The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sept. 28, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner. Good morning. Good to have you here in person.
REP. MIKE TURNER: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to talk to you about Ukraine, which you just returned from, but before I do that, let’s button up where we left the conversation with Senator Klobuchar. FBI Director Chris Wray was twice spoken about in public statements by the President yesterday, and he said he has some explaining to do. He seemed to be connecting it to the FBI and January 6th. Are you at all concerned by the former director’s actions?
REP. TURNER: Well, I do think that there- you know, with this new information, there’s going to have to be some explaining as to what 6th- what is this new information, and how does this relate to January?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Specifically, the number of the agents? That 274 —
REP. TURNER: Yes. This does seem to be significantly different than what anyone has heard before, and how does this relate to the circumstances of what occurred there. Certainly, Kash Patel, as he’s bringing this forward, this is going to be information that I think does relate. It really does go to everyone’s confidence of what we currently know about that day. There’s been a number of investigations, and a number of people who’ve looked at this. You know, this certainly is concerning. And I think you know it is better —
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, what part is concerning, because that inspector general report said months ago that there were several 100 FBI agents who responded after the Capitol Police asked him to be there?
REP. TURNER: But it’s the issue of, you know, what was- what- what was their role? What did they do? You know, that aspect, I think certainly. As we look at this information, as the FBI looks at the information, is it the same? Is it the same information that has been looked at before, or is it different? And that certainly bears review, and that, I think, will occur.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, when the President says Chris Wray has some explaining to do, how do you interpret that? Because the Inspector General report is public. Kash Patel said those individuals were there. It’s not standard to send them, but it was disclosed they were there at the Capitol.
REP. TURNER: I mean, obviously, the current FBI Director, and the FBI is going to have to come forward with the information. That information will be reviewed, and then, ultimately, the FBI is going to have to- and I think that the prior director will have to explain how this information relates to what we’ve looked at before. And it’s either going to be the same and prove that it is as everyone believed the circumstances were before, or it’s going to be different. And, at that point, we’re going to have to look at, you know, how does it relate to what we believe we knew, and how does it relate to what we now see, what we don’t know. Because I have no information, I think no one else has any additional information besides what the news reports are, and we’ll have to review what that information is.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But just to be very clear, because it is such a dangerous information environment in so many ways, you are not in any way suggesting that the FBI was secretly agitating, which is what the president said the attack on January 6th?
REP. TURNER: I’m not suggesting anything, and I don’t think you are either. I think what we’re both suggesting is that this currently is in news reports, and those news reports certainly bear a review of the information that’s going to come forward, and that information is either going to tell us that it’s the same information that has been seen before, or it’s going to be new information. And if it’s new information that’s going to need to be reviewed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re going to take a break, and I want to talk about your trip to Ukraine on the other side of it, but I have to do this right now. So stay with us, all of you.
((COMMERCIAL BREAK))
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We return now to our conversation with Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner. Congressman, we were showing video there earlier of the overnight attack Russia carried out against Ukraine. You were just there, in Kyiv. I’m sure you welcomed what the President said this week, when he said he now has changed his mind, and he does believe Ukraine could win this war and get its territory back from Russia. But he also added he wishes everyone well when he made that statement. So is he telling us that the United States is walking away from Ukraine and leaving it up to them, or is he signaling that the United States is going to help Ukraine win that territory back?
