Top U.S. intelligence officials released statements Monday criticizing leaks to the media as the Trump administration continues to defend against allegations that it knew Russia had offered bounties to incentivize Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition troops in Afghanistan.
CIA Director and Director of National Intelligence released similar statements Monday night slamming leaks as detrimental to intelligence investigations.
Neither official directly addressed the reported intelligence assessing Russia had offered bounties to militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
"Hostile states' use of proxies in war zones to inflict damage on U.S. interests and troops is a constant, longstanding concern. CIA will continue to pursue every lead; analyze the information we collect with critical, objective eyes; and brief reliable intelligence to protect U.S. forces deployed around the world," Haspel said.
Earlier Monday Ratcliffe released a statement stating "That neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting yesterday."
Pressed on whether the information was in the president's daily briefing, McEnany said, "He was not personally briefed on the matter."
CNN reported Monday, citing an unnamed source, that information about the Russian bounties was included in one of Trump's daily briefings.
CIA Director and Director of National Intelligence released similar statements Monday night slamming leaks as detrimental to intelligence investigations.
Neither official directly addressed the reported intelligence assessing Russia had offered bounties to militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
"Hostile states' use of proxies in war zones to inflict damage on U.S. interests and troops is a constant, longstanding concern. CIA will continue to pursue every lead; analyze the information we collect with critical, objective eyes; and brief reliable intelligence to protect U.S. forces deployed around the world," Haspel said.
Earlier Monday Ratcliffe released a statement stating "That neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting yesterday."
Pressed on whether the information was in the president's daily briefing, McEnany said, "He was not personally briefed on the matter."
CNN reported Monday, citing an unnamed source, that information about the Russian bounties was included in one of Trump's daily briefings.
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