Top Senate Intel Democrat 'flabbergasted' by removal of GOP House Intelligence chair

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was “flabbergasted” Thursday by the decision to remove GOP Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio) as the chair of the House Intelligence panel.

Warner expressed his dismay over Turner’s removal from the committee, praising his “bipartisan” leadership of the panel that oversees the nation’s intelligence community.

“I don’t have the foggiest idea why he was removed. Maybe because he was such a stalwart supporter of Ukraine and [was] willing to push back against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Warner told reporters.

“I know it’s up to the Speaker’s decision, but Mike Turner was the kind of guy who brought the House Intelligence Committee back to the kind of bipartisan respect that I think it lost in the past,” he said. “I wish Mike well."

Warner said he had a “brief conversation” with Turner on Wednesday night after learning of his ouster.

“I was totally flabbergasted by this decision. It seemed to come out of nowhere,” he said.

Turner was a critic of what he called the influence of Russian propaganda over congressional Republican critics of providing military aid to Ukraine.

Turner said in April that Russian propaganda had “absolutely” seeped into the Republican conferences.

“It is absolutely true 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,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper at the time. Turner had been chair of the House Intelligence panel since 2022, appointed to the post by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Warner was not the only Democrat to express dismay over Turner's ouster.

Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, called Turner "a serious, security focused lawmaker dedicated at his core to the national security of the United States and to the thoughtful oversight of the Intelligence Community."

“The removal of Chairman Turner makes our nation less secure and is a terrible portent for what’s to come," Himes added.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called the decision "shameful" in a brief statement Thursday.

“Mike Turner is a serious, thoughtful and highly-principled leader, whose work as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee has been extremely impactful,” Jeffries said.

Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) decision not to reappoint Turner to wield the gavel became public Wednesday, catching many on Capitol Hill by surprise.

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