House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday made a surprise move to oust Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee -- and it's reportedly not sitting well with many members.
Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reports that Johnson's ousting of Turner "has left him with an *extraordinarily* angry House Intelligence committee," although he did not provide any quotes from members to back up his claim.
While Johnson has said it was entirely his decision to remove Turner as chair of the committee, other reporting has suggested that he was removed at the behest of President-elect Donald Trump.
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Turner in the past has been unafraid to call out members of his own party for parroting Russian propaganda, as he told CNN's Jake Tapper last year that he was concerned about some Republicans for reciting Kremlin talking points about the war in Ukraine.
"We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor... I mean, there are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which, of course, it is not," he said. "Now, to the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle, which is what it is."
