The White House called for a briefing just under the wire to clarify that Donald Trump was falsely accused of paying no heed to intelligence about Russian bounties for killing American troops. Held an hour ahead of schedule, the briefing comes in the wake of former vice president Joe Biden blaming the president for failing to fulfill his duties as commander in chief and not taking actions on the intelligence when it was the first presented in the President's Daily Brief, a top-secret document comprising nation's secrets.
The White House claims the information was neither credible nor verified, adding that it did not reach Trump due to a lack of general agreement within the intelligence community about its credibility. A US official with knowledge of the latest information told The New York Times that detail about Russian bounties was included in a President's Daily Brief early last year.
That assessment was supported by multiple pieces of information that suggested the Russian intelligence unit was paying bounties to kill American soldiers, including cross-examinations of Taliban detainees and electronic eavesdropping. The White House is aware that Trump doesn't fully read the PDB, and that his intelligence officials orally brief him about it two or three times a week.
Without confirming whether or not the information was included in the written document, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump does read. In addition to reading, she said that the president consumes intelligence verbally, responding to accusations about Trump not reading the PDB, CNN reported.
McEnany said Trump is the world's most informed person when it comes to the threats America faces. Referring to regular phone calls between the president and national security adviser Robert O'Brien, she insisted Trump is constantly being informed and briefed on intelligence matters.
The White House Press Secretary said The New York Times can't decide when the Trump administration should or should not give top-secret information. Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper released a statement saying the Defense Department has no evidence at this time to back the recent allegations regarding baleful activities by Russian personnel against American forces in Afghanistan.
Esper said the Department takes any potential threats against the country's military personnel very seriously. The recently concluded briefing was one of the attempts to deviate focus from Trump's lack of response. While the White House continues to defend Trump's handling of the matter, it remains tight-lipped about how the president plans to punish Russia if the information proves to be true.