James Himes says 'all are providing to power' after Mike Johnson appoints MAGA supporters to House panel
WASHINGTON, DC: MSNBC host Jen Psaki was joined by Rep James Himes (R-CT), a ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as she discussed the sudden appointment of two MAGA supporters to the House Intelligence Committee by Speaker Mike Johnson, on the Sunday, June 9 episode of 'Inside with Jen Psaki'.
Johnson named Reps Scott Perry (R-Pa) and Ronny Jackson (R-Tex) to fill two vacant seats on Wednesday, June 5.
Jen Psaki's concern with Mike Johnson's appointments
"House Speaker Mike Johnson just named an election denier and an alleged bully to the House Intelligence Committee, all without informing the committee’s actual chair ahead of time," Psaki stated in an article on the subject, a point which she highlighted in her show.
Under the chairmanship of Rep Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the committee handles highly sensitive classified information and works with foreign governments and domestic intelligence officials at the CIA, FBI, and other organizations. According to the New York Times, Johnson's move has “prompted fears that the intelligence community might pull back on the sensitive national security information it shares with Congress.”
Rep Jackson was found to have made “sexual and denigrating” comments about a female colleague and abused prescription medication, while Rep Perry reportedly played "a prominent role in Trump’s attempts to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election."
"Those are two very problematic characters to have access to our nation's top secrets," noted Psaki.
Rep James Himes' take on the development
"Chairman Turner and I have worked very hard, 24/7 for the last year to reestablish the intelligence committee as a non-partisan (entity) in which people, though we have different ideologies and belong to different parties, are laser-focused on probably never-more critical job of making sure that the Intelligence Committee is doing what it's doing," Himes told Psaki on Sunday.
"So, in the service of that I am not going to open fire on these two new appointments," he continued. "I am just going to observe that for generations, Speakers of both parties have appointed the most serious-minded, (and) least flammable and volatile members. And now we see the appointment of two people with a history ... of putting Donald Trump's interests ahead of the national interest."
"I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt ... in the service of trying to keep this committee functional. But Donald Trump, from the moment he became President, showed his disdain both for the Intelligence Committee as well as for the truth. They are all for providing to power."
"This is very concerning, particularly when you saw Congressman Perry's statement about how 'now the committee will finally do real oversight' - what an insult to Chairman Turner and the people who have been toiling those vineyards for a very very long time," he added.
