White House ‘knew of Russian bounties to Taliban in 2019’

John Bolton briefed Donald Trump about Russia bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans in 2019, White House officials say.

Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported. Picture; AP.

Senior White House officials were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to US officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence.

The assessment was included in at least one of Donald Trump’s written daily intelligence briefings at the time, according to the officials. Then National Security Adviser John Bolton also told colleagues he briefed Mr Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019.

The White House did not respond to questions about Mr Trump or other officials’ awareness of Russia’s provocations in 2019.

The White House has said the US President was not – and still has not been – briefed on the intelligence assessments because they have not been fully verified. However, it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of a doubt before it is presented to top officials.

Mr Bolton declined to comment Monday when asked by the AP if he had briefed Mr Trump about the matter in 2019. On Sunday, he suggested to NBC’s Meet the Press that Mr Trump was claiming ignorance of Russia’s provocations to justify his administration’s lack of a response.

“He can disown everything if nobody ever told him about it,” Mr Bolton said.

The revelations cast new doubt on the White House’s efforts to distance Mr Trump from the Russian intelligence assessments. The AP reported Sunday that concerns about Russian bounties were also included in a second written presidential daily briefing earlier this year and that current national security adviser Robert O’Brien had discussed the matter with Mr Trump. Mr O’Brien denies he did so.

Officials said they did not consider the intelligence assessments in 2019 to be particularly urgent, given that Russian meddling in Afghanistan is not a new occurrence. The officials with knowledge of Mr Bolton’s apparent briefing for Mr Trump said it contained no “actionable intelligence,” meaning the intelligence community did not have enough information to form a strategic plan or response. However, the classified assessment of Russian bounties was the sole purpose of the meeting.

The officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorised to disclose the highly sensitive information.

The intelligence that surfaced in early 2019 indicated Russian operatives had become more aggressive in their desire to contract with the Taliban and members of the Haqqani Network, a militant group aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan and designated a foreign terrorist organisation in 2012 during the Obama administration.

The National Security Council and the undersecretary of defence for intelligence did hold meetings regarding the intelligence. The Pentagon declined to comment and the NSC did not respond to questions about the meetings.

Concerns about Russian bounties flared anew this year after members of the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group, known to the public as SEAL Team Six, raided a Taliban outpost and recovered roughly $500,000 in US dollars. The funds bolstered the suspicions of the American intelligence community that the Russians had offered money to Taliban militants and other linked associations.

The White House contends the president was unaware of this development as well. However, the information was also included in the presidential daily briefing. And officials told the AP that Mr O’Brien did brief Mr Trump on the matter. O’Brien has denied such a briefing occurred.

The intelligence in 2019 and 2020 surrounding Russian bounties was derived in part from debriefings of captured Talbian militants. Officials with knowledge of the matter told the AP that Taliban operatives from opposite ends of the country and from separate tribes offered similar accounts.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied that Russian intelligence officers had offered payments to the Taliban in exchange for targeting U.S. and coalition forces.

The US is investigating whether any Americans died as a result of the Russian bounties.

AP