House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner last weekend defended his decision to raise the alarm over an intelligence report about Russia wanting to place nuclear weapons in space, NBC News reported.
Turner created a firestorm when he issued a statement saying the Intelligence Committee had invited House members to review intelligence “concerning a serious national security threat.”
In his statement, Turner called on the president to declassify the intelligence so Congress, the White House, and America’s allies could discuss openly how to “respond to this threat.”
The surprising statement sent a shockwave through the news media, with reporters grilling congressional leaders and White House officials about the details of the intelligence.
ABC News later confirmed that the intelligence had to do with Russia’s plans to put nuclear weapons in space to use against orbiting satellites.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” the following Saturday, Turner said he went public about the threat because he feared that the White House was “sleepwalking into an international crisis.”
Turner said the US had to ensure that it could “avert” a possible “international crisis” and said he called for President Biden to declassify the intelligence out of concern that the White House may have been hiding its “inaction” in the same way it did when China flew a spy balloon across the United States last year.
Following Turner’s February 14 statement, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes told reporters that while the threat was “serious” and Chairman Turner had reason to be concerned, there was no need for panic.
Himes criticized Turner’s public statement, saying while there should be a discussion about declassifying the intelligence, that discussion should not be held in public.
In his interview with “Meet the Press,” Turner said everyone who had seen the intelligence knew it was “a very serious threat,” and insisted that it was because of his statement, that the Biden administration began “to take action.”
