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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Monday, May 14, 2018 8:01 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
May 14, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=001-70e&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, May 14, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Administration Readying Peace Plan As US Embassy In Jerusalem Set To Open.
<#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• US Officials Offer Economic Aid, Security Assurances If North Korea
Denuclearizes. <#S2>

• Bolton Warns Europeans Of Potential Sanctions For Continued Business With
Iran. <#S3>

• Al-Sadr Coalition Takes Surprise Lead In Iraqi Election. <#S4>

• Indonesian Family Kills Seven In Suicide Bombing Attacks On Churches.
<#S5>

• Paris Stabbing Attack Suspect Identified As Chechen-Born French Citizen.
<#S6>

• At Least 15 Killed In Militant Attack On Jalalabad. <#S7>

• Media Analyses: ZTE “Bargaining Chip” In Broader US-China Trade Talks.
<#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Associates Worry Mueller Probe Could Ensnare Trump Jr., Kushner.
<#S9>

• Attorney: Trump, Cohen Knew Of Schneiderman’s Behavior In 2013. <#S10>

• Donnelly Becomes Second Democrat To Back Haspel Confirmation. <#S11>

• Education Dept. Disbands Unit Investigating Fraud At For-Profit Colleges.
<#S12>

• Administration Plans To Kill Project To Generate Electricity From
Plutonium. <#S13>

• GOP Leaders Scramble For Votes To Pass Farm Bill. <#S14>

• GOP Investigators Say Obama Team Sought To Undermine Trump Transition.
<#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• Study: Generic Imatinib Options Didn’t Reduce Treatment Cost
Significantly. <#S16>

• ASU Researcher To Begin Testing Canine Cancer Vaccine This Summer. <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• Biden Rips White House Over Aide’s Remark On McCain. <#S20>

• The Guardian’s Smith: Biden “Spoiling For A Fight” With Trump. <#S21>

• Biden, Other Global Leaders Join Forces To Combat Election Interference.
<#S22>

• Simon Discusses Work Of Biden Cancer Initiative. <#S23>

• Jill Biden To Speak At Education Summit In Kentucky Tomorrow. <#S24>
Leading the News
Administration Readying Peace Plan As US Embassy In Jerusalem Set To Open.

The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=002-38b&t=c>
(5/13, Kredo) reports that the Administration is in the “late phases” of
finalizing its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan “that will be presented to
both parties for consideration, according to a senior White House
official.” A “senior Administration official” told the Free Beacon, “We’ve
been working hard and want to give the plan the best chance for success. We
want to get a lasting deal that is livable for both parties.” Details of
the plan are being kept “tightly under wraps, but it is expected a public
roll out of the peace plan will arrive within the next month to two months,
sources said.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=003-5d6&t=c>
(5/13, Lim) indicates White House senior adviser Jared Kushner briefed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday about the
Administration’s “reluctance to unveil its plan,” according to Israeli
media reports. The White House’s reticence to make its plan public “is
driven by concerns it will be rejected outright by Palestinians, per the
Times of Israel and Channel 10.”

The news comes as the US Embassy in Jerusalem is set to open
Monday, with reports highlighting the heavy security surrounding the event
amid continued Palestinian protests. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=004-6ca&t=c>
(5/13, Federman), for example, says Israel on Sunday “kicked off
festivities to celebrate the opening...even as it bolstered its forces
along the Gaza border and in the West Bank in anticipation of mass
Palestinian protests of the move.” Israel also hosted a gala at its Foreign
Ministry with Kushner and fellow senior White House senior adviser Ivanka
Trump. Reporting on Ivanka and Jared’s arrival Sunday, the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=005-b0c&t=c>
(5/13, Lapin) notes the official US delegation is headed by Deputy
Secretary of State Sullivan and also includes Treasury Secretary Mnuchin
and 12 members of Congress, while Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=006-f8b&t=c>
(5/13) reports on “the absence of most envoys to the country” at Sunday’s
gala hosted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Times Of Israel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=007-2a5&t=c>
(5/13, Ahren) says that “there had been some controversy over a possible
boycott by the foreign diplomatic corps, but some 30 diplomats ended up
attending, including a handful from Europe.”

At Sunday’s gala, Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=008-58f&t=c>
(5/13, Pollak) reports, Netanyahu “welcomed President Trump’s decision to
recognize Jerusalem,” and called on “all countries to join the US in moving
their embassies to Jerusalem…because it’s the right thing to do…because it
advances peace.” The Jerusalem Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=009-e86&t=c>
(5/13, Keinon) reports the Israeli leader said it “took a President Trump”
to enunciate this “simple basic truth,” and “said that once it is out
there, it will spread.”

The two major network newscasts that aired last night covered the
embassy opening. The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=00a-af7&t=c>
(5/13, lead story, 2:25, Quijano) opened its broadcast, “Exactly 70 years
after the Jewish state of Israel was declared and recognized by the US,
history is about to be made again in the Holy Land.” Seth Doane reported
from Jerusalem, “Revelers filled Jerusalem streets this afternoon,
celebrating a decisive Israeli war victory of more than 50 years ago. This
is an annual celebration, but many Israelis told us it means more this year
on the eve of the US Embassy move.” Palestinians, however, “say the embassy
move is a big mistake.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=00b-ee1&t=c>
(5/13, story 6, 1:55, Llamas) also said the decision is “angering
Palestinians and some allies, fearful the move could lead to mass violence.
In Gaza, weeks of protests leading up to Israel’s 70th anniversary of
independence have left more than 40 dead and hundreds more wounded by
Israeli fire. Now Hamas is threatening to storm and destroy the border
fence.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=00c-67d&t=c>
(5/13, Morris, Eglash, Balousha) reports the embassy move “has added extra
friction to what was already a highly charged week,” and “this year,
organizers of demonstrations in Gaza and the West Bank are spreading them
over two days to coincide with the embassy opening.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=00d-aad&t=c>
(5/13, Halbfinger) likewise says “in East Jerusalem and the rest of the
West Bank, Israeli border police and troops are bracing for expressions of
pent-up frustration, impatience and rage.”

