Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops - Trump has known for months

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

For anyone who has trouble getting through the NYT's paywall,

Report: Russia offered bounties on killing US troops

Citing officials briefed on the matter, the Times said the United States determined months ago that a Russian military intelligence unit linked to assassination attempts in Europe had offered rewards for successful attacks last year.

Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the newspaper said.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the intelligence finding, the Times said. It said the White House has yet to authorize any steps against Russia in response to the bounties.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I really hope that someday we'll find out just what leverage Russia has over Trump.

The piss tape is real.

That's been known for quite a while. (But it also appear to be fake. I.e. "The Pee Tape" is a thing that exists, but it is quite likely a fabrication.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Treason, plain and simple

I was going to reply with something about how treason is a grave and serious crime, and just staying silent (no matter how awful that is) doesn't really fit the definition. But then I remember we're talking about this POS:
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1256628709496369152

As long as he gets a fair trial before he's sentenced, I think we're good.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1277093419505143808

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The coward Donald Trump was on the phone with Putin a lot right after the time he was reportedly briefed.

3/30
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/06/01/Trump-phone-call-with-Putin-covers-Russias-attendance-at-G7/2391591053841/

4/9 & 4/10
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/04/10/Trump-Putin-speak-via-phone-for-second-consecutive-day/2371586535996/

4/12 (Reportedly a conference call with Putin & King Salman)
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/12/putin-trump-hail-opec-oil-deal-kremlin-a69958

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Sometimes I think people really understate how much of an enemy Russians are. They straight up are trying to kill our troops. These aren’t our friends.

 The Russians are just repaying the favor, we did the same thing to them in Afghanistan. It's Trump's supplicant behavior towards Russia and Putin that has always been the scandal.

When were the Russians even in Afghanistan?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

For anyone who has trouble getting through the NYT's paywall,

Report: Russia offered bounties on killing US troops

Citing officials briefed on the matter, the Times said the United States determined months ago that a Russian military intelligence unit linked to assassination attempts in Europe had offered rewards for successful attacks last year.

Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the newspaper said.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the intelligence finding, the Times said. It said the White House has yet to authorize any steps against Russia in response to the bounties.

That second quoted line is, yet again, something that Obama or Hillary would have been justifiably impeached for in a heartbeat. Absolutely disgusting.

How hard is it to contact Putin, or have our Secretary of State Contact their foreign minister, to deliver the clear an ambiguous message that the bounties need lifted, and if our intelligence sources don't confirm that they have been ASAP including any off-the-record offers, we will institute a similar program in the Ukraine, and otherwise power up on sanctions and other diplomatic penalties?

To be fair to Mr. Trump, it's publicly documented that he spent much of the next few weeks on the phone with Putin.

3/30
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/06/01/Trump-phone-call-with-Putin-covers-Russias-attendance-at-G7/2391591053841/

4/9 & 4/10
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/04/10/Trump-Putin-speak-via-phone-for-second-consecutive-day/2371586535996/

4/12 (Reportedly a conference call with Putin & King Salman)
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/12/putin-trump-hail-opec-oil-deal-kremlin-a69958

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Sometimes I think people really understate how much of an enemy Russians are. They straight up are trying to kill our troops. These aren’t our friends.

 The Russians are just repaying the favor, we did the same thing to them in Afghanistan. It's Trump's supplicant behavior towards Russia and Putin that has always been the scandal.

When were the Russians even in Afghanistan?

The 80s, the war is called the Soviet-Afghan War.

I rather doubt that, since modern Russia didn't even exist until 1991, years after that Soviet-Afghan war ended.

If the Russian and the Soviets are held to be the same thing (which they technically and legally are not), then Donald Trump is not just doing business with and sucking up to a sometime global rival with a shady government, he's actively aligned himself with a nation and government that have been the open enemies of American and democracy since the end of World War II. That, in turn, would make him (and all the Republicans supporting him) flat-out traitors, rather than just a despicable band of bigoted fascists.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1277431695248183298

Who is "Intel"? Does Mr. Trump mean 'Putin'? Because he keeps telling us that the United States intelligence community is a bunch of liars and leakers out to get him.

(Yes, I know, he probably means DNI Ratcliffe. But saying "Ratcliffe told me so" is a lot like "my hand puppet told me so", which is why we're getting the obfuscation. Or he's just making it up.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1277744223488561155

Always a tweet:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/517045156826988544

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Hopefully this is Trump's Iranian hostages moment.

