UPDATE 2 - US House intelligence chairman warns of 'serious national security threat'

ADDS NEW DETAILS

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner warned Wednesday of a "serious national security threat," and demanded that US President Joe Biden publicly release all information about it.

Turner did not lay out specifics about the classified intelligence but said all members of Congress now have access to the information.

"Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat," he said.

"I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat," said Turner.

Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan did not elaborate on what Turner might have been referring to when pressed by reporters.

Sullivan said, however, that he took the “highly unusual” step of reaching out to House and Senate leadership, as well as the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees, to schedule a meeting later this week.

He said he was "a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow."

"That's his choice to do that. All I can tell you is that I'm focused on going to see him, sit with him, as well as the other house members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow," he added, referring to the name of the group that includes the chairs and ranking members intelligence committees, and the House and Senate leaders.

The Senate is not currently in session.

CNN reported, citing anonymous sources, that the intelligence concerns a "highly concerning and destabilizing” Russian capability “that we (US) were recently made aware of.”

However, citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that the intelligence is related to "a Russian military capability involving incomplete ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon in space that could be used to target satellites."

According to the Journal, one of the people said a select group of American lawmakers knew about the intelligence for a number of weeks and the issue did not present imminent urgency.

* Michael Hernandez contributed to the story.