|
“He has earned the respect of his colleagues through his years
of faithful service on the committee and his steady approach to
the challenges facing our country,” Johnson said in announcing
the appointment of Crawford, who is beginning his eighth term in
the House.
Johnson shocked lawmakers with the announcement Wednesday that
he was removing Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio from the post. However,
Turner had been at odds with President-elect Donald Trump on
some issues. For example, he supported efforts to aid Ukraine in
its attempts to repel Russia's military.
Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns that Turner's removal
weakens the panel's independence in conducting oversight on
intelligence matters. Trump has picked fierce loyalists to lead
agencies with vast power for surveillance. Democratic leader
Hakeem Jeffries called Turner a “highly-principled leader.”
“Mike Turner has robustly promoted the safety of the American
people and the Free World and his unjustified ouster is likely
being applauded by our adversaries in Russia and China.
Shameful,” Jeffries said.
Crawford joined the committee in 2017. He said in a statement
that “abuse” within the nation's security apparatus had eroded
trust and compromised America's ability to gather intelligence.
“As chairman, I will aggressively uphold our mandate to provide
credible and robust oversight of the Intelligence Community’s
funding and activities,” he said. “Without aggressive oversight
and vigorous protection of Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights,
the IC is prone to give in to mission creep and skirt U.S.
laws.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
