Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement after leading three committee members to Ukraine, saying, "I demand that Biden declassify all information related to this threat so that Congress, our allies, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to counter this threat." ”
Turner said the committee "has provided information to all members of Congress about the serious threat." A U.S. told us that the serious threat information was related to Russia's space capabilities, and that many Russian space launches, codenamed Cosmos, carried classified payloads and deployed space nuclei in orbit capable of destroying U.S. satellites.
After the statement, lawmakers were seen entering and exiting a secure facility on Capitol Hill for a meeting, and several intelligence committee lawmakers said after the meeting that Turner's serious concerns were right. While the threat is not imminent, it is certainly something that must be taken very seriously and is something that Congress and Biden need to address in the medium to long term. The discussion of whether more can be declassified is worth it, but it should not be discussed publicly.
Meanwhile, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio said they had been closely following the issues Turner had raised and were discussing with Biden how to respond.
White House adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that he contacted Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate, as well as chairmen and senior members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, earlier this week, to report back to them on the issue of Turner's concerns. Sullivan said it can be confidently said that Biden is "protecting the United States and the American people."
However, a number of lawmakers said that lawmakers should downplay the urgency of the situation and must be cautious about the impact that disclosure may have on future U.S. action choices. They urged the public to remain calm.