Trump Claims Russian Bounty Story Is a ‘HOAX’ Despite White House Briefing Republicans

President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that a story about Russia placing bounties on American soldiers is a hoax. This is despite the fact that Republican lawmakers were briefed by the White House on the matter and several of them expressed grave concerns.

“The Russia Bounty story is just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party. The secret source probably does not even exist, just like the story itself,” Trump tweeted.

The Russia Bounty story is just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party. The secret source probably does not even exist, just like the story itself. If the discredited @nytimes has a source, reveal it. Just another HOAX!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

“If the discredited New York Times has a source, reveal it. Just another HOAX!”

That is not the view of Republicans who received a briefing on the matter. One of them, Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, told NPR that action should be taken against Russian President Vladimir Putin based on the information he and his colleagues had reviewed.

“I think the allegations are very serious,” McCaul said. “And if true, I think we need to take swift and severe action against Putin and his mercenaries.”

“I can tell you that the state of play is very interesting, and this happens from time to time in the intelligence community, where you have a threat of intelligence coming in from, say, a human source, and then you have other parts of the IC examine this.”