“The U.S. receives thousands of reports a day on intelligence, and they are subject to strict scrutiny.  While the White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or internal deliberations, the CIA Director; NSA — National Security Advisor; and the Chief of Staff can all confirm that neither the President nor the Vice President were briefed on the alleged Russia — Russian bounty intelligence,” said McEnany at a daily press conference when a reporter asked why the president was not informed.

“There is no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations, and, in effect, there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of what’s being reported.  And the veracity of the underlying allegations continue to be evaluated,” she added.

The Russian bounty program is an alleged project of Russian military intelligence, specifically Unit 29155 of the GRU, to pay bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American and other allied soldiers in Afghanistan. Several US military personnel are thought to have died as a result of the bounty program, which additionally targeted coalition forces from the United Kingdom.

US intelligence reports from as early as January 2020 suggested the existence of the bounty program. A CIA assessment of the intelligence concluded that members of Unit 29155 had placed bounties on United States military personnel and other coalition forces in 2019. (ILKHA)