United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in a statement Tuesday night that while the Pentagon “has no corroborating evidence” to back up last week’s explosive report that the Russian military was offering rewards of Taliban-linked militants to kill US troops will continue to make sure that any potential threats are taken seriously.
He said the Defense Department chain of command “and I are fully committed to ensuring that US forces in the field have the best intelligence, weapons, equipment, protective equipment, tactics and all necessary authorities to deal with any threat. that they can face in order to guarantee their safety and the success of the mission. “
The New York Times, citing unidentified officials, reported Friday that some “Islamist militants” or “criminal elements” are believed to have collected payments. The report noted that 20 Americans were killed there in 2019. It was unclear if any of those deaths was the result of a reward.
President Trump has denied any knowledge of intelligence.
“Intel just informed me that they did not find this credible information and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another trick from Russia fabricated, perhaps by fake news @NYTimesbnooks, which wants to make Republicans look bad, “he tweeted Sunday.
Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary, said Tuesday that Trump is the “most knowledgeable person on planet Earth” about threats facing the United States.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, told Fox News Radio on Tuesday that Trump is unlikely to have been briefed on intelligence.
“What I do know is whether or not the president was informed, frankly, it’s irrelevant because intelligence agencies still couldn’t agree on this,” said Kinzinger, a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs who attended. to a briefing on the matter at the White House. , said. “If this is something, you must have a great deal or at least [agreement] up to a point of significant confidence to be able to take action. Otherwise, in theory, if it’s not true and you’re reacting against the Russians, think about the harm of that. “
Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was one of the Democrats who attended a briefing on the matter on Tuesday. He said it was “inexplicable” why Trump will not publicly say that he is working to get to the bottom of the problem and why he will not call Vladimir Putin. He said Trump’s defense that he had not been informed was inexcusable.
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“Many of us do not understand his affinity for that autocratic ruler who means that our nation is sick,” said Schiff.
Yael Halon of Fox News and Associated Press contributed to this report.
