Republican congressman knew about Russia's bounty offer to kill US troops in 2014

A Republican congressman revealed on Monday that he was told Russia was offering bounties to the Taliban to kill US troops when he served in Afghanistan - meaning scandal could go back to 2014.

Republican Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana, after he left the briefing, tweeted that the payments went back to his service in Afghanistan.

He was deployed in Afghanistan during Operations Enduring Freedom and Freedom’s Sentinel in 2014 and 2015, according to his official biography, and he currently serves in the US Navy Reserve as a Supply Corps officer. 

''Having served in Afghanistan during the time the alleged bounties were placed, no one is angrier about this than me,'' he wrote. 

The New York Times, which broke the story on Friday, indicated from their intelligence sources that the bounties went back to 2019 or possibly 2018. 

This comes as Senate Republicans are calling for a tougher posture against Russia following reports that the country’s military spy unit offered to pay Taliban-linked militants to attack US troops in Afghanistan, putting the GOP lawmakers once again potentially at odds with President Trump over how to combat Moscow’s aggression toward the United States.

Meanwhile, Trump and the White House repeatedly denied Monday that the president had been briefed on the efforts against coalition forces in Afghanistan, which are believed to have led to the deaths of several U.S. service members

A group of House Democrats will be briefed at the White House at 8 am on Tuesday, according to an aide for Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer, the majority leader.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, said he would be attending the White House briefing on Tuesday.