US House Democrats Demand Answers On Russia Bounty Allegations - Foreign Affairs Committee

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2020) The Trump administration must tell Congress what it knows about the alleged Russian plot to pay Taliban-linked militants to kill US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Democratic members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"President [Donald] Trump's failure to act not only allowed Russia to directly undermine the administration's peace framework in Afghanistan, but reportedly led to the deaths of American and allied forces in Afghanistan," the letter said on Wednesday.

The Democratic lawmakers denounced the Trump administration's alleged failure to protect the lives of US troops and called for a State Department briefing to fully inform Congress about the administration's knowledge of and response to these threats.

"Instead of responding to this Russian aggression with punitive actions, the administration's actions toward Russia contemporaneously handed President [Vladimir] Putin several key policy and military victories," the letter said.

Trump said that he and Vice President Mike Pence had not received a briefing on the matter because the US intelligence community said the allegations were not verified or substantiated.

In addition, Trump called the article another attempt at a Russia hoax to make Republicans look bad in an election year.

Russian officials have said the allegations are false and characterized them as being part of the internal political infighting in the United States.