President Donald Trump denied Sunday that he knew about an intelligence report that concluded Russia had paid a bounty to the Taliban to kill American troops serving in Afghanistan.
Facing strong criticism from Democrats, Trump said on Twitter that neither he nor Vice President Mike Pence had been briefed on the classified assessment. Trump also tried to cast doubt on a New York Times report that said he had been told about the matter.
“Nobody briefed or told me, @VP Pence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an ‘anonymous source’ by the Fake News @nytimes,” Trump wrote. “Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us…..”
In another tweet, Trump wrote: “Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration.”
Trump’s denial marked the second day in a row that the White House has pushed back on The Times report and comes as he has faced withering criticism from Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, who excoriated him for failing to retaliate against Russia.
The Times reported Friday that the U.S. concluded months ago that a Russian unit linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe had secretly offered rewards to Taliban-linked militants to kill American troops and other coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the paper reported. Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019, but it was not clear which killings were under suspicion, the paper said.
The Times said Trump had been briefed on the matter and that the White House’s National Security Council discussed it at a meeting in late March.
On Saturday, Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, called the revelation “shocking.”
“The commander in chief of American troops, serving in the dangerous theater of war, has known about this for months, according to The Times, and done worse than nothing,” Biden said during a virtual town hall hosted by a group called the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote.
“Not only has he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin.”
Biden said Trump’s entire presidency “has been a gift” to Putin, “but this is beyond the pale.”
“It’s a betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm’s way,” Biden said. “It’s a betrayal of every single American family with a loved one serving in Afghanistan or anywhere overseas.”
Trump and troops: President boasts that he’s rebuilding the military as polls show him losing ground to Biden
Trump hit back at Biden Sunday on Twitter and invoked Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, whom Republicans have targeted because of his work for a Ukrainian energy firm.
“With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine – Where’s Hunter?” he said.
In another tweet, Trump said, “Russia ate his and Obama’s lunch during their time in office.”
Other administration officials also pushed back on reports that Trump had been briefed on the intelligence finding.
“The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day, and they are subject to strict scrutiny,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement Saturday.
“While the White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or internal deliberations, the CIA director, National Security advisor, and the Chief of Staff can all confirm that neither the president nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence,” McEnany said.
Richard Grenell, who served briefly as Trump’s acting director of national intelligence, also wrote on Twitter that he was not aware of the intelligence finding.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and an Army combat veteran, said she will demand a Senate hearing to look into the report. She also slammed Trump for supporting Russia’s bid to reenter the G-7, an organization of leaders of the world’s most industrialized nations.
“First, Donald Trump encouraged Russia to interfere in our democracy, and they did,” said Duckworth, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Now, Russia is secretly paying militants to kill U.S. troops. Trump has known for months but apparently done nothing to stop them. Meanwhile, he’s helping Russia’s effort to rejoin the G-7.”
“Our troops deserve to know what the Trump administration is doing to protect them and why Donald Trump failed to take action in the first place,” she said.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Twitter that if the report is true, “it would only deepen my grave concerns about the (Vladimir) Putin regime’s malicious behavior globally.”
Presidential debates: Biden campaign commits to three debates, rejects Trump team’s call for more as ‘distraction’
