White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is sharing that President Donald Trump has not been briefed on reports that a Russian spy unit offered bounties on American and British soldiers, as of Monday afternoon.
During Monday’s press briefing, McEnany was asked if Trump has a message for Moscow and the press secretary responded, “No, because he has not been briefed on the matter, as I noted.”
She added, “There’s no consensus among the intelligence community and there are, in fact, dissenting opinions.”
See her comments below:
Question: Does the President have a specific message for Moscow?
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 29, 2020
Kayleigh: No because he has not been briefed. pic.twitter.com/8Ah818gsIh
The New York Times reported on Friday that the Russian unit had offered bounties on American and British soldiers in the Middle East and that Trump was briefed on that intelligence finding in March. The Washington Post confirmed the Times’ reporting through their sources on Saturday and the existence of the report was confirmed by British officials to Sky News.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said over the weekend that “neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting.”
Ratcliffe added, “The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today, which denied such a briefing occurred, was accurate. The New York Times reporting, and all other subsequent news reports about such an alleged briefing are inaccurate.”
"The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today, which denied such a briefing occurred, was accurate. The New York Times reporting, and all other subsequent news reports about such an alleged briefing are inaccurate.” (2/2)
— Office of the DNI (@ODNIgov) June 28, 2020
On Sunday, Trump accused the Times of fabricating its sources, tweeting, “The fake news NYTimes must reveal its ‘anonymous’ source. Bet they can’t do it, this ‘person’ probably does not even exist.”
The Fake News @ nytimes must reveal its “anonymous” source. Bet they can’t do it, this “person” probably does not even exist! https://t.co/pdg4AjybOG
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2020
But the president took a different stance later in the day, tweeting on Sunday evening, “Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or [Mike Pence]. Possibly another fabricated Russia hoax.”
Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!! https://t.co/cowOmP7T1S
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2020
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed Trump on Sunday, saying, “This is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score, denies being briefed.” McEnany responded by accusing Pelosi of “playing politics.”