Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said over the weekend that he was &#8220;very concerned&#8221; for the safety of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after President Donald Trump decided to pull his protective security detail despite threats that he faces from Iran.
Turner made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan when asked if he would encourage Trump reconsider pulling the protective security details off of officials who served during his first term in office who face serious threats from Iran.
&#8220;Well, obviously, I&#8217;m very concerned for Mike Pompeo,&#8221; Turner said.
Turner said at a different point during the interview that when he was the chairman of the committee that he focused on national security, specifically &#8220;state actors and non-state actors&#8221; who were looking to harm the U.S.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) says he&#8217;s &#8220;very concerned for Mike Pompeo,&#8221; President Trump&#8217;s former secretary of state, after Trump pulled his Secret Service detail while Pompeo is facing active threats from Iran. <a href="https://t.co/5qBKzh3qyr">pic.twitter.com/5qBKzh3qyr</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1883561496762073439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, also urged Trump over the weekend to reconsider his decision.
&#8220;I would encourage the president to revisit the decision for those people who are being targeted by Iran,&#8221; Cotton <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cotton-urges-trump-to-revisit-his-decision-to-pull-protective-details-off-people-targeted-by-iran">told Fox News</a>, noting that even Trump has been a target for Iranian assassination over the last few years in retaliation for the killing of Iranian terrorist commander Qasem Soleimani.
&#8220;As the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, I&#8217;ve reviewed the intelligence in the last few days, the threat to anyone involved in President Trump&#8217;s strike on Qasem Soleimani is persistent,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s real. Iran is committed to vengeance against all of these people.&#8221;
&#8220;In fact, the chief of staff of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence agreed with me that if these threats were against him or his family that he would want security because the threats are real,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;There are gaps in our coverage. We don&#8217;t know what we don&#8217;t know, and it&#8217;s better to be safe than sorry, because it&#8217;s not just about these men who helped President Trump carry on his policy in his first term.&#8221;
Cotton said that the protective details also protect other innocent people who could get caught up in any kind of assassination attempts, including random bystanders in public spaces.
&#8220;It&#8217;s also about the President being able to get good people and get good advice,&#8221; Cotton said. &#8220;If people are saying going to work for the president now on Iran or China or North Korea or the Mexican drug cartels, they might hesitate to do so, or they might hesitate if they&#8217;re in office, to give him the advice he needs or carry out the policies that he decides upon.&#8221;

Biden Impeachment Resolution

Former House Intel Chairman Mike Turner: ‘I’m Very Concerned For Pompeo’ After Protection Pulled

Iran

Mike Pompeo

Mike Turner

House Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) removed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) from his role on Wednesday just several days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Johnson told reporters that he made the decision because it was a new Congress and Republicans needed some &#8220;fresh horses in some of these places, but I&#8217;m a Mike Turner fan.&#8221;
&#8220;He&#8217;s done a great job. He performed valiantly in a difficult time under difficult circumstances,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;So I have nothing but positive things to say about my friend.&#8221;
When asked if Trump had any role in the decision, Johnson said that it was not Trump&#8217;s decision, it was his.
&#8220;This is a House decision. This is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He did a great job, but we just, the intelligence community and everything related to HPSCI, it needs a fresh start and that&#8217;s what this is about, nothing else. So I have nothing negative say about Mike Turner at all. He&#8217;s a good man, a good colleague. I respect his work.&#8221;
He added that Turner would continue to be his appointee for everything involving NATO.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Speaker Johnson on removing Mike Turner as intel chair: “This is not a President Trump decision. This is a House decision, and this is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman. He did a great job.” <a href="https://t.co/lFparUcxnA">pic.twitter.com/lFparUcxnA</a>
— Kit Maher (@KitMaherCNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/KitMaherCNN/status/1879680588313219487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
Turner released a statement following the announcement in which he said that he was &#8220;very proud to have served on the House Intelligence Committee and as its chairman.&#8221;
&#8220;There are great members on the Committee, and I’m honored to have served with them,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus of national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations.&#8221;
&#8220;As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have been and will continue to be a strong advocate for the military and our national defense,&#8221; he added. &#8220;My work to expand missions and capabilities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base continues. Furthermore, I look forward to welcoming the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Dayton in the coming months.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’m very proud to have served on the House Intelligence Committee and as its chairman. There are great members on the Committee, and I’m honored to have served with them.
Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus…
— US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMikeTurner/status/1879688962375082481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2025</a></blockquote>

