Democratic lawmakers told White House briefers Tuesday that the president should make a statement about the explosive allegations.<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump on Tuesday came under growing pressure to respond to allegations that Russia offered bounties for killing American troops in Afghanistan, with Democrats demanding answers and accusing Trump of bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the risk of U. S. soldiers\u2019 lives.
Frustrated House Democrats returning from a briefing at the White House said they learned nothing new about American intelligence assessments that suggested Russia was making overtures to militants as the U. S. and the Taliban held talks to end the conflict in Afghanistan. Senate Republicans who attended a separate briefing largely defended the president, arguing along with the White House that the intelligence was unverified.
The intelligence assessments were first reported by The New York Times, then confirmed to The Associated Press by American intelligence officials and others with knowledge of the matter.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that Trump had been briefed on the intelligence, a day after saying he hadn\u2019t because it had not been verified. McEnany added that there were still reservations within the intelligence community on the veracity of the allegations.
\u201cMake no mistake. This president will always protect American troops,\u201d she said.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and a small group of other House Democrats met with White House officials as Trump downplayed the allegations. The Democrats questioned why Trump wouldn\u2019t have been briefed sooner and pushed White House officials to have the president make a strong statement about the matter.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, one of the Democrats who attended the briefing, said it was \u201cinexplicable\u201d why Trump won\u2019t say publicly that he is working to get to the bottom of the issue and why he won\u2019t call out Putin. He said Trump\u2019s defense that he hadn\u2019t been briefed was inexcusable.
\u201cMany of us do not understand his affinity for that autocratic ruler who means our nation ill,\u201d Schiff said.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N. J., a freshman and former Navy helicopter pilot and Russia policy officer, said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows briefed the group. She said the Democrats told the White House briefers that the president should make a statement.
\u201cThese are very concerning allegations and if they\u2019re true, Russia is going to face repercussions,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe really pushed that strongly in the meeting.\u201d
She wouldn\u2019t say how the White House officials reacted or say if the briefers told the Democrats that in fact Trump had been briefed.
Trump and his aides set a high bar for briefing a president since it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of doubt before it is presented to senior government decision-makers.
McEnany declined to say why a different standard of confidence in the intelligence might apply to briefing lawmakers than for bringing information to the president.
Some House Republicans who were briefed by the White House on Monday also said they left with questions.
Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said the panel would \u201cleave no stone unturned\u201d in seeking further information. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming insisted there would be \u201cramifications\u201d for any targeting of Americans.
But Senate Republicans seemed less concerned and questioned the media reports. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he didn\u2019t think Trump should be \u201csubjected to every rumor.\u201d
\u201cConclusions, apparently, were not reached,\u201d McConnell said.
The White House was working to schedule a briefing for Wednesday with McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the top Republicans and Democrats on the two intelligence committees according to a person familiar with the talks. The person declined to be identified because the so-called \u201cGang of 8\u201d briefing will be classified. That group receives the most sensitive information in regular meetings with administration officials.
A separate group of Senate Republicans briefed in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday appeared mostly satisfied with the answers they received. Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said he was \u201cconvinced\u201d Trump hadn\u2019t known about the intelligence. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Trump \u201ccan\u2019t be made aware of every piece of unverified intelligence.\u201d
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Marco Rubio said he believed the U. S. was prepared \u201cto do everything possible to protect our men or women stationed abroad, from a variety of threats.\u201d
Some Republican senators did express frustration.
Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse, a member of the intelligence panel, said Monday evening that Congress should focus on finding out who knew what, and when, \u201cand did the commander in chief know? And if not, how the hell not?\u201d
While Russian meddling in Afghanistan isn\u2019t new, officials said Russian operatives became more aggressive in their desire to contract with the Taliban and members of the Haqqani Network, a militant group aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan and designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2012.
The intelligence community has been investigating an April 2019 attack on an American convoy that killed three U. S. Marines after a car rigged with explosives detonated near their armored vehicles as they traveled back to Bagram Airfield, the largest U. S. military installation in Afghanistan, officials told the AP.
Three other U. S. service members were wounded in the attack, along with an Afghan contractor. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The officials the AP spoke to also said they were looking closely at insider attacks \u2013 sometimes called \u201cgreen-on-blue\u201d attacks \u2013 from 2019 to determine if they are also linked to Russian bounties.
One official said the administration discussed several potential responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any.
Intelligence officials told the AP that the White House first became aware of alleged Russian bounties in early 2019 \u2013 a year earlier than had been previously reported. The assessments were included in one of Trump\u2019s written daily briefings at the time, and then-National Security Adviser John Bolton told colleagues he had briefed Trump on the matter. Bolton declined to comment on that matter, and the White House did not respond to questions.
The intelligence officials and others with knowledge of the matter insisted on anonymity to discuss the highly sensitive matter.
Trump\u2019s Democratic general election rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, accused the president Monday of a \u201cbetrayal\u201d of American troops in favor of \u201can embarrassing campaign of deferring and debasing himself before Putin.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m disgusted,\u201d Biden told donors, as he recalled his late son Beau\u2019s military service. Families of service members, Biden said, \u201cshould never, ever have to worry they\u2019ll face a threat like this: the commander in chief turning a blind eye.\u201d
Asked about the reports on the alleged bounties, Putin\u2019s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, \u201cThese claims are lies.\u201d
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