On the recordJune 30, 2020
That is another way of saying I want to complete my remarks. Let me say this about the Senator from Maine: Of all the Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he is the one who is always there and getting involved in these things with a sense of urgency that he feels in his heart, and I appreciate him as a very valuable member of that committee. I thank the Senator for all of his service. Russia Mr. President, earlier this morning, I was at the White House with a few other Members to receive a briefing on the reports of Putin putting bounties on troops in Afghanistan. You have been hearing about this. After a very long briefing, I am confident that President Trump did not know about the reporting. There is some confusion in terms of our own intelligence, and it just didn't rise to the level of the President at that time. Another takeaway from the briefing is that our intelligence agencies aren't in complete agreement on this even now. This is going to continue to be a Washington, DC, story--one where they try to make the President look bad. Here is what we also know, and we don't need any special intelligence to tell us. Putin is a murderer, a thug. He hates America. He hates our interests. We know that, and we are doing something about it. President Trump has taken a whole list of steps to protect our troops and stand up against Russia's actions.…
