speaker Mike Johnson open an inquiry into House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Mike Turner‘s revelation of a classified national security threat.
Rep. Andy Ogles, Tennessee Republican, urged the speaker to open a probe into the impact of Mr. Turner‘s call for President Biden to go public with a national security threat that caught lawmakers and the White House by surprise on Wednesday.
Several sources familiar with the issue have said it pertains to Russia’s efforts to put a nuclear weapon into space.
The lawmaker accused Mr. Turner of having a “reckless disregard” for the reverberations his move could have on geopolitics, domestic and foreign markets, and the public response to the revelation of a so-called “serious national security threat.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is with great reticence that I formally request an inquiry as to any impact the chairman’s statements may have had on U.S. foreign and domestic policy,” Mr. Ogles wrote.
He also said Mr. Turner‘s post is “under your direct purview, [and] should the Chairman retain his post, you have a duty and an obligation to reassure this body and the American people that the processes of the Intelligence Committee have not been corrupted by the very institutions they are charged with monitoring.”
Following Mr. Turner‘s revelation, the speaker sought to temper public fervor by claiming that the national security threat was of no cause for public alarm.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan would not say whether the public should be worried, but noted that the lawmaker’s reveal came on the eve of a planned closed-door meeting with the so-called Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group of high-ranking senators and House members who can be briefed on sensitive intelligence matters.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, is set to meet with Mr. Sullivan, along with Mr. Turner, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes, Connecticut Democrat, to discuss the threat on Thursday.
Mr. Turner‘s statement came amid heated debate on reauthorizing the government’s spying powers, and after Mr. Johnson has refused to bring the Senate’s $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to the floor for a vote.
Mr. Ogles suggested that his colleague’s move was meant to bolster passage of Ukraine aid and reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which has been mired in an ongoing dispute between warring House panels on how to best deal with concerns about Americans’ privacy.
“In hindsight, it has become clear that the intent was not to ensure the safety of our homeland and the American people, but rather to ensure additional funding for Ukraine and passage of an unreformed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” Mr. Ogles said. “This act constituted poor judgment at a minimum and a complete breach of trust influenced by the pursuit of a political agenda at a maximum.”
Mr. Turner has said the threat was so urgent that all lawmakers and the public, and U.S. allies, should be told about it.