House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) on Thursday defended his decision to release a public statement calling for the Biden administration to “declassify all information” related to a threat from a hostile foreign power.
The statement from Turner generated shockwaves through the media on Wednesday for several hours as little was known about the threat.
“The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence worked in consultation with the Biden Administration to notify Congress of this national security threat,” Turner said in the statement on Thursday. “In addition, language in the bipartisan notification issued by the Chair and Ranking Member to all Members of the House was cleared by the Administration prior to its release.”
The statement said that the House Intelligence Committee had voted 23 to 1 to make this information available to members of Congress and that the Biden administration had confirmed that they believed the threat was “serious.”
Reports surfaced on Wednesday evening saying that the weapon that the Russian Military is working on, which has not yet been fully developed, is a nuclear weapon designed to be deployed in space with the intention of wiping out entire Western satellite networks and knocking out communications and military targeting systems.
ABC News reported that the nuclear weapon would not be deployed against targets on Earth and is only designed to target satellites in space.
A source familiar with the intelligence told the network that the development was “very concerning and very sensitive” and was a “big deal.”
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The New York Times reported that the weapon was still being developed and had not yet been deployed into space. The information is so sensitive that “it could not be declassified without cutting off its source,” the report said.
Members of Congress who saw the intelligence told various publications that the threat was extremely serious, but it was not something that the U.S. public should be worried about at the moment.
“We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Wednesday afternoon. “But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel.”