House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Americans have “no need for alarm” after House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) warned Wednesday that members of Congress have received “information concerning a serious national security threat.”
“Last month, I sent a letter to the White House requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a serious national security issue that is classified,” Johnson told reporters.
“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,” he added. “I will press the administration to take appropriate action, and everybody can be comforted by that who saw Chairman Turner’s statement on the issue.”
“And I want to assure the American people there is no need for public alarm. We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified. And beyond that I’m not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much more.”
In a statement issued a little more than an hour before, 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.”
Asked about the nature of the threat during a White House press conference, Sullivan declined to say whether it was a foreign military threat or if he could assure Americans they should not worry.
“In a way, that question is impossible to answer with a straight ‘yes,’” he said.
“We can, and will, and are protecting the national security.”
Sullivan added that he was “surprised” by Turner’s statement because a briefing for the Gang of Eight, comprised of the top Republican and Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress, is scheduled for Thursday.
He also emphasized that the House Intelligence chairman’s declassification request was “ultimately” a decision for President Biden.
