{"id":431174,"date":"2021-04-16T17:05:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T21:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=431174"},"modified":"2021-04-16T17:06:04","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T21:06:04","slug":"u-s-intels-claim-that-russia-put-bounties-on-u-s-troops-softens-biden-harris-used-it-to-attack-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-intels-claim-that-russia-put-bounties-on-u-s-troops-softens-biden-harris-used-it-to-attack-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Intel\u2019s Claim That Russia Put Bounties On U.S. Troops Softens. Biden, Harris Used It To Attack Trump."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fu-s-intels-claim-that-russia-put-bounties-on-u-s-troops-softens-biden-harris-used-it-to-attack-trump%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=431174&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2496.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>U.S. intelligence officials revealed this week that they have only \u201clow to moderate\u201d confidence in a story that claimed Russia put bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/06\/26\/us\/politics\/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html\">reported<\/a> last year:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"15\">\n<p><em>American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan \u2014 including targeting American troops \u2014 amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, officials said on Thursday that intelligence community only had \u201clow to moderate confidence that Russian intelligence officers sought to encourage Taliban attacks against U.S. and coalition personnel in Afghanistan in 2019, and perhaps earlier, including through financial incentives and compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTranslated from the jargon of spyworld, that means the intelligence agencies have found the story is, at best, unproven\u2014and possibly untrue,\u201d The Daily Beast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/us-intel-walks-back-claim-russians-put-bounties-on-american-troops\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;on Thursday. &nbsp;\u201cAccording to the officials on Thursday\u2019s call, the reporting about the alleged \u2018bounties\u2019 came from \u2018detainee reporting\u2019\u2013raising the specter that someone told their U.S.-aligned Afghan jailers what they thought was necessary to get out of a cage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Beast noted that the \u201chuge election-time story\u201d prompted calls of \u201ctreason\u201d against Trump, but with the latest revelation, \u201cTrump might have been right to call it a \u2018hoax.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the campaign, Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/russian-bounty-trump-2020-presidential-campaign\">Joe Biden<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/kamala-harris-cited-russian-bounty-story-debate-pence\">Kamala Harris<\/a> both attacked the Trump administration over the claim that Russia offered bounties on U.S. troops.<\/p>\n<p>During a Fox News interview on Thursday night, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) called on both Biden and Harris to apologize to Trump for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoe Biden owes President Trump an apology. Joe Biden used that line of attack multiple times in the campaign to include in the presidential debate,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cI remember when it first surfaced last summer, I was open-minded to it, it sounds like something that Vladimir Putin and the Russians would do. But I sit on the Intelligence Committee. I reviewed it carefully, and again, I could not see where these reports in the media were coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe now have the Biden administration itself confirming that they only have low to moderate confidence, which is pretty low in terms of the intelligence community\u2019s assessments,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cSo Joe Biden really owes Donald Trump an apology, as does Kamala Harris and every other Democrat that attacked him on the basis of unsubstantiated media reports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cotton added that he thinks the story likely originated with \u201csome people in the government who didn\u2019t like Donald Trump\u201d who \u201cwanted to help Joe Biden get elected, and they selectively leaked it without providing the proper context to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Journalist Drew Holden went back and catalogued the media\u2019s reporting on the issue and how they aggressively used it to push a narrative that was damaging to Trump. \u201cIn many ways, this story was the Russian Collusion hoax in miniature: Trump is bad, so we\u2019ll believe anything that\u2019s said about him, especially if it involves Russia,\u201d Holden <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839131311591424\">said<\/a>. \u201cA truly shameful showing from those who are meant to tell the American people the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"11.043887147335\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The worst offender was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@nytimes<\/a>, who broke the original story and went on to convince the families of soldiers who had been KIA that perhaps the Russians were to blame and President Trump didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n<p>Will we get a follow up? Will the families? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FTEkqRaPTn\">pic.twitter.com\/FTEkqRaPTn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382838939845853185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.4887459807074\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CNN<\/a> also made a habit of having elected Dems on to suggest a path forward on these unverified allegations, glossing over the fact that they may or may not even be true. Here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenGillibrand?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SenGillibrand<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenDuckworth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SenDuckworth<\/a>. (More on electeds later) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CG2ffknKKf\">pic.twitter.com\/CG2ffknKKf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382838960142049283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.968503937008\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/washingtonpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@washingtonpost<\/a> gave Trump Four Pinocchios on a fact check when he said that the intel \u2013 which, again, was unverified and has since evaporated \u2013 was even disputed.