‘POSSIBLY ANOTHER FABRICATED RUSSIA HOAX’: Three days after the news first broke in the New York Times, President Trump says the reason he was never briefed on intelligence that the Taliban have been paid by Russia to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan is that his advisers don’t believe the intelligence is accurate.
“Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or VP,” Trump tweeted last night. “Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!”
Earlier in the evening, National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told the Washington Examiner that Trump had not been briefed because of a lack of consensus within the intelligence community, adding that “the veracity of the underlying allegations continues to be evaluated.”
MULTIPLE REPORTS: While Trump singled out the New York Times, the story was quickly matched by other major news organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Fox News.
In fact, Trump’s tweet was in response to one by his reliable supporter, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who himself was reacting to a Fox News report. “Imperative Congress get to the bottom of recent media reports that Russian GRU units in Afghanistan have offered to pay the Taliban to kill American soldiers with the goal of pushing America out of the region,” Graham tweeted.
While most reports said it was unclear whether any U.S. troops were killed at the behest of Russia’s covert operatives, the Washington Post said Russian bounties “are believed to have resulted in the deaths of several U.S. service members, according to intelligence gleaned from U.S. military interrogations of captured militants in recent months.”
The newspaper also said the intelligence led to “a restricted high-level White House meeting in late March,” which “led to broader discussions” that included U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who advocated confronting the Russians.
WHO DIDN’T KNOW, AND WHEN DIDN’T THEY KNOW IT? On Saturday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who has been on the job for one month, said reports that Trump knew about the intelligence were inaccurate. “I have confirmed that neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting yesterday,” he tweeted.
Richard Grenell, Ratcliffe’s predecessor, in response to a tweet by California Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu, said the intelligence was also news to him, indicating it wasn’t solid enough to be brought to his attention. “I never heard this. And it’s disgusting how you continue to politicize intelligence,” he tweeted. “You clearly don’t understand how raw intel gets verified. Leaks of partial information to reporters from anonymous sources is dangerous because people like you manipulate it for political gain.”
On Twitter, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-highest-ranking member of the House GOP leadership, said she still has questions.
“If reporting about Russian bounties on US forces is true, the White House must explain: 1. Why weren’t the president or vice president briefed? Was the info in the PDB? 2. Who did know and when? 3. What has been done in response to protect our forces & hold Putin accountable?” she tweeted.
CALL FOR HEARINGS: Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is on Joe Biden’s short list of possible running mates, immediately issued a call for Senate hearings in a letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican.
“I request that the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hold an open hearing as soon as possible to examine the stunning revelations that … President Trump failed to authorize any action in response to the [Russian military intelligence service] covertly providing bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan.”
“I ask that SASC hold an open hearing to receive testimony from the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Commander of the Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces-Afghanistan,” she wrote. “SASC should also hold a closed hearing in a sensitive compartmented information facility to allow for discussion of classified information.”
Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by David Sivak and Tyler Van Dyke. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
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NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will not publish on Friday, which is a federal holiday, as we celebrate the long Independence Day weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox bright and early Monday morning, July 6.
HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Mark Esper is due to deliver options to the White House to implement Trump’s order to pull almost 10,000 U.S. troops out of Germany by the fall.
“Secretary Esper met with President Trump on Wednesday to discuss our presence in Europe,” said Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman in a statement. “On Monday, the Secretary will brief the president at the White House on options for our force posture in Germany.”
Trump has said some troops will be deployed elsewhere in Europe, including Poland. Others will return to the United States or be deployed in the Indo-Pacific region as part of a shift of focus toward countering China.
HAPPENING TOMORROW: The Space Force’s third GPS III satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, is scheduled to launch Tuesday atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket after its April launch was scrubbed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“New GPS III systems boost the accuracy of navigation and timing software and are harder to attack by jamming signals,” reports Air Force Magazine. “This is also the first national security space launch in which SpaceX will try to recover and reuse its rocket booster.”
BOLTON’S TAKE: Former national security adviser and current Trump nemesis John Bolton is not automatically accepting the reporting about Russian bounties to the Taliban to kill Americans as gospel, but he says Trump’s reaction to it is nevertheless instructive.
“With all due respect to the highly esteemed news services you mentioned, they get things wrong from time to time,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday. “What we do know is the Russians want us out of Afghanistan. They want us out of Syria. They want us out of Iraq. They want us out of a lot of places.”
“The concept that the Russians are actually helping the Taliban, arming the Taliban, is not a surprise. And it also gets to the idea that the Russians are not our friends,” he said.
“But the fact that the president feels compelled to tweet about the news story here shows that what his fundamental focus is is not the security of our forces but whether he looks like he wasn’t paying attention. So, he’s saying: ‘Well, nobody told me. Therefore, you can’t blame me.’”
SIGNAL TO CHINA: The Navy says two U.S. aircraft carriers and their support ships are conducting operations in China’s backyard as a signal of resolve to Beijing.
“Dual carrier operations demonstrate our commitment to regional allies, our ability to rapidly mass combat power in the Indo-Pacific, and our readiness to confront all those who challenge international norms that support regional stability,” said Rear Adm. George Wikoff, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, in a statement.
The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan strike groups began the dual carrier operations Sunday in international waters in the Philippine Sea.
“U.S. Navy aircraft carriers have conducted dual carrier strike group operations in the Western Pacific, including the South China Sea and Philippine Sea for years,” the Navy said. “These operations typically occur when strike groups deployed to 7th Fleet from the West Coast of the United States join 7th Fleet’s forward-deployed carrier strike group in Japan.”
