This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
US President Donald Trump has been under increasing pressure to explain reports that he was informed in February that Russian military intelligence had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for the deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
According to The Times, citing two unnamed officials, the claim was included in a written version of the president's daily briefing in late February. CNN confirmed the story, but cited an official saying the document was produced 'sometime in the spring.'
Trump has denied being informed of the assessment, while the White House said the claim had been kept from him because the intelligence underpinning it was unverified.
However, the officials told The Times that the Russia assessment was considered sufficiently serious and credible to include in a May 4 article in the CIA's classified World Intelligence Review.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has demanded that all members of Congress be briefed by the intelligence community on the matter.
"The questions that arise are: was the president briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed," Pelosi said in a letter to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA director Gina Haspel.
Several American and British media outlets have reported the US intelligence conclusion that Russia offered cash incentives for dead US troops in Afghanistan.
Trump has denied having been briefed on the matter, but even in Republican ranks, there were expressions of concern at the gravity of the allegations.
