Washington
CNN
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House Speaker Mike Johnson has chosen Republican Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas to be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee after Rep. Mike Turner was ousted from office WednesdayJohnson announced in a statement Thursday.
“Rick Crawford will provide principled leadership as president. He has earned the respect of his colleagues through his years of dedicated service on the committee and his steadfast approach to the challenges facing our country,” Johnson said in a statement.
Crawford is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and is the longest-serving member of the committee after Turner.
He also voted against additional aid to Ukraine last April, something Turner is a strong advocate of.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, stressed that Turner’s ouster is a blow to bipartisan oversight. Himes lamented to CNN, “We have lost a tremendous amount of national security knowledge and credibility,” saying Turner “knew more about U.S. national security than any of the 20 members of the Congress wandering in these halls.”
Himes said he has spoken to Turner since his ouster and that the Ohio Republican plans to “dedicate more time to his beloved NATO.”
Turner had voted to support aid to Ukraine and to certify the 2020 election, breaking with several of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest allies in the House of Representatives.
Asked by CNN if Turner had said anything to him about Trump’s possible involvement in the decision, Himes declined to share more about their private conversation, but responded: “There’s this whole thing — was it Mar-a -Lago or was it the Republican conference… I don’t know.
The speaker denied Wednesday that Trump had urged him to remove Turner as chairman of the panel.
“This is not a decision by President Trump. This is a decision of the House, and it is not at all an offense to our outgoing president. He did a great job,” Johnson said. “The intelligence community and everything related to it (the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) needs a fresh start. And that’s what it’s all about. Nothing else.
A source familiar with Johnson’s thinking told CNN that the speaker wanted to bring in his own committee chairman, just as then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy did in initially nominating Turner to the post. Turner was not told during the meeting that it was Trump’s decision to impeach him, the source added.
In a statement Wednesday, Turner said he was “very proud to have served” as president.
“The Committee has excellent members and I am honored to have served with them,” Turner said. “Under my leadership, we have restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its primary purpose: national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations.
This story has been updated with additional developments.