“There is no need for public alarm,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. He would not say what he was talking about.
The reassurance followed a warning from Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee. Turner described a “serious national security threat” involving a “destabilizing foreign military capability.” After the committee voted to release it, the information went to every member of Congress on Tuesday. Turner also sent colleagues a “Dear Colleague” letter calling it an “urgent matter” that “should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers,” and he urged President Joe Biden to declassify the details so Congress, the administration and U.S. allies could “openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.”
Johnson (R-La.) took a calmer line. “I saw Chairman Turner’s statement on the issue and I want to assure the American people, there is no need for public alarm,” he said. “We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified.”
He added: “We just want to assure everyone: Steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it, and there’s no need for alarm.”
Pressed for specifics, Johnson declined. He said he was “not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much more.”
A meeting set for Thursday
What he did offer was a schedule. Johnson said he would meet national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the Capitol on Thursday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Turner and Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, were also due to attend.
The meeting grew out of a letter Johnson sent the White House last month. In it he asked to sit down with Biden “to discuss a serious national security issue that is classified.” Johnson said he plans to “press the administration to take appropriate action” when they meet, and he said “everybody can be comforted by that.”
Himes, speaking to reporters the same day, backed the message that the threat is neither imminent nor catastrophic. “People should not panic, that is unequivocal,” he said. He called it “a serious issue that Mike is right to focus on but … it’s not gonna ruin your Wednesday. … It’s not gonna ruin your Thursday.”
Sources
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