White House aware of Russian bounties on US troops in 2019, sources say
- Pressure builds on Trump to explain how his administration responded to an apparent lethal threat against US forces
- Former adviser John Bolton reportedly told colleagues that he briefed Trump on the matter in March 2019
Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to US officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence.
The assessment was included in at least one of President Donald Trump’s written daily intelligence briefings at the time, according to the officials. Then-national security adviser John Bolton also told colleagues he briefed Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019.
Bolton declined to comment about the claim he had briefed Trump about the matter in 2019. On Sunday, he suggested to NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump was claiming ignorance of Russia’s provocations to justify his administration’s lack of a response.
“He can disown everything if nobody ever told him about it,” Bolton said.
