Two Fake Scandals against Trump Unravel a Little Bit More

Sept. 23, 2020 (EIRNS)—Two of the big scandals that have been deployed against President Donald Trump over the past couple of months unraveled a bit more yesterday.

David Helvey, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told the House Oversight Committee during a hearing on Afghanistan policy that the Pentagon still has no evidence that Russian military intelligence paid bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. “Since those reports have come out regarding Russian programs, we’ve been looking specifically to identify corroborating information. We’ve not yet found it, but we continue to look for that,” Helvey said, answering a question from Rep. Harley Rouda (D-CA) about the New York Times story and “outside actors” operating in Afghanistan, reported RT. Helvey’s testimony followed by about a week U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie saying the same thing during an interview with NBC News.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, testifying at the same hearing, also refuted claims that Russia has been undermining U.S. efforts to end the war in Afghanistan. If anything, he said, Russia has helped to facilitate the deal. “They have been largely supportive of our diplomacy, as indicated in the Security Council, or in the discussions that they have had with the Taliban, encouraging them to agree to a ceasefire or reduction of violence and negotiating with the government,” Khalilzad said, and continuing that Russia shares the U.S.’s concerns about Islamic State cells active in Afghanistan.

The other scandal against Trump, that he belittled American soldiers who died in World War I, also took a hit yesterday. Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, who could hardly be considered a friend of the President, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” yesterday, that he never heard Trump make insulting remarks about the military and veterans during his 13 months in the White House. “I did not,” McMaster replied when asked whether he’d ever heard the President make disparaging statements towards the military, such as those claimed by The Atlantic in an anonymously sourced article earlier this month.