WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2020) US Senator Joni Ernst said during a press conference that the briefing she and other lawmakers received from US intelligence officials regarding the allegations made in a New York Times article that Russia offered bounties for US soldiers in Afghanistan showed no corroboration.
"I was at the White House earlier today with a number of my colleagues and we received a briefing from intelligence officials, including the DNI [Director of National intelligence] and after that briefing the evidence I have seen and have heard shows no corroboration between what was posted in the New York Times article. So that is very concerning," Ernst told reporters on Tuesday.
On Friday, the New York Times published an article citing unnamed intelligence officials saying President Donald Trump had received an intelligence report claiming Russia could have paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to assassinate US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Trump said that neither he nor Vice President Mike Pence received a briefing on the issue because the US intelligence community said the allegations were not verified or substantiated. Trump called the article another attempt at a Russia hoax to make Republicans look bad in an election year.
US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe said in the same press conference that he is convinced President Donald Trump did not know about the allegations.
Russian officials have denied the allegations in the article as false and characterized them as being part of the internal political infighting in the United States.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the unsubstantiated allegations are meant to disrupt cooperation between Russia and the United States.