House Intelligence Committee Hears Testimony On The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment

Speaker Johnson Removes Mike Turner As House Intel Committee Chairman

Congress

Mike Johnson

National Intelligence

Politics

House Intelligence Committee Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Turner</a> (R-OH) said over the weekend that President Joe Biden has imposed no consequences on China after the communist nation carried out the largest hack ever on U.S. infrastructure when it breached U.S. telecommunications carriers and spied on Americans.
Turner made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan.
&#8220;You know, one thing that&#8217;s very disappointing and we&#8217;ve seen from this administration, this malaise or this stasis of where they&#8217;re unable to move as a result of the president unable to make a decision,&#8221; he said.
He continued, &#8220;Here, we have this massive breach, this hack that has occurred from China, but we&#8217;re hearing nothing from the president himself, no action from this administration as to what their – what consequences there will be.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not – doesn&#8217;t need just a technological fix,&#8221; he added. &#8220;This needs also a diplomatic fix, a nation-to-nation consequences to China.&#8221;
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&#8220;In the Obama administration, China hacked the personnel management system of the U.S. government, and there were no consequences. And now we&#8217;re seeing China hack the entire system of the nation,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;There needs to be consequences. They can be economic. They can be in a number of ways.&#8221;
He said that there were &#8220;zero&#8221; consequences from Biden and that there was &#8220;nothing coming out of the administration.&#8221;
&#8220;China is our most – gravest threat,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;How do we address the fact that China is aggressively attacking the United States? And they&#8217;re doing that in our telecom.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rep. Mike Turner says President Assad&#039;s fall in Syria &quot;is a blow to Iran, a blow to Russia&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a53Sh0pGDi0?start=370&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

House Intel Chairman: Biden Has Imposed No ‘Consequences’ On China For Telecom Hack

Communist China

Global Politics

Hacked

House Intelligence Committee Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Turner</a> (R-OH) said over the weekend that President Joe Biden failed again with the recent collapse of Syria because there was an opportunity to coordinate with the Turkish government and resolve a situation with the Kurds.
Turner made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; when asked about the stunning collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has fled to Russia.
&#8220;You know, one of the things that we do see here, though, is this is a diplomatic failure with respect to the United States and Turkey,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You know, the U.S. has troops in Syria. This is on the border of Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. The United States is working with the Kurds.&#8221;
&#8220;This really could have been an opportunity for the United States to work to try to resolve the issue between the Kurds, Turkey, and the United States and working with Turkish interests in Syria,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Hopefully, this could be an opportunity where there could be a diplomatic support there that hopefully could have – you know, help in this transition in Syria.&#8221;
He added that President-elect Donald Trump &#8220;does absolutely support the Kurds&#8221; and he&#8217;s &#8220;going to look for a diplomatic solution.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, says the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria is &#8220;a diplomatic failure with respect to the United States and Turkey,&#8221; saying the conflict &#8220;could have been an opportunity&#8221; for the U.S. to resolve issues between… <a href="https://t.co/VppDNNE9vN">pic.twitter.com/VppDNNE9vN</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1865786168471924751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2024</a></blockquote>

House Intel Chairman Mike Turner Explains How Biden Failed Again With Syrian Collapse

