The intelligence, which will be declassified by the Trump administration, was provided to the president in his daily summary on December 17, the official said. His national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, discussed the information with the president that day, the official said.
The information of this supposed intelligence has not been confirmed so far. The scenario recalls reports earlier this year that Russia allegedly offered rewards to Afghan militants for killing US forces in Afghanistan. That information also appeared in the president’s intelligence briefing, although it was later revealed that the information likely went unnoticed for weeks.
Trump has not yet publicly called Russia on the matter.
While it is unclear whether President-elect Joe Biden saw the intelligence, he would have had access to it since receiving the president’s daily summary.
The White House and Biden’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNN reported in June that Russian intelligence officials from the military intelligence agency GRU recently offered money to Taliban militants in Afghanistan as a reward if they killed US or UK soldiers, according to a European intelligence officer. The official told CNN that the incentives offered by the Russians, in his assessment, led to casualties in the coalition, which would be deaths or injuries to military personnel. The officer did not specify the victims’ date, number or nationality, or whether they were killed or injured.
A United States official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to CNN at the time that there was intelligence indicating what money was transferred, but it is not clear how the intelligence in question was verified or who exactly the representatives of this Russian unit approached – senior leaders or unit commanders field locations for coalition forces.
United States intelligence had concluded months before Russian military intelligence offered the rewards in the midst of peace talks, and Trump was informed of the intelligence findings and the White House National Security Council held a meeting on this at the end March, according to the New York Times, citing officials informed on the matter.
After the news was released in June, Trump denied having received an intelligence briefing. He tweeted that “there have not been many attacks” against American troops by Taliban fighters as his evidence that the reported intelligence may be “false” – a step beyond an earlier White House statement in which press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not deny the report’s validity, but said that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were not informed “about the alleged Russian reward intelligence.”
There was discussion already in February and March in the U.S. intelligence community and among top military commanders about the Russian operation to assess intelligence and what exactly was going on, a US official told CNN in June. There have been some efforts to protect US forces because of intelligence, the source said.
This is a last-minute story and will be updated.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc, Nick Paton Walsh, Veronica Stracqualursi, Radina Gigova, Barbara Starr, Devan Cole and Sarah Westwood contributed to this report.
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