EMAIL DETAILS

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Tuesday, May 8, 2018 7:53 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Tuesday, May 8, 2018


*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=000-139&t=c>
mobile-optimized online version, including download options and an audio
reader.*


[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=001-5cd&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

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

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Trump Slams Kerry’s “Possibly Illegal” Talks Ahead Of Today’s Iran Deal
Announcement. <#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• In Inaugural Address, Putin Vows To Improve Russia’s Economy. <#S2>

• Pence Says Venezuelan Elections Will Be “Sham” As Treasury Imposes
Sanctions. <#S3>

• US Aircraft Carrier Used To Launch Jets Targeting ISIS In Syria. <#S4>

• Trump To Award Medal Of Honor To Navy SEAL Who Led Afghanistan Rescue
Mission. <#S5>

• NYTimes: Lebanese Elections Bolster Hezbollah’s Political Clout. <#S6>

• Kushner, Ivanka Trump To Attend Opening Of US Embassy In Jerusalem. <#S7>

• US, China Agree To Continue Trade Negotiations. <#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Tweets Allege Bias, Conflicts Of Interest In Mueller Probe. <#S9>

• First Lady Unveils “Be Best” Initiative For Children. <#S10>

• Trump Says Haspel Under Attack For Being “Too Tough On Terrorists.” <#S11>

• DHS, DOJ Announce Immigration Enforcement Measures Including Separating
Families. <#S12>

• NRA Picks Oliver North As Its New President. <#S13>

• Trump To Propose $15 Billion Spending Rescission. <#S14>

• DC-Area Health Insurers Propose Double-Digit Premium Increases. <#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• Study: NSAIDs Appear To Shorten Survival Of Kidney Cancer Patients. <#S16>

• Dermatologists Warn Public About Skin Cancer On “Melanoma Monday.” <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• Biden Backs Mitchell, Tai In May 15 Pennsylvania State House Special
Elections. <#S20>

• C-SPAN 3 To Air Live Coverage Of Biden Talk Today On Economy, Middle
Class. <#S21>
Leading the News
Trump Slams Kerry’s “Possibly Illegal” Talks Ahead Of Today’s Iran Deal
Announcement.

As President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=002-2bc&t=c>
Monday afternoon that he will make an announcement Tuesday about the Iran
nuclear deal, conservative media outlets reported on the scrutiny
surrounding former Secretary of State John Kerry over his talks with world
leaders about the fate of the accord he negotiated. Early on Monday, Trump
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=003-228&t=c>
about reports Kerry has been meeting with foreign officials to try to
salvage the deal, saying, “The United States does not need John Kerry’s
possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal.
He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!” The CBS Evening
News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=004-cf5&t=c>
(5/7, story 2, 2:05, Glor) – the only network to cover the story last night
– briefly reported Trump’s tweet and said Kerry’s office confirmed the
former secretary “has strategized with foreign officials about keeping the
US in the agreement.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=005-f65&t=c>
(5/7, Boyer) said the discussions with foreign officials “have led to
accusations by some that Mr. Kerry may have violated the Logan Act.”
However, he spokesman said, “Secretary Kerry stays in touch with his former
counterparts around the world just like every previous secretary of state.
Like America’s closest allies, he believes it is important that the nuclear
agreement, which took the world years to negotiate, remain effective as
countries focus on stability in the region.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=006-9ab&t=c>
(5/7, Moore) also reports Trump “blasted...Kerry for reaching out to”
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to talk about how they would preserve
the 2015 pact, and Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=007-246&t=c>
(5/7, Pavlich) reports Kerry “has been on an aggressive yet stealthy
mission to preserve” the deal, but his actions “have not gone unnoticed” by
Trump. The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=008-ac3&t=c>
(5/7, Quinn) reports White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the
Administration “won’t be taking any advice from...Kerry.” Sanders told
reporters Monday, “I don’t think that we would take advice from somebody
who created what the president sees to be one of the worst deals ever made.
I’m not sure why we would start listening to him now.”

The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=009-9a2&t=c>
(5/7, Kredo) reports Kerry’s efforts “are being met with a cool reception
by the Trump administration.” A “source close to the White House who
advised officials on Iran policy” said, “Kerry is setting up a one-two
punch to make Trump look weak. First, he’s going to brag that he
outmaneuvered Trump by working with the Europeans to save the deal. Second,
he’s going to brag that the State Department and Defense Department are
going to constrain Trump in the future too, and that Iran is now open for
business. The whole thing is meant to humiliate Trump politically and
promote Obama’s pro-Iran policies.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=00a-ac8&t=c>
(5/7, Johnson) reports Alan Dershowitz “says
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=00b-728&t=c>
Kerry is in clear violation of the Logan Act,” and “the Boston Herald has
called
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=00c-52f&t=c>
for a full investigation into Kerry’s actions.”

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=00d-5a6&t=c>
(5/7), “For a year-and-a-half, we’ve had everyone in the media and law
enforcement claim with a straight face there’s something call the Logan
Act. ... It is clearly unconstitutional. It would never be enforced and yet
it was used to query Mike Flynn. ... Here you have John Kerry, who has no
role in the Administration, doing freelance work trying to save a deal that
is completely contravening the goal of the Trump Administration, and all
those people who were claiming that the Logan Act was real thing are oddly
silent right now.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=00e-600&t=c>
(5/7, Qiu) reports that while Trump “did not specify what was illegal about
Mr. Kerry’s actions,” it “appears that whether Mr. Kerry violated the law
is a matter of legal interpretation.” Daniel Rice, a fellow at the
Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown
University, said that since the Iran deal is still in place — as of Monday
— Kerry “as not undermined or opposed American foreign policy.” Eric
Posner, a law professor at the University of Chicago, said it “also depends
on exactly what Mr. Kerry said to the foreign officials.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=00f-dde&t=c>
(5/7, Bierman) says Tuesday’s announcement “could well be one of the most
consequential of his presidency. And in typical Trump fashion, he teased it
on Monday with a tweet.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=010-6d1&t=c>
(5/7, story 3, 0:40, Muir) reported Trump tweeted he will make an
announcement at “2:00 p.m. at the White House tomorrow. This is the deal he
promised to tear up,” but “European allies have been on a mission to
convince him to stay in.” One European diplomat told ABC “it seems pretty
obvious President Trump will exit this deal.” Jim Sciutto similarly
reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=011-49d&t=c>
(5/7) that a “senior European diplomat” who “had very senior meetings with
Trump officials...said unless there is a surprise...the President will
withdraw” from the agreement.

