Yesterday started with a real doozy of a statement from the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Mike Turner, who put out a statement warning about a “serious national security threat” without giving any actual details. If it seemed alarming and unusual at the time, it’s because it was. This is not something members of Congress, or anyone with classified national intelligence information, ever really does.
It’s a serious issue, but it’s not going to ruin your Thursday.”
Turner released information about this “serious national security threat” to all the members of Congress, and then called on President Biden to declassify the information. Practically speaking, that meant congressmembers were shuffling in and out of a secure room in a basement on Capitol Hill — a SCIF — all day, as they learned about whatever this threat is, after which they issued winking, cryptic statements like these:
“It’s a serious issue, but it’s not going to ruin your Thursday.” (Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn.)
And “I can confirm it says what we all know: that there is no intelligent life in Congress.” (Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.).
White House officials told NBC News that the matter in question was indeed “serious,” but that there were ways to contain this threat without, ahem, triggering mass panic.
Later in the day, the New York Times and ABC News reported that the threat cited by Turner is the attempted development of a space-based, anti-satellite nuclear weapon in Russia. And while we don’t know any more than that, the fact that it is a Russian threat, and that a Republican in Congress is the one sounding the alarm … feels significant. Particularly this week.
Just this past Saturday, the Republican frontrunner and de facto leader of the GOP weighed in on American alliances overseas: “NATO was busted until I came along. I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They…
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