The Times Of Israel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=00e-e45&t=c>
(5/13, Gross) reports the Israeli military is “gearing up for fierce ‘March
of Return’ protests along the Gaza security fence on Monday, with more than
100,000 Palestinians expected to take part, and dire warnings from the IDF
that hundreds plan to try breach the fence and carry out a ‘massacre’ of
Israeli civilians.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=00f-b25&t=c>
(5/13, Toosi) reports that the Embassy’s official dedication “may yet
trigger the sort of violence many predicted back in December,” there’s also
a “growing sense that any violence that might occur in the coming days
might not matter much in the long run.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=010-25d&t=c>
(5/13, Laub, Daraghmeh) says today’s embassy opening, “cheered by Israelis
as a historic validation, is seen by Palestinians as an in-your-face
affirmation of pro-Israel bias by...Trump and a new blow to dreams of
statehood.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=011-c88&t=c>
(5/13, Schwartz) reports National Security Adviser Bolton told ABC’s “This
Week” the embassy location would help the peace process. Said Bolton, “I
think recognizing reality always enhances the chances for peace.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=012-c78&t=c>
(5/13, Madhani) quotes Bolton as saying, “If you’re not prepared to
recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and that’s where the
American Embassy should be, then you’re operating on a completely different
wavelength. Recognizing reality always enhances the chances for peace.”

*In Tweet Today, Trump Notes Fox Coverage Of Opening, Says “Great
Day For Israel!” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=013-2e9&t=c>
this morning, “U.S. Embassy opening in Jerusalem will be covered live on
@FoxNews
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=014-f2b&t=c>
& @FoxBusiness
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=015-fb5&t=c>.
Lead up to 9:00 A.M. (eastern) event has already begun. A great day for
Israel!”

*Former Sen. Lieberman Applauds Trump On Embassy Move. *The Jerusalem
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=016-722&t=c>
(5/14, Keinon) reports former Sen. Joe Lieberman in an interview Sunday
“made two observations as to why Trump was able to do what no other
president before him was willing to do.” Said Lieberman, “The first thing
is that President Trump is not only unconventional, he is also new to a lot
of these long-standing diplomatic controversies, so he does not have all
the baggage from the past.” He also said it was clear that Trump was “much
less affected by the institutional baggage of the State Department, which I
think is sometimes good, as in this case, though I might have different
feelings about it on other issues. But here it allowed him to break out of
the conventional wisdom on the issue.”

*Israeli Soccer Team Changes Name To Honor Trump. *Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=017-4b3&t=c>
(5/13, Meads) reports that in honor of Trump’s decision to move the US
Embassy to Jerusalem, the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club will be changing
their name to Beitar Trump Jerusalem. But according to the Jerusalem Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=018-977&t=c>,
the name change “could be prevented by league officials as well as copy
right claims.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=019-ba0&t=c>
(5/13) reports the team praised Trump in a Facebook post, saying, “For 70
years has Jerusalem been awaiting international recognition, until
President Donald Trump, in a courageous move, recognized Jerusalem as the
eternal capital of Israel.”

*Israel Calls On UN To Condemn Hamas’ Use Of Human Shields. *The Times
Of Israel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=01a-d4f&t=c>
(5/13) reports Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Sunday called on
the Security Council to condemn Hamas for its use of children as human
shields during protests along the Gaza border. Danon sent a letter to the
top UN council calling on it “to condemn Hamas’s use of civilians and
children.”
Foreign Policy
US Officials Offer Economic Aid, Security Assurances If North Korea
Denuclearizes.

Ahead of next month’s summit between President Trump and North Korean
leader Kim Jung-Un, US officials said in a series of media interviews
Sunday that the US would lift economic sanctions and not seek to oust Kim
from power if Pyongyang agrees to give up its nuclear weapons.

On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=01b-585&t=c>
(5/13, story 4, 2:10, Llamas), Tara Palmeri reported Secretary of State
Pompeo “announced the US could help with their economy after they got rid
of their nukes. Pompeo also saying the US isn’t aiming to kick Kim out of
power.” Pompeo was shown saying, “We will have to provide security
assurances to be sure. This has been the trade-off that has been pending
for 25 years.” National Security Adviser Bolton also said Sunday in an
interview, “If they want to open to the rest of the world, if they want to
become a normal nation like South Korea, the quicker they denuclearize, the
quicker that will come.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=01c-ead&t=c>
(5/13, Morello, Gearan) says Pompeo’s assurances that the US will not seek
Kim’s ouster “not new...but it carries additional weight now that Trump and
Kim are to face to face. It is also significant because of past statements
by both Pompeo and...Bolton about potential regime change in North Korea.”
The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=01d-faa&t=c>
(5/13, Thomas) says Pompeo “did not elaborate, but his comment could refer
to the type of assurances North Korea has sought in the past.”

