On Friday, The New York Times published an article where it cited unnamed government sources as saying that Trump had been presented with an intelligence report that claimed that Moscow could have paid bounty to armed Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan to assassinate US soldiers. The outlet said Trump had so far failed to act on the report.
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
Earlier on Sunday Trump wrote on Twitter that nobody briefed him or Vice President Mike Pence on the alleged attacks on US troops in Afghanistan, reportedly solicited by Russia, and called New York Times reports on the subject "fake news."
...Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine - Where’s Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their “source”?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2020
The Russian Embassy in the United States has refuted the New York Times' allegations and called on the Trump administration to take action after the diplomatic mission received threats in the aftermath of the story being published.
On Saturday, Taliban* spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid refuted the reports saying that these rumours were set to create obstacles to US pullout from the country. The spokesman stressed that the Taliban's activities were not related to any intelligence body or foreign country.
*Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other states
