TThe nation’s spy chief denied reports that President Trump had been briefed on a United States intelligence report claiming that Russian military intelligence was offering rewards to Afghan militants for attacking US and US forces. coalition.
“I have confirmed that neither the President nor the Vice President were informed of any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in his report yesterday, “Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in a statement released just before midnight Saturday.” The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today, denying that any produced such information, it was accurate. The New York Times reports and all other subsequent news reports of an alleged briefing are inaccurate. ”
the New York Times reported on Friday that a US intelligence assessment concluded that a Russian spy unit paid militants connected to the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill US coalition troops. New York Times further away He reported that Trump received information about the rewards during an interagency meeting in late March. Officials developed a list of options to respond, but media sources said the administration has not yet authorized any of the actions.
The Trump administration has denied that Trump has been informed of the alleged plot, although it has neither confirmed nor denied the veracity of the alleged intelligence report itself.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Saturday that the United States “receives thousands of intelligence reports a day and is subject to strict scrutiny” and that “while the White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or deliberations internal, the CIA Director, the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff can confirm that neither the President nor the Vice President were informed about the alleged Russian reward intelligence. ” She added that “this does not speak of the merit of the alleged intelligence but of the inaccuracy of the New York Times story that mistakenly suggests that President Trump was briefed on this matter. ”
Richard Grenell, the former acting director of National Intelligence, said that the New York Times the story was untrue when Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, tweeted Grenell challenging him to confirm whether he did not tell Trump and Vice President Mike Pence about a Russian military intelligence unit offering financial rewards to Taliban militants for killing to the American troops or that McEnany was lying
“I never heard this,” said Grenell. “And it’s disgusting how you continue to politicize intelligence. You clearly don’t understand how raw information is verified. Leaking partial information to reporters from anonymous sources is dangerous because people like you manipulate it for political gain.”
Lieu replied, “If you’re telling the truth, why doesn’t the White House deny the reward story instead of saying you didn’t report to @POTUS?”
Grenell replied: “All anonymous sources. And these same reporters gave us the Russian collusion hoax you still hold on to. ”
Grenell served as Trump’s acting chief of espionage from February 20 to May 26, overseeing the 17-member United States Intelligence Community. He was also the United States ambassador to Germany and remains the special presidential envoy for the Serbian and Kosovo peace negotiations.
Numerous commentators on Twitter began to ask why officials would choose not to tell Trump or Pence about a Russian spy unit that pays militants to kill US troops.
Grenell responded to an NBC News reporter by asking this “obvious and very serious question.”
“You are basing a lot of assumptions on an anonymous NYT source,” he said. Grenell also dismissed a tweet asking if a reward for American heads was okay with him. “Disgusting. No one would be fine with this if it were true,” he tweeted.
Other points of sale, including Wall street journal, he Washington Postand CNN: They also reported on the alleged rewards against US and other coalition forces in Afghanistan, but only New York Times Anonymous officials “reported the matter” claiming that Trump was personally briefed on the claims.
The Taliban denied accepting rewards from Russian intelligence in exchange for killing coalition forces, and the Russian embassy in the United States called the reports “false news.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden reacted to the reports by saying on Saturday that Trump’s “shameful deference campaign and his demotion to Vladimir Putin.” The alleged Democratic presidential candidate claimed that the “entire Trump presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the limit.”
the New York Times They claimed that officials briefed on the matter said the rewards operation was prompted by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Military Intelligence Service, known as the GRU, and specifically by its Unit 29155. That GRU unit is also believed to be Behind Nervous Agent Novichok 2018 poisoning of former Russian military officer and British double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK. That unit is also believed to be behind a number of other international operations.
The investigation by Robert Mueller’s special counsel named two other GRU units, Units 26165 and 74455, as being responsible for Russia’s electoral interference efforts during the 2016 presidential election, including hacking into email systems from the National Committee. Democrat and supplying stolen emails to WikiLeaks for broadcast. .
Twenty-four members of the US service have been killed in combat in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2019. It is unclear which, if any, of those murders may be suspected of having a financial incentive. The United States and the Taliban reached a shaky peace deal in February.