REP. TURNER: Well, we definitely need to help. And this is part of the dirty secret that really where the United States really needs to step it up, and it’s part of the meeting that he had with the president of the EU Commission. You know, the United States is providing aid to Ukraine. But, at the same time, the West, the EU, and the United States is subsidizing Russia and its production machine, because, you know, we’re buying from China and India that is buying energy from Russia, and the EU is buying energy from Russia. So we need to place sanctions on Russia so that we’re not funding their economy, which is funding their ability to attack and kill Ukraine. So we’re funding both sides of this. Unfortunate- unfortunately, there are those in Congress that want to stop supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend themselves. Well, that’ll just result in more attacks from Russia, as we saw last night, against Ukraine. That’s not going to get us to peace. The only way to get us to peace, and Trump’s vision of peace, is to impact their ability for production, to stop subsidizing Russia’s economy and their ability for production and killing Ukrainians, and that’s to adopt Lindsey Graham and Brian Fitzpatrick’s bill that would impose sanctions. Give the President the ability to impact Russia’s ability to wage this war and get us to peace.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But Speaker Johnson has said before that he would put that bill to a vote, he just hasn’t. And he has said, oh, I need the president to green light it. That’s not true. He has a veto-proof majority. We’ve had Senator Graham on this program a million times telling us this is set to go, just give us the green light. Did Speaker Johnson respond to your request to move?
REP. TURNER: No, and he’s- the momentum is here, we need to do this now. The President doesn’t need to give us a green light. He’s not a red light. The last time that- and we and we’re coming back, and we need to do so, we need to do so now. The last time we put on the floor the bill that would have stopped funding Ukraine, over 300 members voted for it. If we put the bill on the floor to stop the- to put sanctions on Russia, stop funding their economy, it would be similar. Over 300 members would vote for it. The only way to peace is to put sanctions on Russia, continue our support for Ukraine, which is what we’re doing, what the President is going to be doing, and bring this war to an end. Support Trump’s vision of peace. Put sanctions on Russia, stop funding their- their war economy. Now, what I saw in Ukraine, which is what’s really incredible, is that they are winning modern warfare. What they’re doing with their anti-drone technology, I mean, they are really the tech bros of the future. They are implementing on the front line, anti-drone air defense technology that is winning this war with our help and assistance, which they’re going to continue to need for the long-range systems that Russia is bringing in and that are attacking Kyiv with. But what their anti-drone technology that no one else has, that they are implementing. They are winning this war. We need to be on the side of that war of the future that they’re winning and support Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And I’ve heard military officials explain this to me that this is like a really interesting test case to learn the lessons that Ukraine is illustrating for the world. However, in the immediate term, will the President lift restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to use long-range weapons to actually attack Russia?
REP. TURNER: Well, and he really needs to do so, because what’s happening with that pressure that’s on the front line –
MARGARET BRENNAN: But he has the old Biden policy.
REP. TURNER: Right, well, he does, and that’s what he needs to release, because with the pressure on the front line and the fact that Ukraine has developed anti-drone technology, where they’re taking down Russian drones, they’re using their own drones to attack Russia, but Russia has long-range weapons that they’re attacking that front line. Ukraine needs to have the ability to use long-range weapons to push Russia back. And when they’re able to do that, they will get their territory back. If they are able to do that, they will win this war. And if we put sanctions on Russia, impacting their ability to produce their war machine and production, they will be able to win this modern warfare, and will be on the right side of what- this is not old-time war. This is modern war, and we’re being on the right side of Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve just got to persuade President Trump to do that- that change in policy. When we were in France last week speaking to President Macron, I asked him about those incursions into European airspace, some would say by Russian drones or Russian jets, others have said they still need to investigate. We’ve seen drones or jets into Poland, Estonia, Romania, Norway, possibly Denmark. What should the United States be doing to push back on those provocations?
REP. TURNER: You know, what’s interesting about this is it? What we’ve always said is that, you know, Russia, once they got through Ukraine, would be testing and go- can continue into Europe. But what they’re seeing- but what they’re seeing now, because they’re having this- this success of Ukraine, they’re going over Ukraine. They’re now going into Poland and Romania, and they’re seeing that Poland and Romania don’t have the advanced technology that Ukraine does, and instead of going through Ukraine, they’re going over Ukraine since- since this is Modern Warfare, and Ukraine is winning it, they’re seeing that the old war is actually old Europe.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mike Turner, thank you for sharing some of your insights, what you learned on the ground in Ukraine.
REP TURNER: Thank you,
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’ll be right back in a moment. So stay with us.
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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Sept. 28, 2025
