(PatriotWise.com) – The White House and congressional leaders on Wednesday sought to calm public concerns after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) issued a statement warning of a “national security threat” and calling on the president to declassify all information about it, ABC News reported.
Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that the intelligence had to do with the Russians wanting to place nuclear weapons in space.
According to the sources, the Russians aren’t seeking to fire nuclear weapons at the Earth from space but rather to use nuclear weapons to target satellites in orbit.
One source told ABC News that the intelligence was “very concerning and very sensitive.”
It all began on Wednesday morning when the House Intelligence Committee posted a statement from Chairman Mike Turner on social media.
In the statement, Turner said the Intel Committee had provided members of the House with “information concerning a serious national security threat.” Turner requested that the president declassify the information so Congress, the White House, and US allies could “openly discuss” how to “respond to this threat.”
Turner’s statement created a firestorm, with reporters quizzing congressional leadership and the White House about the threat.
Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) told reporters that the issue was “serious” but nothing to panic about, and said Chairman Turner was right to focus on it. At the same time, Himes said while declassifying the information was a “worthwhile discussion,” it was “not a discussion to be had in public.”
In a letter to House members inviting them to review the intelligence, Turner and Himes suggested that the threat was linked to “a destabilizing foreign military capability.”
When asked about Turner’s statement during Wednesday’s press briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he wasn’t sure why Turner released the statement since he had already scheduled a meeting for Thursday morning to brief the congressional Gang of Eight.
Sullivan would not discuss the details of the intelligence but said the public should understand that there are “a range of threats and challenges” that the administration faces every day.
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