Jim Himes on satellites, space nukes and Section 702

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

Government, Politics, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, joins host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza to discuss everything you might want to know about Russian space weapons, Section 702 reforms, and the behind-the-scenes action at the Intelligence Committee during a week of extraordinary volatility.

Transcript

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0:00.0	On Tuesday night, Representative Mike Turner, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,
0:08.6	showed his colleague Representative Jim Himes, the Ranking Democrat on that committee, a short statement that he wanted to put out.
0:15.7	Meeting behind closed doors, the committee had just voted to allow all House members access
0:21.6	to a secret report that Turner was especially alarmed about.
0:25.8	And now Turner wanted the public to know about what his proposed statement called a serious
0:30.4	national security threat.
0:32.3	I am requesting that President Biden
0:34.3	declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the
0:39.3	administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.
0:45.0	Turner's statement said, Himes read it and told him it was a bad idea.
0:50.0	So I looked at this statement and I said, Mike, I think I disagree with you on this point because if you, if this statement goes out, you know, you're going to spend, I think I said you're going to spend the next four weeks talking to reporters.
1:01.0	But on Wednesday morning, Turner released it and all hell broke loose.
1:05.2	Well, basic human psychology 101, fewer facts and more mystery is more scary. I'm Ryan Liza and this is Playbook Deep Dive.
1:20.6	Within hours the cryptic threat was identified by reporters citing anonymous sources as a Russian anti-satellite weapon.
1:28.0	All of this was taking place in the middle of another legislative crisis that the House Intelligence Committee is at the center of.
1:36.0	The Foreign Intelligence Gathering Program known as Section 702 expires in April.
1:41.4	According to the Biden administration, renewing the program is
1:44.5	perhaps the single most consequential national security decision that this
1:49.0	Congress will make. A bipartisan group of privacy advocates in the House has proposed reforms to Section 702,
1:57.0	that Turner, Himes, and Biden's top national security officials all say will cripple the program.
2:04.0	These two Intelligence Committee stories collided in spectacular fashion on Wednesday.
2:09.0	In the morning, Turner released his statement.
	...

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