Calling it “the biggest foreign policy test yet for a President who
campaigned on a vow to rip up the deal,” Kristen Welker likewise said on NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=012-49f&t=c>
(5/7, story 3, 1:30, Holt) that Trump is “signaling he is eyeing the
exits.” Ahead of the announcement, “key global allies have been shuttling
through the White House to apply pressure, including the leaders of France
and Germany, and today the British Foreign Secretary,” Boris Johnson, who
the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=013-286&t=c>
(5/7, story 2, 2:05, Glor) reported met with Secretary of State Pompeo
Monday “to urge the US to remain a part of the nuclear deal,” but did not
meet with President Trump. However, he “may have been trying to send him a
message about withdrawing by appearing on Fox News.”

Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=014-99b&t=c>
(5/7), Johnson said, “Of course, the President is right to see flaws in it
and he set a very reasonable challenge to the world. ... We have to push
back on what Iran is doing in the region. We have to be tougher on Iran. We
have to fix the flaws in the deal. ... The President has been right to call
attention to it. But you can’t do that without just throwing the baby out
with the bath water, without scrapping the whole thing. If you do that, you
have to answer the question, what next? What if the Iranians do rush to a
nuclear weapon?” Johnson urged Trump to instead choose to “work with what
we got and push back on Iran together.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=015-599&t=c>
(5/7, Miller) reports Johnson “went on Mr. Trump’s favorite TV show to urge
him not to quit the Iran nuclear deal,” while the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=016-6ed&t=c>
(5/7, Moore) reports he also met Monday with Vice President Pence and
National Security Adviser Bolton.

Johnson, also appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=017-9a1&t=c>
(5/7, 7:26 a.m. EDT, Brzezinski), said, “I understand that people have
anxieties about this deal, and they’re right in the sense that it’s very
far from perfect, but it’s the best thing that we have at the moment. ...
And I think we can meet the President’s challenge and be tougher on
Iran...but without throwing away the heart of that Iran nuclear deal.
Because...it’s worked so far.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=018-6ce&t=c>
(5/7, Caralle) says the “world is watching to see what Trump does with the
deal,” and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=019-c28&t=c>
(5/7, Jackson) reports Trump tweeted out his announcement “just a minute
after” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders ended her daily briefing.
Sanders told reporters at the briefing that Trump “will make an
announcement on what his decision is soon,” but declined “to offer a
preview” of his decision. According to the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=01a-49d&t=c>
(5/7, Miller, Lucey), “It is not immediately clear what Trump will announce
Tuesday or whether he will announce the end of the deal or push for a
renegotiation.”

To Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=01b-d2e&t=c>
(5/7), Trump “has all but decided to withdraw from the accord but exactly
how he will do so remains unclear, two White House officials and a source
familiar with the administration’s internal debate” said. Citing diplomats
familiar with the negotiations, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=01c-009&t=c>
(5/7, Sanger) reports Trump “appeared inclined to scrap the deal and
reimpose sanctions on Iran,” but “it is unclear whether he would moderate
that move, perhaps by allowing the European nations to move ahead with
their economic relations with Tehran without being penalized by the United
States.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=01d-d2c&t=c>
(5/7, Spiering) and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=01e-7de&t=c>
(5/7, Ballhaus) are among other news outlets also reporting the forthcoming
announcement.

*In Tweet Today, Trump Tells Kerry, “You Are Hurting Your Country.”
*Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=01f-772&t=c>
this morning, “John Kerry can’t get over the fact that he had his chance
and blew it! Stay away from negotiations John, you are hurting your
country!”

*“Trump Aides” Reportedly Hired Israeli Firm To Discredit Obama
Officials. *CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=020-437&t=c>
(5/7) reported that Trump’s aides have reportedly taken some “very
disturbing steps to try to discredit” the nuclear agreement. Jim Sciutto
explained that “just days after Trump visited Israel last May, a private
Israeli intelligence firm reportedly hired by Trump aides began compiling
files on Obama Administration officials” involved in the deal. The effort
by the firm “was reportedly intended to discredit the officials – Ben
Rhodes and Colin Kahl – in order to undermine the deal, and make it easier
for Trump to withdraw.” Kahl, asked on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=021-ef4&t=c>
(5/7) how it feels to “be at the center of this all,” replied, “It feels
creepy. When you are a government official, you expect it. When you are a
former government official, it is weirder. Especially creepy if it is a
private firm, and even doubly so if they are coming at you through your
family. Let’s keep in mind for your viewers, they came at me through my
wife doing volunteer work at my six-year-old daughter’s elementary school.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=022-a2e&t=c>
(5/7, Shear, Bergman) reports that “evidence has surfaced that the
agreement’s opponents engaged in a sophisticated effort to dig up dirt on
Mr. Rhodes and his family that continued well after the Obama
administration left office.” A detailed report about Rhodes, compiled by
Black Cube, “a private investigations firm established by former
intelligence analysts from the Israeli Defense Forces, contains pictures of
his apartment in Washington, telephone numbers and email addresses of
members of his family, as well as unsubstantiated allegations of personal
and ethical transgressions.” According to the Times, it is “unclear who
hired Black Cube to prepare the report on Mr. Rhodes and a similar report
on Colin Kahl.”

