Trump sends shockwaves through DC as Republican ‘Deep State’ lawmaker is stabbed over close ties to CIA

Donald Trump has sent shockwaves through DC after a House Republican charged with overseeing the CIA and FBI was dramatically replaced.

Speaker Mike Johnson stunned lawmakers Wednesday when he announced he is replacing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner.

Turner, 65, who has served as committee chairman since January 2023, was accused by Trump loyalists in the House Freedom Caucus of having a “sycophantic” relationship with members of the CIA and FBI.

While Johnson claimed Trump played no direct role in Turner’s murder, sources claimed the newly elected president personally intervened.

Trump has vowed to “drain the swamp” and is expected to target the intelligence agencies he says worked to keep him out of the White House as part of a “Deep State” operation.

As part of his MAGA overhaul, Trump has tapped Tulsi Gabbard to become the new Director of National Intelligence and Kash Patel to lead the FBI.

Both nominations have sparked a backlash from the establishment over comments Gabbard and Patel have made about their opposition to the “Deep State.”

Rep. Mike Turner, former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, R-Ohio, during a press conference by members of the Congressional delegation on Feb. 9, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Speaker Johnson removed Turner from the Intelligence Committee on Wednesday

Donald Trump has famously railed against longtime members of the intelligence community, habitually referring to them as the 'Deep State'

Donald Trump has famously railed against longtime members of the intelligence community, habitually referring to them as the ‘Deep State’

The conservative House Freedom Caucus met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend

The conservative House Freedom Caucus met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend

Patel, a former federal prosecutor who worked in Trump’s first administration, has publicly stated on numerous occasions how he wants to dismantle the “deep state” and even published a book on federal corruption in 2023 titled “Government Gangsters.”

Gabbard was also skeptical of the intelligence community and even showed her opposition by voluntarily visiting former Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad in 2017 on what she considered a “fact-finding mission.”

They are expected to break the status quo and usher in a new era of Trump-friendly sentiments for the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., now the top Republican at Intel and who is much more MAGA-aligned than Turner, will become chairman.

Turner is no longer on the committee at all.

Conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley lambasted Turner after the announcement on X.

“House Intel Chairman Mike Turner has voted for every Ukrainian spending bill. He voted to keep Kevin McCarthy as chairman. He initially voted against censoring Adam Schiff. He voted to raise the debt ceiling. He is a warmongering RINO trying to send $60 billion to Ukraine. He is Deep State.”

“The GOP House Intel Chair ousted yesterday by Chairman Johnson – Mike Turner – is a blind loyalist and puppet of the American security state, the CIA and the NSA,” wrote journalist Glenn Greenwald in the same sentence.

As chairman, Turner sometimes found himself at odds with the leadership and Trump.

The Ohio Republican was one of the loudest advocates last year for Congress’ renewal of FISA, the controversial tool that helps the FBI and CIA spy on terrorists, despite Trump’s demands to drop the surveillance tool.

‘Kill FISA, it was used illegally against me and many others. They spied on my campaign!’ Trump posted on social media in April 2024.

Kash Patel, newly-elected US President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the FBI

Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence

Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard expected to take a Trump-friendly stance toward the intelligence community if confirmed by the Senate

Turner caused concern among Republican leaders in the House of Representatives in February 2024 when he raised the alarm about a Russian

Turner caused concern among Republican leaders in the House of Representatives in February 2024 when he raised the alarm about a Russian “national security threat,” which reportedly included nuclear weapons in space. Speaker Johnson later had to diffuse the situation

Trump has famously opposed the spying tool FISA

Trump has famously opposed the spying tool FISA

The House ultimately passed a modified version of FISA after multiple controversial attempts to pass a measure to expand the spy tool’s use.

That extension came despite reports surfacing in 2023 that FISA had been used “inappropriately” 278,000 times to surveil Americans and was also used to track Jan. 6 defendants and Black Lives Matter activists.

FISA was infamously abused by the intelligence community to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page during the 2016 election. Later, claims emerged about Republicans’ ties to Russia, which Democrats used for years to undermine the 45th president’s credibility.

Turner also made headlines last year with his warning that Russia was developing a new and “serious threat to national security,” which immediately set off alarm bells around Capitol Hill as the press peppered lawmakers with questions about the terrifying development.

Reports surfaced at the time indicating that the threat Turner was referring to involved Russia’s efforts to place a nuclear weapon in space.

At the time, Turner demanded that President Joe Biden release the ominous information so lawmakers could discuss the fallout.

Republican Chairman Mike Johnson later had to clean up the debacle and reaffirm that “there is no need for public alarm.”

‘I do not have the freedom to release classified information and cannot actually say much about it, but we want to reassure everyone: there are steady hands on the wheel, we are working on it. There is no cause for alarm,” Johnson said.

Turner posted a statement Wednesday acknowledging the uproar.

“I am very proud to have served on the House Intelligence Committee and as chairman,” Turner wrote. “Under my leadership, we have restored the commission’s integrity and returned its mission to the core of national security.”

‘The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious consultation. As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have been and will continue to be a strong advocate for the military and our national defense.”