SALUTE TO AMERICA: The U.S. military will take to the skies this Fourth of July in support of the official “2020 Salute to America,” conducting aerial flyovers of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial as well several cities that played roles in the American Revolution.
“The exact timing of the flyovers is still being worked out and will be announced soon,” said the Pentagon announcement, which said the U.S. military would provide “aerial, musical, and ceremonial support to this year’s celebration in Washington, D.C.”
“The highlight of this year’s celebration will be our salute to the Great Cities of the American Revolution,” a statement said. “The flyovers will begin in Boston and proceed to New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore. From there they will join other Department of Defense and heritage aircraft in the Salute to America over our nation’s capital.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: ‘All roads lead to Putin’: Pelosi suggests Russia has dirt on Trump that led him to ‘ignore’ bounty briefing
New York Times: Cash Discovery Tipped Off Spies About Bounties
Washington Examiner: US doubles bounty on new ISIS leader to $10M
AP: Iraq Arrests Over A Dozen Men Suspected Of Attacks Targeting American Military Presence
Washington Examiner: Army announces first joint response to combating weaponized drones
AP: Beyond ‘love,’ Trump has little to show from N Korea talks
Washington Post: Trump’s use of military funds for border wall construction is illegal, 9th Circuit Court rules
USNI News: Foggo: Changing Conditions Require New Arctic Strategy, International Code of Conduct
Washington Times: Money Laundering Loophole Allows China’s Shell Companies To Attack And Steal From U.S.
Air Force Magazine: GAO: USAF Doesn’t Have Enough RPA Pilots, Sensor Operators for New Squadron
Business Insider: Russia Releases Video Of Another Intercept Of U.S. Aircraft Over A Hotspot For Military Activity In Europe
CNN.com: Military Leadership Warns Troops Against ‘Quarantine Fatigue’
Forbes: Meet The U.S. Navy Ship That Was Made In The Soviet Union
Just the News: ‘I miss the battlefield’: Warrior’s lament on social media resonates with combat veterans
Marine Corps Times: The Special Operations Marine Raiders Have A New Commander
Military.com: Bill Would Create New Dangerous Dog Rules for Military Bases
Washington Post Magazine: The Stars and Stripes newspaper has long supported the troops. Now it needs Congress’s support.
Wall Street Journal: Opinion: The Pentagon Is a 900-Pound Crybaby
Calendar
MONDAY | JUNE 29
10 a.m. — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs webcast: “Post-Pandemic U.S.-South Korea Economic Cooperation,” with Terry Miller, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for International Trade and Economics; Wonhyuk Lim, professor at the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management; and Yonho Kim, associate director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies. https://elliott.gwu.edu/event
10 a.m. — House Oversight and Reform Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee briefing: “The First Amendment Under Attack: Examining Government Violence Against Peaceful Civil Rights Protesters and the Journalists Covering Them,” with Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University; Linda Tirado, journalist; and Rev. Gini Gerbasi, rector of Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Georgetown. https://www.youtube.com/watch
11 a.m. — Lisa Hershman, chief management officer at the Defense Department hosts a virtual town hall. https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/24348
12 p.m. — House Natural Resources Committee hearing titled “The U.S. Park Police Attack on Peaceful Protesters at Lafayette Square,” with U.S. Park Police Acting Chief Gregory Monahan; Amelia Brace of Australia’s Seven News; Kishon McDonald, a Navy veteran and Black Lives Matter protester wounded during the crackdown; and the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. https://www.youtube.com/watch
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute webinar: “The U.S.-India Partnership,” with Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Aparna Pande, director of the Hudson Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia. https://www.hudson.org/events
No time given — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute Aerospace Nation webcast with Gen. Jeffery Harrigian, commander of U.S. Air Force in Europe and Air Forces Africa. Invitation only. https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org
TUESDAY | JUNE 30
5 a.m. EDT/11 a.m. CET — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg takes part in an online discussion on the geopolitical implications of COVID-19, organized by the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, with Amrita Narlikar, president of GIGA. https://www.giga-hamburg.de
8 a.m. — The Atlantic Council book discussion webcast, on Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West, with author Catherine Belton, Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times; Clark Gascoigne, interim executive director of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition; and Anders Aslund, senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/putins-people
10 a.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call conversation on the markup of the National Defense Authorization Act, with Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman, House Armed Services Committee. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/
12 p.m. — Association of the United States Army “Noon Report,” with Gen. Paul E. Funk II, commanding general, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. https://www.ausa.org/events/noon-report-funk
WEDNESDAY | JULY 1
10 a.m. Longworth 1100 and Cisco Webex — Full House Armed Services markup of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
10 a.m. — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute Aerospace Nation webcast: “A Conversation with the Commander of Air Force Materiel Command,” with Gen. Arnold Bunch. Invitation only, but a recording will be posted afterward at: https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation.
11 a.m. — Brookings Institution webinar: “Assessing the State of the Air Force.” with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. https://www.brookings.edu/events
THURSDAY I JULY 2
2 p.m. — Brookings Institution webinar: “The National Guard in the Era of COVID-19,” with Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau. https://www.brookings.edu/events
FRIDAY | JULY 3
Independence Day holiday
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We encourage everyone to wear a mask in the affected areas. And where you can’t maintain social distancing, wearing a mask is just a good idea, and it will, we know, from experience — will slow the spread of the coronavirus.”
Vice President Mike Pence, speaking in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday.
