Lawmakers press for answers on alleged Russian bounty offers
Democrats and Republicans in Congress demanded on Monday that U.S. intelligence agencies promptly share with lawmakers what they know about a suspected Russian plot to pay bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and threatened to retaliate against the Kremlin.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, each requested that all lawmakers be briefed on the matter and for CIA and other intelligence officials to explain how President Donald Trump was informed of intelligence collected about the plot. Trump has said he was not made aware of an intelligence assessment about the plot; officials have said that it was briefed to the highest levels of the White House and appeared in the president’s daily intelligence brief.
“Congress and the country need answers now,” Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to John Ratcliffe, director of national intelligence, and Gina Haspel, the CIA director. “Congress needs to know what the intelligence community knows about this significant threat to American troops and our allies and what options are available to hold Russia accountable.”
In the Republican-controlled Senate, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the chair of the Armed Services Committee, said he had asked for information as well and expected to know more on the matter “in the coming days.”
“We’ve known for a long time that Putin is a thug and a murderer, and if these allegations are true, I will work with President Trump on a strong response,” he said in a statement. “My No. 1 priority is the safety of our troops. Right now, though, we need answers.”
Members of Congress were caught off guard on Friday when The New York Times first reported that U.S. intelligence had found that a Russian military intelligence unit had secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in exchange for killing U.S. troops and their allies in Afghanistan. National Security Council officials met in March to discuss the intelligence, but the White House has taken no known action in response.
The Times further reported on Sunday that U.S. intelligence officers and Special Operations forces in the country had informed their superiors of the suspected Russian plot as early as January, after a large amount of U.S. cash was seized in a raid on a Taliban outpost.
U.S. officials believed that the death of at least one U.S. service member was tied to the bounties, and they are reviewing other combat casualties in search of other potential victims, officials familiar with the matter have said.
The White House has not challenged that the intelligence assessment exists, or that the National Security Council held an interagency meeting about it in late March.
But Trump and his press secretary, Kaleigh McEnany, have both claimed that he was not briefed on the intelligence report. Trump said in a tweet late Sunday that “Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me” or Vice President Mike Pence.
Lawmakers were left uncertain what to believe, and even members of Trump’s party sounded uneasy on Monday when asked about the president’s statements.
Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Trump’s tweet suggesting he had not been made aware of the reports was “a very concerning statement.”