Prez: Russia bounties on G.I.s a ‘fake’ story
President Trump cast doubt on shocking allegations Russia put a bounty on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and said he was never briefed on the matter.
“Nobody briefed or told me, [Vice President Mike Pence] or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians,” he tweeted Sunday.
“Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us,” he continued. “Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration.” Trump used his favorite epithet for The New York Times, which reported the revelations, calling it “fake,” and demanded to know who the paper’s sources were.
The Republican commander-in-chief also lashed out at presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, fuming: “With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine — Where’s Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax.”
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia offered to pay Taliban-affiliated militants for killing coalition forces, including American soldiers, the Times reported Friday.
Militants are believed to have collected some bounty, according to the report, which noted 20 Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan last year. It wasn’t known if militants were paid in those cases.
Trump was briefed on the matter, according to the report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced Trump for failing to “confront the Russians on this score.”
“I don’t know what the Russians have on the president, politically, personally, financially or whatever it is,” the California Dem said on ABC’s “This Week.”
She also criticized him for wanting to bring Russia back into the Group of Seven nations.
“Russia has never gotten over the humiliation they suffered in Afghanistan, and now they’re taking it out on us, our troops,” Pelosi said. “This is totally outrageous. You would think that the minute the president heard of it he would want to know more instead of denying that he knew anything.”
Hours after Trump’s tweets, the Times reported new details in the suspected Kremlin plot.
A “large amount” of American cash was recovered from a raid on a Taliban outpost, according to the report. That and interrogations of militants helped intelligence officials conclude Russia had “offered and paid” bounties.
The president’s Sunday comments appeared to be in keeping with a pattern of proKremlin statements.
He infamously sided with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies — most notably at a 2018 summit in Helsinki — on the issue of the Kremlin meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Asked which side he believed, Trump said, “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Last year, Trump allies were accused of peddling Kremlin talking points when they tried to blame Ukraine for the election interference.
Biden slammed the president for his latest remarks.
“Not only has he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin,” the ex-veep said at a virtual town hall on Saturday.