The newest Russia-themed firestorm has intensified, with The New York Times and the Trump administration doubling down on their clashing claims. In response to a Times report citing unnamed officials claiming the president was briefed on a suspected Russian bounty plot to kill Americans, President Trump blasted the “phony Times hit job” Sunday and said “nobody briefed or told” him about the alleged plot. Now the paper has published the date of the alleged briefing, citing two unnamed officials.
“American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter,” The New York Times reported Friday. The intelligence finding “was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March,” the Times reported, citing the sources.
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