Old Man Jingles
Rat out of a cage
Trump, Russia, and Afghanistan bounties - Boston Globe
The New York Times reported that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in exchange for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including American troops.
The bounty offer reportedly came around the time that the United States was in negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan for a peace agreement that would allow the United States to draw down troops from the country.
Such an offer from the Russian military would amount to a major escalation in the tensions between Russia and the West.
Fake News aka New York Times, reported a Russian military intelligence unit offered bounties for the lives of coalition forces in Afghanistan including Americans.
Here’s what we know about the program, according to reports from the New York Times and The Washington Post:
President Trump said late Sunday night that he had just been briefed by intelligence officials about reports of an alleged Russian plot offering bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers and that "intel" told him they did not assess the intelligence to be "credible."
“Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP,” Trump tweeted, adding that it was “possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News [NYT] wanting to make Republicans look bad.”
John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, denied reports that Trump had been briefed on the alleged bounty plot, saying Saturday, “I have confirmed that neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times."
The Russian Foreign Ministry also dismissed the report and a spokesman for the Taliban leadership said on June 27 that the group "strongly rejects" the allegation.
Representative Liz Cheney (Republican-Wyoming) said on June 28 that if the allegations in the newspaper report are true, lawmakers need to know “who did know and when?” The White House must explain why the president and vice president weren’t briefed, Cheney said on Twitter.
The lack of any apparent formal response has provoked a new round of criticism from Trump’s critics.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday told ABC News that “this is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score.” On Monday, she called on US intelligence officials to brief the House of Representatives on the bounty program.
Former vice president Joe Biden called the lack of action “a betrayal” in a tweet on Sunday. “Donald 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,” he tweeted.
Former national security adviser John Bolton, who is currently in the midst of a media blitz to promote his new book, cautioned Sunday that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the intelligence, but chastised the president for denying knowledge of the situation.
“I’ve never recalled a circumstance where the president himself goes out of his way to say he wasn’t briefed on something,” Bolton said on MSNBC.
Chuck Todd asked Bolton, “Do you think that the president is afraid to make Putin mad because maybe Putin did help him win the election — and he doesn’t want to make him mad for 2020?”
Bolton replied: “Honestly, I don’t think there’s evidence for that, and I think it’s a mistake on the one hand to say the Russia collusion theory was true, which some opponents of Trump still can’t let go of.”
"If he was briefed and still wanted Russia back in the G-8, it's even worse," Adam Schifface tweeted.
The New York Times reported that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in exchange for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including American troops.
The bounty offer reportedly came around the time that the United States was in negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan for a peace agreement that would allow the United States to draw down troops from the country.
Such an offer from the Russian military would amount to a major escalation in the tensions between Russia and the West.
Fake News aka New York Times, reported a Russian military intelligence unit offered bounties for the lives of coalition forces in Afghanistan including Americans.
Here’s what we know about the program, according to reports from the New York Times and The Washington Post:
President Trump said late Sunday night that he had just been briefed by intelligence officials about reports of an alleged Russian plot offering bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers and that "intel" told him they did not assess the intelligence to be "credible."
“Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP,” Trump tweeted, adding that it was “possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News [NYT] wanting to make Republicans look bad.”
John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, denied reports that Trump had been briefed on the alleged bounty plot, saying Saturday, “I have confirmed that neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times."
The Russian Foreign Ministry also dismissed the report and a spokesman for the Taliban leadership said on June 27 that the group "strongly rejects" the allegation.
Representative Liz Cheney (Republican-Wyoming) said on June 28 that if the allegations in the newspaper report are true, lawmakers need to know “who did know and when?” The White House must explain why the president and vice president weren’t briefed, Cheney said on Twitter.
The lack of any apparent formal response has provoked a new round of criticism from Trump’s critics.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday told ABC News that “this is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score.” On Monday, she called on US intelligence officials to brief the House of Representatives on the bounty program.
Former vice president Joe Biden called the lack of action “a betrayal” in a tweet on Sunday. “Donald 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,” he tweeted.
Former national security adviser John Bolton, who is currently in the midst of a media blitz to promote his new book, cautioned Sunday that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the intelligence, but chastised the president for denying knowledge of the situation.
“I’ve never recalled a circumstance where the president himself goes out of his way to say he wasn’t briefed on something,” Bolton said on MSNBC.
Chuck Todd asked Bolton, “Do you think that the president is afraid to make Putin mad because maybe Putin did help him win the election — and he doesn’t want to make him mad for 2020?”
Bolton replied: “Honestly, I don’t think there’s evidence for that, and I think it’s a mistake on the one hand to say the Russia collusion theory was true, which some opponents of Trump still can’t let go of.”
"If he was briefed and still wanted Russia back in the G-8, it's even worse," Adam Schifface tweeted.
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