The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=01e-577&t=c>
(5/13, story 2, 2:00, Quijano) reported Pompeo told CBS’ Face the Nation[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=01f-45e&t=c>
that “he is not yet sure if he will be in the room when President Trump
meets with Kim in Singapore, adding that the Administration wants full
verifiable denuclearization in exchange for a potential boost from American
businesses.” Pompeo: “We are prepared to ensure that the North Korean
people get the opportunity that they so richly deserve. ... It won’t be US
taxpayers. It will be American know-how, knowledge, entrepreneurs and
risk-takers working alongside the North Korean people.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=020-a8f&t=c>
(5/13) quotes Pompeo as saying, “We can create conditions for real economic
prosperity for the North Korean people that will rival that of the
South.” Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=021-340&t=c>
(5/13, Krasny, Beene) reports Bolton similarly said, “We’re prepared to
open the trade and investment with North Korea as soon as we can.” Before
sanctions are lifted though, both “Bolton and Pompeo said the US must have
proof that the denuclearization process is complete, verifiable, and
irreversible.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=022-708&t=c>
(5/13, Cloud) reports US officials also “emphasized that they are not close
to finalizing an agreement with Kim,” who they said “will have to agree to
sweeping concessions up front, unlike in previous nuclear deals with
Pyongyang that were phased in and ultimately fell apart.” Bolton told ABC’s
This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=023-619&t=c>,
“We’re prepared to open trade and investment as soon as we can,” but before
that can occur, he added, “We want to see the denuclearization process so
completely underway that it’s irreversible.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=024-d3e&t=c>
(5/13, Collins) reports Pompeo said US officials “are fully aware of the
risks of President Trump’s upcoming summit...but they remain hopeful about
the prospects for a deal that will result in the denuclearization of North
Korea.” Pompeo told Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=025-749&t=c>,
“Our eyes are wide open with respect to the risks, but it is our fervent
hope that Chairman Kim wants to make a strategic change, a strategic change
in the direction for his country and his people.” On CBS, Pompeo
“acknowledged that the North Koreans have not lived up to previous promises
to dismantle their nuclear weapons,” but said, “We’re hopeful that this
will be different, that we won’t do the traditional model where they do
something and we give them a bunch of money and then both sides walk away.
We’re hoping this will be bigger, different, faster.”

Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=026-dd2&t=c>
(5/13, Meads) reports in the interviews on Sunday, “Pompeo gave more detail
into what kind of deal...Trump is hoping to strike with...Kim.” The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=027-b75&t=c>
(5/13, Schultz) reports that when asked about his meeting last week with
Kim, Pompeo said, “The conversations are professional. He knows his brief.
He is able to deal with complexity when the conversation requires it.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=028-cf0&t=c>
(5/13, Lim) reports Pompeo also “fired back” at former CIA Director John
Brennan Sunday for saying Kim has been “masterful” in “duping” Trump,
dismissing the comments as “silly.” Pompeo told Fox News Sunday, “I think
former Director Brennan’s remarks are silly on their face.”

*Bolton: Administration Likely To Submit Deal For Senate Approval. *ABC
World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=029-2ea&t=c>
(5/13, story 4, 2:10, Llamas) reported that if a peace deal is reached,
“Bolton said it’s entirely possible that the President will present the
treaty to Congress to ratify it into law. This is because President Trump
withdrew from the Iran deal, and they want to make sure his successor
doesn’t do the same.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=02a-649&t=c>
(5/13, Wolfgang) reports Bolton told CNN’s State of the Union[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=02b-981&t=c>,
“It’s entirely possible we’d proceed that way. We’re still thinking about
different alternatives. I wouldn’t want to foreclose the president’s
options.” He added, “But it’s been one of the criticisms of the Iran
nuclear deal, to be sure, that a deal of that level of consequence was not
given to the Senate as many people think the Constitution provided.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) said on CBS’ Face the Nation[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=02c-bb0&t=c>
(5/13, Brennan) said, “I would urge the President, if he can negotiate an
agreement with Kim Jong Un, that he takes that agreement and sends it to
the Senate.”

*Three Americans “Adjusting To Their Freedom” Since Return From
North Korea. *ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=02d-756&t=c>
(5/13, story 5, 0:15, Llamas) reported briefly that the three American
prisoners freed from North Korea last week have been released from Walter
Reed Medical Center and reunited with their families. They are “said to be
in good spirits and adjusting to their freedom.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=02e-d50&t=c>
(5/13) reports Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. Carla M. Gleason said in a
statement that the men “were grateful, in good spirits and coping well.”

*US, South Korea To Hold Talks Today On Cost Of Hosting US Troops. *The
Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=02f-e22&t=c>
(5/13, Cheng, Chae) reports Trump’s demand that South Korea pick up more of
the cost for basing US troops on the peninsula is expected to among the
issues discussed Monday when US and South Korean officials meet in
Washington for a third round of negotiations. The Journal notes that the
talks come at a critical time ahead of Trump’s meeting next month with Kim.
Bolton Warns Europeans Of Potential Sanctions For Continued Business With
Iran.

The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=030-1a1&t=c>
(5/13, story 2, 2:00, Quijano) reported that as “Tehran’s top diplomat”
tours China, Russia, and Western Europe in a bid to “keep economic links
with remaining Iran nuclear deal partners,” National Security Adviser
Bolton “warned European allies of potential sanctions as punishment for
continued operations with Iran.” Speaking on [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]CNN’s State of the Union
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=031-7e4&t=c>,
Bolton said, “The consequence of the United States getting out of it is to
reimpose all American sanctions as they were before the deal came into
effect.” Bolton also said the US was not changing course without the
support of some allies, and has “the support of Israel, [and] the Arab
oil-producing monarchies.” Asked whether the US would sanction European
companies conducting business operations in Iran, Bolton said it is
“possible,” but “it depends on the conduct of other governments,” the New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=032-26f&t=c>
(5/13, Moore) reports. Bolton “also dismissed European leaders’ criticism
of the US withdrawing from the deal and said the allies will eventually
join the Trump administration and withdraw from the pact,” saying he
believes “the Europeans will see that it’s in their interests to come along
with us.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=033-408&t=c>
(5/13) says Bolton “struck a more hawkish tone with his comments” than
Secretary of State Pompeo did on “Fox News Sunday.” Pompeo said he is
“hopeful in the days and weeks ahead we can come up with a deal that really
works, that really protects the world from Iranian bad behavior, not just
their nuclear program, but their missiles and their malign behavior as
well.” Pompeo added, “I will work closely with the Europeans to try and
achieve that,” reports Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=034-db8&t=c>
(5/13, Morin), which says Pompeo and Bolton both “suggested they believed
the major European powers might eventually see the light” and “tried to
amplify the reasons behind the Trump administration’s deal to withdraw from
the Iran nuclear agreement and explain how it will work.” Asked whether the
US is prepared to take action against companies based in allied countries,
“Pompeo said the sanctions in place are ‘very clear about what the
requirements are.’” He continued, “My mission that I’ve been given by
President Trump is to work to strike a deal that achieves the outcomes that
protect America,” and that is “what we are going to do, and I will be hard
at it with the Europeans in the next several days.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=035-c7a&t=c>
(5/13, Talley) says if the US does in fact punish its allies for allowing
companies to continue conducting business in Iran, it could deepen the
growing diplomatic rift between the US and Europe and complicate the
Administration’s pursuit of other foreign policy goals. To Hudson Institute
senior fellow and former Danish diplomat Jonas Parello-Plesner, the
best-case scenario would involve the US and European nations crafting a new
deal that would address the Administration’s concerns about Iran and its
regional proxies, but the worst-case scenario would lead to “a spat around
whether European governments try to protect their companies, do
counterlegislation, or challenge it at the WTO.”