Biden Administration

Joe Biden

Syria

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said on Sunday that the Biden-Harris administration was providing &#8220;comfort&#8221; to the enemy by urging Israel to go soft in responding to the ballistic missile barrage they faced last week from Iran.
Turner made the remarks during a CBS News interview with Margaret Brennan on &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; when asked about how Israel should respond to the attack.
&#8220;This is another area where the administration has not risen to the occasion,&#8221; he said. &#8220;President Biden said that the nuclear program of Iran is off the table, it should not be a valid military target by Israel and or the United States.&#8221;
When asked if Iran&#8217;s nuclear program should be on the list of targets that Israel can hit, Turner responded: &#8220;Absolutely.&#8221;
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&#8220;In fact, the president himself, President Biden, has previously said that the United States would not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon and that he would use military action if necessary,&#8221; he said. &#8220;His own secretary of state has said more than two weeks ago that Iran&#8217;s breakout time to become a nuclear state was two weeks.&#8221;
Turner pushed back on Brennan&#8217;s false claim that U.S. intelligence has said that Iran has not made the decision to make a nuclear weapon.
&#8220;They have not publicly stated the current status of the program,&#8221; Turner noted.
Turner said that Israel should deliver a proportionate response to Iran that would include firing hundreds of missiles or dropping hundreds of bombs on relevant targets inside Iran.
&#8220;That should be the response,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The understanding should be that Iran has moved beyond their proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis, to have direct attacks to Israel, and Israel needs to be able to defend itself, and Iran needs to pay a price.&#8221;
&#8220;I believe it&#8217;s completely irresponsible for the president to say that [hitting Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities] is off the table, when he&#8217;s previously said it&#8217;s on the table,&#8221; Turner said. &#8220;For him to give Iran the comfort that their actions of attacking directly Iran will not have any consequences for their nuclear weapons program is irresponsible.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
&#8220;It&#8217;s completely irresponsible&#8221; for President Biden to say U.S. involvement in offensive action against Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities is off the table, &#8220;when he&#8217;s previously said it&#8217;s on the table,&#8221; says House Intel Chair <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMikeTurner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMikeTurner</a> (R-OH).
&#8220;For him to give Iran the comfort that… <a href="https://t.co/LwThyRVXnz">pic.twitter.com/LwThyRVXnz</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1842949878751584754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

House Intel Chair Mike Turner

House Intel Chairman: Biden Providing ‘Comfort’ To Iranian Enemies By Urging Israel To Go Soft

Israel

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said on Sunday that federal law enforcement officials have not ruled out the possibility that the two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump this year were connected to Iran&#8217;s attempts to kill the former president.
Turner made the remarks during an interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/margaret-brennan-norah-odonnell-slammed-over-debate-bias">host Margaret Brennan</a>.
The interview began with Brennan trying to get Turner to condemn Trump, Eric Trump, and JD Vance for pointing the finger at Democrats for the assassination attempts.
Turner refused to do so and instead said that the administration needed to be much stronger in responding to the threat from Iran against Trump.
&#8220;You have had no statements from the administration towards Iran as to what that would be, which would be an act of war,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And you don&#8217;t have any statements from Vice President Harris condemning this or even recognizing that there&#8217;s an active plot from a foreign nation to kill her opponent.&#8221;
&#8220;I think there&#8217;s certainly a role for her to play and for the president to play in this in both identifying that there are threats against Donald Trump that need to be acknowledged and responded to deter,&#8221; he continued.
He added, &#8220;I do think that Vice President Harris needs to actively state and acknowledge that her administration is saying a foreign power, which would be an act of war is actively trying to kill her opponent.&#8221;
Turner noted that the Biden-Harris administration &#8220;has made stronger statements about Iran&#8217;s hacking activities than they have about the active plot to kill Donald Trump, which the administration acknowledged is ongoing.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
&#8220;There has to be an acknowledgement, which has not happened from Vice President Harris, that there&#8217;s active plots from a foreign nation to kill her opponent,&#8221; he added.
He said that he wants the FBI to release its findings so far from its investigations into the two would-be assassins who have tried to kill Trump over the last few months.
He pushed back on Brennan&#8217;s claim that there have been no substantiated ties between Iran and the would-be assassins.
&#8220;Saying that there have been no substantiated ties doesn&#8217;t mean that the investigation has concluded that there are no ties,&#8221; Turner said. &#8220;And I want those investigations to come to a conclusion and determine whether or not either of these plots have any nexus or connection to the active plot the administration is saying that Iran is plotting and attempting to kill Donald Trump, which, again, this administration needs to make clear to Iran that would be an act of war and needs to have a very strong response from the administration.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rep. Mike Turner says all &quot;candidates need to deescalate&quot; after Trump assassination attempts" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vSLNv0oGZqM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

