Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y., said on Tuesday that Congress has to get to the bottom of the issue of Russia reportedly placing bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
“When did this administration know this information? Was it elevated to the president? If not, why not and why have they not taken significant action?” Rose told “America’s Newsroom.”
“We are talking here about a leading global power putting a bounty on our soldiers. Soldiers' lives on the line and when our soldiers signed up for the military, they made a promise to us and we made a promise to them that we’ll have their backs. That’s all that we’re trying to get to the bottom of here,” Rose said, adding that the most important part is supporting and defending our soldiers.
PENTAGON SAYS 'NO CORROBORATING' EVIDENCE TO STAND UP NYT REPORT ON RUSSIAN BOUNTIES
Top Democrats in the House of Representatives visited the White House on Tuesday morning for a briefing on the alleged bounties and who at the White House knew about the intelligence and when.
The delegation was led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and also included Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., among others. Hoyer and Schiff each said that they wanted actual members of the intelligence community to brief them rather than White House staff.
"Sunday evening I received a telephone call from" White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who "asked me to put together a group of eight to 10 members for the purpose of having a briefing," Engel said at a press conference Tuesday.
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Rose said that intelligence is “always about balancing uncertainties.” Rose also said that he supports a proposed bill to label Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
“When this evidence was presented or this intelligence was presented to the administration, the question is how far did they take it? How seriously did they take it? And was it elevated up to the president? If someone is putting bounties on soldiers, call me old fashioned, I think the president should know about it and figure out if it is true or not.” Rose said.