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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Monday, December 3, 2018 8:01 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
December 3, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=001-d00&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, December 3, 2018 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Biden Speaks At Fundraiser For UNLV Law School. <#S1>

• Biden Fondly Recalls George H.W. Bush. <#S2>

• Biden, Others Eulogize Marttila. <#S3>

• The Hill: Brown, O’Rourke Bids Would Complicate A Biden Run. <#S4>

• WSJournal Analysis: Iowa Democratic Leaders Prefer A Young 2020
Presidential Nominee. <#S5>

• Columnist Touts Biden-Booker Ticket As Democrats’ Best Choice In 2020.
<#S6>

• Beau Biden Foundation Partners With Special Olympics On New Initiative.
<#S7>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Says China Will “Reduce And Remove Tariffs On Cars.” <#S8>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• CIA Intercepts Suggest MBS Culpable In Khashoggi’s Killing. <#S9>

• Trump Expects Second Meeting With Kim In Early 2019. <#S10>

• Heightened Ukraine-Russia Tensions Shutter Travel Across Once-Friendly
Village Border. <#S11>

• Syria Alleges US-Led Coalition Fired Missiles On Its Positions. <#S12>

• Iran Rejects Pompeo’s Condemnation Of Ballistic Missile Program. <#S13>

• Pompeo To Meet Israel’s Netanyahu On Monday. <#S14>

• Macron Weighs State Of Emergency Amid Violent Protests. <#S15>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Nadler: Cohen Admission May Indicate Russian “Leverage” Over Trump. <#S16>

• Comey Makes Deal To Testify Privately Before House Judiciary Committee.
<#S17>

• Trump Says “Terrific Guy” Bush “Will Be Missed.” <#S18>

• Bush’s Death May Delay Government Shutdown For One Or Two Weeks. <#S19>

• Trump’s Republican Critics In Congress Assert Themselves In Their Last
Weeks. <#S20>

• WPost Analysis: Trump’s Skepticism Of Climate Science Is Mirrored Across
GOP. <#S21>

• Spano Acknowledges He May Have Violated Campaign Finance Law. <#S22>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Neither Fish Oil Nor Vitamin D Provide Benefits For Preventing
Cardiovascular Conditions, Cancer, Study Suggests. <#S23>

• Op-Ed: Single Cancer Patients May Receive Less-Aggressive Treatment Than
Married Patients. <#S24>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S25>

• Washington Post. <#S26>
Biden in the News
Biden Speaks At Fundraiser For UNLV Law School.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=002-c90&t=c>
(12/2, Ritter) reported, “Civil and constitutional rights are under
‘unrelenting attack,’ former Vice President Joe Biden said during a speech
Saturday.” Speaking “at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, law school
fundraiser,” Biden didn’t mention President Trump by “name, and he made no
reference to whether he plans to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential
nomination.” Instead, Biden spoke “in general terms about abuses of power,
‘whether it’s an individual or a mob,’ and about an ‘unrelenting attack on
civil rights, civil liberties, a free press and an independent court
system.’”

The Las Vegas Sun
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=003-15f&t=c>
(12/1, Kudialis) reported, “Upholding the rule of law in a society of
rising nationalism and populism is more important than ever in today’s
political climate and validates the need for higher law institutions like
UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. That’s according to...Biden, who spoke” on
Saturday “during the first fundraising gala for the 20-year-old Las Vegas
law school. ‘It’s really difficult for a law school to establish itself in
such a short amount of time,’ Biden said. ‘Thank you for what you’re doing
to preserve the constitution and uphold the rule of law.’” The Las Vegas
Review-Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=004-20e&t=c>
(12/1, Delaney) reported, “In today’s political climate, the court system
has been under attack, Biden told the more than 900 attendees at the law
school’s 20th anniversary gala. ‘I believe we’re seeing a direct assault on
the very political institutions that allow us to maintain this vibrant
democracy,’ he said, calling lawyers the guardians of the system.”

