"Forget Russian Nukes In Space, The Real Threat Is In Washington"

John Daniel Davidson, writing at The Federalist, argues that "Our Most Serious National Security Threat Isn’t Russian Nukes In Space, It’s Intelligence Agencies In Washington." From the lede:

It was a busy day in Washington on Wednesday as the intelligence bureaucracy tried to foment a national security panic over Russian nukes in space in hopes of ramming through the Ukraine aid package and killing reforms designed to curb its power to spy on Americans.

Davidson explains:

    Here’s what happened. On Wednesday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner issued a cryptic warning about a “national security threat” related to a “destabilizing foreign military capability” so grave that President Biden should declassify all information about it immediately. Soon thereafter, anonymous sources leaked to the press that the threat was about Russia wanting to put nuclear weapons in space.

    This prompted a flood of statements from Republicans and Democrats that the threat was very serious — but not to worry, they have the situation under control. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters he had already scheduled a briefing with congressional leaders on the matter before Turner made his statement, and don’t worry, President Biden “is going to ensure the security of the American people.”

    Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a helpful statement clarifying what all this was really about: “The most urgent national security threat facing the American people right now is the possibility that Congress abandons Ukraine and allows Vladimir Putin’s Russia to win.”

    Meanwhile, Congress was set to take up proposed reforms to Section 702 of FISA that would put an end to warrantless spying on Americans. The intelligence agencies and the White House have been very clear about their opposition to those reforms and that they would very much like to keep spying on Americans without having to obtain a warrant. They’ve been using the press to pressure Congress to scrap the reforms. On Tuesday, the FBI shared newly declassified information with Politico revealing it used Section 702 to foil a terrorist plot on U.S. soil last year — a none-too-subtle suggestion that if they had to bother with getting a warrant, they wouldn’t be able to stop these kind of terrorist plots.

    What happened next is telling. Even though the House Republicans who were pushing for the FISA reforms appeared to be winning the debate, in the aftermath of the hysteria over Russia nukes in space, Speaker Johnson pulled the bill and canceled Congress for the rest of the week.

    It doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to figure out what happened here. Our intelligence agencies don’t want lawmakers getting in the way of their plans. They don’t want any interruption in the flow of U.S. tax dollars to Ukraine, and they don’t want any curbs on their ability to spy on Americans.

    The irony here is that the U.S. intelligence community itself has become a far greater threat to our republic than Russia or any other country.  ...