House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the intelligence a “red flag” and said the American people must understand whether the United States’ relationship with Russia…
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the intelligence a “red flag” and said the American people must understand whether the United States’ relationship with Russia is “compromised by the relationship between the president and Mr. Putin.”
“It either was not waved, or the president ignored the wave,” Hoyer, D-Md., said. “We 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.”
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 “with caveats.”
“Don’t deprive the president of information he needs to keep the troops safe because you don’t have it sign, sealed and delivered,” Schiff, D-Calif., said. “If you’re going to be on the phone with Putin, this is something you ought to know.”
Schiff said that as Congress examines the reports on the bounties, Trump should not be inviting Russia into G7 or G8 or “further ingratiating Russia into the community of civilized nations.”
“I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that president hasn’t 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,” Schiff said.
