Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) ripped The New York Times over its “false” reporting that Russian intelligence offered Afghan militants bounties to kill U.S. troops, and the White House knew about it but did nothing.
Cotton called the news outlet “a national laughingstock,” saying The New York Times cannot be trusted with anything it reports about Russia and President Donald Trump.
“Sandra, I would say that once again you can’t trust anything The New York Times reports about Russia and Donald Trump,” Cotton told host Sandra Smith. “The New York Times has revealed why it’s a national laughingstock. Remember the story they printed that the president had been briefed on definitive intelligence of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan? We now know that there was no definitive intelligence. There was strong dissent within the intelligence community. A career briefer at the CIA chose not to highlight this to the president, and that there remains disagreement within the intelligence community. We also know that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff have had access to the same intelligence for months, yet they haven’t been taking action on it or screaming in front of the cameras until The New York Times published the story.”
He continued, “[A]s far as being tough on Russia, President Trump has been far tougher than President Obama or Joe Biden ever were. They sent blankets to Ukraine, for instance. President Trump sent antitank missiles. President Trump has pulled out of obsolete Cold War-era treaties despite Democrats objecting to it. So, I have no doubt that Russia is up to no good in Afghanistan — just as they have been in Iraq and Syria and Iran and all around the world. And I’m always open to taking a tougher line on Russia, but the allegations in The New York Times are simply false, as they usually are.”
Cotton also took aim at Democrats for “using another fake story from The New York Times for political gain.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
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