The 'threat is grave': House Intel chairman sparks panic with cryptic warning about a 'serious national security threat'

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is warning Americans about a "serious national security threat."

In a cryptic statement on Wednesday, Turner said he shared sensitive intelligence about the threat with all members of Congress and called on President Joe Biden to declassify information about the threat.

The statement said:

Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat. I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.

Turner did not provide any further details.

But it is important to note that, according to Turner, the House Intelligence Committee agreed in bipartisan fashion to notify Congress of the threat.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed the existence of the threat, telling reporters he plans to brief the Gang of Eight on Thursday. He declined, however, to elaborate on the nature of the threat.

"I reached out earlier this week to the Gang of Eight to offer myself for up for a personal briefing to the Gang of Eight, and in fact, we scheduled a briefing for the four House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow. That's been on the books," he said. "So I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow.

"I'm not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time," Sullivan added.

Sullivan, moreover, declined to reassure the American people they are not at risk, telling reporters, "That question is impossible to answer with a straight 'yes.'"

The letter that Turner sent members of Congress said the urgent threat is about "a destabilizing foreign military capability," CNN reported.

Meanwhile, sources who have seen the intelligence told CNN that the threat "is, in fact, a highly concerning and destabilizing" Russian capability the U.S. only recently learned about.

Fox News corroborated CNN's reporting about a Russian capability, saying that the "the potential seriousness of the threat is grave" — though not immediately urgent.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Intel Committee, said people "should not panic," but praised Turner, saying he "is right to highlight this issue," which Himes described as "so sensitive."

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