The following is a transcript of an interview with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on August 18, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We now have with us the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio. Good morning, sir.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m glad to have you here in person. I want to talk about the election interference that we’ve heard about. U.S. intelligence and the Justice Department say that Iran is trying to influence the outcome of the upcoming election. The FBI is investigating phishing attempts against people associated with the Trump and Harris campaigns, but we know that in 2020, the Supreme Leader authorized Iran to interfere to harm Donald Trump in that election. Are you satisfied with what the social media companies and U.S. intelligence are doing right now?
REPUBLICAN TURNER: I think what’s missing here is a response from the administration. Microsoft comes forward and says the Trump administration has – this is the excuse I came up with, the Trump campaign was hacked. The Biden administration has identified that Iran was trying to do this, including by spreading false information. But more than that, the administration has acknowledged that Iran has – was executing a plan to assassinate Donald Trump. They’ve even alleged that an individual they had in their possession was part of that plot. But you don’t really have a response from the administration. You know, most national security experts agree that killing a presidential candidate would be an act of war by a foreign power. I mean, certainly an attempt –
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well, they’ve stepped up the protection —
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: — an attempt is certainly an attempt, but it demands at least a response, and the administration is both on the side of hacking, on the side of disinformation, and on the alleged assassination attempt on Donald Trump, it does not hold Iran responsible. There is no red line.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you’re not counting the arrest and prosecution of the individual who recruits assassins?
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: This is not a law enforcement issue. This is not a law enforcement issue. This is a nation-state that the administration has identified as having a plot to assassinate Donald Trump and that is engaging in election interference through disinformation, including hacking. This requires a response from the administration.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have a responsibility to monitor the intelligence community. You can’t talk about classified information. But are you saying here that there’s no covert action being taken against Iran?
REP. TURNER: I’m saying there’s no response that impacts Iran or deters Iran or holds Iran accountable, and – and that, of course, leads to an increase in Iran’s activities and an increase in Iran’s audacity to interfere in our elections and to – to, I think, you know, put people in danger in our country.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What sanctions would you like to see?
REPUBLICAN TURNER: At least, for you of course, it has to start with a statement from the administration. Then there has to be statements about red lines and understanding of what steps need to be taken, and then there has to be action. I think the administration needs to think about its response now that it is openly saying that it is holding an individual it accuses of being involved in an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And these other associated officials still have protection, largely from diplomatic security…
REP. TURNER: — In addition to members of his cabinet who have been threatened.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the administration approves of that, is what I mean. But in terms of the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of election interference, the director of national intelligence briefed reporters and said that Moscow has not changed its previous preference for candidates, which in 2016 and 2020 was Donald Trump. Are sufficient efforts being made on that front, in terms of that level of interference, which is also likely to continue?
REPUBLICAN TURNER: I think what we’re seeing here, particularly with respect to Iran, is that they understand that Donald Trump is anti-Iran and he recognizes that a strong America is a safer world. Now, if you look further into the interference in what Russia is doing, I think in this case, Trump has certainly indicated that he wants to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. And that’s certainly not an anti-Ukraine position, but it’s certainly a stronger American position. And you just spoke with Senator Kelly about the restrictions that the Biden administration has placed on Ukraine in this conflict. Those restrictions are certainly inconvenient and result in a kind of status quo that can become a game of attrition for Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: To get back to the question of lifting the additional restrictions, which I think he has advocated, I know you support that as well, but how much of that is based on the imperative that there are five months left in the Biden administration, and Trump Vance believes that it is not in America’s interest to continue this war? Do you need to step up your efforts in the next five months because JD Vance, who I have interviewed on this many times, has made it clear that he does not support continued financial support?
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: Well, nobody is in favor of continuing this war, but I fully support Ukraine, and I think one of the concerns about the restrictions that the Biden administration has imposed, which also need to be changed, is that Ukraine is finally able to hold Russia accountable. If they can, they’ve now entered Russian territory. If they can use long-range weapons systems to hold Russian military targets accountable that are attacking Ukraine, we can change the dynamics on the ground. You can’t continue to have a front line in Ukraine, where Russia is producing weapons systems that Ukraine has, and that’s going well for Ukraine. In that case, if the restrictions that the Biden administration has imposed are lifted, we also know, even if a Harris administration follows this, that the support of Ukraine will be there. The ability to hold Russia accountable will be there.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve said you’re concerned about the aggressiveness of authoritarian countries that are endangering democracies. Donald Trump recently called Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin “lovely people,” and he said that on Thursday.
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DONALD TRUMP: I’m not trying to be mean to Iran. We’re going to be friendly. I hope we are with Iran, but maybe not, but we’re going to be friendly. I hope we’re friendly. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon, and we were all prepared to make sure they don’t have one, because once they have one, it’s going to be a whole different world.
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MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m sure you would criticize Democrats who say they want to build friendly relations with Iran. What do you think of Mr. Trump’s mixed message?
REPUBLICAN TURNER: I don’t think it’s a mixed message to recognize some of the strengths of your adversaries without having weaknesses on your side. In fact, Donald Trump, with his maximum pressure campaign on Iran, put the most pressure on Iran that they’ve ever had in an administration, both economically and militarily, they were – they were on the ropes. In fact, they had –
MARGARET BRENNAN: –They restarted–
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: — in their process, they have slowed down. What we see now with this administration is that they could declare themselves a nuclear weapons state by the end of the year, with the reports that have come out, press reports that indicate that there is a possibility —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Are you saying that the Supreme Leader has changed his conclusion on this? —
(CROSSTALK)
REP. TURNER: — It is possible, given the progress that has been made under the Biden administration’s policy, that Iran could, according to some reports, declare itself a nuclear weapons state by the end of the year, if — and you wouldn’t have had this —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — But that conclusion hasn’t been reached, has it? —
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER:– No–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Okay–
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: – But that would not have been possible under the maximum pressure that the Trump administration has brought to bear. The flexibility and freedom that they have had under the Biden administration has given them the ability to try to influence our elections, to actively try to carry out a plot to assassinate Donald Trump, and to continue their nuclear weapons and nuclear enrichment programs.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We have to leave it there, Mr. President. We’ll be right back.
