House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the intelligence a \u201cred flag\u201d and said the American people must understand whether the United States\u2019 relationship with Russia\u2026<\/b>
\nHouse Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the intelligence a \u201cred flag\u201d and said the American people must understand whether the United States\u2019 relationship with Russia is \u201ccompromised by the relationship between the president and Mr. Putin.\u201d
\u201cIt either was not waved, or the president ignored the wave,\u201d Hoyer, D-Md., said. \u201cWe need to get to the bottom of this. What we need is a briefing by the intelligence community to give us their assessment of the credibility of this information and we need to know from the White House what action would have been taken.\u201d
The Democrats were briefed by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the same three officials who briefed a group of Republicans at the White House on Monday.
While there are reports that the bounty program was not fully verified by the U. S., House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff insisted Trump should have been briefed \u201cwith caveats.\u201d
\u201cDon\u2019t deprive the president of information he needs to keep the troops safe because you don\u2019t have it sign, sealed and delivered,\u201d Schiff, D-Calif., said. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be on the phone with Putin, this is something you ought to know.\u201d
Schiff said that as Congress examines the reports on the bounties, Trump should not be inviting Russia into G7 or G8 or \u201cfurther ingratiating Russia into the community of civilized nations.\u201d
\u201cI find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that president hasn\u2019t come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether the Russians are putting a bounty on the heads of American troops,\u201d Schiff said. \u201cAnd that he will do everything in his power to protect American troops.\u201d
\u201cIf there\u2019s a problem with being able to brief the president on intelligence he doesn\u2019t want to hear, that\u2019s a problem for entire country\u2019s national security,\u201d Schiff added.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel said that if the bounty report \u201cisn\u2019t something to go crazy about, then I don\u2019t know what is.\u201d
\u201cIt just makes no sense at all,\u201d Engel, D-N. Y., said. \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t the president question Putin? Why doesn\u2019t the president condemn what Putin has done? Why doesn\u2019t the president stand up for the United States? I mean, for God\u2019s sake, these are our soldiers and if we\u2019re not going to protect them, what are we going to do?\u201d
Hoyer said he received a phone call Sunday evening from White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows inviting him to put a group of eight to 10 Democrats together for a briefing at the White House, but he maintained that the briefing \u201cwas not as a substitute\u201d for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer\u2019s requests for a full briefing for all Members of Congress.
\u201cThe president called this a hoax publicly. Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax,\u201d Hoyer added. \u201cThere may be different judgments as to the level of credibly but there was no assertion that the information we had was a hoax.\u201d
While the lawmakers refused to discuss details of the briefing due to its secret nature, Schiff emphasized that the briefing fell short \u2013 complaining that the \u201cright people to give the briefing really were not in the room.\u201d
\u201cWe need to hear from the heads of the intelligence agencies about how do they assess the allegations,\u201d Schiff said. \u201cWhat can they tell us about the truth or falsity of these allegations? What can they tell us about steps they are taking or undertaking to vet the information they may have?\u201d
Hoyer added that the White House briefing did not reveal \u201cany new substantive information\u201d and the White House did not assure Democrats that their request for an all-Member briefing would be fulfilled.
Several House Republicans received a similar briefing on Monday, while Senate Republicans planned to attend their own briefing later Tuesday.
House GOP leaders on Tuesday forcefully condemned Russia following briefings on the intelligence regarding their bounties reportedly put on U. S. troops in Afghanistan — using much sharper language than the White House on the subject.
\u00ab\u00a0America\u2019s adversaries should know, and should have no doubt, that any targeting of U. S. forces by Russians, by anyone else, will meet a swift and deadly response,\u00a0\u00bb Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the No. 3 House Republican, said Tuesday.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, defended the Trump administration’s record on Russia – touting the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles for Ukraine – while slamming what he called the \u00ab\u00a0selective leaking\u00a0\u00bb behind the initial New York Times report and accusing Democrats of \u00ab\u00a0playing politics.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0The idea that someone would try to do something selective, inside a report, to play games, is unacceptable. It doesn’t matter what party you are in. And we should not play any games with this,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
As Trump faces criticism for not responding to the intelligence suggesting the targeting of U. S. troops, McCarthy offered a defense of the president, calling the safety of service members his \u00ab\u00a0top priority.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0I’ve been with this president when we’ve gone to Dover. I’ve watched his face. I’ve watched him console families. I’ve spoken with him at night when he has to call families. I will tell you it is his top priority,\u00a0\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n