After years of the now-debunked “Trump/Russia collusion” talking points, the New York Times helped Democrats come up with another angle to push: The Trump/Russia “bounties” bombshell — A story that DNI John Ratcliff called totally false. However, Nancy Pelosi already has a script to work off of no matter what else unfolds:
The shocking reports about Russia’s bounty on American troops is as bad as it gets – and still, President Trump refuses to confront Putin. #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/oeT0RgruOL
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 28, 2020
Trump tweeted about the allegations in the NYT story last night:
Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!! https://t.co/cowOmP7T1S
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2020
One thing is for sure: The facts from this point on won’t matter to Democrats seeking to score political points based on the Times’ story. But fortunately there are some in the media who care more about facts than helping one side or the other push a narrative.
Thread. Knocks down another bad story that triggered followup wild goose chase. https://t.co/JTFO77lnV9
— Brit Hume (@brithume) June 29, 2020
CBS News’ Catherine Herridge’s follow-up to the story doesn’t make it sound like things happened the way Democrats and the media (pardon the redundancy) want everybody to believe:
DEVELOPING: An intelligence official with direct knowledge tells CBS News there was an intel collection report and “NSA assesses Report does not match well established and verifiiable Taliban and Haqqani practices” + “lack sufficient reporting to corroborate any links.”
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) June 29, 2020
The official said the inteligence collection report reached “low levels” NSC but did not go further, not briefed POTUS, or VP because it was deemed “uncorroborated” and “dissent intelligence community.” @CBSNews
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) June 29, 2020
Paging Nancy Pelosi!
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Related:
‘Could put American lives at risk’: Sean Parnell goes after the leakers in the Russia-bounty story
