The United States has intelligence information about a national and international security threat related to Russian nuclear capabilities in space that could threaten satellites, including the possibility of defeating US military communications and reconnaissance, according to Fox News found out.
Sources tell Fox News that the Russian capability has not yet been deployed.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner first warned Wednesday morning of a “serious National security threat,” and asked President Biden to declassify it.
INTEL HOUSE CHAIRMAN TURNER WARNS OF 'SERIOUS THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY', URGES BID TO DECLASSIFY
“The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all members of Congress information about a serious National security “Threat,” Turner said. “I request that President Biden declassify all information related to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.”
Fox News Digital obtained the notice sent to members of Congress on Wednesday, which noted “an urgent matter regarding a destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known to all congressional policymakers.”
Sources told Fox News that deliberations over intelligence declassification are related to interests in protecting intelligence sources and methods.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, speaks during the House GOP press conference on FY23 government funding on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
A separate source told Fox News that the threat “is relative to Russian capabilities,” noting that “the potential severity of the threat is serious,” but “the threat is not immediate in nature.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., later attempted to quell any panic caused by Turner's statement by explaining that he sent a letter to the White House last month “requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a matter.” serious national security issue that is classified.”
“In response to that letter, a meeting on this matter is scheduled tomorrow here at the Capitol with the Gang of Four and with the president's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan,” Johnson said. “I will pressure the administration to take appropriate action and that will reassure everyone.”
Johnson said he “saw President Turner's statement on the issue and I want to assure the American people that there is no need for public alarm.”
“We will work together to address this matter as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,” Johnson said. “And beyond that, I'm not at liberty to reveal classified information and I can't really say much about it, but we just want to assure everyone that we have our hands firmly on the wheel and we're working on it. There's no need.” by alarm.”
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Meanwhile, Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said their committee “has the intelligence in question and has been rigorously pursuing this issue from the beginning.” “.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
“We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,” Warner and Rubio said. “In the meantime, we must be cautious about revealing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for American action.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a White House news conference Wednesday that he was surprised by Turner's statement, given that he reached out to members of Congress earlier in the week to offer to go to the Capitol to give a personal briefing. on the matter.
That briefing will take place on Thursday.
“I'm a little surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today ahead of a scheduled meeting so that I can sit down with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow. That's his decision to do so,” Sullivan said.
“All I can tell you is that I am focused on going to see him, sitting with him, as well as the other members of the House of Eight tomorrow, and I am not in a position to say anything more about this podium at this time, other than to make clear that this administration has gone further, and more creatively and more strategically, in addressing the declassification of intelligence in the U.S. national interest than any administration in history,” Sullivan said. continued.
Sullivan added: “You will definitely not find an unwillingness to do so when it is in our national security interest.”
Sullivan said, however, that the administration has prioritized “the question of sources and methods.”
“Ultimately, these are decisions for the president to make, but in the meantime, the most important thing is that we have the opportunity to sit in a classified environment and have the kind of conversation with House Intelligence leaders that I , in fact, I had.” scheduled before Congressman Turner left today,” Sullivan said.
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Sullivan again stressed that he “personally approached” Congress on the matter.
“It's actually very unusual for the national security adviser to do that,” he said.
