White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany faced a flurry of questions on Monday about why the White House did not receive intelligence about a report claiming that Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to kill US troops. in Afghanistan.
During a press conference, McEnany repeatedly stated that there was no “consensus” on the validity of such reports, saying that the president only received information on verified intelligence.
The press secretary added that the intelligence community is full of “dissenting opinions” regarding Russian rewards. The claim “would not go to the president until it was verified,” added McEnany.
The press secretary added that the New York Times, which revealed the story, “erroneously reported” that the president had been informed about intelligence when neither he nor vice president Pence had been informed.
RUSSIAN SPY UNIT PAID TALIBAN FOR ATTACK ON UNITED STATES TROOPS, SAYS US INTELLIGENCE
McEnany noted that “there is no stronger advocate” for the military than President Trump and said that he has been “extremely strong” in Russia, “imposing sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals, expelling dozens of diplomats, closing two Russian consulates, withdrawing from an IMF Treaty and various other actions. “
The press secretary said the White House had invited eight members of Congress from both parties to receive information on the situation on Monday afternoon.
McEnany’s claim echoed that of another senior administration official who spoke to Fox News, who said there was “no consensus” on the intelligence report that Russia offered rewards to Taliban-linked militants who attacked to the US Army.
On Sunday night, Trump on Twitter insisted that he had not been informed of the reports because the intelligence community “did not find this information credible.”
“The veracity of the underlying allegations continues to be evaluated,” a spokesman for the National Security Council told Fox News. Multiple national security sources confirm to Fox News that so-called “raw” intelligence is rarely included in the President’s daily report.
Russia denied issuing rewards against US soldiers. When asked about the report, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told MSNBC: “Maybe I can say it’s a bit rude, but this is 100% bulls.” A Taliban spokesman also denied any truth to the report.
The Washington Post also reported that the Russian rewards “are believed to have resulted in the deaths of several members of the American service.” The Associated Press reported that authorities are investigating an attack in April 2019 against a U.S. convoy that killed three Marines in Afghanistan.
Presumed Democratic candidate Joe Biden called the president’s apparent inaction “treason.”
Earlier Monday, McEnany beat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her criticism of Trump over the allegations. “Nancy Pelosi is completely off base. This president has been very tough on Russia. Sanctioning countless Russian targets, closing Russian consulates,” McEnany said on “Fox & Friends.”
“She is talking about an alleged intelligence that was never reported to the President of the United States, and what is he doing? She is taking a report based on anonymous sources that was completely wrong,” added McEnany.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, said Sunday that he is unclear about what “the Russians have about” Trump, but added that he must have influenced his government not to take action after US intelligence learned that the Moscow spies offered rewards to Afghan militants. kill american troops
LAWYERS WANT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANSWERS IN REPORTS RUSSIA PAID TALIBAN TO ATTACK US TROOPS
Pelosi said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that throughout the Trump presidency he has ignored accusations of wrongdoing by Russia, but that the new reports of rewards “are as bad as possible.”
“This is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians in this regard, he denies being informed,” Pelosi said. “I don’t know what the Russians have about the president, politics, personal, financial or whatever. But he wants to ignore, he wants to bring them back to the G-8 despite the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Ukraine. “
The press secretary also said that several directors of national intelligence and national security adviser Robert O’Brien have said that the president was not informed, and that former national security adviser John Bolton, who has just published a scathing book on The Trump White House said it was unaware of the alleged intelligence.
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Bolton, however, said it was “disturbing” that Trump had not heard of the alleged reward reports.
Tyler Olson and Gillian Turner of Fox News contributed to this report.
