Rep. Turner calls for congressional probe into Starlink disruption

Washington — GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio on Sunday called for a congressional investigation into disruptions in Ukraine to satellite communications with Starlink, the technology owned by SpaceX's Elon Musk.

"There needs to be an investigation, we need to find out who these people are because lives are at risk and lives are lost over these things," Turner said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Last week, Ukrainian officials began reporting experiencing difficulties with the satellite communication system, which is used for communication and to control drones, prompting questions about who was behind the slowdown. President Trump said on Friday he had not limited Ukraine's access to Starlink, adding he didn't believe Musk was responsible either. On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the administration had "nothing to do with that." Rubio said no one ordered the Starlink speed to be slowed, claiming it "sort of happened," while adding that it had been restored. 

Turner said the explanation wasn't sufficient. 

"This is something where there needs to be an investigation, there needs to be a congressional investigation," Turner said Sunday. "We need to find out who these people are."

On the technology, Turner said, "there are areas where it's restored, and there are areas where perhaps it is not," pointing to assessments in Ukraine, including from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukraine is still unable to use its interceptor systems against Russian drones due to the Starlink speed restrictions. 

"People's lives are at risk, and this is within Ukraine, this is areas where they're trying to defend themselves," Turner said. "This is essential to the United States' support of Ukraine in defending real aggressive attacks by Russia within Ukraine, and this needs to be restored."

GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who also appeared on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, also called for a congressional probe. 

"I certainly support investigating what was the source of that decision, if in fact it was a decision at all," Cramer said. "It may very well have been some sort of a technical glitch, I don't know for sure."

Cramer added, "We want to get to the bottom of it." But in the meantime, he said "what's more important is that that power is put back on full scale, and that we actually enhance Ukraine's ability to hit these launch facilities inside of Russia."

The comments come after a bipartisan group of nine senators, including Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, requested an inspector general investigation into the  slowdown last week. 

In a letter to the Pentagon's inspector general, the group of senators, led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, asked for the investigation into "whether actions or decisions by the Department of Defense or its contractors contributed to these dangerous circumstances."

"Any restrictions on these capabilities, particularly without advance notification, raise serious questions about the Department of Defense's contractual oversight and its responsibility to ensure continuity of essential services," the senators wrote.