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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) issued a statement Wednesday saying his committee “has made available to all members of Congress information related to a serious national security threat.”
The revelation was troubling enough that the Republican representative asked President Joe Biden to “declassify all information related to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can publicly discuss actions needed to respond to this threat.”
Turner's comments initially sparked concern in the public sphere and many lawmakers attempted to allay concerns raised by the statement.
“We will work together to address this matter, as we do on all classified sensitive matters,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “But we just want to assure everyone that steady hands are behind the wheel.”
ABC News would later reveal that the threat in question related to Russia's “desire to put a nuclear weapon in space” to disable satellites.
BREAKING: A national security threat posed by House Intel Committee Chairman Mike Turner is said to represent a breakthrough in Russian space technology.
What “convenient” timing.
Fox News revealed this discovery.
“This has to do with the threat related to… pic.twitter.com/kgmFxac6La
– Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 14, 2024
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Many question the urgency of the national security threat
Many political observers seemed skeptical about Turner seeking to make Russia's “national security threat” public knowledge. Not the least of these concerns was related to timing From his advertisement.
The New York Times reported that any launch of an anti-satellite nuclear weapon by Russia “does not appear imminent, but there was a limited window of time, which they did not specify, to prevent its deployment.”
So why the extreme rush? The House of Representatives is currently considering a move to pass a $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and other foreign war efforts.
Critics were quick to notice the connection.
“I have no idea if this national security threat is real,” Jesse Kelly, a talk radio host, wrote. “What I do know is that the people telling me it's real have lied about everything as far back as I can remember.”
Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, found Turner's warning about the “national security threat” “strange.”
“The big, dramatic warning about the alleged Russian threat comes as the House of Representatives grapples with a massive funding bill for Ukraine. “I have to wonder what the agenda is here,” he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Was the threat known?” before? Why the warning at this moment?
“Amazing,” wrote Matt Walsh. “A day after the Senate approved a hugely unpopular $95 billion foreign aid package with billions of dollars for Ukraine, and a week after Putin gave one of the most-watched interviews ever with Tucker Carlson There is now a “serious national security threat” related to Russia.
Mick Mulvaney, Donald Trump's White House chief of staff, also speculated that the timing was suspicious and that Turner's ruse was to push forward funding for Ukraine.
Mulvaney said he was “absolutely shocked” by the announcement.
“There's no reason for Mike Turner to do that. If it was really serious and it was a clear and present danger, to use a legal term, you certainly wouldn't want to make it public.” “There's no reason to do that.” [statement] To declassify this.”
“That's the only thing that seems to be connected to the facts so far, which is that Mike Turner wants more money for Ukraine, and he decided to do this to scare people into voting for him,” Mulvaney continued. “This is a stunning development, if true, from the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.”
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Turner is a pro-Ukraine hawk
It is not simply a matter of the timing of the Ukraine funding bill itself. It also includes the timing of Representative Turner's recent actions and statements.
This new “national security threat” ploy, some suggest, comes as Turner visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month and assured him that “the United States stands in full support of Ukraine and is working hard” to secure the necessary funding to continue the military operation. . The war against “Russian aggression”.
The Ohio representative had promised Zelensky that military aid to Ukraine had “overwhelming support in the House of Representatives.”
Turner returned from that trip pleading his case to send more taxpayer money to Ukraine.
“We have to get this done,” he said. “This is no longer an issue of ‘When do we support Ukraine?’ If we don’t act, it will be tantamount to abandoning Ukraine.”
Imagine that, having already sent over $100 billion to a foreign country and being its largest donor, you don't want to send more Equivalent to “abandoning” them.
Carlson disemboweled Turner two years ago during a heated exchange in which the former Fox News host criticized him by suggesting the lawmaker wanted to send troops to Ukraine.
“I wonder if you could explain to them why it is in America's interest for their children to risk their lives in Ukraine,” Carlson challenged, diving head-on into the conflict.
“I know from a Ukrainian perspective it's very important, but why is it important to risk American lives to preserve Ukraine's territorial integrity when — by the way, our territorial integrity has been blatantly violated by a million foreign citizens who have come to Ukraine? The last 10 months,” Carlson added.
He concluded by saying: “I wonder why the focus is on Ukraine’s borders and not our borders.”
“Everyone is focused on our borders,” Turner responded.
“Did you invite American forces to our border?” Carlson replied.
Tucker Carlson debates a neocon congressman @RepMikeTurner Over Ukraine
Tucker: “Why focus on Ukraine’s borders and not ours?” pic.twitter.com/Ud0rP5A3OM
– Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) November 11, 2021
To our knowledge, Turner has not yet called for troops, nor issued a “national security threat” warning to try to spur funding to secure the US border.
Last June, Turner joined his fellow Democrats in voting against a measure to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for his role in promoting the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
It also initially helped stop an attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in November, before it was recently passed.
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