尽管白宫本周向国会议员提供了报告背后的情报简报俄罗斯向...提供赏金塔利班总统先生，武装分子要杀死美国军队唐纳德·特朗普周三，他试图诋毁他们，称他们是“捏造”的，是一个旨在“诽谤”他的“骗局”。
特朗普说:“俄罗斯赏金的故事只是另一个由虚假新闻编造的故事，它只会伤害我和共和党。”推特周三，继《纽约时报》之后，《纽约时报》于周五首次报道了这一情报，并报道称特朗普已经得到了相关简报。“秘密来源可能甚至不存在，就像故事本身一样。如果名誉扫地的@nytimes有消息来源，就透露出来。又是一场骗局!”
但是正如特朗普在一个第二条推文-说这是“所有捏造的虚假新闻媒体骗局开始诽谤我&共和党”-白宫高级助手试图争辩说，总统实际上并没有称潜在的情报为“假的”，而是对媒体报道提出质疑。
2020年5月21日，国家安全顾问罗伯特·奥布赖恩在华盛顿白宫西翼向记者发表讲话。
“我认为最初的报道是一个骗局，”国家安全顾问罗伯特·奥布赖恩周三在白宫告诉记者。“我相信这是《纽约时报》——总统已经被告知这一未经证实、未经证实的情报，并选择不对此采取行动。这是一个骗局，毫无疑问。”
特朗普在周日晚上的新报道中首次使用了“恶作剧”一词，他在一篇文章中写道自录音再现装置发出的高音这“可能是另一个捏造的俄罗斯骗局”
白宫顾问凯莱恩·康威周三说，她认为总统所指的“骗局”是“他不知何故被告知此事，但没有采取行动，而是看向了另一个方向”
尽管白宫坚持其说法，即情报从未上升到需要总统正式通报的水平，但奥布赖恩指出，美国此前曾与在阿富汗作战的其他国家分享过情报。
2020年2月10日，在德尔多佛的多佛空军基地，军事人员正在为一名在阿富汗阵亡的军人搬运一个转移箱。
白宫一再表示，在《纽约时报》首次报道这一情报之前，特朗普并未得到通报，尽管高级官员对于该情报是否已在几个月前被纳入总统的书面通报材料，一直含糊其辞。多家新闻媒体援引未透露姓名的消息来源报道称，该情报已被纳入书面材料《总统每日简报》。
白宫本周为国会中的部分共和党和民主党成员提供了单独的简报，但迄今为止还没有同意民主党国会领导人的要求，即参议院和众议院的所有成员都要得到简报。
据白宫一名官员和众议院议长南希·佩洛西的一名高级助手称，“八国集团”是一个由两党资深议员组成的团体，定期了解敏感情报，预计将于周四在国会山举行首次两党简报会。会议原定于周三举行。
2020年6月25日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普乘坐海军陆战队一号抵达华盛顿白宫后走在南草坪上。
美国国务卿迈克·庞贝(Mike Pompeo)周三抨击了现在表达愤怒的立法者，称他们之前也看到过同样的情报，尽管他没有明确说明他指的是谁或什么时候。
“他们看到了和我们看到的一样的情报，所以当他们看到他们所指的任何情报时，问他们做了什么会很有趣，”庞贝告诉记者。“他们也可以获得这些信息——顺便说一句，不仅仅是情报委员会，甚至更广泛。”
庞贝和特朗普政府的其他官员为总统对俄罗斯的态度进行了有力的辩护，国会两党成员一致表示担心俄罗斯的行动可能会导致美国人丧生。
庞贝说:“总统一直意识到俄罗斯给我们带来的挑战，他也意识到阿富汗的风险。”。
2019年12月11日，阿富汗巴格拉姆机场附近发生袭击后，在“一切安全”发出之前，第405远征支援中队、第455空军远征联队的土木工程师开始恢复行动。
这一批评迫使白宫急于遏制这些披露的政治后果。民主党人，有时也有站在阵营另一边的人，长期以来一直声称特朗普没有对俄罗斯的挑衅行为做出足够有力的回应。
在第一份情报报告发布后的四天里，特朗普回避问题，也没有公开露面。尽管他计划接受福克斯商业网的采访，但他在周三的日程上也没有公开露面。
周二，白宫面临越来越多的问题，即特朗普对所谓的俄罗斯奖金了解多少以及了解多久。立法者呼吁政府分享更多信息，并可能采取行动。
Trump calls Russia bounty reports 'hoax' even as White House briefs intel on it
Even as the White House provided briefings this week to members of Congress on the intelligence behind reportsRussiaoffered bounties toTalibanmilitants to kill U.S. troops, PresidentDonald Trumpon Wednesday tried to discredit them as "made up" and a "hoax" designed to "slander" him.
