Kayleigh McEnany hammered the New York Times over a report accusing President Trump of having been briefed about Russia paying bounties to the Taliban to target and kill American troops.
Opponents of the President have pounced on the report – disputed by the White House, Russia, and the Taliban – as a means to criticize him either for doing nothing to stop it or not knowing about the intelligence.
“Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or [Vice President Pence],” Trump tweeted Sunday. “Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax.”
The U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI), John Ratcliffe, confirmed this saying, “neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting.”
. @PressSec just murdered the New York Times on live TV, told them to give back their Pulitzers, then walked out of the briefing as everyone screamed. pic.twitter.com/oFPqVxih9V
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) June 29, 2020
RELATED: McEnany Slams Pelosi For Attack On President Over Alleged Russian Bounties On U.S. Soldiers
McEnany on the Attack
McEnany initially addressed the claim that Trump was briefed on the Russian bounties and did nothing.
“The president is briefed on verified intelligence,” she fired back at reporters, “and again I would just point you back to the absolutely irresponsible decision of the New York Times to falsely report that he was briefed on something that he, in fact, was not briefed on.”
And she was just getting warmed up, citing several instances in which the Times printed false reports.
“I really think that it’s time for the New York Times to step back and ask themselves why they’ve been wrong, so wrong, so often,” McEnany charged.
“It is inexcusable, the failed Russian reporting of the New York Times, and I think it’s time that the New York Times and also the Washington Post hand back their Pulitzers,” she said walking off.
The comment left reporters seething, continuing to clamor for more answers as McEnany exited.
.@PressSec ends @WhiteHouse press briefing by listing off recent examples of @nytimes getting stories on intel wrong
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) June 29, 2020
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Failed Russian Reporting
Numerous media outlets already with flailing credibility amongst the American people have continued to insist – through unnamed sources – that the President was briefed on the matter.
CNN even cited a “US official familiar with the latest information” as their rock-solid source to allege that Trump simply must have known.
The far-left network also found “former” intelligence officials who would have little to no idea about the current President’s briefings.
The Department of Defense (DOD) put out a statement on the matter saying that it has “no corroborating evidence to validate” the allegations in The New York Times’ report.
The White House has repeatedly claimed there was “no consensus” that the intelligence on the bounties was accurate, citing this as a reason the President and Pence were never briefed on the matter.