*Rouhani: US Withdrawal OK If Other Nations Remain. *The CBS
Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=023-674&t=c>
(5/7, story 2, 2:05, Glor) reported briefly that Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani said Monday on state TV that “if America leaves, it would be OK, as
long as the other countries preserve the terms. He added, ‘Americans will
be the main losers.’” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=024-f41&t=c>
(5/7, Fitch, Stancati) reports the Iranian leader’s comments Monday and
over the weekend signal that Tehran is unlikely to make concessions.

*CBS Poll: Respondents Split 21%-21% On Quitting Deal, But 57%
Unsure What US Should Do. *The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=025-31f&t=c>
(5/7, story 2, 2:05, Glor) reported that a CBS News poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=026-9da&t=c>
finds Americans “are evenly split on what [Trump] should do, but well over
half say they don’t know enough about it.” CBS News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=027-b1e&t=c>
(5/7, De Pinto, Backus, Khanna, Salvanto) reports on its website that in
the survey of 1,001 adults nationwide – conducted May 1-6 – 57% of
respondents “say they don’t know enough to say what the U.S. should do
about the Iran nuclear deal,” while the respondents “with an opinion divide
evenly on whether the U.S. should remain in the deal,” with 21% saying the
it should stay in and 21% saying it should withdrawal. “By a margin of more
than three to one, Republicans are more likely to advocate leaving the Iran
deal than remain in it, although nearly half don’t know enough to say. Most
Democrats (more than six in 10) don’t have an opinion either way, but those
who do hold a view are more inclined to think the U.S. should stay in the
deal.”

*Oil Prices Reach Highest Level Since 2014. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=028-328&t=c>
(5/7, McFarlane, Mukherji) reports oil prices rose to a 3½-year high on
Monday, with the US benchmark breaking above $70 a barrel. According to the
Journal, oil prices have risen over 10% in the past month ahead of
President Trump’s decision on the Iran nuclear deal. The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=029-2f2&t=c>
(5/7, Phillips, Reed) reports prices rose “as investors factored in the
prospect of President Trump pulling the United States out” of the nuclear
agreement.

*Johnson: Trump Deserves Nobel Prize If He Solves Iran, Korea
Crises. *Politico Europe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=02a-a83&t=c>
(5/7, Zampano) reports British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Monday
that Trump “would be a deserving winner of the Nobel Peace Prize if he can
solve problems in Iran and on the Korean peninsula.” Johnson told Sky News,
“If Trump can fix North Korea and the Iran nuclear deal then I don’t see
why he’s any less of a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize than Barack
Obama.”
Foreign Policy
In Inaugural Address, Putin Vows To Improve Russia’s Economy.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=02b-fbf&t=c>
(5/7, Heintz) reports that on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin
“launched his fourth term as president with an ambitious call to vault
Russia into the top five global economies by developing its technological
products and agricultural exports.” According to the AP, Putin “focused
almost entirely on domestic issues in his speech,” and said “improving the
economy following a recession partly linked to international sanctions will
be a primary goal of his next six-year term.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=02c-516&t=c>
(5/7, Kramer) reports that “in a theatrical touch, a televised ceremony
began on Monday with Mr. Putin sitting at his desk in the Kremlin, suit
jacket looped over his chair, as if hard at work until moments before the
ceremony. A phone rang, letting him know it was time for his fourth term;
he donned his jacket and walked alone through the red-carpeted Kremlin
corridors and into a hall packed with about 6,000 invited, cheering
guests.” According to the Times, “there were no words of reconciliation in
the country’s tense relations with the West.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=02d-d07&t=c>
(5/7, Troianovski, Ferris-Rotman) says Putin “promis[ed] to focus on
improving Russians’ lives at home but without backing down in his
confrontation with the West.” According to the Post, Putin said Russia
“needs to expand freedoms for entrepreneurs and scientists, to invest in
regional development and to raise the quality of education and health care.
A particular focus on ‘traditional family values,’ he said, would ensure as
many births as possible.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=02e-4c6&t=c>
(5/7) reports that after Putin spoke, “the Kremlin issued a statement
saying that Putin had nominated Dmitry Medvedev again to be prime minister
in his new term.” Reuters says “some Kremlin-watchers had speculated Putin
might bring in a fresh face as prime minister to kick-start reforms of the
sluggish economy and revive foreign investment curtailed by stand-offs with
the West.” However, “By choosing Medvedev – seen by people close to the
Russian elite as a safe pair of hands whose chief quality is loyalty to his
boss – Putin indicated he favored continuity,” according to Reuters. The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=02f-c52&t=c>
(5/7, Grove) covers Putin’s inauguration under the headline, “As Putin
Starts Fourth Term, Higher Oil Prices Give Him Some Security.”
Pence Says Venezuelan Elections Will Be “Sham” As Treasury Imposes
Sanctions.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=030-0f1&t=c>
(5/7, Sink, Arrioja) reports that in a speech to the Organization of
American States Monday, Vice President Pence “called on Venezuela to
suspend its presidential election later this month because of corruption
concerns, declaring that the results would be fraudulent.” Bloomberg notes
that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “is seeking a second six-year
term, and opposition lawmakers have said security forces have physically
threatened them and their supporters.” Pence said, “The so-called elections
in Venezuela scheduled for May 20 will be nothing more than a fraud and a
sham. There will be no real election in Venezuela on May 20 and the world
knows it.” According to Bloomberg, “The US also announced new sanctions on
three Venezuelans, including Pedro Luis Martin Olivares, a former
intelligence official under indictment in Florida on drug trafficking
charges, and 20 companies the Treasury Department said were connected to
the targeted Venezuelans.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=031-6b7&t=c>
(5/7, Rampton, Ulmer) reports that “of the newly sanctioned companies, 16
are based in Venezuela and four in Panama.” Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is
quoted as saying, “We will deny corrupt Venezuelan regime officials access
to the US financial system as we work with international partners to
support the Venezuelan people in restoration of democracy and a return to
prosperity.”