*NYTimes: Iran’s Regional Influence Remains Strong Despite Nuclear
Deal’s Demise. *In an analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=036-e48&t=c>
(5/13, Hubbard) says as “frustrated” as Trump “and his allies were that the
Iran nuclear agreement did not curb what they regard as regional
troublemaking by Iran, it is far from clear that vacating the deal will
either.” Even as Trump announced his decision, Iran’s proxies and allied
political parties were “contesting parliamentary elections in Lebanon and
Iraq, and Iranian-aligned rebels in Yemen were firing ballistic missiles at
the Saudi capital, Riyadh.” Additionally, “Iran can strike Israel directly
through Hezbollah,” and its “support for the Houthis in Yemen has bogged
down Saudi Arabia in a costly war there and made Saudi cities vulnerable to
ballistic missiles from Yemen.” The US, meanwhile, “is hesitant to get
entangled in new wars in the Middle East.”

*Dubowitz Downplays Influence In Iran Nuclear Deal Decision. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=037-40d&t=c>
(5/13, Harris) profiles Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the “hawkish”
Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who maintained an “almost
single-minded focus on criticizing the Iran deal” during the congressional
debate on the matter, testifying “in opposition to the deal 17 times over
an 18-month period.” Rather “than publicly celebrate President Trump’s
decision Tuesday to jettison the accord,” however, Dubowitz “is mourning
its demise, saying he genuinely wanted to fix the agreement and worries
that its unraveling could be dangerous.” Yet, “in written responses to
questions, Mr. Dubowitz said he felt ‘ambivalent’ about the withdrawal:
happy that Mr. Trump saw the agreement as flawed but disappointed in the
rejection of the proposed fix, which he said ‘seemed closer than anyone
would have expected.’” He also “scoffed at the idea that he had played much
of a role” in the nation’s withdrawal. He tweeted Friday, “Such power. Such
influence. Such impact. Such...silliness.”

*Sen. Johnson: World “Less Safe” Because Of Iran Nuclear Deal. *Sen.
Ron Johnson said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]Fox News The
Journal Editorial Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=038-feb&t=c>
(5/12), “The world is less safe because of the Iranian agreement that
funneled about $100 billion plus into not only the economy, but even worse,
the military of the largest state sponsor of terror and we’ve seen how they
used that money: to destabilize Yemen, to destabilize Syria, to provide
Hezbollah more support. They are starting to lob rockets at Israel. The
deal did nothing to stop their ballistic missile technology advancement
either. So, I would say the Iranian agreement made the world less safe. So,
getting out of it will give us the opportunity to ratchet up sanctions and
hopefully come up with a better deal.”

*Fox’s Turner: Media Mirrored Policymakers In Stressing Need To
Stay In Deal. *Fox News’ Gillian Turner said on [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]Fox News MediaBuzz
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=039-ed6&t=c>
(5/13), “When it comes to the President pulling out of the Iran deal in
particular, the widespread panning from the media was really a reflection
of what the policy community was saying in this instance. By that I mean
analysts across the board, even folks who were initially critical of
the...negotiations as they unfolded, said now that we are in the deal, it’s
important we stay in the deal so that the US is perceived as living up to
its word. So, I think the media was reflecting that sentiment.”

*CBS’ Palmer: Iranians Openly Expressing Displeasure With Their
Government. *The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=03a-c5d&t=c>
(5/13, story 9, 1:55, Quijano) reported correspondent Elizabeth Palmer has
reported from Tehran “many times and says she has never seen the people so
angry, not only at America but with their own government,” after the US
pulled out of the nuclear deal last week. Palmer stated, “Young people
especially, so energetic and full of life, are victims of Iran’s weak
economy and a bumbling, corrupt government. On my previous trips here,
people would have been scared to criticize the government openly. Not any
more. ... Protests break out every single day. As I prepare to leave Iran
tonight, the future of this wonderful, troubled country has never felt so
fragile.”
Al-Sadr Coalition Takes Surprise Lead In Iraqi Election.