Start the investigations, Nancy!

What did the President know, and when did he know it?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

If it turns out to be 100% correct and Trump learned but didn't do anything about it, would this be grounds for charges of treason? I actually think so.

Kinda ironic he recently accused Obama of treason for "spying on Trump Tower". Needless to say: Without any proof.

No, it's not treason to not respond to something.  Presidents need some leeway to choose not to act when either intelligence is inconclusive or any available response is likely to make things worse (ex. in the middle of delicate negotiations).

Ah yes, Mr. Trump's "delicate negotiations" where he talks to Putin on the phone, grovels and brags, and then has to figure out which minor victory he'll  give Russia.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Early 2019
Senior WH officials briefed on Russian contact with the Taliban

August 2019
Trump argues Russia should be re-admitted to G7

Late February 2020
Information that Russia was paying Taliban bounties for dead American and allied solders, corroborated by monitoring of wire transfers from Russia to the Taliban, is included in Trump's daily brief.

Late March 2020
National Security Council reviews intelligence assessment on Russian bounties for dead American soldiers.

Mid April 2020
Trump brokers a historic deal with OPEC, ending Saudi Arabia's price war on Russian oil

Early June 2020
Trump personally calls Putin to invite him to attend the G7

The Past Week
After news of the Russian bounty program for American military deaths surfaces, Trump lies, and lies and lies. He lies about being briefed, and about the allegations. He lies to the Republicans about the amount of evidence supporting the allegations.


It's getting very difficult to see Mr. Trump's conduct here as anything short of treason.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1278284552679624705

Britain confirms seeing US intelligence on Russian bounties

Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace on Tuesday (June 30) confirmed having seen US intelligence briefings about alleged Russian bounties offered to Afghan militants to kill American troops.

"I am aware of the intelligence," Wallace told a parliamentary defence sub-committee hearing when asked specifically about the alleged Russian bounties

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump Gives Putin a Pass on Bounties So He Can Target Leakers Instead

In the days since The New York Times broke the news on U.S. intelligence examining claims of Russian bounties being offered to kill American military personnel in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump has turned his ire not at the Russian government, but instead on two of his favorite enemies: the news media and their confidential sources.

According to two people familiar with the matter, the president in recent days has privately expressed—“rather loudly,” in the words of one of the sources—his desire for a leak investigation into how that story ended up in the Times, and his wish for the leaker or leakers to face a heavy prison sentence.

As always,

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump: U.S. intelligence doubted Russia urged Taliban to kill U.S. troops

The four U.S. and European government sources, who are familiar with intelligence reporting, said that in recent weeks the United States had acquired fresh reporting backing up the allegations that Russia had encouraged Taliban-affiliated militants to kill U.S. and allied soldiers in Afghanistan.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the latest information caused U.S. government experts to discount the National Security Agency’s questioning of the allegations.

A sixth person familiar with the matter said the CIA was sufficiently confident of the intelligence to include it in May in its daily flagship publication, the CIA World Intelligence Review, known informally as “The Wire.”

I wonder if this, combined with Trump's reflexive support for Russia, is what prompted the leaks about Russia's bounty program. If the intelligence community got new, solid evidence confirming Russian involvement, and the President still rejected any response, I can understand why people would be furious and quite rightly see him as a threat to national security.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1281290319787692035

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1281577666509000705

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/SenDuckworth/status/1282875929883283458

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/markos/status/1295076177929891840

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1295340248667500546

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-intelligence-indicates-iran-paid-bounties-to-taliban-for-targeting-american-troops-in-afghanistan/ar-BB183dCS?li=BBnbcA1

Oh, since now it's a ran maybe possibly Trump will take action on this.

In other news, that is a very weird enemy of my enemy is my friend type of Coalition between Iran and the Taliban. I mean, that is a very Cobra and Mongoose teaming up type of situation.

Yeah, whoever at Northup Grumman is writing this fictional story needs to do some more research. Season 2 is even less plausible than Season 1.

Spoiler: It's olawakandi.

(Actually, the last four years make a lot more sense if they've all been written by olawakandi.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/SenDuckworth/status/1303038827427135489

He has also not commented on the run-in (with injuries to US military personnel) between American and Russian troops in Syria. We have discovered that the counterintelligence probe into his dealings with Russia was shut down by his administration. And his only response to the poisoning of a prominent Putin critic was that the findings of German medical experts was equivalent to "no evidence".