House Intel committee must remain focused, Mike Turner says

Rep. Mike Turner, recently displaced as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he's concerned about the direction the panel make now take.

Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," Turner (R-Ohio) expressed concerns that the panel might, with encouragement from President Donald Trump, focus too much on internal enemies at the expense of powerful countries than can do America harm.

"The one thing that he has said is that he wanted to take the committee in a different direction. I'm a little concerned, because his different direction indicates pursuing the elusive deep state," he said.

Turner said there are reasons at times to pursue internal enemies, but seemed to worry that could be a dangerous distraction.

"My focus has been on state actors, non-state actors, those individuals who want to do our country harm," he said, adding: "There are people every day who get up in the intelligence community who work hard to make certain that China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are prevented from doing Americans harm, and we need to focus on how we can work together to make certain we protect our country."

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the removal of Turner on Jan. 15; Turner was replaced by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.). There was speculation that Donald Trump, who was a few days away from being sworn in as president, had a hand in the move, but that has been disputed.

"President Trump’s staff has been in touch with me and said that that was not the case," Turner himself said Sunday.

Host Margaret Brennan asked Turner if he was concerned that the panel would go after the intelligence community.

"I know that that's going to be a concern," Turner said. "We'll have to see what direction they go. I do know that national security is going to continue to be an area of concern. It certainly was my focus."

When pressed further by Brennan, Turner added: "We'll have to stay tuned for the rest."

Addressing other topics, Turner said he still considered TikTok to be a national security threat.

"The only thing that would protect the United States and protect our citizens is divestiture," he said.

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