*Venezuela’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic Taking Toll On Remote Indigenous
Group. *In a nearly 2,000-word article, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=032-cf6&t=c>
(5/7, Semple) reports the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Venezuela has taken a
particular toll on the Warao indigenous people who live “in the remote
Orinoco Delta region of eastern Venezuela.” In the past few years, more
than 40 villagers have “died of AIDS or AIDS-like symptoms,” constituting
“a crisis within a crisis, a dramatic example of how Venezuela is failing
to grapple with a resurgent AIDS emergency even as the annual number of new
H.I.V. infections and AIDS-related deaths around the world continues to
decline.” Under Maduro, the Times explains, “Venezuela’s economy has
crumbled, causing crippling shortages of medicine and diagnostic tests, and
compelling many of the country’s best doctors to emigrate.”
US Aircraft Carrier Used To Launch Jets Targeting ISIS In Syria.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=033-613&t=c>
(5/7) reports that the US Navy has announced that “US naval strike force
led by aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman began sorties on May 3 against
[ISIS] in Syria.” According to Reuters, “The most recent aircraft carrier
strike group to operate in the sixth fleet was the USS George H.W. Bush
which last conducted combat operations from the eastern Mediterranean Sea
in July 2017.” Citing a “witness,” Reuters reports that “several fighter
jets were catapulted in sequence on Friday and Saturday from the Truman.”

*Syrian Kurdish Courts Emphasize Leniency In Former ISIS Fighters’
Trials. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=034-9ef&t=c>
(5/7, El Deeb) reports “Syrian Kurdish authorities have built a justice
system from scratch, without any recognition from the Syrian government or
the outside world, and are trying hundreds of Syrians accused of joining
IS.” The Kurdish judges are emphasizing “leniency and reconciliation – in
marked contrast to Iraq, where harsh and swift verdicts on IS suspects seem
geared to vengeance.” With this “more lenient approach,” the Kurdish judges
are seeking “to extend bridges to eastern Syria’s majority population of
Arabs, who deeply distrust their new Kurdish rulers,” and “also want to
highlight their competence in government and win international legitimacy.”
The AP says that the “lack of international recognition” has placed “a
stranglehold on the Kurdish courts,” however. Kurdish authorities “say they
discussed with US officials their needs to develop their legal code and
improve practices,” but a State Department official said US agencies are
not “providing any training to the justice department.”

*WPost Correspondent Outlines Challenges Faced By Raqqa Residents
Leaving Town. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=035-2f7&t=c>’s
(5/7, El-Ghobashy) Baghdad bureau chief, Tamer El-Ghobashy, says even as “a
well-resourced foreign reporter,” the nearly four-hour drive between Raqqa
and the Kurdish city of Kobane “was physically taxing and filled with
anxiety, particularly at every security checkpoint.” For an “average
resident of Raqqa, for years confined to the city by the Islamic State’s
occupation, the trip is as arduous and as wondrous as going to the other
side of the planet.” El-Ghobashy explains “mostly Arab residents of Raqqa
must endure intense bureaucracy to get permission from the
Kurdish-dominated authorities to leave it,” and then there is “the drive
out of the city, which can be prohibitively expensive for people without a
car or the means to hire one.” Altogether, “exiting Raqqa can invite
culture shock,” especially upon reaching Kobane. Residents often expect to
see “rubble and destruction,” but despite “the intensity of the fight in
Kobane, the city had picked itself up and put itself back together.”
Trump To Award Medal Of Honor To Navy SEAL Who Led Afghanistan Rescue
Mission.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=036-19f&t=c>
(5/7, Jackson) reports President Trump will on May 24 present the Medal of
Honor to Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt K. Slabinski, a Navy
SEAL “who led a 2002 firefight and rescue mission atop a mountain in
Afghanistan.” In a statement, the White House said Slabinski “repeatedly
exposed himself to enemy fire as he engaged in a pitched, close-quarters
firefight against the tenacious and more heavily armed enemy forces” of al
Qaeda. During a firefight that lasted more than 14 hours, “Slabinski boldly
rallied his remaining team and organized supporting assets for a daring
assault back to the mountain peak in an attempt to rescue” a stranded
teammate, the White House said. Additionally, “Slabinksi requested
reinforcements, ‘stabilized casualties on his team and continued the fight
against the enemy until the mountaintop was secured by the quick reaction
force and his team was extracted,’ the White House statement said.”

*UN Report: At Least 30 Children Killed In Afghan Airstrikes Last
Month. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=037-b9e&t=c>
(5/7, Salahuddin) reports the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
released a report Monday that said at least 36 people, including at least
30 children, were killed last month in Afghan government airstrikes on
“what it described as an all-male religious ceremony in the Dasht-e-Archi
district.” Another “71 people were wounded in the attack, including 51
children, according to accounts from more than 90 people.” UNAMA could not
confirm the Afghan government’s claims that the attack struck mostly
Taliban militants, but said its findings suggested “the ceremony was
religious in nature, had been widely advertised and known, and the crowd
gathered was primarily civilian, many of whom were children, many under the
age of 10.” UNAMA added that “the high number of children killed and
injured and the use of ‘imprecise weapons’ against an apparent religious
ceremony ‘raise questions as to the respect by the government of the rules
of precaution and proportionality.’”

