Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused congressional critics of making hypocritical attacks in the wake of reports that Russian intelligence officers offered bounties to the Taliban to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan.
“Some members of Congress who are out there today suggesting that they are shocked and appalled by this, they saw the same intelligence that we saw,” Pompeo told reporters Wednesday. “We took this seriously.”
President Trump has faced bipartisan demands for information about the evidence suggesting that Russian forces incentivized the killing of American troops, and he has gotten pressure to punish Moscow. Pompeo demurred when pressed for details about the U.S. response, saying that “it is dangerous” to discuss such matters in public.
“The intelligence community handled this incredibly well,” he said. “And so I can assure you that whatever reporting it is that you’re referring to, that we responded in precisely the correct way with respect to making sure that our forces were postured appropriately, that they were aware of the level of the threat, the credibility of the threat, and that we were there.”
Trump denounced a report that he ignored the finding as a “hoax” designed to harm his reelection campaign, saying that he “was never briefed” because intelligence officials lacked confidence in the allegation. Senior intelligence officials protested that the leaks about the issue could undermine their ability to gather more information.
“Leaks compromise and disrupt the critical interagency work to collect, assess, and ascribe culpability,” CIA Director Gina Haspel said Monday. “When developing intelligence assessments, initial tactical reports often require additional collection and validation.”
Pompeo said that the evidence the administration received and how it considered the reports is well-known in Congress. “They would have had access to this information as well,” he said of the lawmakers. “Not just the intelligence committees, by the way — even more broadly than that.”
Congressional Democrats have cited claims that Trump has not retaliated over the bounty operation to revive allegations that the president is beholden to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t know what the Russians have on the president politically, personally, or whatever it is,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday.
Pompeo derided such criticism, citing U.S. airstrikes against Russian mercenaries in Syria and the president’s decision to withdraw from a major Cold War-era arms control treaty due to Russia violating the pact. “We do everything we can, and this president has been vicious in securing American freedom and protecting American soldiers,” he said.