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, cmon! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jb7bwswb0H\">pic.twitter.com\/jb7bwswb0H<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382838978936705026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.705882352941\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MSNBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MSNBC<\/a> unsurprisingly got their chief Russian propagandist, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maddow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@maddow<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaddowBlog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaddowBlog<\/a> involved on this one, too.<\/p>\n<p>You would think that the Russian collusion hoax imploding would chasten her. Apparently not. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xJythsKzNr\">pic.twitter.com\/xJythsKzNr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382838998561869825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.7314814814815\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The rush among outlets to go from explosive but unconfirmed reports to gospel truth was contagious.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s just a few stories from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/politico?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@politico<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fOnH7u1Fiu\">pic.twitter.com\/fOnH7u1Fiu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839019424391170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.408\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thedailybeast?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@thedailybeast<\/a> broke this story \u2013 which I\u2019ve linked to at the end of the thread \u2013 which is good and important reporting.<\/p>\n<p>They also pushed the original bounties claim, too. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VDTv68Vc3i\">pic.twitter.com\/VDTv68Vc3i<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839039246671885?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.5445544554455\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And you\u2019ll remember that plenty of politicians got involved in this narrative, too.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JoeBiden<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KamalaHarris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KamalaHarris<\/a> made it an important component of their campaign.<\/p>\n<p>How many voters\u2019 minds might this conspiracy theory have changed? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zmxGUp1dCY\">pic.twitter.com\/zmxGUp1dCY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839057433116679?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.6857142857143\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And the lower house wasn\u2019t any better. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpeakerPelosi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SpeakerPelosi<\/a> was probably the worst offender. <\/p>\n<p>In retrospect, it sure looks like Trump was right to call the story \u2013 forced out of terrorist detainees \u2013 a hoax. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F88t8P6sMr\">pic.twitter.com\/F88t8P6sMr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839077494521860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"11.269503546099\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Of course the trolls, grifters, child predators and the rest of the ghouls at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProjectLincoln?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ProjectLincoln<\/a> were pushing this one hard. <\/p>\n<p>I try to have grace and charity on here. I can\u2019t muster it with the Lincoln Project. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nYqw5PF4so\">pic.twitter.com\/nYqw5PF4so<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839096171765762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.6134969325153\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It won\u2019t surprise you that the Never Trump crowd were adamant about this story. Here we see <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveSchmidtSES?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SteveSchmidtSES<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillKristol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BillKristol<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheRickWilson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@therickwilson<\/a> (plus <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MollyJongFast?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mollyjongfast<\/a>, who like Rick has also blocked me) and no thread would be complete without <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JRubinBlogger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JRubinBlogger<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uuBy3Gtnqn\">pic.twitter.com\/uuBy3Gtnqn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839115784278018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"11.476635514019\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There hasn\u2019t been a more widespread or pernicious conspiracy theory in recent memory than \u201cRussian bounties.\u201d It was always thinly sourced and disputed. Yet it was treated as the gospel truth because Orange Man Bad.<\/p>\n<p>Where are the corrections? Where are the retractions?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHolden360\/status\/1382839128119738368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. intelligence officials revealed this week that they have only \u201clow to moderate\u201d confidence in a story that claimed Russia put bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan.The New York Times &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312346,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2496.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"U.S. Intel\u2019s Claim That Russia Put Bounties On U.S. Troops Softens. Biden, Harris Used It To Attack Trump.","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2496.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"U.S. Intel\u2019s Claim That Russia Put Bounties On U.S. Troops Softens. Biden, Harris Used It To Attack Trump.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}