"The Russia Bounty story is just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party," TrumptweetedWednesday, going after The New York Times, which first reported on the intelligence on Friday and also reported that Trump had been briefed on it. "The secret source probably does not even exist, just like the story itself. If the discredited @nytimes has a source, reveal it. Just another HOAX!"
But just as Trump repeated the message in asecond tweet-- saying it was "all a made up Fake News Media Hoax started to slander me & the Republican Party" -- top White House aides tried to argue that the president wasn’t actually calling the underlying intelligence “fake” but was instead taking issue with media reporting.
National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien speaks to reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, May 21, 2020.
"I think what is a hoax is the initial reporting,” National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters at the White House Wednesday. "And I believe this was The New York Times -- that the president had been briefed about this unverified, uncorroborated intelligence, and chose not to take action on it. That was a hoax, and there's no question about it."
Trump first used the word "hoax" in connection to the new reporting on Sunday night, writing in atweetit was "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax."
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Wednesday she thought the “hoax” the president was referring to was the idea that “he was somehow briefed on it and didn't take action on it and looked the other way.”
Even as the White House sticks to its narrative that the intelligence never rose to the level to warrant a formal briefing of the president, O'Brien noted the U.S. had previously shared the information with other countries fighting in Afghanistan.
Military personnel carry a transfer case for a service member killed in Afghanistan during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base on Feb. 10, 2020, in Dover, Del.
The White House has repeatedly said Trump was not briefed on the intelligence before The New York Times first reported on it, although top officials have been more vague about whether it had been included in the president's written briefing materials months ago. Multiple news outlets, citing unnamed sources, have reported that the intelligence had been included in the written materials, known as the President's Daily Brief.
The White House this week provided separate briefings for groups of select Republican and Democratic members of Congress but has so far not acceded to Democratic congressional leaders' request that all members of both the Senate and House of Representatives get briefed.
The first bipartisan briefing for the "Gang of Eight" -- a group of senior lawmakers from both parties that is regularly informed of sensitive intelligence -- is expected to take place on Thursday on Capitol Hill, according to a White House official and a senior aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The meeting had previously been expected for Wednesday.
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn after arriving on Marine One at the White House in Washington, June 25, 2020.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday attacked lawmakers expressing outrage now, saying they had previously seen the same intelligence, although he did not clarify about exactly whom or when he was referring.
"They saw the same intelligence that we saw, so it would be interesting to ask them what they did when they saw whatever intelligence it is they're referring to," Pompeo told reporters. "They would have had access to this information as well -- not just the intelligence committees, by the way, even more broadly than that."
Pompeo and other Trump administration officials have forcefully defended the president's approach to Russia, as a bipartisan chorus of members of Congress have expressed concern that Russia's actions may have potentially cost U.S. lives.
"The president has been consistently aware of the challenges that Russia presents to us, and he is aware of the risk in Afghanistan," Pompeo said.
Civil engineers from the 405th Expeditionary Support Squadron, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, begin recovery operations before the "all clear" is given after an attack near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 11, 2019.
The criticism has forced the White House to rush to contain the political fallout of the revelations. Democrats, sometimes joined by those on the other side of the aisle, have long alleged Trump has not responded forcefully enough to Russia's provocative behavior.
In the four days since the first report on the intelligence, Trump avoided questions and did not appear publicly. He did not have any public appearances on his schedule on Wednesday either, although he planned to be interviewed by the Fox Business network.
The White House has faced mounting questions Tuesday about how much and how long Trump has known about the alleged Russian bounties. Lawmakers called on the administration to share more information and potentially take action.