*Residents Of Afghanistan’s Ghazni Fear Taliban Takeover Is
Imminent. *In interviews with the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=038-edf&t=c>
(5/7, Sukhanyar), residents of the Afghan city of Ghazni, a provincial
capital south of Kabul, said they “fear a full-on effort by the Taliban to
seize the city could come at any time.” Residents “have long felt
vulnerable” with the Taliban in control of “some of the road network
around” the city, but late last month, “the central government in Kabul
expressed fear that the Taliban had made it a priority to overrun Ghazni.”
The Afghan “army has been keeping more troops than usual” in the province,
so “an outright Taliban takeover has seemed unlikely.” The insurgents no
longer seem content with “merely control[ling] access to the city of
280,000,” however, and are now “attacking police posts within it.” The
Taliban also “methodically extort money – they say it is taxation – from
businesses in the city center, including those near the government
headquarters, and an increasing number of insurgents live openly in the
city.”
NYTimes: Lebanese Elections Bolster Hezbollah’s Political Clout.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=039-919&t=c>
(5/7, Hubbard, Saad) reports Hezbollah and its “political allies expanded
their share of seats in Lebanon’s Parliament” on Sunday in the nation’s
first parliamentary elections in nearly a decade. The outcome increases
Hezbollah’s “political clout at the expense of the country’s Western-backed
prime minister,” Saad Hariri, and his Future Movement. The Times says the
“strong showing by Hezbollah and its allies could jeopardize the country’s
regional and international standing at a time when its leaders are counting
on international support to prop up the economy, support the military and
deal with the burden of nearly 1 million refugees from neighboring Syria.”
Kushner, Ivanka Trump To Attend Opening Of US Embassy In Jerusalem.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=03a-b58&t=c>
(5/7, Boyer) reports the White House said Monday that President Trump’s
son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka, both senior advisers, will
attend the opening ceremony of the US Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday. The
delegation will also include Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan, Treasury
Secretary Mnuchin, special envoy Jason Greenblatt, and Ambassador to Israel
David Friedman.

*“US Embassy” Signs Posted In Jerusalem. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=03b-0cc&t=c>
(5/7) reports, “Jerusalem’s city hall says it has put up road signs
pointing to the new US Embassy, which is set to move to the contested city
next week.” On Monday, “Mayor Nir Barkat placed the first signs...in the
southern Jerusalem neighborhood where the embassy is to be located.
According to a picture sent by Barkat’s office, the white signs read ‘US
Embassy’ in English, Hebrew and Arabic.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=03c-ac8&t=c>
(5/7) reports that “at the consulate site, mechanical diggers cleared
scrubland as workers posted embassy signs along city roads and hung US,
Israeli and Jerusalem flags from street lights.”
US, China Agree To Continue Trade Negotiations.

Deirdre Bolton reported on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=03d-c7c&t=c>
(5/7) that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and the US delegation that just left
trade talks in China have reached an agreement with their Chinese
counterparts to continue negotiations. According to Bolton, “trade experts
say that’s the best possible outcome since the world’s two largest
economies are really the closest they have ever been to an outright trade
war.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=03e-23c&t=c>
(5/7, Bender) reports Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to send his top
economic aide, Liu He, next week to Washington to continue discussions over
the ongoing trade dispute with the White House.

*In Tweet Today, Trump Says He Will Phone This Morning With XI
About Trade, North Korea. *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=03f-d96&t=c>
this morning, “I will be speaking to my friend, President Xi of China, this
morning at 8:30. The primary topics will be Trade, where good things will
happen, and North Korea, where relationships and trust are building.”

*Mattis Urges Lawmakers To Include Anti-China Measure In Defense
Bill. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=040-1c3&t=c>
(5/7) reports Defense Secretary Mattis has “urged top lawmakers shepherding
a must-pass defense bill through Congress to include measures that would
tighten oversight of foreign investment in the United States in hopes of
hampering Chinese efforts to gain access to sensitive US technology.” In a
letter dated Friday, “which was seen by Reuters and has not been previously
reported,” Mattis urged the Republican chairmen and top Democrats on the
Armed Services committees in the House and the Senate” to include in the
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) measures that would broaden the
powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.”

*WPost Editorial Critical Of China’s Treatment Of Dissident’s
Widow. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=041-355&t=c>
(5/7) editorializes that “for an example of gratuitous cruelty in the
service of 21st-century totalitarianism, listen to the sob-choked voice of
China’s Liu Xia,” the widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and dissident Liu
Xiaobo. Liu was “recently recorded by a friend as she described her despair
at being denied sanctuary in Germany and subjected to a seemingly endless
continuation of the house arrest she has endured since 2010 — even though
her husband died 10 months ago and she has never been charged with a
crime.” The Post says the “fault lies with a regime that appears bent on
crushing the spirit of a woman simply because her husband was recognized
for what the Nobel committee called ‘his long and nonviolent struggle for
fundamental human rights in China.’”

*NAFTA Talks Enter “Make-Or-Break” Week. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=042-2f1&t=c>
(5/7) reports that “talks to update the NAFTA trade deal” are in a
“make-or-break week...as senior Canadian, US and Mexican officials seek to
resolve an impasse in key areas before elections in Mexico and the United
States complicate the process.” According to Reuters, “Discussions in
Washington will center on rules of origin governing what percentage of a
car needs to be built in the North American Free Trade Agreement region to
avoid tariffs, the pact’s dispute-resolution mechanism and US demands for a
sunset clause that could automatically kill the deal after five years.”
Reuters notes that last week, USTR Lighthizer “warned...that if the talks
took too long, approval by the Republican-controlled Congress may be on
‘thin ice.’”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=043-639&t=c>
(5/7) reports that “despite insisting that he wants to secure a deal in the
coming weeks, Lighthizer hasn’t shown signs of softening on proposals that
Canada and Mexico see as damaging to their interests.” The topic of
automobiles is “likely to loom large,” although “divides remain on several
other issues, including seasonal barriers to agriculture trade, US efforts
to open Canada’s dairy industry to foreign competition, government
procurement, dispute resolution, and a clause that would terminate Nafta
after five years unless the nations agree to continue it,” according to
Bloomberg

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=044-b76&t=c>
(5/7, Mauldin) reports that US automakers support the Administration’s
demand that Mexican autoworkers’ pay is increased to at least $16 an hour,
which the Journal says is about double what Mexican workers in the sector
currently make and quadruple the pay at some auto factories.

