US President Donald Trump received a written briefing about alleged Russian bounties offered to Afghan militants to kill US troops as early as February, the New York Times said on Monday in a new report undercutting Trump’s assertion that he was not told of the threat.
Trump has come under increasing pressure to explain mounting media reports saying he was informed that Russian military intelligence had offered and paid cash to Taliban-linked militants for US soldiers’ deaths — and did nothing in response.
The Times, citing two unnamed officials, said the claim had been included in a written version of the president’s daily briefing in late February.
Photo: AFP
CNN confirmed the story, but cited an official as saying the document was produced “sometime in the spring.”
Trump has denied being informed of the assessment, while the White House on Monday said the claim had been kept from him because the intelligence underpinning it was unverified.
Trump is known for not regularly reading the daily brief, preferring to rely on conservative media reports on the day’s big issues — but he is reportedly orally briefed by intelligence officials up to three times a week.
Crucially, the officials told the Times the Russia assessment was considered sufficiently serious and credible to include in a May 4 article in the CIA’s classified World Intelligence Review, its flagship intelligence product.
The White House briefed a small group of Republican lawmakers on its position on Monday, but top congressional Democrats have demanded that all members of Congress be briefed by the intelligence community.
An aide to Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the US House of Representatives, said later on Monday that White House officials would brief a number of Democratic lawmakers on the reports at the White House at 8am yesterday.
“The questions that arise are: was the president briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed,” US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
The Times previously reported that US intelligence officers and special forces in Afghanistan began raising the alarm as early as January, and that the National Security Council held an interagency meeting in late March to discuss possible responses — but the White House did not authorize any action.
“I am disgusted by Trump’s incompetence,” tweeted Tammy Duckworth, a former US Army helicopter pilot and combat veteran who is now a Democratic senator from Illinois.
“He either didn’t know that Russia was offering bounties for killing American troops or didn’t care enough to remember a briefing that told him. Neither is acceptable for a Commander in Chief,” she wrote.
Since the Times first broke the story on Friday, several US and British media outlets have reported the US intelligence conclusion that Russia offered cash incentives for dead US troops in Afghanistan.
The mushrooming scandal comes with Trump trying to withdraw troops from the conflict-torn country -— one of the Taliban’s key demands — and end the US’ longest war.
Trump on Sunday denied having been briefed on the matter, as the reporting renewed questions about his reluctance to confront Russia over behavior that, if accurate, would represent a serious national security challenge.
“Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP,” he tweeted.
However, even in Republican ranks, there were expressions of concern at the gravity of the allegations.
“If intelligence reports are verified that Russia or any other country is placing bounties on American troops, then they need to be treated as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Thom Tillis, a Republican on the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, said on Twitter.
Ratcliffe and US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien condemned leaks to the media over the intelligence in statements.
“Because the allegations in recent press articles have not been verified or substantiated by the intelligence community, President Trump had not been briefed on the items,” O’Brien said.
“Nevertheless, the administration, including the National Security Council staff, have been preparing should the situation warrant action,” he said.
Ratcliffe said unauthorized disclosures had jeopardized the effort to “ever find out the full story” behind the allegations.
Meanwhile the Pentagon said in a statement it had “no corroborating evidence” for the allegations.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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