Posted on 06/29/2020 7:43:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton criticized on Sunday President Trump’s response to reports that Russian military operatives offered bounties to Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops – saying Trump’s decision-making is “not connected to reality” and bashing the president for denying that he was aware of the bounties.
The comments by Bolton, whose upcoming memoir about his time in the Trump White House has drawn the ire of the president, come as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on action to be taken against Moscow following reports in the New York Times that a Russian spy unit paid the Taliban to attack U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Trump sent out a tweet early Sunday morning denying that he had ever been briefed about the Russian bounties and questioning the veracity of the New York Times’ reporting.
“This is the problem with the president's decision-making,” Bolton said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It's not connected to reality, it’s connected to his personal position.”
Bolton added that if Trump had actually not been informed about the alleged bounties on U.S. troops, then he should have had the director of national intelligence report to him on the matter. Former Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, was recently confirmed as Trump’s new DNI and said over the weekend that he never briefed the president on the issue.
“If the president hadn't heard, presumably, he should have called up the DNI, and asked,” Bolton said. “That in and of itself is disturbing.”
The New York Times first reported that American intelligence officials have determined a Russian military unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces, including targeting American troops. The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post also reported on the Kremlin's effort to orchestrate attacks on Western troops.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Check Bolton’s bank account for a recent large deposit.
ALWAYS follow the money trail.
“If the president hadn't heard, presumably, he should have called up the DNI, and asked,” Bolton said. “That in and of itself is disturbing.”
That is nonsensical. If Trump doesn't know about it, then how the hell would he know to call the DNA and ask about it??
Bolton is deeply troubled.
But hey, John Bolton's there to carefully never back up the intelligence, simply undercut the president. And it's gleefully printed because it fits the narrative that Orange Man Bad.
It's getting hard to tell if Mitt Romney's lips are moving when Bolton speaks too.
I used to think he was a committed hawk, yes, but smart and always had the interests of the nation at heart though misguidedly so on matters of war and peace. I don't believe that anymore.
Yo, Faux News, are you familiar with the term , "fake news".
The President's public reaction is to the external politics/optics of the issue rather than to the internal machinations of the intelligence bureaucracy. Bolton is a creature of the state and only views the world through that lens.
Hasn’t it been revealed that every possible source of this NYT article has denied the information and called it fake news? - even Russia?
Even the Taliban have denied this story. You need to quit pimping Bolton. This is sad.
After it was revealed in the NYT.
Yeah, because, secretly, President Trump hates America and American troops. Goodness gracious.
Your book is a flop, John. Go away, everybody hates you.
Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany said the White House is going to brief Congress on the issue. The New York Times bounty article obviously has some basis, even if it is not verifiable or creditable.
They are pulling out everything under the kitchen sink to torpedo a Trump re-election. Bolton is their little puppet along with others.
Bolton has now been reduced to ankle biter.
Most of our enemies have done this over the years.
The North Vietnamese put a bounty on our SpecOps members.
It’s just what governments do.
I wound not be surprised to learn that our government has list of people they would pay a bounty for.
Bolton knows he has a safe landing spot in corporate conservative media when this is over. He’ll be back on Fox after the election. Maybe sooner. Guaranteed.
When the Taliban has more credibility than you do, you’re in trouble
Didn’t we offer a bounty on individuals identified by a deck of cards?
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