Washington – Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson would step in if there was any “inappropriate” behavior after the speaker appointed two of Trump’s controversial aides to the committee.
“He’s going to continue to monitor the situation,” Turner said of Johnson on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, adding that “if there’s any indication that anything inappropriate is happening, the speaker will provide leadership here.”
Earlier this month, Johnson appointed two hardline Republicans, Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Ronny Jackson of Texas, to the powerful House Intelligence Committee, a move that drew immediate backlash because some saw the men’s tainted records as posing conflicts of interest that make them unfit for a committee with such influence on national security and foreign policy.
Still, Turner, an Ohio Republican, said intelligence agencies have indicated there are no ongoing or current issues that need to be addressed, and noted that the chair, who said he has met with the committee, “was absolutely committed to the two of them following the rules.”
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“Both men have military experience and have had access to classified information before, but there have been no reports of them mishandling classified information,” Turner added.
Jackson, a former White House physician, was demoted from the Navy in 2022 by order of the Department of Defense. Oversight investigations The report substantiated allegations of inappropriate conduct, detailing two incidents of Jackson drinking alcohol inappropriately while in charge of the medical care and treatment of former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, as well as allegations of disrespecting subordinates.
Perry, a former leader of the House Freedom Caucus, Mobile phone confiscated The committee is expected to be appointed as part of the FBI’s investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in 2022. Perry criticized the committee in a statement after his appointment, saying he looks forward to “providing actual oversight rather than blindly following a section of the intelligence community that too often abuses their power, resources and authority to spy on the American people.”
Turner said Perry had apologized, but noted that “you don’t want to hear that coming from somebody who sits on a committee that is so committed to national security and so committed to working in a bipartisan way.” He added that in joining the committee, Perry “will be completely comfortable playing a role in the work that we’re doing for national security.”
Turner said the reports had “nothing to do with the handling of classified information” for Jackson, cited his own military history and said voters “believe these issues have been resolved.”
“We will work with the chairman and Mr. Jackson to ensure that he is again a very productive member of the committee,” Turner said. “And if there are any issues, the chairman has indicated that he will strictly enforce our rules, just as he did with Mr. Perry.”
CBS News has reached out to Perry and Jackson’s offices for comment.
