The White House is pulling out all stops to find out who leaked the false story about Russia paying the Taliban to kill American soldiers. The story claims that President Trump was briefed on the story and did nothing. The intelligence community said that no one briefed the president on it because it was never verified. Leaking classified information to the press carries a maximum sentence of ten years for violating the Espionage Act.
However, Adam Schiff was briefed on the story in February and he did nothing. But the question is why was he briefed and by whom. Adam Schiff is a well known leaker, so did someone brief him so he would leak the story? That would leave the briefer or whoever instructed the briefer to talk to Adam Schiff to leak the story but not implicate themselves in the process.
The White House said:
“The Trump Administration has opened an internal investigation to try to uncover who leaked intelligence about Russians paying Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers. The administration maintains the story is overcooked and the leaks cherry-picked despite a steady stream of follow-ups from media outlets across the globe.”
“The Administration has interviewed people with access to the intelligence, and believes it has narrowed down the universe of suspects to fewer than 10 people.”
NEW: WH is conducting a leak investigation into who told reporters about a Russians paying Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers. They have narrowed it down to fewer than 10 possible people. pic.twitter.com/dpBfsDEH2H
— Anna Palmer (@apalmerdc) July 7, 2020
Here’s what we know:
According to Intelligence sources who spoke to The Federalist, Adam Schiff’s top aides were briefed on the Russia-Taliban bounty intel back in February during a CODEL trip to Afghanistan.
Schiff was briefed on the rumors back in February, yet he withheld the information from Congress and held no hearings.
When asked by a reporter this week if he had any prior knowledge about the Russia bounty rumors, Schiff said, “I can’t comment on specifics.”
It looks like Schiff and his aides may be behind another round of damaging, selective leaks to the media in order to harass President Trump.