“This is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians in this regard,” Pelosi said.
According to the Times report, released on Friday, the rewards were offered amid peace talks to end the long war in Afghanistan. The report quotes intelligence-informed U.S. officials, who also said President Donald Trump was briefed and that the White House National Security Council discussed an answer, but took no action.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have asked for answers. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he hopes the administration takes these allegations seriously. Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez said the Senate should vote on new sanctions against Russia.
On Saturday, the White House issued a cautious response, saying that neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence were informed of the alleged intelligence. “This does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence,” added press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
Trump broke his silence early Sunday morning to reiterate that he and Pence had not been informed, questioning the anonymous Times source and once again calling the outlet “Fake News.” The president then diverted his Democratic rivals.
“No one has been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With the corrupt Joe Biden and Obama, Russia had a field day and took over important parts of Ukraine: where’s Hunter? It’s probably another fake Times job, just like his failed Russia Hoax. Who is your ‘source’?
A Taliban spokesman. denied the Times report and the Russian embassy tweeted that history was full of “anonymous and baseless accusations”.
The embassy also took advantage of Trump’s language: “Stop producing life threatening #fakenews, @nytimes.”
On Sunday Pelosi was incredulous. If the president was not informed of the situation, he said, “What does that say about the concern of those who reported to the president about not approaching Russia’s problem with this president?”
He said the “list is long” in terms of Trump giving Russia a pass. He pointed to Russian interference in the 2016 election and the president said he would invite Putin to an expanded meeting of the Group of 7 nations.
“This week” host George Stephanopoulos asked Pelosi directly if he believed the Russians had something on Trump.
She replied, “Why wouldn’t he say, let’s take a look at it and see what this is [is]? Give the money to the Taliban, a reward for the lives of our troops in Afghanistan. How do you respond to the families of those – family members who are serving there?
US troops have been in Afghanistan since October 2001, one month after the September 11 terrorist attacks; The objective was to evict the Taliban and persecute Osama bin Laden. When Russia was still part of the Soviet Union, it was also involved in an expensive war there, from 1979 to 1989.
