Thread by @jseldin

NEW: "It's still evolving" HASC Chairman @RepAdamSmith tells reporters of White House meeting on #Russia bounty story

"The most concerning part is that the White House didn't have very clear answers" he says, adding WH concern was making sure lawmakers knew @POTUS "didn't know"

"The president knew a little bit" per #HASC Chair @RepAdamSmith

"There is conflicting intelligence" he says "There is evidence of #Russia|n involvement"

"I think it is unacceptable to have come out and say the president knows nothing on this" per #HASC's @RepAdamSmith

"It would be hard for me to imagine he wasn't aware... He should have at least known the basics of it"

.@DeptofDefense says it doesn't find intelligence on #Russia offering bounties for Us, coalition troops in #Afghanistan "credible", per HASC Chair @RepAdamSmith

But he says #HASC was assured the Pentagon put in place additional force protection measures

#HASC's @RepAdamSmith @MacTXPress had requested @DeptofDefense briefing on the matter by today but Smith says briefing will now take place next week

Smith adds more of this falls into jurisdiction of House Intelligence Committee

"I have not yet seen enough to tell me if the Trump administration did enough" in its response to intel on #Russia offering bounties, per @RepAdamSmith

Dem lawmakers also raised concern about impending troop withdrawal from #Germany - that move might do #Russia's #Putin a favor, per #HASC Chair @RepAdamSmith

"This is not normal" he adds about how White House, @POTUS is handling this

"It really is troubling to me" that White House priority seems to be defending @POTUS, insisting he wasn't aware of intelligence on #Russia bounty allegations, per @RepAdamSmith

"That should not be your priority on an issue like this"

NEW: @EsperDoD and @thejointstaff Chairman, Gen Mark Milley, set to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on July 9 about the military response to the #GeorgeFloyd protests, HASC Chairman @RepAdamSmith tells reporters

"The #Russia|n government was paying bounties to Afghans to attack Americans, well, to attack coalition soldiers...there was evidence of that" per HASC Chairman @RepAdamSmith

"There was clearly evidence the Russians were paying the bounties as described" in #Afghanistan

.@RepAdamSmith adds there are still some questions about the reliability of that evidence and as to the credibility of the conflicting intelligence

Military bases named for #Confederate generals should get renamed - "There's clearly strong support...to make these name changes in a comprehensive way" per #HASC Chairman @RepAdamSmith, citing support from committee Republicans

US, White House response to evidence of #Russia offering bounties for US, coalition troops hurt by constant changeover in intelligence leadership

"That is a huge problem" per #HASC Chair @RepAdamSmith

"The senior level leaders in this briefing, not a single one of them...had been working in the administration" when much of the intel came to light, per @RepAdamSmith

"That inconsistency in top leadership...harmed their ability to react to this in a coherent fashion"

"There is evidence... It is debatable whether that evidence is conclusive" per @RepAdamSmith, summarizing the questions about inetl on #Russia offering bounties for US, coalition troops in #Afghanistan

"That's the nature of the intel world. It is rarely black & white"