A senior defense official downplayed the intelligence reporting to NBC News, saying there was no evidence any bounty was actually paid.
The U.S. has gathered intelligence that Russian intelligence officers have offered to pay bounties to Taliban fighters who kill Americans, three people briefed on the matter told NBC News.
The intelligence has been shared with Congressional leaders and with the British government, the sources said. However, a senior defense official downplayed the intelligence reporting to NBC News, saying there was no evidence any bounty was actually paid.
The intelligence news was first reported by The New York Times, which said that “the intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump,” who on Sunday denied receiving the briefing. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe also denied the story late Saturday.
Former national security adviser John Bolton told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that it would be “disturbing” if officials hadn’t briefed the president on the matter.
One intelligence official told NBC News that the report isn’t particularly surprising given the fraught history between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. armed Afghan fighters with missiles to shoot down Russian helicopters in the 1980s when Russia was fighting in Afghanistan, part of a CIA covert action that killed many Russians. In 2018, U.S. forces killed a number of Russian mercenaries who were operating with pro-regime forces in Syria.
But other experts have said that if true, this is a serious escalation in Russia’s post-Cold War actions against the U.S – NBC News
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