Trump’s Dismissal of Russian Bounties Adds to His Record of Treachery

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a long record of invading countries, funding proxy wars, crushing dissent, and violating human rights. When the United States denounces these crimes, Putin, like his Soviet predecessors, accuses us of hypocrisy. But in this propaganda war, Putin has an ally his forebears never enjoyed: the president of the United States. Donald Trump, elected in 2016 with Russia’s help, consistently defends Russia’s atrocities by arguing that we’re no better.

Trump has known for at least a month—and was briefed in writing long before then—about U.S. intelligence that Russia paid bounties to Afghan militants to kill our troops. But in an HBO interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios, Trump admits that when he spoke to Putin last Thursday, he didn’t ask about the bounties. Trump says he didn’t bring them up because he didn’t believe the intelligence.


https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/trumps-dismissal-russian-bounties-treachery.html?via=rss

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