Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting false U.S. intelligence claims that Russia placed bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan:
“It was all a lie. Politically motivated claims out of the US intelligence community published by their house organ, the New York Times, that Russia paid the Taliban bounties to kill US troops were lies. These lies were used by the left with the Grey Lady’s imprimatur to politically attack then-President Donald Trump for his inaction against Russia. The irresponsibility of this lie in particular is stunning as military escalations based upon deliberately false political attacks emanating from our spy agencies could have easily snowballed into a new nuclear cold war or worse – all due to the internal corruption and political weaponization of these agencies.
“Now, Joe Biden is escalating sanctions and taking other aggressive actions against the Russian government. Given the recent history of our politically motivated intelligence bureaucrats, Congress better demand full and complete briefings and if not 100 percent satisfied, tie Biden’s hands from taking any precipitous action. We live in dangerous times, and the fact America cannot trust anything our spy agencies say makes it much more so. Unfortunately, former CIA leaders like John Brennan have done incalculable damage to the agencies they were entrusted to lead as they pursued the political destruction of former President Donald Trump at any cost. They cannot come back to us now with any credibility.”
For media availability, contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643 or cmortensen@getliberty.org