House Intel Chairman: Ties Between Would-Be Trump Assassins And Iran Not Ruled Out

assassination attempt

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said over the weekend that the Biden-Harris administration has taken no action after the Islamic Republic of Iran initiated a plan to assassinate Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Turner, who made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan, demanded that the administration show a spine by responding to what amounts to an &#8220;act of war.&#8221;
Brennan noted that Iran is actively working to influence the outcome of the election by having hacked the Trump Campaign, engaging in online disinformation campaigns, and actively working on carrying out plots to assassinate the former president.
&#8220;I think what&#8217;s missing here is a response from the administration,&#8221; Turner said. &#8220;You have Microsoft coming forward and saying that the Trump campaign had been hacked. The administration, the Biden administration, had identified that Iran was attempting to do this, including spinning misinformation.&#8221;
&#8220;But, even further, the administration has acknowledged that Iran had – was executing a plan to assassinate Donald Trump, even alleging that an individual they have in possession was part of that plot,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Yet you don&#8217;t really have a response from the administration. Most national security experts resoundingly agree that killing a presidential candidate would be an act of war from a foreign power. Well, certainly, attempting &#8230; does at least require a response.&#8221;
&#8220;And, in this, the administration is – both on the hacking side, on the misinformation side, and on the alleged attempt on Donald Trump&#8217;s life, is not holding Iran accountable,&#8221; he said, adding that the Biden-Harris administration have drawn &#8220;no red lines&#8221; with Iran.
&#8220;This is not a law enforcement issue, right? This is not a law enforcement issue,&#8221; Turner said in response to the individual who was carrying out the assassination plot being arrested. &#8220;This is a nation-state that the administration has identified as having executed a plot to try to assassinate Donald Trump and is undertaking misinformation, election interference including hacking.&#8221;
&#8220;This requires a response to the administration,&#8221; he said.
Turner, who has access to classified intelligence about what the U.S. is doing on matters like this, said that the administration has given no response to deter further aggression from Iran.
&#8220;You have to start with a statement by the administration. And then also you could go to, there need to be statements of red lines and understanding of what actions would occur,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And then there does need to be action. I think the administration needs to look at what is their response going to be, now that they&#8217;re openly saying that they have in custody an individual they allege was part of an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
House Intelligence Chair <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMikeTurner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMikeTurner</a> calls for the Biden administration to issue clear &#8220;red lines&#8221; on Iran&#8217;s actions, after its alleged interference in the 2024 election and a plot to kill Donald Trump, which led to the arrest of a Pakistani national: &#8220;This is not a law… <a href="https://t.co/OxK7M5CBQ3">pic.twitter.com/OxK7M5CBQ3</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1825199865821052984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2024</a></blockquote>

House Intel Committee Chairman: Biden-Harris Admin Doing Nothing After Iran Tried To Assassinate Trump

CBS News

Media

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said over the weekend that the U.S. faces an extremely high terrorist threat because of President Joe Biden&#8217;s open border policies.
Turner made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; while talking about eight ISIS terrorist suspects who were arrested this month by personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia after they illegally entered the U.S. through the southern border.
Turner, who has access to classified information, said that he could not confirm or deny any details about the individuals who were arrested.
&#8220;What&#8217;s important about these reports, and what we&#8217;re seeing, especially in conjunction with [FBI] Director [Christoper] Wray&#8217;s public statements that we are at the highest level of a possible terrorist threat, that the administration&#8217;s policies have, absolutely, they&#8217;re directly related to threats to Americans,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These are no longer speculative, no longer hypothetical. And we have actual administration officials stepping forward and certainly our committee and our committee members have concurred on the intelligence that we&#8217;re seeing that as a result of the administration&#8217;s policies allowing people to cross the border unvetted.&#8221;
&#8220;We have terrorists that are actively working inside the United States that are a threat to Americans,&#8221; he added.
He said that the administration releases individuals in the U.S. who have not been vetted and so there is no way to know what risk they present to the U.S. when they enter the country.
&#8220;This administration, by their own policy, are then allowing those individuals in instead of fully vetting them, fully understanding what the risk is the United States and for the fact that they&#8217;re letting them in, and there they are- they&#8217;re entering the United States through the southern border illegally,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And that&#8217;s what the threat is. That&#8217;s what Director Wray is identifying, and is bringing forward. This administration&#8217;s policies are directly resulting in people who were in the United States illegally, who have ties to terrorist groups and organizations, and this is a threat.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rep. Mike Turner says White House needs to &quot;declassify&quot; information on terrorist threats" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IYUcUh_sseI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

House Intel Chairman On 8 ISIS Suspects Arrested In U.S.: ‘We Have Terrorists That Are Actively Working Inside The U.S.’

