House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) has called on President Joe Biden to declassify details of what he called a “serious national security threat.”
The statement didn’t give further details or identify the threat.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that he will brief some members of what is called the Gang of Eight regarding the threat.
This group is made up of Mr. Turner, House Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
“I reached out earlier this week to the Gang of Eight to offer myself up for a personal briefing,” Mr. Sullivan said. “And, in fact, we scheduled a briefing for the four House members of the Gang of Eight for tomorrow. That’s been on the books.”
He lamented that Mr. Turner sounded the alarm on the publicly unknown threat.
“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,” Mr. Sullivan said. “That’s his choice to do that.”
“I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time.”
He noted that the Biden 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,” and therefore, “you definitely are not going to find an unwillingness to do that when it’s in our national security interest to do so.”
When asked about it by The Epoch Times, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterated what Mr. Sullivan had said.
Mr. Johnson told reporters that he is going to “press the administration to take appropriate action.”
“Steady hands are at the wheel. We’re working on it. There’s no need for alarm,” he said.
Members will be able to view the material in a secure location in the House between Feb. 14 and Feb. 16, he said.
Mr. Turner’s note comes days after the Senate passed a $95.3 billion package that includes more than $61 billion in assistance to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, $14 billion to Israel in its war against Hamas, and $4.83 billion for Indo-Pacific partners, including Taiwan, to counter communist China’s aggression.
However, Mr. Johnson remarked on Feb. 14 that the House will not be “forced” by the Senate on its foreign assistance package that includes funding for Ukraine.
“They’re important issues on the table. We are not forced into action by the Senate, who in the latest product they sent us over does not have one word in the bill about America’s border, not one word about security,” he told reporters following the weekly House GOP conference meeting.
Indeed, the bill has attracted opposition from some conservative Republicans who say the U.S.–Mexico border should be secured before funds are given to overseas partners.
“The reason that the other one was dead on arrival is because it did not meet the moment,” Mr. Johnson said. “It would not have solved the problem.
“You can’t leave giant loopholes and codify some of the things that have gotten us into this situation.”
Therefore, he said, “What we’re doing right now is the House is working its will.”
