U.S. President Donald Trump is dismissing reports suggesting Russia may have offered a bounty to Taliban-linked militants for attacks on U.S. forces after top aides said he was fully briefed on the intelligence.
In a series of early morning tweets Wednesday, the president called the reports "just another HOAX!" and said the source for the original report in The New York Times "probably does not even exist."
Trump also cited a statement from the Pentagon that military officials have "no corroborating evidence."
"Do people still not understand that this is all a made up Fake News Media Hoax started to slander me & the Republican Party" the president wrote on Twitter. "I was never briefed because any info that they may have had did not rise to that level."
The comments came as National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told White House reporters Wednesday, "The president's been fully briefed" on the alleged Russian plot.
White House officials initially said that Trump had not been verbally briefed on the intelligence because of an inability to confirm its accuracy.
O'Brien said Wednesday responsibility for that decision ultimately rests with the CIA.
"The president's career CIA briefer decided not to brief him because it was unverified intelligence," O'Brien told Fox News.
However, media outlets, including The New York Times and CNN, reported some of the information on the alleged Russian plot had been included in the Presidential Daily Brief, a daily summary of the top intelligence issues, in late February. Other reports suggest Trump was given written information about the matter earlier this year.
The Times' has also reported, citing three officials familiar with the intelligence, that some of the intelligence about the alleged bounty plot is based on intercepted data that shows large financial transactions from an account controlled by the Russian military intelligence agency to an account linked to the Taliban.
Frustration from Democrats
Democratic lawmakers Wednesday, continued to express dissatisfaction and frustration with the White House's handling of the intelligence, some going as far as to call the president's behavior treasonous.
FILE - Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 12, 2020.
"If this does not count as treason, I don't know what does," Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton said during a call with reporters Wednesday. "If the most junior officer in the United States military ignores an intelligence report delivered to him or her, as we know this intelligence report was delivered to the commander-in-chief, then that junior officer would absolutely be in prison."
"This is undebatable dereliction of duty," he added.
Trump's likely opponent in November's presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden, expressed similar sentiments while talking to reporters Tuesday.
"The idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it is a dereliction of duty if that is the case," Biden said after a speech in Wilmington, Delaware.
Americans should "conclude that this man isn't fit to be president of the United States of America," he added.
'Confusion' over intelligence report
But key Republican lawmakers have defended the president and the White House, saying the unverified intelligence was handled properly.
FILE - Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, June 30, 2020.
"There's some confusion as far as our own intelligence, and it just didn't rise to the level of the president at that time," Sen. Jim Inhofe, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in comments on the senate floor Tuesday. "Our intelligence agencies aren't in complete agreement on this, even now."
Despite the lack of agreement on the intelligence about the alleged Russian plot to pay Taliban-linked fighters to attack and kill U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, U.S. officials insist the threat was not taken lightly, and that precautions were put in place.
Officials have also said the intelligence was shared across the U.S. intelligence community and with allies whose troops were potentially at risk.
On Tuesday, the White House blamed intelligence officials who leaked information about the alleged bounty program in Afghanistan for potentially blowing almost any chance of coming to a consensus on whether the threat was real.
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized "rogue intelligence officers" for putting the lives of U.S. troops in danger, saying the leaks, and the attention being given to the unproven allegations, is weakening the country.
"There is no good scenario as a result of this," she told reporters. "Who's going to want to cooperate with the United States intelligence community? Who's going to want to be a source or an asset if they know that their identity could be disclosed?"
"This level of controversy and discord plays directly into the hands of Russia, and unfortunately, serves their interests," she added.
Congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson and White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman contributed to this report.