The U.S. has intelligence of a serious national and international security threat involving Russian nuclear capabilities in space that could endanger satellites and U.S. military communications.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner called for the declassification of this threat, emphasizing the need for a response.
“The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said. “I am requesting that President 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 threat, although not immediate, is being taken seriously by Congressional committees and the White House, with discussions on declassifying the intelligence ongoing.
House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote to the White House “requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a serious national security issue that is classified.”
“In response to that letter, a meeting is now scheduled tomorrow on this matter here at the Capitol with the Gang of Four and with the president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan,” Johnson said. “I will press the administration to take appropriate action, and everybody can be comforted by that.”
Johnson added that he “saw Chairman Turner’s statement on the issue, and I want to assure the American people there’s no need for public alarm.”
“We are going to work together to address this matter as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,” Johnson said. “And beyond that, I’m not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much of that, but we just want to assure everyone, steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it. There’s no need for alarm.”
“We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,” Mark Warner and Marco Rubio said. “In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.”
The White House is prioritizing the protection of intelligence sources and methods while engaging in conversations with Congress to address the issue.
“I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow. That’s his choice to do that,” Jake Sullivan said.
“All I can tell you is that I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him, as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow, and I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time, other than to make the broad point that this administration has gone further, and in more creative, more strategic ways, dealt with the declassification of intelligence in the national interest of the United States than any administration in history,” he said.
“You definitely are not going to find an unwillingness to do that when it’s in our national security interest to do so.”
“Ultimately, these are decisions for the president to make, but in the meantime, the most important thing is we have the opportunity to sit in a classified setting and have the kind of conversation with the House Intelligence leadership that I, in fact, had scheduled before Congressman Turner went out today,” Sullivan said.
“It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that,” he said.
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