In what the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=03b-b29&t=c>
(5/13, El-Ghobashy, Salim) calls “a significant blow to the reelection
campaign of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi,” the “electoral ticket backed
by the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr emerged as the early
front-runner in Iraq’s elections, according to preliminary results released
late Sunday.” If the outcome is confirmed, “Sadr, a strident critic of the
United States who commands a militia that fought American troops during the
occupation of Iraq, could be in a position to determine Iraq’s next
leader,” raising “the prospect of Iraq’s government being headed by someone
both hostile to the United States and opposed to Iran’s spreading influence
in the country.” An electoral “ticket led by the commander of a Shiite
militia close to Iran came in second.” Abadi’s coalition was “running third
overall.” Despite low voter turnout, Iraq’s government “celebrated the
election,” citing “the absence of any terrorist attacks at the polling
stations and any reports of widespread irregularities or fraud.”
Indonesian Family Kills Seven In Suicide Bombing Attacks On Churches.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=03c-dbc&t=c>
(5/13, story 7, 0:15, Llamas) reported “a family of suicide bombers”
attacked three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia on Sunday. The [image: Image
removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=03d-a06&t=c>
(5/13, story 3, 0:15, Quijano) reported two of the six family members were
“girls, nine and 12 years old.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=03e-3f6&t=c>
(5/13, Martuji) reports all six family members and at least seven people
were killed in the coordinated church attacks, which “occurred within
minutes of each other, according to Surabaya police spokesman Frans Barung
Mangera.” Another 41 people were wounded. The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=03f-5e3&t=c>
(5/13, Suhartono, Callimachi) reports ISIS claimed responsibility for the
“terror spree” in its Amaq news agency. The group initially “described each
of the bombings as a ‘martyrdom’ operation,” and in a later, “longer media
release, the group identified three modes of attack: a car bomb, a suicide
vest and a motorcycle-borne bomb.” The Times notes the suicide bombings
along with “the knife attack in France came days before the start of the
holy month of Ramadan, a time of prayer for the majority of the world’s
Muslims and a period when groups like ISIS typically intensify and multiply
attacks.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=040-90e&t=c>
(5/13) reports Indonesian authorities “blamed the bombings on the Islamic
State-inspired group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD),” an umbrella
organization on the State Department’s “terrorist list that is estimated to
have drawn hundreds of Islamic State sympathizers in Indonesia.” The
country “has seen a recent resurgence in homegrown militancy and police
said the family who carried out Sunday’s attacks were among 500 Islamic
State sympathizers who had returned from Syria.” For years, the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=041-699&t=c>
(5/13, Horton) says, “analysts have warned that Indonesia would develop
into a militant outpost in Southeast Asia as insurgencies in the Middle
East provide battlefield experience harnessed by foreign fighters after
they return home.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=042-451&t=c>
(5/13, Miller) says Sunday’s “bombings were the worst to target churches in
Indonesia since a series of attacks on Christmas Eve in 2000 killed 15
people and wounded nearly 100.” Indonesia’s religious minorities,
“especially Christians, have been repeatedly targeted by militants.”
Paris Stabbing Attack Suspect Identified As Chechen-Born French Citizen.

The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=043-33d&t=c>
(5/13, story 4, 0:15, Quijano) reported that the 20-year-old man who
stabbed one person to death and wounded four others in Paris on Saturday
night “was a French citizen born in Chechnya.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=044-3a5&t=c>
(5/13, Hayes, Bhatti) reports the assailant, “identified by Chechnya’s
leader as Khamzat Azimov, killed a 29-year-old man and wounded four others
before being fatally shot by police.” Azimov “was born in 1997 and had
French nationality but was born in the largely Muslim Russian republic of
Chechnya, where extremism has long simmered, said a judicial official who
wasn’t authorized to be publicly named.” He “had no record of arrests or
criminal activity, and didn’t know his victims, Interior Ministry spokesman
Frederic de Lanouvelle said.” Azimov had, however, “been on a nationwide
database of thousands of people suspected of links to radicalism, according
to a judicial official,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=045-82b&t=c>
(5/13, Charlton) reports. Police have detained Azimov’s parents “for
questioning, French authorities said Sunday.”

In its lead story, [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World
News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=046-de5&t=c>
(5/13, lead story, 2:15, Llamas) reported Azimav “allegedly [left] a video
behind pledging allegiance to ISIS, the group already claiming
responsibility for his actions.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=047-b13&t=c>
(5/13, Lapin) reports that ISIS claimed the assailant as “one of its
‘soldiers.’” French President Emmanuel Macron “expressed his condolences to
the victim’s families.” He tweeted, “France has once again paid the price
of blood but will not give an inch to the enemies of freedom.”
At Least 15 Killed In Militant Attack On Jalalabad.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=048-eb4&t=c>
(5/13) reports, “Afghan security forces battled for hours against a group
of attackers who stormed a government building in the eastern city of
Jalalabad on Sunday after a coordinated assault that killed at least 15
people and wounded 42, local officials said.” After “hours of fighting that
sent plumes of smoke rising into the sky above the accounts office,
Attahullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that
Sunday’s clash had ended with all the gunmen killed.” ISIS claimed
responsibility for the assault, which constituted “the latest in a series
of high-profile attacks that have killed and wounded hundreds of civilians
in Afghanistan this year and put heavy pressure on the Western-backed
government of President Ashraf Ghani.”

*WPost: Ousted Afghan Strongman Noor Still Viewed As Provincial
Leader. *A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=049-102&t=c>
(5/11, Hassan) analysis says “Atta Mohammad Noor, the wealthy and
controversial strongman who governed Balkh province for 14 years,” was
officially “fired in December,” but he “openly resisted [Afghan President
Ashraf] Ghani’s dismissal order for months, sparking fears of a civil war”
and prompting Vice President Pence to call “for a peaceful handover of
power.” After Ghani made concessions, Noor “finally agreed” to step down in
March. In the provincial capital, however, “many people say he is still in
charge.” In fact, “Noor’s heavy-handed rule has been worth it” for many
residents, in large part because Balkh “is one of the safest” provinces in
the country. Supporters also praise him “for bringing economic development
to the region.” Noor has publicly stated “his interest in running against
Ghani,” an ethnic Pashtun, “next year, although he says he will defer to
the wishes of his political party, Jamiat-i-Islami, which is dominated by
ethnic Tajiks like himself.”

*Pakistan Prohibits US Diplomat From Leaving Country. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=04a-5f8&t=c>
(5/13, Constable, Hussain) reports Pakistani officials prevented US Embassy
military attaché Col. Joseph Hall, who “was involved in a car crash in the
capital that took the life of a 22-year-old man driving a motorcycle and
seriously injured a passenger,” from “boarding an American military plane
and leaving the country” on Saturday. The incident “was followed
breathlessly on live TV” and served as “the latest dramatic twist in a
bilateral dispute that has raised anti-American sentiment among Pakistanis
and reflects the hardening relationship between two long-term security
allies that are increasingly at odds on major issues.” The event occurred
just “one day after the US and Pakistani governments formally imposed
mutual curbs on the travel and movements of each other’s diplomats,” a move
that “had been expected for some time, and it was not officially related to
the Hall case.” Nonetheless, it was “yet another indication of the serious
decline in bilateral relations, especially over US accusations that
Pakistan harbors Islamist insurgents.”

