Thread by @michaeldweiss

So here now, from the White House itself, is the mention of the GRU/Taliban 'bounties' claim. No sanctions levied, but the matter is "being handled through diplomatic, military and intelligence channels": whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…

Note that it isn't much of a revelation that the IC assessed the 'bounties' story with "low-moderate confidence." NSA and CIA always disagreed about this allegation. From NYT, July 2020:

And the intelligence wasn't just based on Taliban detainee interrogations. It's next to impossible, for instance, that detainees would have known which specific unit of the GRU was responsible for these payments. Intercepts played a part, as per NYT: nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/…

Finally, that the White House issued a statement on this at all and said it was being redressed at the diplomatic, military and intel levels should give us pause to dismiss the accusation outright. As with all intel, interpretations of evidence can vary -- sometimes ferociously.

P.S. The Pentagon also clearly disagreed with CIA's conclusion, which they retailed through the press:

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1306231087291609088