*Fox’s Bolton: Obrador Election Win Could Complicate NAFTA
Talks. *Deirdre
Bolton reported on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=045-f8a&t=c>
(5/7) that the “clock is ticking loudly for the US, Canada, and Mexico to
agree to a new North American Free Trade Agreement.” Bolton noted that
Mexico has presidential elections in July, and the “leftist candidate”
Andrés Manuel López Obrador “says he wants a hand in redrafting” NAFTA if
he wins, which she said “would cause complications.”
Domestic Policy
Trump Tweets Allege Bias, Conflicts Of Interest In Mueller Probe.

President Trump tweeted four times on Monday morning about Special Counsel
Robert Mueller’s investigation, messages media reports portray as
aggressive and even taunting. Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=046-e9c&t=c>,
“The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence
Committee found No Collusion, Coordination or anything else with Russia. So
now the Probe says OK, what else is there? How about Obstruction for a made
up, phony crime. There is no O, it’s called Fighting Back.” He then tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=047-3b2&t=c>,
“The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to
find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects
people from injustice...and just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your
unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!” Two hours later, he returned to the
theme, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=048-ac2&t=c>,
“Lisa Page, who may hold the record for the most Emails in the shortest
period of time (to her Lover, Peter S), and attorney Baker, are out at the
FBI as part of the Probers getting caught? Why is Peter S still there? What
a total mess. Our Country has to get back to Business!” He then tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=049-980&t=c>,
“Is this Phony Witch Hunt going to go on even longer so it wrongfully
impacts the Mid-Term Elections, which is what the Democrats always
intended? Republicans better get tough and smart before it is too late!”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=04a-f5c&t=c>
(5/7) reports Trump “said Monday he was ‘Fighting Back’ against the Russia
probe and warned the ‘13 Angry Democrats’ on the special counsel’s team to
‘just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of
Interest!’” The AP says Trump “repeated his earlier claim that Mueller’s
team is made up of Democrats,” though NPR
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=04b-6a9&t=c>
(5/7, Ewing) says in an online report that “Mueller is a Republican.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=04c-b14&t=c>
(5/7, Sullivan) reports that Trump “trained his rancor on federal
investigators...and appeared to warn that negative material would emerge”
about Mueller’s team. In his tweets, Trump “said the investigation was
being run by Democrats and raised the question of whether the special
counsel’s work was being drawn out to influence the outcome of the upcoming
midterm congressional elections.” The Times says Trump’s “veiled threat” to
Mueller “and the suggestion of bias comes at a time when Mr. Trump’s legal
team seems to be struggling to present a consistent message to the American
public.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=04d-72c&t=c>
(5/7, Jackson) reports that Trump “appeared to taunt” Mueller’s team,
“referencing a federal judge’s questions as to whether they are prosecuting
former campaign aide Paul Manafort simply in an effort to get at Trump.”
USA Today says Trump “has stepped up his attacks on the Mueller
investigation.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=04e-48a&t=c>
(5/7, Okun) reports that the tweets “followed two judicial challenges to
Mueller late last week.” On Friday, US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III
criticized the prosecution team over the Manafort indictment, and on
Saturday, a different US district court judge “denied Mueller’s attempt to
delay an arraignment this week in his case against Russian troll farms and
citizens accused of sowing online discord” during the 2016 campaign. The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=04f-9c6&t=c>
(5/6, Pollock) says that Ellis “could be the ultimate nightmare” for
Mueller, since a dismissal of the Manafort charges “could be a major
wrecking ball to Mueller’s overall case.”

CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=050-761&t=c>
(5/7, De Vries) reports on its website that Trump “also asked why FBI
special agent Peter Strzok is still at the bureau.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=051-84a&t=c>
(5/7, Persons) reports that the President tweeted about ex-FBI lawyer Lisa
Page, who resigned last week. The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=052-c3d&t=c>
(5/7, Qiu) reports under the headline “Trump Wrongly Links Departures Of
Two F.B.I. Officials To Russia Investigation” that though Trump is “seeming
to suggest” that the departures of Page and another ex-FBI official, James
Baker, “had something to do with their roles in the Russia
investigation...their departures were voluntary and unrelated.”

*Giuliani: Legal Team Hopes To Decide On Mueller Interview By May
17. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=053-951&t=c>
(5/7, Nicholas) reports Rudy Giuliani said Monday that Trump’s legal team
hopes to decide whether he should testify in the Mueller probe by May 17,
which will be the one-year anniversary of Mueller’s appointment. The CBS
Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=054-036&t=c>
(5/7, story 4, 1:35, Glor) reported, “It’s been nearly three weeks since
Rudy Giuliani joined the President’s legal team with the stated goal of
wrapping up the special counsel’s Russia investigation within a week or
two. The President has said he wants to testify, but Giuliani is cautioning
him against that.” Giuliani: “I hope we get chance to tell him the risk
that he’s taking. So he may testify, and we may actually work things out
with Robert Mueller, because working with him directly is good.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=055-1ca&t=c>
(5/7) says in an editorial that Giuliani does not believe that Trump should
sit down with Mueller “and simply tell the truth. ... Giuliani may be right
as a lawyer (though he hasn’t exactly inspired confidence with his legal
advice over the past week), but he has it wrong as a citizen.” While the
Fifth Amendment “indeed offers an essential right against
self-incrimination to the ordinary client,” the issue “is not what should
be expected from an average client, or even a famous one. It is what the
public should expect of the president of the United States in a probe
involving serious questions of national interest.”

