Top House members attending national security threat briefing amid alarming Turner message: Sullivan

National security adviser Jake Sullivan was caught off guard by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner’s (R-OH) call for President Joe Biden to declassify information regarding what he described as “a serious national security threat.”

“I am a bit surprised that congressman Turner came out publicly today” about the threat, reportedly related to Russia and what one Democrat referred to as “a destabilizing situation,” when Sullivan had proactively reached out to him and other top lawmakers to schedule a classified briefing on Thursday, the presidential adviser told reporters Wednesday.

“That’s his choice,” Sullivan said.

Although Sullivan underscored, more broadly, how Biden would “continue to prioritize and focus very much on the issue of sources and methods,” he also said he was not in a position to say if the public should be alarmed by Turner’s statement.