Border Crisis

On Wednesday, two leading <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/house-republicans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House Republicans</a> again pressed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michael-cohen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Cohen</a>, former President Donald Trump&#8217;s onetime lawyer and fixer, committed perjury during testimony before Congress in 2019.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elise-stefanik" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elise Stefanik</a> (R-NY) and Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, claiming that the DOJ had yet to address the criminal referral they sent nearly <a href="https://stefanik.house.gov/2023/11/stefanik-and-turner-send-criminal-referral-to-doj-demanding-immediate-investigation-of-michael-cohen-for-perjury-knowingly-making-false-statements-while-testifying-under-oath" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six months ago</a>.
&#8220;To date, we received no response from the Biden Justice Department regarding this criminal referral. This is unacceptable,&#8221; the lawmakers <a href="https://files.constantcontact.com/81b76c35801/c6f5d94a-1813-45f1-b0e7-165239741c9e.pdf?rdr=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, adding that &#8220;despite an admission from Mr. Cohen that he lied under oath to Congress, the Biden Justice Department did nothing.&#8221;
Cohen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sues-michael-cohen-for-500-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded guilty</a> in 2018 to multiple crimes, including lying to Congress, and ended up serving time in prison. He is now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-avenatti-claims-he-is-willing-to-testify-in-trump-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slated to testify</a> in a New York City hush-money trial about his role in facilitating payments to women who allegedly had affairs with Trump — claims the former president denied.
Trump, who is again running for re-election, faces 34 felony <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-indicted-on-34-felony-counts-of-conspiracy-falsifying-business-records-pleads-not-guilty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">counts</a> of falsifying business records to allegedly cover up the payments in a bid to conceal damaging information as part of a <a href="https://manhattanda.org/district-attorney-bragg-announces-34-count-felony-indictment-of-former-president-donald-j-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“catch and kill”</a> scheme to influence the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-blasts-hush-money-case-ahead-of-jury-selection-attack-on-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> what he says is a &#8220;political persecution.&#8221;
Stefanik and Turner contend that evidence shows Cohen may have made false statements while testifying under oath to the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019. They point to Cohen&#8217;s testimony in Trump&#8217;s New York civil fraud trial in October of 2023 as cause for a perjury inquiry.
&#8220;Mr. Cohen was asked if he was honest during his testimony before the Committee in February 2019. In response, Mr. Cohen stated, &#8216;No.&#8217; When asked if he lied under oath in February 2019 before the Committee, Mr. Cohen stated, &#8216;Yes,'&#8221; their letter said.
Due to a lack of a response by the DOJ, Stefanik and Turner suggested, the agency is actively working to &#8220;help&#8221; President Joe Biden, who is also running for a second term, and &#8220;hurt&#8221; Trump.
&#8220;We urge you to stop politicizing and weaponizing the Biden Justice Department — and open a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Cohen committed perjury and knowingly made false statements to the Committee during his testimony in February 2019,&#8221; they added.
A DOJ spokesperson told The Daily Wire the agency confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment further.
When Stefanik and Turner first sent their criminal referral in November, Cohen <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/14/trump-allies-michael-cohen-perjury-00127060" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a statement</a> accusing the lawmakers of doing Trump&#8217;s &#8220;bidding in witness tampering and obstructing justice,&#8221; according to POLITICO.
They &#8220;fail to understand the distinction between explicit and implied; which is how the question was asked and accurately responded to. The topic was further clarified several questions thereafter; which is conveniently and intentionally being ignored. I am not concerned at all with their baseless request,&#8221; Cohen added.
Stefanik, who is seen as a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trumps-potential-vp-picks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contender</a> to be Trump&#8217;s vice presidential running mate, announced on Tuesday that she had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elise-stefanik-accuses-special-counsel-jack-smith-of-election-interference-in-ethics-complaint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed an ethics complaint</a> with the DOJ against special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading two other criminal cases against Trump.

Michael Cohen

House Republicans Turn Up Pressure On DOJ To Address Criminal Referral Against Michael Cohen

Department of Justice

Elise Stefanik

U.S.

