The White House on Thursday confirmed that the national security threat flagged by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee the previous day is related to “an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing,” but sought to soothe concerns about the danger it presents to the United States.
“This is not an active capability that’s been deployed,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. “And though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling there was no immediate threat to anyone’s safety.”
“We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” Kirby added.
Kirby’s comments came a day after the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, ignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill when he issued a cryptic statement announcing that the panel had “information concerning a serious national security threat.”
The lack of immediate details about the nature of the threat left many filling in their own blanks about its severity and imminence. Turner has faced withering criticism, even from members of his own party, for publicizing the committee’s knowledge in a vague post to social media. The post called on President Joe Biden to declassify “all information” related to the threat.
On Thursday, Kirby said the US intelligence community had “serious concerns” about a broad declassification of intelligence related to the threat. He added that private engagement, “rather than immediately publicizing the intelligence, could be a much more effective approach.”
The United States has been aware of Russia’s pursuit of anti-satellite capability going back “many, many months, if not a few years,” Kirby said, and…
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