Biden attacks Trump over alleged bounties placed on U.S. troops

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden attacked U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday over a report that Biden said, if true, contains a “truly shocking revelation” about the commander in chief and his failure to protect American troops in Afghanistan and stand up to Russia.

The New York Times reported Friday that American intelligence officials concluded months ago that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The report said the Russians offered rewards for successful attacks last year, when the U.S. and Taliban were holding talks to end the long-running war.

“The truly shocking revelation that, if the Times report is true, and I emphasize that again, is that President Trump, the commander in chief of American troops serving in a dangerous theatre of war, has known about this for months, according to the Times, and done worse than nothing,” Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said during a virtual town hall.

The White House said neither Trump nor Vice-President Mike Pence was briefed on such intelligence. “This does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence, but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. Russia called the report “nonsense.” “This unsophisticated plant clearly illustrates the low intellectual abilities of the propagandists of American intelligence, who, instead of inventing something more plausible have to make up this nonsense,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Times quoted a Taliban spokesman denying that its militants have such a deal with the Russian intelligence agency.

The newspaper, citing unnamed officials familiar with the intelligence, said the findings were presented to Trump and discussed by his National Security Council in late March. Officials developed potential responses, starting with a diplomatic complaint to Russia, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the report said.

“I’m, quite frankly, outraged by the report,” Biden said. He promised that if he is elected, “Putin will be confronted and we’ll impose serious costs on Russia.”