McEnany: Trump to Brief Congress Members on Russia-Taliban Reports

President Donald Trump will hold a briefing with members of Congress Monday that will "clear up a lot of the false reporting from the New York Times" that a Russian military intelligence unit had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. American troops in Afghanistan, according to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. 

"The president has made clear he's never been briefed, two DNIs made that clear, John Ratcliffe and Rick Grenell, and even John Bolton said he was not aware of this intelligence," McEnany said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "Intelligence, we don't comment on it routinely, but just so you know how it works, it's vetted and then it only goes to the president and the high-level officials when it is deemed as verifiable and credible."

Several key Republicans, including Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have called for answers on the reports.  

McEnany also claimed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was "entirely off base" when she complained in an ABC interview this weekend that the news reports were "as bad as it gets" and asked what it says about Trump and his relations to Russia when people responsible for briefing the president would not go "anywhere near the Russia issue."  

"This president has been very tough on Russia sanctioning, on Russian targets, [and on] closing Russian consulates," said McEnany. "Let's put this in the context of what she's talking about. She's talking about alleged intelligence that was never briefed to the president of the United States, and what's she doing? She's taking a report based on anonymous sourcing that was just dead wrong."

McEnany said she doesn't know who the "unnamed sources" are, but added that it doesn't serve U.S. interests to share reports that must be assessed for their credibility. 

• Kremlin Calls Reports of Russian Bounties to Kill US Troops 'Lies'
• US Has Proof Russian Bounties Led to GI Deaths in Afghanistan