On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Cuomo Primetime,” Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), who was briefed on the intelligence about Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers, stated that the intelligence “isn’t something that just popped up in the last few weeks or the last few months. Some of this intel actually goes back for several years.” And that “Nancy Pelosi had this presented to her as well, in much the same format. So did Adam Schiff. All of us did.”
Stewart said, “The truth is, is that we don’t know. Could Russia have done that? Absolutely. … Do we know they did that? We just don’t know yet. Which is why the president and other senior leadership haven’t acted or done anything on this yet. Because, once again, Chris, we just don’t know. We’re trying to find out for sure. But this is something that goes back a long time too. This isn’t something that just popped up in the last few weeks or the last few months. Some of this intel actually goes back for several years.”
He later added that the president was never orally briefed on the matter, no president ever reads all of their daily brief all of the time, and “Director Ratcliffe, the CIA, the president, the vice president, Robert O’Brien, the NSA, everyone around him has been very clear that they did not brief this to the president or the vice president.”
Stewart stated that he was okay with the president not being orally briefed because “it just didn’t reach the level of credibility. And by the way, here’s something that I think would back that up for you, Chris, that’s important to know, Nancy Pelosi had this presented to her as well, in much the same format. So did Adam Schiff. All of us did. It was in the general intelligence analysis that we were seeing on a daily or weekly basis. None of them picked it out and wanted to pursue it either. It was just one of many things that they were concerned about.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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