*Politico: Trump Has Been “Griping” About Giuliani. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=056-d82&t=c>
(5/7, Pettypiece) reports that Giuliani said in an interview that “the
president and his legal team are pursuing a more public and aggressive
strategy toward Robert Mueller’s investigation as they try to pressure the
special counsel to wrap up quickly.” Giuliani said, “The President is being
harmed in his ability to conduct the business of his presidency.” But
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=057-13f&t=c>
(5/7, Johnson, Karni, Samuelsohn) reports that Trump is “still not happy”
with his legal team. Politico says Trump “has been griping to associates”
that Giuliani “has failed to shut down the Stormy Daniels hush money saga.
And he has expressed frustration that Giuliani’s media appearances are
raising more questions than they are answering. ... Some aides said they
expect the president to fire Giuliani if his behavior doesn’t change.”
Heidi Przybyla of NBC News tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=058-d55&t=c>,
“Wait, I thought he just started?”

*Stone Says He Had Little Contact With Gates. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=059-e8f&t=c>
(5/7, Haberman) reports that Roger Stone “sought on Monday to portray his
contact” with Trump campaign aide and Manafort associate Rick Gates “as
minimal in response to a report that the special counsel is scrutinizing
their ties.” Stone told the Times, “The Gates story is somewhat perplexing.
I only have a record of one dinner with Rick Gates.”

*Nunes Says He Wants To Talk With Sessions. *House Intelligence
Chairman Devin Nunes appeared on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=05a-793&t=c>
(5/7) to discuss his threat to hold Attorney General Sessions in contempt
of Congress. Nunes said, “We sent a letter two weeks ago to the Department
of Justice. ... They ignored that letter. We had to issue a subpoena last
week. We issued a subpoena. Finally, on Thursday they got back to us and
said they weren’t going to comply with the subpoena. ... Attorney General
Sessions said he wants to discuss things. That is good. I want to talk to
him.”

Earlier on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=05b-627&t=c>
(5/7), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D) was asked if Nunes’ effort to hold Sessions
in contempt will succeed. Castro said, “My sense is that it won’t succeed
and that it won’t go anywhere.” Castro added that “this probably wouldn’t
be happening unless the White House somehow gave its blessing to go around
and somehow punish Jeff Sessions through the Congress. There are a lot of
games that are being played by the White House and by Devin Nunes.”

*Four House GOP “Warriors” Pleasing Trump With Their Defense. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=05c-7c5&t=c>
(5/7, Cheney) reports on the “band of four House Republicans defending
Trump with a relentless counterattack against the Justice Department’s
Russia investigation that thrills the president even as it unsettles some
House GOP colleagues who think they’re going too far”: Reps. Ron DeSantis
(R), Matt Gaetz (R, Jim Jordan (R), and Mark Meadows (R). Trump called the
four “absolute warriors” in a Fox News interview last month, and “their
emergence underscores a reality of the Trump era: power and prominence on
Capitol Hill these days often flow not to the most senior lawmakers but to
Republicans who display allegiance to a president who prizes loyalty.”

*Ex-CIA Officer Criticizes Brennan Over Speculation About Trump
Being Blackmailed. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=05d-90d&t=c>
(5/7, Taylor) reports that Daniel Hoffman, a former CIA officer, said in an
interview that ex-CIA Director John Brennan has “jeopardized national
security by publicly insinuating that Russian President Vladimir Putin may
be blackmailing” Trump. Hoffman said, “What I found cringeworthy is that
Brennan was insinuating that Vladimir Putin could control President Trump
and that Brennan’s choice of the word ‘speculate’ would be lost on the
audience because of his previous position as director of the CIA.”

*Sarah Sanders Says She’s “Not Aware” Of Payments To Women Other
Than Daniels. *ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=05e-055&t=c>
(5/7, story 2, 2:50, Muir) reported that White House Press Secretary Sarah
Sanders was asked Monday whether Trump attorney Michael Cohen made payments
to women other than Stormy Daniels for the President. Sanders replied, “I’m
not aware of any other activity, but I would refer you to Rudy Giuliani to
respond to any of those questions.” ABC’s Cecilia Vega: “But you’ve been in
his circle for a long time now, you were on the campaign. Is there anything
that came across your desk?” Sanders: “Again, I’m not aware of anything
like that.”

*Model Says She Saw Trump Cheat On Then-Pregnant Maples. *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=05f-6ab&t=c>
(5/7, Perez) reports that German model Elke Jeinsen “claims to have been in
the same room with Donald Trump during an alleged romp he had with Playboy
Playmate Barbara Moore” at the time that Trump’s “then-fiancee Marla Maples
was pregnant with daughter Tiffany.” Last month, Moore “claimed to have had
a six-month affair with Trump while he was with Maples.”

*State Dept.: Giuliani Doesn’t Speak For US On Foreign Policy. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=060-0b6&t=c>
(5/7, Lederman) reports the State Department “sought to distance itself
Monday from Rudy Giuliani’s dramatic public statements about Iran and North
Korea, saying that President Donald Trump’s new lawyer does not speak for
the president on matters of foreign policy.” Spokeswoman Heather Nauert
told reporters, “He speaks for himself and not on behalf of the
administration on foreign policy.” The AP notes that since joining Trump’s
legal team last month, Giuliani “has raised eyebrows for a series of
startling assertions not only about his legal strategy and the special
counsel investigation, but also about global affairs.” NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=061-cec&t=c>
(5/7, story 4, 1:00, Welker) reported Giuliani “has for the third time in
less than a week contradicted the official line...this time saying the
Americans detained in North Korea will be released soon. The State
Department [is] insisting Giuliani speaks for himself.”
First Lady Unveils “Be Best” Initiative For Children.

