Democrats are demanding more information about explosive allegations Russia offered bounties to militants in Afghanistan to kill U.S. soldiers and are calling for top Trump Administration officials to testify, as the White House and President Trump continue to offer conflicting versions of events.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that Russia last year offered bounties to Taliban militants to kill U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan; Trump, according to the Times and other outlets, was briefed on the situation in March 2020, and the White House discussed a response with the president, but no action was taken.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pressing for immediate answers on the report, and Democrats have sharply criticized the president for allegations that he sat on this intelligence and didn’t respond.
House Democratic leadership was briefed by the White House on the allegations on Tuesday, but lawmakers left adamant that they were provided “no substantive information.”
Senate Democrats called for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mike Esper to testify this week to answer questions about the reports, including exactly when they both became aware of the intelligence: “The president has reportedly taken no steps to confront the Kremlin,” the Democrats wrote in the letter.
Trump has insisted he was never briefed on the Russia bounty reports and called news reports suggesting otherwise a “hoax,” while the White House is appearing to claim the president was never “briefed” because the intelligence was not spoken to him and instead appeared in a written report.
“What we need is a briefing by the Intelligence community to give us their assessment of the credibility of this information,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Politico at the Capitol Tuesday. “We did not receive any new substantive information about the intelligence.”
A select group of Senate Republicans will be briefed separately by the White House on Tuesday.
After the Times published its report on Friday, more information on the allegations has been reported. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that top White House officials were briefed about the Russia-bounty intelligence in early 2019, “a full year earlier than has been previously reported.” The intelligence was also listed in at least one daily intelligence briefing for Trump. The New York Times reported Tuesday that American intelligence officials intercepted data on wire transfers between Russia and the Taliban.
The White House has claimed that Trump was not briefed and therefore not aware of the intelligence reports because of the uncertainty surrounding the information. On Saturday, the White House issued a carefully worded statement denying that Trump had been briefed on the matter, adding that the statement does not “speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence.” Multiple officials told the New York Times that Trump received a written briefing about the intelligence in February. Russia and the Taliban have both denied the reports. The Russian embassy said Saturday the Times story was filled with “baseless and anonymous accusations” in a message on Twitter.
Dems leave frustrated after White House briefing on Russian bounties (Politico)
Trump Denies Reports Russia Paid Taliban To Kill U.S. Troops (Forbes)
Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says (New York Times)
Data on Financial Transfers Bolstered Suspicions That Russia Offered Bounties (New York Times)
I cover national politics for Forbes. Previously, I’ve written for TIME, Newsweek, the New York Daily News and VICE News. I also launched my own startup, Newsreel, a
I cover national politics for Forbes. Previously, I’ve written for TIME, Newsweek, the New York Daily News and VICE News. I also launched my own startup, Newsreel, a politics news platform for a young audience.