Putin wants to put nuclear weapons in space, according to US intelligence, in what has been called a ‘serious national security threat’.
Republican Mike Turner, the head of the House intelligence committee, yesterday asked the White House to declassify what he said was an undisclosed security threat.
Two sources told ABC News that the intelligence is related to Moscow wanting to put nuclear weapons into space to potentially use against satellites, rather than dropping onto earth.
‘It is very concerning and very sensitive,’ said one source, noting that it was ‘a big deal’.
While not addressing the subject directly, several members of Congress described the issue as serious, without raising public alarm.
A top Republican was warned there is a ‘serious national security threat’ in a cryptic statement demanding President Joe Biden declassify all related information
Russia launches a Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022 in one of the shows of how lethal Moscow can be in space arms race
‘We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,’ Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
‘But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel.’
Moscow has already shown how it can be lethal from space by testing a hit-to-kill anti-satellite missile in 2021.
Russia smashed a defunct spy satellite launched in 1982 into 1,500 pieces of debris in the strike and sparked fury around the world.
In 2020, Moscow fired an anti-satellite weapon from its Cosmos 2543 satellite while in orbit.
Vladimir Putin has also threatened the West with his deadliest hypersonic missile, yet that could speed into space and hit multiple targets on the ground.
The nuclear-capable Avangard missile, which is reported to be able hit targets at 27 times the speed of sound, is seen in new footage installed in an underground launch silo in Russia’s Orenburg region.
The 20,000mph missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle will be able to leave the earth’s atmosphere before striking any target in the world in less than 30 minutes, according to Moscow.
Members of Congress or U.S. allies will not be allowed to openly talk about or work together on the threat until the report has been declassified.
They are able to review the information related to ‘destabilizing foreign military capability’ in a secure location in the Capitol today and tomorrow.
‘Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat,’ Turner 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.’
Russia blew up one of its own satellites in 2021 using a missile. Cosmos 1408, a defunct spy satellite launched in 1982, was the destroyed target, which resulted in a field of 1,500 pieces of debris endangering the crew of the ISS
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., was one of the first lawmakers to view the documents in the SCIF on Wednesday afternoon.
He told reporters that the threat is ‘not an immediate crisis but certainly something we have to be very serious about.’
‘There’s a lot of very volatile things we have to address. This is one of them,’ he added.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday he was ‘surprised’ Turner came publicly about the threat related to a ‘destabilizing foreign military capability.’
He told reporters at the White House the briefing on the warning will take place in Congress on Thursday.
‘I reached out earlier this week to the Gang of Eight to offer myself for up for a personal briefing to the Gang of Eight and, in fact, we scheduled a briefing for the for House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow,’ Sullivan told the White House media briefing.
‘That’s been on the books. So I am 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,
‘I’m not in a position to say anything else,’ he added.
Rep. Jim Hines, the ranking Democrat on the Intel Committee, insisted there was no need to ‘panic’, but also wouldn’t go into details.
‘It’s something that the Congress and the administration does need to address in the medium to long run.’
The ominous warning comes as the House is expected to move on a bill to re-authorize the FBI’s controversial ‘spy tool’ – section 702 of the Foreign Information Surveillance Act (FISA).
The tool allows U.S. federal intelligence agencies to conduct targeted searches of foreigners, which they say is critical to stopping terrorists.
House Intel Chair Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio said members of Congress had been made aware of the threat – but wouldn’t go into details
‘We do not and should not need a warrant to look at legally and constitutionally collected data from terrorists,’ Turner previously told DailyMail.com
Lawmakers are determined to fix ‘rampant abuses’ to the program before reauthorizing the bill, so that the FBI does not improperly conduct queries of Americans in the process of stopping threats.
Turner is leading the charge on a bill that the House could vote on as soon as Thursday.
He is adamant that the legislation contains no warrant requirements he says could ‘hinder national security.’
Bill text was released earlier in the week, which joins together the competing bills that passed last year out of the House Intel and Judiciary committees.
But some members of the GOP have pushed back on the combined version, saying more reforms are necessary and there should be a warrant requirement.
‘Current law allows the U.S. government to collect data on you,’ House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good said on Tuesday.
But Turner has been critical of requiring warrants, which he says will overly burden the intelligence community.
‘We do not and should not need a warrant to look at legally and constitutionally collected data from terrorists,’ Turner previously told DailyMail.com.