On Sunday, ABC News personality George Stephanopoulos asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about recent reports alleging that the Russian government had placed bounties on the heads of American troops. In response, the California Democrat was caught making some far-fetched allegations of her own.
According to Breitbart, Pelosi told Stephanopoulos on Sunday’s episode of This Week that President Donald Trump has been “kissing up to Putin” despite this alleged intel. Of course, Pelosi seemed less eager to talk about her own party’s history when it comes to Russia.
Bounties from Russia?
According to Breitbart, Stephanopoulos pointed during his interview with Pelosi to what he called a “rather startling report in The New York Times” that alleged “Russia secretly offered Afghan bounties to kill U.S. troops.”
“It reports that American intelligence officials have concluded that Russian military intelligence units secretly offered bounties to Taliban linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan, including targeting American troops,” the ABC host added, according to Breitbart. “Were you aware of these reports?” he asked Pelosi.
The House speaker said she wasn’t.
“We have called for a report to the Congress on this,” she said, according to Breitbart. “This is as bad as it gets. Yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score.”
Pelosi: “All roads lead to Putin”
The White House has maintained that Trump didn’t act sooner because he didn’t know about it. “The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day, and they are subject to strict scrutiny,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Saturday, according to the Washington Examiner. She added:
While the White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or internal deliberations, the CIA director, National Security adviser, and the chief of staff can all confirm that neither the president nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence.
But Pelosi apparently isn’t buying that.
“Denies being briefed, whether he is or not, his administration knows. Our allies, some of our allies who work with us in Afghanistan, have been briefed and accept this report,” Pelosi remarked to ABC, according to Breitbart. “Just as I have said to the president with him, all roads lead to Putin. I don’t know what the Russians have on the president politically, personally or financially, or whatever it is.”
Either way, the House speaker says it “is totally outrageous.”
“You would think that the minute the president heard of it, he would want to know more instead of denying that he knew anything,” Pelosi said, as Breitbart reported. “He’s kissing up to Putin in every way, saying they should be in the G-7, even though [they] annexed Crimea and caused death and destruction in Ukraine, so totally irresponsible. Something is wrong with this picture.”
“Was Obama too soft?”
Of course, Pelosi didn’t mention that, as The Atlantic noted, the annexation of Crimea actually took place under President Barack Obama’s watch, just two years after the 44th president had mocked Republican Mitt Romney for suggesting that Russia was a major threat to the U.S.
Indeed, while the House speaker may feel Trump has gone too easy on Russia, perhaps she should take a look at her own party before casting blame.
Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
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