*Thousands Of Pashtun Activists Hold Defiant Rally In Karachi. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=04b-c40&t=c>
(5/13, Ahmad) reports the “rapidly growing civil rights movement,” the
Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), “continued to test Pakistan’s tolerance
for democratic dissent with a demonstration that drew several thousand
protesters to Karachi on Sunday.” Karachi’s paramilitary and police forces
“tried to thwart the demonstration, labeling the movement a terrorist group
and accusing its leaders of sedition.” PTM “has shaken the Pakistani
military establishment with its mission: to seek justice for Pakistan’s
Pashtun ethnic minority, which activists say has been subjected to years of
abuse, discrimination and deadly violence at the hands of the military
under the guise of operations against the Pakistani Taliban and other
militants in the country’s northwestern region,” where most Pashtuns live.
PTM activists “have clearly struck a nerve in Pakistan’s military
establishment” and many “have been threatened or detained by the
authorities,” but few media outlets “cover their events because of pressure
from military authorities who want to dampen support” for the movement.
Media Analyses: ZTE “Bargaining Chip” In Broader US-China Trade Talks.

The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=04c-96c&t=c>
(5/13, story 2, 2:00, Quijano) reported that President Trump announced
Sunday that “he is working to get ZTE ‘back into business,’ because too
many jobs have been lost in China.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=04d-d9f&t=c>,
“President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese
phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in
China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!” The
move that is being cast in some media reports as an attempt by Trump to
gain a bargaining chip in trade talks with China. A number of reports,
however, cast the move as a surprising policy reversal on the President’s
part.

In a front-page story that indicates the “penalties...ZTE” have
“become a bargaining chip as White House, Chinese officials discuss
potential trade deal,” the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=04e-902&t=c>
(5/13, A1, Romm, Paletta, Mufson) cites “two people briefed on the
discussions” between the US and China on relaxing penalties on the company
“in exchange for unspecified demands from President Trump,” who said the
President “didn’t reveal publicly...how much the company has become a
bargaining chip as the White House tries to extract trade-related
concessions from China.” Under the headline, “Trump’s grand bargain on
China,” Jonathan Swan writes on Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=04f-221&t=c>
(5/13, Swan) that Trump’s tweet “inflamed” the fears of Administration
hardliners that “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is leading him down an
accommodationist path that – in their minds – would betray the President’s
economic agenda and capitulate to Beijing.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=050-e4f&t=c>
(5/13, Brody, Barr, Leonard) calls Trump’s comments “a major reversal for a
president who has many times accused China of stealing US jobs,” and
the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=051-f2b&t=c>
(5/13, A1, Romm, Paletta, Mufson) says Trump tweet “marked a sharp shift in
tone for a president who has long accused China of stealing US jobs.” The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=052-3e3&t=c>
(5/13, Strumpf, McKinnon) describes the announcement as a surprise. The Los
Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=053-6c9&t=c>
(5/13, Brody) says Trump told the Commerce Department to get ZTE back into
business “after denying the company export privileges in April in a
withering statement on ZTE’s ‘egregious’ behavior.” The company’s
“increasingly precarious position is exacerbating tensions between the
world’s two biggest economies, now involved in sensitive negotiations to
try and forestall a trade war.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=054-d3b&t=c>
(5/13), the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=055-16e&t=c>
(5/13, Mozur, Zhong), the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=056-6a4&t=c>
(5/13, Moore), and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=057-e14&t=c>
(5/13, Collins) all have similar reports on Trump’s tweet. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=058-4f6&t=c>
(5/13) reports that Trump’s tweet drew “sharp criticism” from Rep. Adam
Schiff, “who said the move was jeopardizing US national security.” Schiff
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=059-2fa&t=c>,
“Our intelligence agencies have warned that ZTE technology and phones pose
a major cyber security threat. You should care more about our national
security than Chinese jobs.”

*Trump Urges Patience On Trade Talks With China, Says “It Will All
Work Out.” *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=05a-62d&t=c>
(5/13, Caralle) reports that in a tweet Sunday, Trump also urged people to
be patient on trade talks with China. Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=05b-e66&t=c>,
“China and the United States are working well together on trade, but past
negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years,
that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries. But
be cool, it will all work out!”

*Schumer: Fentanyl Should Be Part Of Talks With China. *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=05c-aea&t=c>
(5/13, Massarella) reports that as US negotiators sit down with their
Chinese counterparts this week, Senate Minority Leader Schumer wants them
to discuss the issue of Chinese-made fentanyl that is being trafficked in
New York. According to Schumer while China “produces over 90 percent of the
world’s fentanyl...its government does nothing to stop Chinese drug
king-pings and manufacturers from cooking it up and illegally pushing it to
Americans.” Schumer said, “I am demanding negotiators impose real pressure
on China to stop the export of fentanyl. As the scourge spreads and
addiction grows, China’s authorities continue to turn a blind eye. ...
Negotiators must not leave the table without addressing the export of
fentanyl. This issue must be a major priority because too many lives have
been lost and too many others are at stake, especially here in New York.”

*Politico: Kudlow Seeking White House Consensus On China, NAFTA. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=05d-2a9&t=c>
(5/13, White, Cook) reports that unlike his predecessor Gary Cohn, National
Economic Council head Larry Kudlow “doesn’t yell” and “doesn’t have a
reputation for knifing policy opponents in the press or badmouthing them to
colleagues.” Kudlow is “trying to avoid the collapse of the North American
Free Trade Agreement and a bitter trade war with China...by seeking
consensus with colleagues who are inclined to impose stricter trade
barriers, staying close to his boss and wooing members of Congress.”
Politico cites aides who “grumble that the rigorous policy process put in
place by Cohn...is gone and that spending time with Trump and on TV is not
sufficient to oversee the administration’s economic decision-making.”
Kudlow “acknowledges that maintaining proximity to Trump is central to how
he does the job and that he is spending most of his time on trade, even
though the NEC is also responsible for financial regulation, technology,
energy, taxes and infrastructure, among other policy areas.”

