America is facing 'highest terror threat possible', warns GOP intel chief amid record-breaking immigration

By Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Published: | Updated:

The top House Republican on intelligence warned of the 'highest level of a possible terrorist threat' and called on the Biden administration to declassify information on terrorist threats after eight individuals with suspected ties to ISIS were arrested in the United States last week. 

Republican Ohio Congressman Mike Turner who chairs the House Intelligence Committee appeared on CBS News' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday where he said the threat was 'no longer speculative, no longer hypothetical.'

'We have terrorists that are actively working inside the United States that are a threat to Americans,' Turner said. 

Last week, eight Tajik nationals with alleged ties to ISIS were arrested in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia after U.S. officials have been warning for months of a potential terror attack on the U.S. 

Turner told moderator Margaret Brennan he could neither confirm nor deny the details of the arrests, but he pointed to recent testimony from top U.S. law enforcement officials warning of the growing threat of a terror attack. 

Congressman Mike Turner warned on Face the Nation that the terror threat is 'no longer speculative, no longer hypothetical' and called on the Biden administration to declassify information on terrorist threats

Congressman Mike Turner warned on Face the Nation that the terror threat is 'no longer speculative, no longer hypothetical' and called on the Biden administration to declassify information on terrorist threats

Earlier this month, Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before a House Committee that he was 'worried about the possibility of a terrorist attack in the country after October 7' and that the 'threat level for us has gone up enormously.'

Separately, FBI Director Christopher Wray said they've 'seen the threat from foreign terrorists rise to a whole other level' after the October 7 Hamas attack. 

In December, Wray said 'I've never seen a time where all threats were so elevated all the time.'

Turner demanded the Biden administration share more information on heightened threats on Sunday. 

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee on June 4. At the hearing, he said the threat of a terror attack on the U.S. has risen 'enormously'

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee on June 4. At the hearing, he said the threat of a terror attack on the U.S. has risen 'enormously'

FBI Director Christopher Wray said terrorist threats on the U.S. have risen to a 'whole 'nother level' and warned the U.S.-Mexico border presents unique challenges

FBI Director Christopher Wray said terrorist threats on the U.S. have risen to a 'whole 'nother level' and warned the U.S.-Mexico border presents unique challenges


'Of the threat, what we have done and continue to do, and what this administration needs to be held to, is that they need to declassify the information of the terrorist threats that they're seeing so that there can be a public discourse concerning what the administration's risk and threats are,' Turner said. 

Turner claimed it was 'notable and expected as a result of the Biden administration's policy.'

The Biden administration and Republicans have been fighting over how to address the border and immigration system for years, but a recent bipartisan bill to address border security failed after Republicans came out against it amid pressure from Donald Trump.

Encounters over illegal border crossings into the United States from Mexico reached an all time high in December before illegal crossings dropped some this year. 

 

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