High Senate Intel Democrat 'flabbergasted' by elimination of GOP Home Intelligence chair

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, mentioned he was “flabbergasted” Thursday by the choice to take away GOP Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio) because the chair of the Home Intelligence panel.

Warner expressed his dismay over Turner’s elimination from the committee, praising his “bipartisan” management of the panel that oversees the nation’s intelligence group.

“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 advised 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 mentioned. “I wish Mike well.”Warner said he had a “brief conversation” with Turner on Wednesday night time after studying of his ouster.

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

Turner was a critic of what he referred to as the affect of Russian propaganda over congressional Republican critics of offering navy support to Ukraine.

Turner mentioned 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 advised CNN’s Jake Tapper on the time. Turner had been chair of the Home Intelligence panel since 2022, appointed to the put up by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Warner was not the one Democrat to precise dismay over Turner’s ouster.

Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the highest Democrat on the Home Intelligence panel, referred to as 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 elimination of Chairman Turner makes our nation much less safe and is a horrible portent for what’s to return,” Himes added.

And Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) referred to as the choice “shameful” in a short assertion 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 mentioned. 

Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) determination to not reappoint Turner to wield the gavel turned public Wednesday, catching many on Capitol Hill without warning.