A senior Pentagon official has flatly denied any plan to ransom Bowe Bergdhal, the American soldier held by the Taliban, after claims a conman disappeared with the cash. The allegation was raised by a member of Congress, who said that Department of Defense tried to pay ransom to win the release of Sgt Bergdahl from the terrorist Haqqani network in Pakistan, but was duped. California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter made the extraordinary allegation in a letter to Chuck Hagel, the Defense Secretary. But Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary has now firmly denied any ransom plan, military.com reported.
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Pentagon under pressure over payment made in Afghanistan which congressman claims was intended as ransom
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Rep. Duncan Hunter has written to Defense Secretary asking whether con man fooled Pentagon into paying ransom through a Delta Force unit
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'We know who discussed this issue within the Pentagon. We know who briefed the secretary,' Hunter's spokesman said
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Pentagon deny any attempt at ransom payment but says payments are made to intelligence sources
Bergdahl's former platoon-mates said he walked away from his post in @placeholder and should have been court-martialed instead of reintegrated into the military