GOP Intel Chairman Mike Turner says it’s ‘absolutely true’ Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ his party, is being ‘uttered on the House floor’

Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday that Russian propaganda  taken infiltrated his Republican colleagues and is ‘being uttered on the House floor.’ 

The Ohio Republican was doubling down on a claim made by Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul last week to Puck News,  ‘Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.’

‘It’s absolutely true,’ Turner said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ 

‘We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.’

‘To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle,’ he added. 

Support for more Ukraine funding has waned among the House GOP conference as the conflict in the east drags on into its third year. Speaker Mike Johnson is believed to be planning to take up aid for Ukraine in some form after Congress’ Easter recess. 

After the Senate passed a national security supplemental with $60 billion in Ukraine aid in February, funding for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific has languished in the lower chamber. 

In a statement on Thursday Johnson suggested he would attach border provisions to any foreign aid package.  

‘As I have always said, national security starts at our southern border. Any funding of the President’s supplemental request should be premised on meaningful policy to help the American people and finally address the invasion at our southern border.’ 

The House is expected to take up a supplemental funding package with foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific in the weeks following the Easter recess. 

But the details of the package remain unclear. It’s expected to include some provisions of H.R. 2, the House’s Republican border package. 

Some policy makers have been pushing for Russian assets to be seized, rather than just frozen, and repurposed for Ukraine under the REPO Act. But the process would be difficult and has essentially never been done before. 

The U.S., European Union, G-7 and Australia have frozen about $280 billion in Russian Central Bank assets, largely in the form of securities and cash. Sanctions on Russian nationals have frozen another $58 billion in assets, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The U.S., UK and Canada are all proponents of seizing the assets. But France, Germany and the European Central Bank have expressed concerns about potential Russian retaliation and precedent it would set for international law.

Others have suggested the Ukraine aid will likely include a Lend-Lease provision.  Providing defense materials under the Lend-Lease Act means that they are meant to be given back if they are not destroyed in the war. Funds could also be loaned to Ukraine with the promise that they would be paid back in the long term.

Meanwhile Johnson has previously suggested attaching a lift of the ban on liquified natural gas exports after Biden said in January he would pause application approvals to analyze economic and environmental impact. It’s not clear if the White House would agree to that. 

Johnson would likely need significant Democratic support to pass the legislation as many of his Republicans remain staunchly against any further Ukraine funding. 

Democrats largely support funding Ukraine’s war against Russia but some progressives could turn their nose up at a package that includes money for Israel, who they believe has not had enough care with Palestinian civilian lives in its mission to eradicate Hamas. The recent killing of an American aid worker could further entrench their opposition. 

Last month Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., launched a bid to oust Mike Johnson from the speakership. She did not force an immediate vote, but as a staunch opponent to Ukraine aid, putting a national security supplemental on the House floor would further endanger Johnson’s job. 

Turner on Sunday said he did not believe Johnson is at ‘any risk’ of being booted by the ‘chaos caucus,’ referring to members ‘who are seeking attention for themselves and trying to stop all of the important work in Congress.’