Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) told his colleagues Donald Trump ordered Speaker Mike Johnson to remove the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from his powerful role in an act of personal revenge, sources told the Daily Beast Wednesday.
Mike Turner, whose committee oversees the CIA and the FBI, told his colleagues that the speaker said the order came from President-elect Trump, a senior GOP lawmaker told the Daily Beast. His departure was first reported by Punchbowl News.
“Trump personally got involved and believes that Turner is basically an intel community sycophant,” a source familiar with Turner’s firing told the Beast.
Trump had already demonstrated that he wants to maintain an iron grip over Congress—including House Republicans, whose razor-thin majority makes passing his agenda extremely challenging.
Johnson pushed back on the notion that the decision was fully Trump-driven, claiming it was not the president-elect’s decision but his own.
“This is not a President Trump decision, this is a House decision and this is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman, he did a great job, but we just, the Intelligence Community and everything related to HPSCI is, it needs a fresh start and that’s what this is about, nothing else,” Johnson told a group of reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday evening when asked about the Beast’s revelation.
“I have nothing negative to say about Mike Turner at all, he’s a good man, a good colleague, I respect his work,” Johnson said, adding, “He’s going to continue to be my appointee with everything regarding NATO.”
The move could cause serious headaches for Johnson as he looks to keep his conference unified while navigating a razor-thin majority. “Trump making demands to fire Turner just fractured the conference. It undermines his whole reconciliation agenda. Dumb move. We are a big tent or we are not. Looks like we are not,” one GOP lawmaker said.
While defense hawks have praised Turner’s leadership on the panel, conservative hardliners previously called for his ouster, taking issues with his stances on FISA and Ukraine funding.
In a statement following his ouster, Turner lauded his fellow committee members and listed several of their accomplishments.
“I’m very proud to have served on the House Intelligence Committee and as its chairman. There are great members on the Committee, and I’m honored to have served with them,” he wrote. “Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus of national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations.”
Turner came under fire last February for releasing a cryptic statement calling on President Joe Biden to declassify information on a “serious national security threat.” The move sparked criticism across the political spectrum, with lawmakers briefed on the issue asserting that while serious, it was not a matter that warranted sparking national panic.
Johnson took heat from moderates and Democrats last year for adding former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA)—whose phone was seized by the FBI as part of its Jan. 6 probe— following pressure from conservatives to add more hardliners to the panel.
Turner represents a swing district. If his ouster as committee chairman were to prompt him to quit Congress altogether, Johnson would be down one more critical GOP vote in a razor-thin majority.
While most committee chair positions are voted upon by a steering committee to to decide who wields gavels, the speaker is solely tasked with populating the House Intelligence Committee.
Trump transition officials also did not immediately respond to request for comment on the president’s level of involvement.
Johnson has not yet named a replacement to lead the powerful panel, but is expected to name a new chairman on Thursday.