The GOP-led <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> overcame one last remaining hurdle on Monday to approve a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fisa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)</a>, a spy tool that proponents say is critical to protecting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national security</a>, and send it to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> before the foreign data collection authorities sunset at the end of this week.
Lawmakers voted <a href="https://twitter.com/HouseDailyPress/status/1780009090309116337" target="_blank" rel="noopener">259-128</a> to table a motion to reconsider the legislation that was introduced right after the chamber passed it on Friday. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fisa-warrant-requirement-gets-last-ditch-revival-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last-ditch effort</a> to stave off the bill was spearheaded by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who urged colleagues to join in her in demanding a warrant requirement to address concerns about FISA abuse and privacy.
Luna sent a letter to Republicans and Democrats, rallying support for her cause. She made a specific appeal to the 56 members who voted to pass the FISA bill after supporting the amendment from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) that would <a href="https://biggs.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-biggs-introduces-major-legislation-end-warrantless-surveillance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">place limits on</a> officials being able to do U.S. person searches in the information that gets swept up in foreign surveillance without a warrant.
The amendment proved to be a contentious proposition that spilled across party lines. It narrowly failed to pass in a <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024114" target="_blank" rel="noopener">212-212 tie vote</a> on Friday with support from hardline Republicans and leftist Democrats. Luna wanted it to get a second chance. Lawmakers &#8220;must fight to get the Biggs Amendment adopted in the final passage of this legislation,&#8221; Luna said in her letter.
House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH), who was the lawmaker who led the push to defeat Luna&#8217;s motion to reconsider the bill, has been a vocal advocate for reauthorizing Section 702 without the warrant requirement. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnLwv_zuTA4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News on Sunday that Section 702 &#8220;must continue&#8221; while insisting that American lives were at stake.
The House <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024119" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> 273-147 on Friday, after the amendment failed, to extend authorities the U.S. government uses to <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/icotr/Section702-Basics-Infographic.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gather electronic communications information</a> on non-U.S. citizens abroad and deter threats to the homeland. The legislation, which got bipartisan support, would renew Section 702 for another two years and implement reforms to FISA.
Now, with the matter of Luna&#8217;s objection settled, the bill heads to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1776255027432095818" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> lawmakers &#8220;must act quickly on a bipartisan basis to ensure these vital national security authorities do not lapse.&#8221; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also <a href="https://twitter.com/LeaderMcConnell/status/1779990079479636093" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> for FISA authorities to be maintained.
They have until April 19 to extend Section 702 before it expires. A couple members of the upper chamber, including Sens. <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMikeLee/status/1778807093870403608" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Lee (R-UT)</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1779535984457077073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rand Paul (R-KY)</a>, spoke out in favor of passing the warrant amendment to protect the Fourth Amendment.
The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SAP-H.R.-7888-FISA.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supports</a> reauthorization but rejected the warrant requirement, saying in a statement that the amendment from Biggs would &#8220;prohibit U.S. officials from reviewing critical information that the Intelligence Community has already lawfully collected, with exceptions that are exceedingly narrow and unworkable in practice.&#8221;
Initially, the FISA bill offered a five-year extension to Section 702, but it got whittled down to two years after it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-blocks-fisa-spy-bill-opponents-demand-warrant-requirement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> to advance earlier last week. The shortened window will allow President Joe Biden or whatever administration may succeed him next year the chance to seek a FISA shakeup.
Former President Donald Trump, who is running for another White House tern, had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-kill-fisa-as-lawmakers-consider-surveillance-reauthorization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> lawmakers to &#8220;KILL FISA&#8221; and said it was used to spy on his campaign. He was alluding to the FBI&#8217;s controversial efforts to get warrants to snoop on a 2016 campaign aide under a <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/4463961-house-unveils-warrantless-surveillance-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">different part of FISA, Section 701</a>, using an unverified dossier.
Johnson <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1778076099651444805" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> the FISA bill, called the Reforming Intelligence And Securing America Act, implements reforms that would “actually kill the abuses” directed at Trump’s 2016 campaign. The speaker met with Trump on Friday. During a joint press conference, Trump said he&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1778900252684378474" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;not a big fan of FISA,&#8221;</a> but added he told &#8220;everybody&#8221; to do what they want with it.

