Turner says US is at ‘highest level of a possible terrorist threat’

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said the United States has hit its “highest level of a possible terrorist threat.”

CBS’s Margaret Brennan asked Turner on “Face the Nation” about the recent arrests of several people who had alleged ties to the Islamic State. He said that he could not confirm the details of the arrests when asked Sunday if there was an “active terror plot.”

“But what’s important about these reports and what we’re seeing, especially in conjunction with Director Wray’s public statements, that we are at the highest level of a possible terrorist threat, that the administration’s policies have absolutely directly related to threats to Americans,” Turner said, referring to FBI Director Christopher Wray.

He said these threats are “no longer speculative” and “not longer hypothetical.”

“We have actual administration officials stepping forward, and certainly our committee and our committee members have concurred on the intelligence that we’re seeing. That as a result of the administration’s policies allowing people to cross the border unvetted, we have terrorists that are actively working … inside the United States that are a threat to Americans,” he added.

In comments to a Senate committee earlier this month, Wray said the U.S. has seen “threats from foreign terrorists rise to a whole nother level after October 7,” according to his prepared remarks. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Wray has emphasized that the agency is working “around the clock” to disrupt potential terrorist attacks.