Speaker Johnson on national security threat: ‘There is no need for public alarm’

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said “there is no need for public alarm” after House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) called on President Biden to declassify information about a “serious national security threat.”

“I saw Chairman Turner’s statement on the issue and I want to assure the American people, there is no need for public alarm,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday. “We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified.”

“We just want to assure everyone: Steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it, and there’s no need for alarm,” he added.

The Speaker would not reveal specifics of the threat, saying he was “not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much more.”

He did, however, say he is meeting with national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the Capitol on Thursday, along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Turner and Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.