House Overcomes Final Hurdle To Send FISA Reauthorization Bill To Senate

FISA

National Security

Surveillance

U.S. House of Representatives

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) blasted the Biden administration over the weekend for its weakness toward Iran, warning that the administration was emboldening and empowering Iran&#8217;s terror throughout the Middle East.
Turner made the remarks during a Sunday interview on NBC News&#8217;s &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; while talking about Iran&#8217;s unprecedented attack on Israel Saturday night, which included 185 one-way suicide drones, 110 surface-to-surface missiles, and 36 cruise missiles.
&#8220;Unfortunately, the Biden Administration&#8217;s view is that if you use missile defense, an attack didn&#8217;t happen,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s the way they reacted to the over 100 attacks that have occurred on U.S. troops from terrorist groups and organizations in Iraq and Syria, resulting in three deaths of American troops in Jordan, all by – by Iranian-backed groups and organizations. I think the administration needs to take seriously that this attack has happened. It&#8217;s unprecedented. And certainly, it needs to be viewed as an escalation. This is an escalating conflict.&#8221;
Welker repeatedly interrupted throughout the interview to defend the Biden administration and claimed that it carried out &#8220;more than 100&#8221; counterattacks on Iranian proxies throughout the Middle East.
&#8220;That&#8217;s not necessarily true,&#8221; Turner fired back. &#8220;So they – what the Biden Administration said is, if there are deaths, if American troops are hit, they&#8217;re going to respond. Over 100 attacks on American troops, they did not respond.&#8221;
&#8220;Israel has been under attack – under attack by Iran, for decades,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They fund and train Hezbollah. They fund and train Hamas, Hamas which undertook the October 7th attacks into Israel that were just, you know, vicious in a number of deaths in the manner in which it was executed, all as a result of they were trained, funded, and given weapons by Iran. So this has already been an ongoing conflict, where Israel understands that they have been under siege and under attack by Iran. It&#8217;s the first time, though, that they have attacked directly from Iran. And certainly, this is an escalation.&#8221;
&#8220;It is already escalating and the administration needs to respond,&#8221; Turner said. &#8220;Over 300 weapons were shot from Iran at Israel. This is an escalating conflict. The administration – because we were successful, because we invested in missile-defense technology with Israel, the administration is acting like, &#8216;Well, you know, done. We defended Israel against these attacks. This is not escalating.&#8217; This is escalating.&#8221;
Turner said what the Biden administration needed to understand was that Iran has &#8220;already taken the next step&#8221; and if there is no response then that will be giving them &#8220;a free pass&#8221; which will lead to more attacks.
WATCH:
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House Intel Chairman Rips Biden Admin For Trying To Tie Israel’s Hands: ‘This Is Escalating’

Hamas

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) say that a portion of the Republican Party&#8217;s base has bought into Russian propaganda thanks to what they described as &#8220;conspiracy theory outlets&#8221; and &#8220;nighttime entertainment shows.&#8221;
In an interview last week with Puck News, McCaul said, &#8220;I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.&#8221;
&#8220;And I have to explain to them what’s at stake, why Ukraine is in our national security interest,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;By the way, you don’t like Communist China? Well, guess what? They’re aligned [with Russia], along with the Ayatollah. So when you explain it that way, they kind of start understanding it. And unlike 1939, we want to provide deterrence so that we don’t have to send anyone over, and we don’t want Article V invoked. Because the next thing the Russians will do is [attack] Moldova, Georgia, and then part of the Baltics. Or at least provoke a lot. So I just think it’s preventative.&#8221;
Later in the interview, when asked to expound upon his comments, McCaul said that the source of a lot of the propaganda has been &#8220;some more nighttime entertainment shows that seem to spin, like, I see the Russian propaganda in some of it — and it’s almost identical [to what they’re saying on Russian state television] — on our airwaves.&#8221;
&#8220;They have the same problem in Europe. I mean, Russia’s been very effective at that,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;These people that read various conspiracy theory outlets that are just not accurate, and they actually model Russian propaganda. And I have to explain to them, &#8216;You’re actually a victim of Russian propaganda, and what you’re saying, you’re spreading Russian [propaganda].&#8217; [And they respond,] &#8216;Oh, no I’m not.'&#8221;
Turner was asked about McCaul&#8217;s comments during a Sunday interview on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; with Jake Tapper, specifically if he thought McCaul was correct and if it was a big problem.
&#8220;Oh, it is absolutely true,&#8221; Turner responded. &#8220;We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, there are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which, of course, it is not, Vladimir Putin having made it very clear, both publicly and to his own population, that his view is that this is a conflict of a much broader claim of Russia to Eastern Europe, including claiming all of Ukraine territory as Russia&#8217;s,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian-versus-democracy battle, which is what it is. President Xi of China, Vladimir Putin himself have identified it as such. We need to stand up for democracy. We need to make certain that we know that authoritarian regimes never stop when they start an aggression.&#8221;

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