Senate Republicans defend Trump's response on Russian bounties

[TomCADem]

33. NY Times: Pelosi on Trump and Russia: 'This Is as Bad as it Gets'

It is also demonstrably false talking point that Democrats have been all over Trump for giving Russians a free pass on killing American soldiers. Democrats are hardly sitting on this information.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/us/politics/trump-pelosi-russia-racist-tweet.html

A Times investigation, published Friday, found that Trump was briefed on an intelligence report three months ago showing that Russia had offered cash rewards to Islamic militants launching attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. But the White House still hasn’t taken any steps to retaliate or make the Russians stop.

“This is as bad as it gets,” Nancy Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week,” pointing out that Trump denied having been briefed on the intelligence. “Whether he is or not, his administration knows, and our allies — some of our allies who work with us in Afghanistan — had been briefed and accept this report.”

Joe Biden weighed in during a virtual town hall event held by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, a voters organization. “His entire presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the pale,” Biden said. “It’s a betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation, to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm’s way.”

Intelligence officers and Special Operations commandos had been reporting since at least January that they suspected the Russians might be offering payments to Taliban fighters. This would represent a significant escalation in Russia’s known involvement in conflicts between American forces and Afghan rebel fighters. Back in March, administration officials discussed registering a diplomatic complaint with Moscow or implementing new sanctions, but they’ve ultimately chosen to do nothing.