President Trump Maintains He Was Not Briefed on Russian Bounty Intelligence

President Trump has continued to deny he was verbally briefed on the Russian bounty intelligence. It’s believed the White House received intelligence in early 2019 suggesting Russia was working with the Taliban by placing kill bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in an effort to pull U.S. troops out of the area. The president claims he was never made aware of the situation because “it didn’t rise to that level”. He also said “many” intelligence officials at the time “didn’t believe it happened at all.” Furthermore, the president referred to the entire situation as a “hoax”. However, senior officials reported they took the threat seriously enough to warn the Pentagon. It’s also believed the president was briefed on the issue, however it was in writing. It’s been suggested by former Trump Administration officials that the president was often disinterested in hearing “unfavorable” Russian intelligence. They claim because of this he was less often verbally briefed on Russian threats.