A decision by US House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) chair Mike Turner to sound the alarm over space-based Russian military research was far more extraordinary than previously reported.
A WIRED review of an internal messaging system used by the United States Congress shows that HPSCI rarely sends members invites to review classified documents and has not—in at least 15 years—alarmed lawmakers by announcing an “urgent” threat against the United States.
The Dear Colleague system is widely used by congressional committees and lawmakers individually to circulate internal memos, invites, and other announcements. This week, WIRED obtained all messages sent House-wide by HPSCI since 2009. Copies of Dear Colleague messages sent since then are backed up by the system. The source of the messages was granted anonymity because their disclosure was not authorized.
The messages expose that only on infrequent events has HPSCI circulated letters notifying members about the classified documents for review. None of these were considered “urgent” previously.
The critical condition in which Turner and his fellow HPSCI members explained the disclosure—which later came out to be about Russian military research—has been undermined by his colleagues and officials from Biden administration. This has led to critiques being levelled at Turner regarding his hype-up announcement, which sparked numerous inflammatory headlines and ignited unspecified worries by the US officials over the safeguarding of classified information.
A Washington Post headline that can be seen by Google users dramatically proclaims: “US officials report that Russia has stationed a nuclear weapon in space”. On the other hand, CNN’s national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, reported with much restraint, informing the audience: “This is a project that Russia is trialling and planning to design. This is not an immediate threat.”
Seth Moulton, the Democratic representative who is also a member of the Armed Services Committee, crucified Turner during the same CNN segment, tagging him an “intelligence leaker”. Moulton highlighted that he was briefed about the Russian research two years ago, yet never had an issue maintaining confidentiality.
WIRED reported on Friday that sources on Capitol Hill had begun accusing Turner and his Democratic counterpart on HPSCI, Jim Himes, of issuing the disclosure to influence a vote happening simultaneously to reauthorize a controversial surveillance program, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Turner and Himes, after both signing the “Dear Colleague” message the night before, failed to appear at a Rules Committee hearing on Wednesday just as news of the Russian threat went viral.
House speaker Mike Johnson abruptly canceled the vote shortly after, under what sources describe as intense pressure from Turner.
HSCPI spokesperson Jeff Naft—who did not respond to an inquiry prior to WIRED’s story on Friday—later refuted the allegation, calling the implication of ties between the surveillance vote and the Russian intel “way off base.”
The spokesperson said it was a screenshot of HPSCI’s Dear Colleague letter—posted by reporters online less than a day after it was sent—that forced Turner to issue a press release about the supposed Russian threat.
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Turner’s release notably exceeded the declaration from HPSCI, urging US president Joe Biden to personally “declassify all information” regarding the threat. The subsequent day, Turner made another announcement stating his close collaboration “with the Biden administration” prior to alerting Congress. Naft, representing HPSCI, verified via email that Turner coordinated with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in formulating the language describing the threat in the Dear Colleague letter. (Naft emphasized Turner never claimed to have lectured with the White House.)
Turner’s following declaration suggested that HPSCI voted 23–1 to disclose. As per the committee’s regulations, a vote is not mandated to present classified data to the chairmen and leading members of other committees; only House-wide alerts demand a vote. There is no clarity on which HPSCI member voted against the disclosure, since no official roll call was conducted.
A senior congressional source informs WIRED that the Dear Colleague letter was always bound to invoke panic. It is a common understanding that these letters are not a secure mode of communication and are frequently disclosed to reporters and others not a part of the Hill.
Only four occasions in the previous decade and a half, based on WIRED’s analysis of the system, has HPSCI utilized a Dear Colleague letter to highlight classified information—outside of regular budgetary concerns.
The first such message is dated March 2009 and pertains to two classified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports. The subject of the reports is undeclared. A second letter was issued by HPSCI and signed by former congressperson Devin Nunes on January 10, 2017, informing members of a classified report on “Russian activities and intentions in the recent US election.”
Neither letter is marked urgent.
A third letter informing members about the option to review classified material is dated February 24, 2010; however, it makes clear the material was made available at the request of the intelligence community (IC). It is one of numerous letters in which HPSCI is seen lobbying on the spy agencies’ behalf—in this case, to support a renewal of the 9/11-era USA PATRIOT Act, today defunct due to a lack of support in Congress.
A plurality of HPSCI’s Dear Colleague letters are aimed at whipping support for bills that reauthorize or advance US spy powers. Others urge lawmakers to vote against legislation that would enhance Americans’ privacy protections. One such letter reads simply: “Don’t Handcuff the FBI and Intelligence Community.”
Six other letters are invitations to classified briefings held by intelligence agencies. HPSCI routinely acts as a mediator between the agencies and members of Congress, arranging briefings and other events on the intelligence community’s behalf.
HPSCI sent an additional three Dear Colleagues letters the morning after its “urgent” warning about Russia went out: Each asked members to support various amendments to a FISA bill during an upcoming vote that HPSCI’s chair was, simultaneously, working to get called off.
Sources told WIRED that Johnson’s decision to delay the vote on FISA came amid a sudden threat by Turner to kill the bill the moment it got to the floor. Turner was motivated to stop the bill’s progress at any cost, they said, due to the growing odds of a rival committee passing amendments of their own—to dramatically curtail the FBI’s domestic surveillance abilities.
Updated 2/22/2024, 3:55 pm EST: Clarified the procedural requirements for bringing classified information to the attention of members of the House of Representatives.
