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Biden slams Trump over reported bounties placed on U.S. troops

Posted at 8:38 AM, Jun 28, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-28 08:38:38-04

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden sharply criticized President Donald Trump over a report that he said, if true, contains a “truly shocking revelation” about the commander in chief and his failure to protect U.S. troops and stand up to Russia.

The New York Times has reported that American intelligence officials concluded months ago that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“The truly shocking revelation that if the Times report is true, and I emphasize that again, is that President Trump, the commander in chief of American troops serving in a dangerous theater of war, has known about this for months, according to the Times, and done worse than nothing,” Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said during a virtual town hall.

The report says Trump was briefed but took no action. The White House denied Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were briefed on what it called "alleged intelligence.”