Intelligence about the Russian reward plot was included in the President’s Daily Report earlier this year, according to the source.

The assessment, the source said, was supported by “various data” that supported the view that the Russian intelligence unit, the GRU, made an effort to pay rewards for killing US soldiers, including interrogation of Taliban detainees. and electronic eavesdropping. The source said there was other information that did not corroborate this view, but said, nonetheless, “This was a big problem. When it comes to US troops, they are 100% on the hunt, with everything they have.”

Trump also stated in a tweet on Sunday night: “Intel informed me that they did not find this information credible and therefore did not report it to me or @VP.”

The intelligence community and the United States military are investigating for further corroboration and whether National Security Council staff can recommend response options. The source said the White House now claims that the leak will ruin the opportunity for a real response.

“There is no consensus within the intelligence community” on whether Russia offered to pay rewards to the Taliban for killing US troops, McEnany said. There is a “disagreement” within the intelligence community about intelligence, which she insisted had not reached Trump’s desk because “it was not verified.”

The source tells CNN that intelligence of this nature at risk to US troops must be assumed to be true until the contrary is known.

The cascade of events surrounding the Russian effort has led a bipartisan group of congressional leaders to demand that the Trump administration explain what it knew and when.

The White House on Monday briefed a group of Republican House lawmakers on the matter, while President Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, and the director from the CIA, Gina Haspel, to provide briefings by all members to Congress on intelligence. .

One of those House Republicans, Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texan who is the top Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told CNN that he had learned at the briefing that dissenting opinions among Agencies within the intelligence community are the reason that intelligence was unreported to Trump.

“While there was a stream of reports on this alleged reward issue, intelligence from one agency, there was another agency with a very strong dissenting opinion on this intelligence,” McCaul said.

“When that happens, usually the national security adviser goes back to the NSC and tries to examine this to get to a point where it can be prosecutable. They don’t want to throw intelligence at the president when there is basically dissent within the community itself “he added.

McCaul said authorities said senior Trump White House officials were trying to resolve divergent views when news of the Russian effort emerged.

Several key Senate Republicans said they are also seeking more information from the Trump administration.

Intelligence Chamber Speaker Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Monday that the White House explanation that Trump was not informed due to intelligence conflicts was not sufficient.

“Often the president is briefed on issues where there is absolutely no certainty about intelligence on a given issue,” Schiff said.

“It is not enough to say that we did not tell him because we could not score each I, cross each T, test each point … If it is about protecting our troops, that is something that must be reported to the commander in chief.”

There have been more than 2,400 total deaths of US service members since the start of the longest US war in 2001. Last year was the deadliest in five years for the United States in Afghanistan, with 23 service members killed during operations in the country in 2019.

This story has been updated with additional information on Monday.