The First Lady’s announcement of her “Be Best” initiative generated
extensive media coverage. The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=062-dfc&t=c>
(5/7, story 5, 0:30, Glor) reported that “Mrs. Trump said her ‘Be Best’
initiative will focus on three areas: One is well-being by promoting
healthy living and respect. It will highlight the importance of using
social media in a positive way and support families affected by opioid
abuse.” CBS added that “afterward, the President called it a ‘heartfelt and
beautiful’ speech,” and NPR
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=063-1c1&t=c>
(5/7, Naylor) noted that “following her remarks, the president signed a
proclamation and said the nation is ‘truly blessed to have a first lady so
devoted to our country and to our children.’”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=064-a15&t=c>
(5/7, Superville) indicates that “during nearly 16 months as first lady,
Mrs. Trump demonstrated her interest in children by visiting with young
hospital patients in the US and during overseas trips with the president,
often reading to them and encouraging them to do their best.” Additionally,
Mrs. Trump’s “interest in the opioid drug crisis...has taken her to care
centers and hospitals in West Virginia and Ohio.” The AP adds that “in
March, the first lady hosted representatives of the major online and social
media companies at the White House to discuss cyberbullying and internet
safety.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=065-e8c&t=c>
(5/7, Moons) notes, meanwhile, that despite those activities, “in
March a Chicago
Tribune
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=066-0db&t=c>
reporter attacked the first lady with claims that she wasn’t doing her
job.”

Yesterday, several high-profile reports and analyses also sounded a
critical note, with one suggesting Mrs. Trump’s “Be Best” theme sounded too
similar to statements made by Michelle Obama, and others noting some
criticism of her focus on online bullying – which reports said clashed with
the President’s use of social media. Jake Tapper, for example, said on CNN’s
The Lead[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=067-165&t=c>
(5/7), “The First Lady launching her platform devoted to stopping cyber
bullying and encouraging kindness. Ummmm...has she met her husband?” Along
those lines, NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=068-81a&t=c>
(5/7, story 2, 1:55, Alexander) referred to “the elephant in the room”
during Mrs. Trump’s remarks was that “her husband...has a portfolio of
online attacks,” adding that “since declaring for President,” he has
uttered “more than 450 Twitter insults, according to New York Times, like
‘cheating’ and ‘crying’ and ‘crazy.’” NBC went on to ask, “Does the
President accept any responsibility for America’s skepticism that the first
lady from the White House would speak out against cyber bullying?” White
House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders “deflected.” Sanders was shown saying,
“I think the idea you’re trying to blame cyber bullying on the President is
kind of ridiculous.”

Kirsten Powers said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=069-944&t=c>
(5/7), “To me, this actually feels like more of this crazy-making stuff. To
have the First Lady come out and do this thing about cyber bullying when
the biggest cyber bully in the entire world lives in the same house with
her. ... And so I can’t figure out if it is intentionally meant to drive us
crazy or if it’s actually a way for her to talk to him. I don’t know what
is going on. I find the whole thing very strange because if you want to
stop cyber bullying, you need to stop the President.” However, Gloria
Borger said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=06a-b50&t=c>
(5/7), “I give her credit because, you know, she did take on the
cyber-bullying issue. She knows she’s going to get trolled herself for
doing that because of her husband, but in a way, it’s her way of being
independent and saying, ‘This is what I care about.’ Yeah, you know,
there’s all that stuff about starting at home, but she’s not going to
change Donald Trump and she knows it, and so I think it’s her way of
distancing herself, saying, ‘Okay, my husband does what he does. This is
going to be my agenda.”

People
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=06b-06e&t=c>
(5/7, Westfall) also reported that “critics have called the first lady
hypocritical for adopting the cause, given the president’s well-documented
habit of humiliating and lashing out at his foes on Twitter, often using
degrading and even racist nicknames,” while Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=06c-399&t=c>
(5/7, Epstein) says Mrs. Trump’s interest in cyber-bullying is “something
critics have called ironic given her husband’s penchant for Twitter attacks
on opponents.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=06d-af5&t=c>
(5/7, Puente) similarly reports that her “comments on social media and its
often ‘negative’ use were notable given her husband’s expansive use of
Twitter to advance his agenda and attack his enemies.” USA goes to report
that “the timing of Mrs. Trump’s announcement was awkward: Last week, it
emerged that, despite his denials, her husband did know about and repaid
his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 Cohen gave to porn
actress Stormy Daniels.”

TIME
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=06e-089&t=c>
(5/7, Hoffman) reported Mrs. Trump’s plan is “ambitious, but some observers
online felt it wasn’t entirely hers,” as “for one thing, the slogan ‘Be
Best,’ sounded a little too much like Michelle Obama’s ‘Be Better’ answer
to Oprah Winfrey’s question at the White House Summit on the United State
of Women in 2016.” TIME added that “that wasn’t the only aspect of the
comprehensive plan that critics felt they’d seen before,” and “the
companion pamphlet appears almost entirely copied from that the Federal
Trade Commission released in 2014 under Obama.” Writing for the Los Angeles
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=06f-7b3&t=c>
(5/7), meanwhile, Mariel Garza said Mrs. Trump’s agenda is “as perplexing
as her relationship with The Donald,” and seemed to mock the “three main
pillars of Be Best: well being, social media use and … opioid abuse.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=070-48e&t=c>
(5/7, Miller) reports “Mrs. Trump didn’t flinch from one the most hostile
receptions for a first lady from the Washington press corps nor from the
rabid reporting of her husband’s alleged affair with...Daniels.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=071-192&t=c>
(5/7, Kurtz) casts her as “stepping more fully into the spotlight as first
lady,” while the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=072-96a&t=c>
(5/7, Schultz, Brown) says “the announcement was light on specifics, but
she did say that Be Best will champion programs like this ‘with the hope
that other schools or community groups will be inspired to replicate their
efforts and take steps to improve the well of our children.’”

Mara Liasson said on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=073-27e&t=c>
(5/7), “Melania has taken a kind of slow ramp-up to her role. She’s tried
to figure out what she wants to focus on. This is something – she has not
been in the public eye before. She’s settled on some things. This is a
debut in a way for her. People like her. So far...she’s seen in a different
category than her President, not as divisive and controversial.”

In addition to President Trump, the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018050801biden&r=email-0236&l=074-03e&t=c>
(5/7, Leonard) reports, the event was attended by “first daughter Ivanka
Trump; Jared Kushner, her son-in-law and a senior adviser to the
administration; Vice President Mi