An unnamed intelligence official told CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge that intelligence reports of Russia offering the Taliban bounty payments to kill US soldiers were “uncorroborated,” and the information was not presented to President Trump.
The official told Herridge that the National Security Council (NSC) assessed the intelligence and found it “does not match well-established and verifiable Taliban and Haqqani practices” and lacks “sufficient reporting to corroborate any links.” The official also said the intelligence reached low levels of the NSC but did not make it into the president or vice president’s daily briefing.
On Friday, The New York Times claimed that President Trump received a briefing on intelligence that said Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill US and NATO troops, citing anonymous intelligence officials who were “briefed on the matter.” Media outlets and Trump’s political opponents jumped on the story, accusing Trump of ignoring the intelligence and putting US troops in danger.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany made similar comments to Herridge’s source at a press conference on Monday. McEnany said there was “no consensus” on the validity of the Russian bounty story in the intelligence community, and said the president is only briefed on “verified” intelligence.
The White House briefed eight House Republicans on the intelligence on Monday. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) attended the briefing and said on Twitter that the Times used “unconfirmed” intelligence from an “ongoing” investigation.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) also attended the briefing. “Media reports that POTUS was briefed on Russian plans to pay bounties for killing US soldiers is not true. The raw intelligence simply did not reach the level of credibility sufficient to brief the president,” Rep. Stewart said. House Democrats are expected to be briefed on the intelligence Tuesday morning.
I detest the Trump but detest even more the way whatever the deep state may be comes up with fake intelligence to attack Him or just to deceive the American Ovid. Guess in my lifetime it really started with the Dulles bros and continues unabated. What a stupid world America is.
Just wait till they are back in public power making the OFFICIAL foreign policy from the White House…
It is not corroborated. There is no consensus. He is briefed. Not briefed. Whatever. But if the deep squid A wants “Russia” to stay in the news — it will be so. And in the future, as MSNBC will rattle off this charge among many other invented stupidities. It just does not matter.
It is almost as if our elite wizards are having a battle royale that sounds like this. Democrats and their Deep Squid A want US and minions to go after Russia — pronto. They calculate that China will be no show, as it likes money and wi do business with us. We can deal with them later.
Deep Squid B wants US and minions to go after China first — China is taking over in economy science and technology. They need to be stoped before US weakness starts hurting, and if they want a relief — they need to give us Russia. Once Russia is isolated snd taken over, we have time to plunder China at the time of our choosing.
Why such frantic haste to strategize and get our opponents knocked out?
I believe that in the days before nukes and missiles — we would have had already at least two wars — one in 2008 and another now. Finances cannot be endlessly manipulated — somehow squids are running out of deep water and need urgently to topple something big that will refill the deep.
There is just no explanation for erratic behavior and even less for daily increase in shrill tone — be that against Russia or China — accusations are absurd and meaningless.
We ether are going to fight one or both -/ in which case time to shut up. And we do not really plan to fight — in which case it would be best to shut up. It looks like we are still using pre WWI press drumming up for war, the way press in Vienna was all up in arms pushing fir war against weak Serbia. Well, Empires got the war — and three out of four empires did not survive war. The fourth one, British Empire bowed out and sat back as American empire was born. And it is now itching for war — just not sure how.
Even if it were true, we should remember that the US did exactly this to Russian troops in Afghanistan, they used the asset we know as Osama Bin Ladin, Al Qaida and the Taliban themselves.
Yeah, but its not likely true, and even the slightest hint that it is, plays to the hysteria.
The original source is from Afghani intelligence interrogations; that’s far from reliable intel gathering.
It’s just the War Party up to its old tricks. Trump is trying to withdraw, and they’re determined to stop him.
Not surprisingly, its has been so arranged that Russia Today is the only news outlet pointing out the source of the bounty story; the CIA-sponsored Afghani National Directorate of Security (NDS).
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/493174-nyt-report-russia-afghanistan/
NDS interrogation techniques produce the most wonderful intel…
Forget USA, USA….it’s more fitting to shout BSA.
It’s like someone flipped a switch and pretty much the whole country went nuts. Methinks our history is finally catching up with us.
“Our history”, more laughs.
Team Soros seems to have planned better this time around…
The US MSM and the Dems. have sunk below low to get rid of Trump…..even causing a new cold war with Russia.
If the Dems win back the White House in nov. do they really think they can push the reset button (again) with Russia after the massive damage the Dems actions have caused.
If the dems win the republicans will take over the anti-Russia hysteria. It’s not like they’re pro-Russia right now. And the dems won’t be anything resembling pro-Russia if they do win.
I agree, the republicans will demand a vote on the McCain bill, labeling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism and the harshest sanctions ever.
They appear to have settled on a division of labour; the Republicans shall be starkly anti-China, the Democrats, rabidly anti-Russia.