*NYTimes: US Companies Struggling To Win Trump Tariff Exemptions. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=05e-db8&t=c>
(5/13, Swanson) reports that for “several weeks this spring,” a Texas steel
manufacturer halted production “to concentrate full time on another task:
trying to win the company an exemption from President Trump’s metals
tariffs.” Borusan Mannesmann Pipe U.S. “filed 19 separate requests with the
Commerce Department asking it to exempt the multiple shapes, sizes and
forms of steel pipes that it imports from its parent company in Turkey and
then finishes at a plant in Baytown, Tex.” While the tariffs were “supposed
to help protect American companies from foreign competition,” they have
also created “a chaotic, time-consuming process and provoked deep
uncertainty among executives, who are delaying investment, expansion and
hiring as a result.”
Domestic Policy
Trump Associates Worry Mueller Probe Could Ensnare Trump Jr., Kushner.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=05f-2e9&t=c>
(5/13, Parker, Rucker, Hamburger, Costa, Zapotosky) reports Special Counsel
Robert Mueller’s “secret and methodical” investigation of Russian meddling
in the 2016 election will reach its one-year mark on Thursday. The probe
“has formed the cloudy backdrop of Donald Trump’s presidency” and is “a
near-constant distraction for the commander in chief,” who “plots his
battle plans with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, his new legal
consigliere.” Said Giuliani, “We’ve gone from defense to offense.” The Post
says that while “many Trump aides and associates” express confidence that
“the president will be exonerated,” they “privately express worries that
the probe may yet ensnare more figures in Trump’s orbit, including family
members.” In particular, there is “worry about Trump’s eldest son, Donald
Trump Jr., and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a senior adviser.”

Michael Shear of the New York Times said on CNN Inside Politics[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=060-ef3&t=c>
(5/13), “Nothing that Rudy Giuliani has offered us in the last few weeks
suggests that he is...disciplined and has specific knowledge that he is
offering. The interesting thing to me that occurred to me in the last
couple of days is if you look at Michael Avenatti...he is essentially a
lawyer but he is serving as a troll. He is trolling President Trump but in
an incredibly disciplined way, an incredibly strategic and tactical way. I
think that is what the President had hoped Rudy Giuliani would be...this
sort of counter-troll to Michael Avenatti. But it is not working out
because he is not disciplined. He runs his mouth on all sorts of things
that he doesn’t know about.”

*Warner: Trump Campaign Contacts With Russians Could Be
Coincidences. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=061-065&t=c>
(5/13, Ross) reports that in an interview
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=062-073&t=c>
with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat
on the Senate Intelligence Committee, acknowledged “that contacts between
Trump campaign associates and Russians could be ‘a set of coincidences’
rather than collusion.” Asked if he believes Trump associates conspired
with Russia to impact the 2016 election, Warner said, “I’m reserving my
final judgment until we’ve seen all the witnesses we need to see, and we’ve
gotten all the facts. So I’m going to hold off. ... I’m not going to weigh
in until we see everyone.” Asked “whether he believes members of the
campaign directly coordinated with Russians or, instead, whether Trump
associates who met with Russians were merely ‘duped,’” Warner said, “This
may all be simply a set of coincidences or it may be…it was not the
sophistication to realize what was happening.”

*Issa: FBI, DOJ “Lying Through Their Teeth.” *Rep. Darrell Issa
appeared on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=063-516&t=c>
(5/13, Bartiromo) and was asked about the Mueller documents requested of
the Department of Justice. Issa said, “It’s very much a tradition at the
Department of Justice to come in, tell Congress what they need to hear, lie
to them if necessary and hope they don’t get caught on their watch.” Issa
said the FBI and the DOJ are “lying through their teeth. ... If they want
to get to the truth...they make all the documents available unredacted,
give our investigators who have clearances the opportunity to sift through.
But this is exactly what they didn’t do in Fast and Furious. They didn’t do
it in the Benghazi. They didn’t do it in the IRS. And it took IGs, and
subpoenas, and FOIA, and judges and we still don’t have the whole truth in
each of those cases.”

*USA Today Considers Trump Scandals’ Potential Effect On His
Presidency. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=064-304&t=c>
(5/13, Korte) reports in an analysis that like the Watergate and Whitewater
scandals, Trump “finds himself in the midst of a series of controversies
cascading like dominoes through the headlines.” But “unlike previous
scandals, Trump faces a different political and media environment than past
presidents – differences that could either help him to weather the storm or
face a crippled presidency.” USA Today says that currently, “the headlines
are distracting from the issues that Trump would prefer to talk about,” and
“the sheer number of scandals can have an impact on a president’s approval
rating, his relationship with Congress, and how he governs.” However,
according to University of Houston Professor Brandon Rottinghaus, “the
growing complexity of the scandals can work to the president’s advantage,
as voters begin to be desensitized and lose the plot. To his supporters,
the media coverage could look like ‘piling on.’”

*Former Aide For McCain, Graham Working For Pro-Russia Party In
Latvia. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=065-a12&t=c>
(5/13, Sanchez) reports that according to BuzzFeed News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=066-a7d&t=c>,
Christian Ferry, a former aide to both Sens. John McCain and Lindsey
Graham, “is working for a pro-Russia political party in Latvia.” Ferry told
BuzzFeed “that he was hired by Nils Usakovs, the mayor of Latvian capital
Riga, to advise him and Usakovs’ Harmony party in the lead-up to upcoming
elections in October.” The party’s “perceived pro-Russia stance has made
them outliers in national politics,” and Ferry’s work for it “is seen as an
effort to help improve the party’s image as a pro-Russian party.”

