Congress unites to demand answers from Trump on Russian bounties in Afghanistan

U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers trained in Afghanistan in 2009. Members of Congress want answers about alleged Russian bounties paid to target American troops.

U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers trained in Afghanistan in 2009. Members of Congress want answers about alleged Russian bounties paid to target American troops. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Updated at 11:50 a.m. ET

Members of Congress in both parties demanded answers on Monday about reported bounties paid by Russian operatives to Afghan insurgents for targeting American troops.

The stories appeared to have taken even the most senior lawmakers off guard and they said they wanted briefings soon from the Defense Department and the intelligence community.

“I think it is absolutely essential that we get the information and be able to judge its credibility,” said Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

The story is unfolding along two parallel tracks in Washington, based on two key questions:

First, what actually has taken place — and have any American troops been killed as the result of Russian-sponsored targeted action? And second: who knew what about the reporting on these allegations that has flowed up from the operational level in Afghanistan?

The White House tried to defend itself over the weekend on both counts, arguing that senior intelligence officials aren’t convinced about the reliability of the reports and that they never reached President Trump or Vice President Mike Pence personally.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who normally receives some of the most sensitive intelligence briefings as a member of the so-called Gang of Eight leaders in the Congress, said she too hadn’t been informed and sent a letter on Monday requesting a briefing for all the members of the House soon.

Pelosi cited reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that suggested that Trump has been aware of the bounty practice since earlier this year but he and his deputies haven’t acted in response.

“The administration’s disturbing silence and inaction endanger the lives of our troops and our coalition partners,” she wrote.

Another top House lawmaker demanding more information was Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Republicans’ number-three leader in the chamber.

Custody of the information

Although Trump and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe both said the president hasn’t been briefed about the alleged bounty practice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not address whether aspects of the reporting had been included in written briefings submitted to the president.

Past accounts have suggested that Trump doesn’t read many of his President’s Daily Briefs and prefers to hear from in-person intelligence presenters — but even then, according to the recent book by former national security adviser John Bolton, Trump does more talking than listening.

This has added to questions about practices within the administration for passing intelligence to the president that he might not like or wish to hear about.

For example, former officials have said they learned not to talk with Trump about Russian interference in U.S. elections, about which Trump has been critical and skeptical.

Another example included reports that suggested Trump had received warnings about the coronavirus in his daily briefing but hadn’t absorbed them; the White House has detailed two specific briefings Trump received about the virus early this year.

Former acting DNI Richard Grenell, who temporarily held the post before Ratcliffe’s confirmation, said on Twitter that he wasn’t aware of any reporting about the alleged bounty practices.

Tension with intelligence services

The game of Who Knew What When is an old one in Washington but which is further complicated now by Trump’s longstanding antipathy with the intelligence community.

The president has fueled with his aides and advisers over their assessments about Russia and other issues such as North Korea’s nuclear program.

There have been reports before about Russian paramilitary or intelligence activity in Afghanistan with implications for American forces. A top general said Russian operatives were helping the Taliban with weapons or supplies. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis also said he worried about it.

A full picture never emerged, but as the situation on the ground in Afghanistan evolved, so did the practices in Washington to ingest, process and brief intelligence in a capital that has endured a number of tense episodes involving the spy agencies.

It isn’t yet clear what practices the intelligence agencies may have adopted to process intelligence like that connected to the alleged bounty program and whether they were continuing to evaluate it or different agencies might have reached different conclusions about it, as sometimes happens.

What is clear is that members of Congress said on Monday they want to resolve these questions fast. Thornberry, of the House Armed Services Committee, said that the safety of American and allied troops could depend on it.

“When when you’re dealing with the lives of our servicemembers, especially in Afghanistan — especially these allegations that there were bounties put on Americans deaths, then it is incredibly serious,” he said. “We in Congress need to see the information and the sources to judge that ourselves and, and it needs to happen early this week. You know, it will not be acceptable to delay.”

NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales contributed to this report.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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