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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked top intelligence leaders on Monday to brief House members on reports that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The state of play: While President Trump has denied being briefed on the alleged intelligence, press reports indicate that he was aware of it earlier this year and that the National Security Council discussed the issue at an interagency meeting in late March.
- The New York Times first reported the developments last week. That report was subsequently confirmed by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, AP and CNN.
What she's saying: "The questions that arise are: was the president briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed," Pelosi wrote to director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
- "Congress needs to know what the intelligence community knows about this significant threat to American troops and our allies and what options are available to hold Russia accountable."
- "The president now denies being briefed, but the Administration has not denied the existence of the intelligence."