However, the obvious trend is towards Eurasian confrontation either way; its just a matter of toppling one then the other from within while being distracting without.
Open war with nuclear weapons should be out of the question save by accident. An Operation Jericho, not so much.
The less obvious trend in the open is the American Spring colour revolution presently in progress, with no help from Russia or China possible to thwart it.
However, the negative potential consequences of imploding any nuclear-armed country, should be obvious. Who gets the arsenal? What stops a spoilsport panic launch?
An imploded U.S.A., though, might see its nuke arsenal default to NATO/EU control. Its just a matter of controlling the launch codes, in the short term.
Reset… is such an unfortunate word…
https://www.weforum.org/great-reset
Global reset, financial, social, and economic, is simply an excuse to reverse trends closing the power gap between the rich and poor by finishing off the middle class altogether.
The right to knowledge, the right of constructive dissent, the right to earn a living, are all to become scare privileges in service of the surviving globalist financial oligarchs.
Am old man and have heard stories of boogymen from all around world who just like trying to kill me and other americans, but have yet to see one; not even during time in Viet conflict.
What I have seen is one hell of a lot of dead people caused by Boogymen Hunters of USA who. were drafted and volunteered to do the killing who took and take pride in that killing.
I do not lay blame upon those in powerful positions who during my lifetime. Convinced an almost completely complacent people to go do the killing for them as that has always been the purview of the powerfull from cavemen in hides to men in $3000 suit and ties and our educated elites, those who after smoke and smells of human rotten flesh always remain and are well rewarded afterwards, leaders of the “American Dreamers”.
An old flag wavers refrain, if you can’t find a job join the military and the military will make a man out of you, so that todays military pays well above what 49 percent of american workers earn and become heros.
The government of US suits places million or more dollar bounties on boogymens heads, pays, arms and trains terrorist in multiple countries to tear nations apart and then moves its own mercenary hunters in to finish the job.
But who actually does the killing, those who volunteer, are they poor deluded uneducated louts from slums and downtrodded portions of US?
In a nation that gives a bonus of up to 40K over their normal military pay to become pilots of drones that kill more non combattants than armed military those of only highest educated, and the open helpers of Education Campus, Science researchers, teachers and media but programmed automatons just folowing orders or else.
Is there a difference.between just being trained and the truly educated ?
Where only a few million know WTF is realy going on and 350 million who are deliberately ignorant, Pavolov 2 legged dogs, or do not know how to think for themselves or only of themselves.
Wars are not like days ofvyore when two opposing armies faced each other before hacking or shooting each other to death, what today can kill millions is called sanctionsvinstead of sieges, and killers can be paid into fighters for democracy or get rid of burkas on women, and US can sieze all assets of nations outside of its border and stop their ships at sea and not call it robbery or piracy.
What nation since 1949 has been responsible for by use of miliary and its wealth by any means,caused most military and civilian deaths and misery in world.????? ¿¿¿¿
Everyone knows one of the main “features” of torture is getting the victim to say whatever it is the torturers want them to say.
Obviously, the Russian government doesn’t want to give the US military industrial complex a reason to stay in Afghanistan.
Yeah, and real bounty hunting doesn’t work the way Russia Bountygate says it does, but people are conditioned to not want to think, just emote. Hate comes surprisingly easy.
The New York Times is doubling down on claims that Russia offered bounties for the killing of US troops in Afghanistan, but now says “local criminals” and not the Taliban were the recipients, again offering no actual evidence.
The new article, published Tuesday, says that “electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account” was intercepted by US spies and “bolsters suspicions” that Russia offered bounties to militants – as claimed by the Times last week.
… The Russians would pay the Taliban for any number of things, likely information, and not even about the U.S.. Some 263 Soviet soldiers are still MIA in Afghanistan.
However, an open bounty for U.S. soldiers makes no sense. For one thing, there’s no way to keep that a secret. A bounty is meant to attract as many participants as possible. We’d have known of this scheme long ago were it for real, from easily tapped Jihadi channels.
The only reason a clandestine military unit would put out such a bounty, would be to entrap low-hanging Jihadi fruitcakes fool enough to make enquiries as to how to collect.
Yet, putting out even the possibility that there’s a bounty on U.S. troops endangers their lives; some nut might take it seriously. Only Obama-era Deep State stringers would think this is a smart play, having come up with such genius schemes as Fast and Furious.
This huge news story has flimsy evidence so may not have ever happened, yet is a perfect wedge between Republican inclinations for pre-emptive war and massive retaliation for any slight, and Democrats wacky belief that painting Trump as treasonously close to Russia is the easy way to be rid of him. The CIA did worse of course to the Russians, but we don’t believe turnabout is fair play. Russians bad, no context needed.