House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
Turner has been the top Republican on the Intel Committee since 2022 when he was appointed by then speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif).
Turner told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan that Johnson cited “concerns from Mar a Lago” as justification for firing him.
However, Johnson denied that Trump had any involvement in Turner’s ouster telling reporters, “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.”
Ranking member Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told CNN that Turner’s removal “sends a shiver down my spine” and that he is “enormously concerned.”
In a statement, Turner said he was “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.”
“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,” he added.
Turner has broken with Trump in the past on the 2020 presidential election and slammed his lies about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating pets.
