{"id":50241,"date":"2020-07-03T00:58:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T00:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/03\/only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:10:13","slug":"only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/03\/only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings\/","title":{"rendered":"Only verified intelligence? A look at presidents\u2019 briefings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The White House says President Donald Trump was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/06\/28\/trump-denies-briefing-on-reported-bounties-against-american-troops-in-afghanistan\/\" target=_blank>never briefed on intelligence<\/a> that Russia had put a bounty on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan because there wasn\u2019t corroborating evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But former intelligence officials say presidents are routinely informed about intelligence even when it\u2019s not definitively confirmed. Intelligence that may be on shaky ground today may foreshadow tomorrow\u2019s calamity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some questions and answers about how presidents are briefed on intelligence, what sort of information they receive and how this applies to the situation with Russia:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HOW DO PRESIDENTS RECEIVE NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both orally and through a written document known as the President\u2019s Daily Brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PDB, as it is known, is a compilation of intelligence and national security assessments from government analysts. It\u2019s material the intelligence community thinks the president should know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The document has been provided to presidents in some form since Harry Truman occupied the White House. Some presidents are said to have been voracious consumers of their briefings; Trump, by contrast, is known to demand only the sparest details.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/07\/02\/democrats-say-troop-threats-should-be-pursued-relentlessly\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20184681636156.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Democrats say troop threats should be pursued \u2018relentlessly\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The two top Democrats in Congress said Thursday that any threats to U.S. troops must be pursued \u201crelentlessly,\u201d rebuking President Donald Trump after receiving a highly classified briefing about intelligence that Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, the PDB is coordinated by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and includes contributions from the CIA and other members of the intelligence community who effectively pitch stories for inclusion, said Rodney Faraon, a former CIA analyst who served from 1999 to 2001 on the briefing team for the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not unlike what you would see in a journalistic newsroom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WHAT SORT OF INFORMATION GETS BRIEFED TO A PRESIDENT, AND HOW DO AGENCIES KNOW IF IT&#8217;S CREDIBLE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on the day, and the particular interests of a president, the PDB could include the latest inside information about a country a president is preparing to visit, intelligence about potential national security threats or other secrets relating to current events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s no mathematical formula\u201d for deciding what gets briefed to the president, said David Priess, a former CIA intelligence briefer and author of \u201cThe President\u2019s Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America\u2019s Presidents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe job of the analysts is to decide, \u2018does the president need to know this today?\u2019 You are writing for the president,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/06\/30\/white-house-aware-in-2019-of-russian-bounties-on-american-troops-in-afghanistan-officials-say\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5910606.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">White House aware in 2019 of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, officials say<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s also no mathematical formula for evaluating the credibility of intelligence. Sometimes, information is deemed reliable because it comes from a trusted source, because it matches up with a separate piece of intelligence or fits into a pattern, or because it derives from surveillance or intercepted recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of it comes down to the source of the information: Did the source have first-hand access?\u201d said former CIA officer Cindy Otis. Or, conversely, \u201cIs it a person with fourth-hand access who heard it from a dude who heard it from a dude and so on down the chain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou\u2019re not going to put garbage in front of the president,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DO PRESIDENTS RECEIVE INTELLIGENCE ONLY WHEN IT&#8217;S CONFIRMED?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Absolutely not. If that were the case, the PDB would be both brief \u2014 since intelligence deals more often with uncertainty than fact \u2014 but also boring, restricted to observations that are obvious and likely already known to the president, Priess said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause it\u2019s intelligence, that means it deals with the unknown, things that are uncertain \u2014 but things that are of grave importance to U.S. national security and worthy of the president\u2019s attention,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing in there says that it has to be fully verified or certain because intelligence is rarely certain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/07\/01\/trump-top-officials-defend-response-to-russia-bounty-threat\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20183568325651.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump, top officials defend response to Russia bounty threat<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Criticized for inaction, President Donald Trump and top officials on Wednesday stepped up their defense of the administration\u2019s response to intelligence assessments that Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Modern history is loaded with examples of briefings to presidents that contained warnings, or informed suppositions, but not certifiable facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One month before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush was famously warned in a PDB that Osama bin Laden was determined to strike the U.S. The intelligence, including chatter picked up by counterterrorism analysts, was seen as urgent and credible enough to bring to the president\u2019s attention though it lacked details about date, location and method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly a decade later, President Barack Obama\u2019s advisers alerted him to their belief that bin Laden was in a compound in Pakistan \u2014 despite disagreement over the strength of that intelligence. Obama still approved the operation that killed bin Laden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his book, \u201cThe Great War of Our Time: The CIA\u2019s Fight Against Terrorism from al-Qaida to ISIS,\u201d former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell writes that his confidence level was at 60 percent. Other analysts felt more secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Obama asked about the disparity, Morell said it reflected differences in individual experiences but not differences in the information people had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WHY WOULD A PRESIDENT RECEIVE UNCORROBORATED INFORMATION?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Intelligence that may be on shaky ground today may precede an actual crisis, so briefers are expected to ensure that presidents have the fullest possible picture to prepare for something that may soon require maximum attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s especially true when even unclear or uncorroborated intelligence indicates that American lives or infrastructure could be at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The president is going to get hard decisions, and those hard decisions normally come with murky facts and gray areas,&#8221; said Larry Pfeiffer, a 32-year intelligence community veteran and chief of staff to the CIA director during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To account for the uncertainty, briefers will caveat the information and detail internal disagreements among different intelligence agencies so that presidents understand a situation\u2019s nuance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO THE SITUATION WITH RUSSIA?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White House officials have repeatedly insisted that the president had not been briefed that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked fighters in Afghanistan to kill American troops, though officials have told The Associated Press and other news organizations that the information was included in the President\u2019s Daily Brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The AP, citing officials familiar with the matter, also has reported that national security adviser Robert O\u2019Brien had discussed the matter with Trump and that former national security adviser John Bolton told colleagues that he had done the same last year. O\u2019Brien has denied that and Bolton has declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/01\/trump-calls-reports-of-russian-bounties-on-us-troops-a-hoax\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1222991419.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump calls reports of Russian bounties on US troops a \u2018hoax&#8217;<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The president criticized the media for reporting allegations that Russian officials paid Taliban units to target American forces.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Brien has said the CIA and Pentagon did pursue the lead and briefed international allies. But he said the intelligence wasn\u2019t brought to Trump\u2019s attention initially because it was unverified and there was no consensus among the intelligence community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After news broke about the intelligence, Trump was briefed, the White House said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former intelligence officials say it\u2019s a matter Trump absolutely should have been briefed on earlier, whether corroborated or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe safety and security of American troops posted in a war zone is of the highest importance,\u201d said Faraon, a partner at the Martin + Crumpton Group, a business intelligence firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The White House says President Donald Trump was never briefed on intelligence that Russia had put a bounty on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan because there wasn\u2019t corroborating evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1229],"class_list":["post-50241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PHGLX77RQNEILMABTZMYMCWYOM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/02\/only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Only verified intelligence? A look at presidents\u2019 briefings - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The White House says President Donald Trump was never briefed on intelligence that Russia had put a bounty on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan because there wasn\u2019t corroborating evidence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Only verified intelligence? A look at presidents\u2019 briefings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The White House says President Donald Trump was never briefed on intelligence that Russia had put a bounty on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan because there wasn\u2019t corroborating evidence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/03\/only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-03T00:58:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T08:10:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Tucker, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Tucker, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/03\\\/only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/03\\\/only-verified-intelligence-a-look-at-presidents-briefings\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Only verified intelligence? 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