Congressman Mike Turner Should Lose His Chairmanship

It startled Americans. The extraordinary statement from Congressman Mike Turner, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, sent the press corps into overdrive and worried a lot of Americans. After all, the FBI has been warning about people crossing the border. The Iranians are hostile. The Chinese lust after Taiwan. And then there is the Ukrainian statement.

Turner’s statement was:

That is an extraordinary thing to make public, particularly with the suggestion that the classified information must immediately become public for discussion. It is hard not to interpret it as a “serious national security threat” that reads as imminent. Markets reacted that way — every major index fell within minutes of his statement going public. It was the congressional equivalent of Hawaii’s false emergency alert about an incoming ballistic missile.

But, based on reports and bipartisan leaks from other members of the House and the United States Senate Intelligence Committee, Congressman Mike Turner provoked a needless reaction from Americans.

Multiple outlets report the issue is not over an imminent threat but that the Russians are considering, but have not yet, deployment of nuclear weapons in space as anti-satellite technology.

The Senate Intelligence Committee statement, in contrast to Turner’s statement, is much more reserved.

That statement had the names of both the Democrat Chairman and Republican Vice Chairman listed, unlike Turner’s statement. Turner’s first paragraph read as if it was a bipartisan sound of the alarm, with the second paragraph as Turner’s own view. But, notably, the ranking House Democrat chose not to participate.

Cynically, it appears Turner’s attempt to provoke a public panic about a serious national security threat was designed to scare his House colleagues into passing the FISA update.

Using his position as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee to release that statement to use fear or worry to pass legislation is a gross breach of trust. Using that statement to suggest a serious issue that must be dealt with immediately and publicly when, in fact, this does not appear to be the case is a matter of the boy crying wolf. It is irresponsible at best.

Mike Turner should be removed as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for his irresponsible behavior. If you don’t believe me, consider what happened to the stock market when his announcement went public at noon yesterday. Every index dropped. Had his colleagues and Senate counterparts not responded as they did, Turner could have single-handedly negatively impacted Americans’ retirements and investments.

He should be removed immediately.