GOP lawmaker's big mouth may have blown efforts to deter Russia space weapon: report

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) surprised many people in Congress and in the White House last week when he made a cryptic announcement about a new threat posed by Russia.

Politico reports that the threat in question was an experimental new anti-satellite weapon that Russia has been working on, and its sources claim that there was a good reason that the Biden administration didn't want it to be talked about publicly.

Essentially, the Biden administration and intelligence officials had been working with countries such as China and India to get Russia to back off testing its weapon, which is designed to use nuclear weapons in outer space to take down rival nations' satellites.

Officials were concerned that publicly spilling the beans about the weapon could compromise their source of information and also scuttle efforts to get Russia to back down.

ALSO READ: Stalked by Nazis: How extremists tried to stop me from reporting on their violence

This all became moot, however, when Turner, who is currently the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke up publicly about the weapon, despite the fact that intelligence briefers told him that they wanted to keep this particular information under wraps for the time being.

"Senior administration officials told lawmakers that it wanted to keep the intelligence close-hold so it could monitor Russia’s advancements and its potential test," writes Politico.

The Politico report adds some more context to comments made last week by National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, who alluded to the importance to not making intelligence about Russia's efforts public.

“The intelligence community has serious concerns about a broad declassification of this intelligence,” he said at the time. “They also assess that starting with private engagement rather than immediately publicizing the intelligence could be a much more effective approach.”

Turner's comment prompted President Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to take to the White House podium to say that he personally called Turner and the rest of the so-called "Gang of Eight" to schedule a private intelligence briefing.

The "Gang of Eight" are the top House and Senate leaders who have clearance to view highly classified intelligence information.

"I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today" to announce a potential national security threat he is going to be briefed about "tomorrow," Sullivan said at the time.