Schiff Briefed on Russia-Taliban Bounty Suspicions in February, Withheld Information From Congress
Adam Schiff
A couple weeks ago The New York Times published a story claiming that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban forces to kill US troops, citing “officials briefed on the matter.”
President Trump early Sunday morning dismissed the New York Times report on the GRU-Taliban allegations.
“Nobody briefed or told me, VP Pence, or Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an “anonymous source” by the Fake News New York Times.” Trump said in a pair of tweets Sunday morning.
House Intel Chairman and impeachment ringleader Adam Schiff (D-CA) piled on and complained that President Trump took no action against Russia.
However, according to Intelligence sources who spoke to The Federalist, Adam Schiff’s top aides were briefed on the Russia-Taliban bounty intel back in February during a CODEL trip to Afghanistan.
Schiff was briefed on the rumors back in February, yet he withheld the information from Congress and held no hearings.
When asked by a reporter this week if he had any prior knowledge about the Russia bounty rumors, Schiff said, “I can’t comment on specifics.”
Via The Federalist:
Top committee staff for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, were briefed in February on intelligence about Russia offering the Taliban bounties in Afghanistan, but he took no action in response to the briefing, multiple intelligence sources familiar with the briefing told The Federalist. The intelligence was briefed to Schiff’s staff during a congressional delegation, or CODEL, trip to Afghanistan in February.
Schiff, who has acknowledged President Donald Trump was never briefed on the so-called intelligence, has thus far refused to disclose that his staff was personally briefed. The revelation raises serious questions that Schiff is once again politicizing, and perhaps even deliberately misrepresenting, key data for partisan gain.
Schiff’s recent complaints that Trump took no action against Russia in response to rumors of Russian bounties are curious given that Schiff himself took no action after his top staff were briefed by intelligence officials. As chairman of the intelligence committee, Schiff had the authority to immediately brief the full committee and convene hearings on the matter. Schiff, however, did nothing. He did not brief his committee on the matter, nor did he brief the gang of 8, which consists of top congressional leadership in both chambers.
It looks like Schiff and his aides may be behind another round of damaging, selective leaks to the media in order to harass President Trump.
DNI John Ratcliffe said in a statement this week, “The selective leaking of any classified information disrupts vital interagency work to collect, assess, and mitigate threats and places our forces at risk. It is also, simply put, a crime.”
Recall, it is widely believed Schiff’s top aide Sean Misko and ‘whistleblower’ Eric Ciaramella worked together to impeach President Trump by leaking his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Are Schiff’s aides responsible for this Russia-Taliban bounty leak?
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