Late last week, The New York Times reported that the Russian government paid bounties for the killing of American soldiers in Afghanistan and claimed the Trump administration has taken no action in response, prompting Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to insist that Congress “get to the bottom” of those allegations.
For his part, however, President Donald Trump attempted to end speculation on the matter by saying that the information that led to the accusations made in the Times was not deemed credible by American intelligence agencies and was not reported to him, according to the Washington Times.
White House: Trump and Pence not informed
The Times report claimed that Trump was told about the bounties in March of this year during an interagency meeting and was presented with a list of possible actions that could be taken in response, according to the Washington Examiner.
Responding to the story on Sunday via Twitter, Trump said, “Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP.”
The president added that it was, “Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!”
The tweet came a day after White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany spoke to reporters about the “alleged Russian bounty intelligence,” stating that neither the president nor vice president was made aware of it.
“The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day, and they are subject to strict scrutiny,” the Washington Examiner quoted McEnany as saying.
“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,” she continued.
Biden jumps in
Former Vice President Joe Biden reacted angrily to the bounty reports, with the Washington Examiner quoting him as saying, ““There is no bottom to the depth of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin’s depravity, if that’s true.”
“President Trump, the commander in chief of American troops in a dangerous theater of war, has known about this for months, according to the Times, and has done worse than nothing,” Biden added.
Not surprisingly, Biden failed to acknowledge the fact that during a 2012 debate, the president under whom he ultimately served for 8 years — Barack Obama — roundly mocked Gov. Mitt Romney for suggesting that Russia represented the most significant geopolitical threat facing the United States.
As is so often the case with Democrats these days, Biden’s selective outrage is really showing.
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