*Cohen’s Efforts To Land Corporate Clients Met With Limited
Success. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=067-975&t=c>
(5/13, Ballhaus, Nicholas, Rothfeld, Palazzolo) report that an examination
of attempts by Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, to land corporate clients
touting his access to the President shows his efforts were haphazard and
resulted in mixed success for Cohen and his clients.

*The Federalist’s Hemingway Decries “Criminal Leak” Of Cohen
Information. *Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist said on Fox News
MediaBuzz[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=068-9fd&t=c>
(5/13), “I think it is actually important to point it out right away that
we know this information” about Cohen “because there was a criminal leak
from some government agency. Whether that was the special counsel of the
Treasury Department, this was just the latest in a tremendous series in
criminal leaks. ... It’s designed to create a narrative and obviously the
Russia thing was pulled out. It was an American company, actually, who paid
the essential consulting and they do have Russian ties. ... There is
clearly an attempt to tie this to the Russian conspiracy theory.”

*Kurtz: Cohen-Style Pitching Of Access Has Occurred In Many
Administrations. *Howard Kurtz said on Fox News MediaBuzz[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=069-75a&t=c>
(5/13), “The media are just shocked, shocked to discovering there is
gambling in Casablanca. ... I’m not defending the practice but DC is a
swampy place. This has gone on for many, many administrations where you
hire someone who is a friend of somebody who is high up in the White House
or the President because you are looking for access and somebody who can
carry your message.”

*Hannity Talks To Trump Most Weeknights After His Show. *The Daily
Intelligencer (NY)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=06a-553&t=c>
(5/13, Nuzzi) reports that Sean Hannity calls the President after his Fox
News show “most weeknights.” Trump seeks “outside affirmation as often as
possible from as vast and varied a group as he can muster – but Hannity is
at the center.” Hannity “acts to transform Trump’s pervasive ambivalence
into resolve by convincing him what he’s already decided he believes and
what he’s decided to do is correct.” While Hannity “admits to advising
Trump,” on the air, “he’s repeatedly mocked suggestions that he functions
as an unofficial chief of staff and criticized the ‘fake-news media’ for
not bothering to reach out to him for the truth.” Hannity “has behaved as
if he were an extension of the Trump communications department, his daily
stream of assertions serving to prop up Trump and, in real time, define
what Trumpism is supposed to be.”

*Kristof: Media Doesn’t Adequately Cover Trump’s Actions. *Nicholas
Kristof of the New York Times said on Fox News MediaBuzz[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=06b-cb5&t=c>
(5/13), “I do think that there is, indeed, a valid point that we tend to
cover kind of the debates about the political side of President Trump. We
don’t adequately cover the action that he takes, especially from the field
but above all, we essentially cover the political agenda and President
Trump’s agenda and I think progressives like myself have too often let him
drive that.”
Attorney: Trump, Cohen Knew Of Schneiderman’s Behavior In 2013.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=06c-682&t=c>
(5/13, Mordock) reports that President Trump and his personal attorney,
Michael Cohen, “were told of sexual misconduct allegations by former New
York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2013, according to a letter
filed Friday in a New York federal court.” Attorney Peter Gleason, who is
representing Cohen, “submitted a letter to the court claiming two women
approached him ‘some years ago’ saying they had been ‘sexually victimized’
by” Schneiderman. Gleason “said the women were unrelated and approached him
about year apart,” and that “another woman contacted his office in 2013
with an almost identical story of victimization by” Schneiderman. Gleason
“advised the women not to report the allegations to the Manhattan District
Attorney’s Office because he feared their stories would be ignored, the
letter said,” and “instead, Mr. Gleason discussed the allegations with
Stephen Dunleavy, a retired New York Post journalist.”

*Experienced Prosecutor Tapped To Lead Schneiderman Probe. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=06d-208&t=c>
(5/13, Ransom) reports that “when Madeline Singas, then the acting Nassau
County district attorney, was campaigning to keep the top job in 2015, her
message to Long Island voters was clear: She was a career prosecutor, not a
politician.” Now, however, “Singas has been thrust onto the national stage
as the prosecutor appointed to investigate Eric T. Schneiderman, the
state’s former attorney general accused of physically assaulting four women
with whom he was romantically involved.” In naming Singas, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo “noted Ms. Singas’s history of prosecuting sex crimes.” According to
the Times, “the appointment may put Ms. Singas’s political skills to the
test,” as “Cuomo first took the investigation away from the high-profile
Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., citing what he called ‘at a
minimum the appearance of a conflict of interest.’” Schneiderman “had been
investigating Mr. Vance’s working relationship with the New York Police
Department on sexual assault cases.”
Donnelly Becomes Second Democrat To Back Haspel Confirmation.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=06e-aa0&t=c>
(5/12, Kane) reported Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) on Saturday gave “a crucial
boost” to CIA Director-designate Gina Haspel’s nomination when he “became
the second Democrat to support President Trump’s choice despite questions
about her role in the previous decade’s controversial interrogation
program.” The Post said Sen. Joe Manchin (D) is also supporting Haspel, and
highlighted that Donnelly and Manchin both “hail from states that Trump won
by overwhelming margins.” Donnelly faces what’s expected to be a tough
reelection race this fall against businessman Mike Braun (R).

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018051401biden&r=email-2dea&l=06f-24c&t=c>
(5/12, Groppe) reported, “Like Manchin, Donnelly represents a state Trump
easily won and is one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats facing
re-election this fall.” USA Today added, “During Trump’s rally in Elkhart
Thursday, he pressured Donnelly to support Haspel, pointing out that former
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh supported her. ‘You know, Joe’s even thinking of
voting no on Gina Haspel to be the director of the CIA, despite the fact
Gina Haspel is an American patriot, been endorsed by CIA directors from
both parties including Indiana’s own former senator, Evan Bayh,’ Trump
said.” The