President Trump has never confronted Vladimir Putin with intelligence indicating Russia paid the Taliban to kill U.S. troops, he told “Axios on HBO” in an interview on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Democrats have seized on the issue, and Trump's reluctance to discuss it, as evidence he’s unwilling to challenge Putin even when American lives are at stake.
Trump spoke with Putin on Thursday, and subsequently deflected a question about whether he’d raised the alleged bounty scheme, saying on Monday: “We don't talk about what we discussed, but we had plenty of discussion.”
In Tuesday’s interview, he was definitive:
“I have never discussed it with him.”
Pressed on why he didn’t raise the matter in Thursday’s call, he said: “That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news.”
Trump has spoken to Putin at least eight times since intelligence about the alleged Russian bounties was reportedly included in the President's Daily Brief — his written intelligence briefing — in late February.
Trump’s team says he was not verbally briefed on the matter before a June 26 report from the New York Times brought the controversy out into the open.
Between the lines: There's no clear consensus within the intelligence community about the strength of the evidence that Russia paid the bounties — though that's not the case when it comes to Russia's broader support for the Taliban.
In 2018, Gen. John Nicholson, then the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, accused Russia of providing money and arms to the group, saying, "we know that the Russians are involved."
Trump told “Axios on HBO” that he was not aware of Nicholson’s comments, and said evidence that Russia was aiding the Taliban “never reached my desk.”
The backstory: The New York Times reported in June that U.S. intelligence had concluded “months ago” that an infamous Russian military intelligence unit had offered payments for each U.S. or allied soldier killed.
Those payments were funneled through middlemen and could run as high as $100,000, according to the Times.
The White House claimed that Trump had not been briefed on the matter because the intelligence was inconclusive.
Multiple outlets subsequently reported that the intelligence was included in the PDB, but that Trump may not have read it.
Trump insisted in the interview that he does read the PDB — “they like to say I don’t read, I read a lot” — but stood by the claim that the matter “never reached my desk” because U.S. intelligence “didn’t think it was real.”
While the CIA appears to have concluded months ago that Russia did offer the bounties, the NSA reportedly disagreed.
However, several former national security officials have questioned the rationale for not briefing Trump about such a serious issue, even if the intelligence was not rock solid.
The Kremlin and the Taliban have, unsurprisingly, denied the existence of any bounty scheme.
This issue has featured in Democratic attacks in the lead-up to November’s election.
Joe Biden accused Trump of “dereliction of duty,” claiming he either wasn’t briefed on a life-and-death matter, or “was briefed and nothing was done about this.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has been considered a potential Biden running mate, has been updating a tally of how many days Trump has gone without challenging Russia on the matter.
Flashback: Suspicions of Russian support for the Taliban have swirled within the U.S. intelligence community since Barack Obama’s second term, though firm intelligence — including on any bounty scheme — didn’t come until later, Axios contributor Zach Dorfman reports.
What to watch: The Taliban and U.S. signed a deal in February aiming to bring U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan to an end after nearly two decades. Trump insists the U.S. will move ahead with its withdrawal, though the intra-Afghan peace process that was to precede an American exit has repeatedly broken down.
The full interview will air Monday, August 3, 2020 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on all HBO platforms.
OutragedLiberal on July 29th, 2020 at 11:06 UTC »
Why can't a journalist say, "Why didn't you raise this to Putin? Are you scared of him?"
Trump is not a normal president. They need to stop treating him with the deference they give to one. Treat him like the thuggish mob boss that he is.
srbesq61 on July 29th, 2020 at 10:41 UTC »
We punish China for stealing trade secrets but say nothing to Russia for putting hits on our Servicemen. If this isn't proof Putin has compromised our government, nothing is.
AmandaSchlupp on July 29th, 2020 at 10:07 UTC »
direct link to video
“It’s been widely reported the U.S. has intelligence indicating that Russia paid bounties, or offered to pay bounties, to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers. You had a phone call with Vladimir Putin on July 23rd. Did you bring up this issue?”
“No, that was a phone call to discuss other things. And frankly, uh, that’s an issue that, uh, many people said was, uh, fake news.”
“Who said it was ‘fake news’?”
“I think a lot of people, uh, if you look at some of the wonderful folks from the Bush administration, uh, some of ‘em not any friends of mine, were saying it’s a fake issue. But a lot of people said it’s a fake issue. Well, we had a call, we had a call talking about nuclear proliferation, which is a very big subject, where they would like to do something and so would I. We discussed numerous things. We did not discuss that, no.”
“And you’ve never discussed that with him?”
“I have never discussed it with him. We would, I’d have no problem with it, but you know--”
“It’s because you don’t believe the intelligence? That’s why?”
“Uhhhhh, everything -- y’know, it’s interesting. Nobody ever brings up China. They always bring Russia, Russia, Russia. If we can do something with Russia in terms of nuclear proliferation, which is a very big problem -- bigger problem than global warming -- a much bigger problem than global warming in terms of the real world -- uh, that would be great thing. No, it never reached my desk. You know why? Because they didn’t think it -- it, intelligence -- they didn’t think it was real. They didn’t think -- they didn’t think it was worthy of, er -- I wouldn’t mind -- if it reached my desk, I would’ve done something about it. It never reached my desk because…”
“Do you read your brief?”
“I do, I read it a lot. You know? I read a lot. They like to say I don’t read. I read a lot. Uhh, I comprehend extraordinary well. Uh, probably better than anybody that you’ve interviewed in a long time. Uh, I read a lot, I spend a lot of time with, uh, at meetings, uh, usually it’s once a day, or, uh, at least two or three times a week intelligence meetings talking about India, talking about with the problems with China, talking about so many different elements of the world. The world issss a very… uh, angry place, if you look all over the world. We call up, I get uh, I see uh, 22 soldiers were killed in India with China fighting over the border. It’s been raging for many, many decades. And they’ve been and fighting and back and forth -- I, I have so many briefings on so many different countries, but this one didn’t reach my desk...”
There was about a minute and a half left, but I couldn't bring myself to transcribe any more of it. It broke me. If someone else would like to take over for that portion, be my guest.