KSNV-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=005-7dc&t=c>
Las Vegas' News 3 Today (12/2) broadcast a clip of Biden saying, “I don’t
care what your political persuasion is. Have you ever been more concerned
about the preservation of our democracy and the maintenance of the
guardrails that prevent abuse of power?” KLAS-TV[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=006-48f&t=c>
Las Vegas (12/2) also broadcast a report on Biden’s speech.
Biden Fondly Recalls George H.W. Bush.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=007-9d6&t=c>
(12/2, Ritter) reported that during his Saturday appearance at a fundraiser
for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, law school, former Vice President
Joe Biden “remembered former President George H.W. Bush as a man of class
and decency.” The former Vice President recalled “fondly that Bush, a
Republican who died late Friday, fought his own physical ailments to
personally meet Biden in Houston, Bush’s hometown, where Biden’s son, Beau
Biden, was treated before dying of cancer in 2015. Bush was in a
wheelchair, Biden said. ‘He said, ‘I just came to welcome you to Houston
and to tell you how badly I feel about Beau,’’ Biden recalled. ‘How many
people today in American politics would do that?’”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=008-904&t=c>
(12/2, Burke) reported that Biden also quoted Bush as saying of Beau, “He
was an incredible young man and I think he may have been president.” The
Hill added that Biden “also praised Bush on Saturday in a statement and
recounted the same moment from Houston. Biden in the statement called Bush
‘decent, kind, and welcoming.’ ‘With President Bush it was seldom about
himself,’ Biden added. ‘Always about others. His life of service was
legendary.’”

KSNV-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=009-623&t=c>
Las Vegas' News 3 Today (12/2) broadcast a clip of Biden saying of Bush,
“We were on opposite sides of the political fence. I served the entire time
he was president. I have been there with eight presidents as an elected
official. And none had more class and a greater sense of decency than
President Bush.”
Biden, Others Eulogize Marttila.

The Boston Globe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=00a-649&t=c>
(12/2, Pindell) reports that several of Massachusetts’ “and the nation’s
most prominent Democratic politicians quietly gathered in a Back Bay church
Sunday afternoon to remember John Marttila, one of the most influential
political consultants of a generation. Delivering eulogies were three of
his former clients: former vice president Joe Biden, former US secretary of
state John Kerry, and US Senator Ed Markey.” Marttila passed away “on Nov.
3 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer a dozen years earlier.” The
Globe quotes Biden as saying of Marttila, “He taught us that public service
was a sacred trust, and the purpose of it was to lift the spirit up.”
The Hill: Brown, O’Rourke Bids Would Complicate A Biden Run.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=00b-dab&t=c>
(12/3, Parnes) reported, “Enthusiasm for a White House bid by [Texas Rep.
Beto O’Rourke] is soaring after he” narrowly lost to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
in November’s election. Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), “fresh off a
decisive reelection” win, “is openly considering a run for the White House.
Democrats are giving him a fresh look, too, given his win in a perpetual
swing state where President Trump handily defeated Hillary Clinton in
2016.” The Hill adds, “The new momentum for O’Rourke and Brown will create
new challenges for other would-be contenders who have long been seen as
likely 2020 Democratic candidates,” including former Vice President Joe
Biden, who “would face real competition from Brown, who is to Biden’s left
on trade.” And Biden “might also have to compete with O’Rourke for the
Obama crowd, judging from the effusive remarks about the Texan made by the
ex-president’s former aides.”
WSJournal Analysis: Iowa Democratic Leaders Prefer A Young 2020
Presidential Nominee.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=00c-9e8&t=c>
(12/3, Epstein, Hook) reports that a survey it conducted of Democratic
chairs in Iowa’s counties found that party leaders in the Hawkeye State
desire a young 2020 presidential nominee to take on President Trump – a
possible stumbling block for former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens.
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), each of whom will be 70
or older when Iowa’s caucuses take place in early 2020. The Journal says
that 43 of the 76 county party chairs in Iowa who responded to the survey
said they preferred a younger nominee and expressed interest in possible
candidates who’ve never previously sought the White House.
Columnist Touts Biden-Booker Ticket As Democrats’ Best Choice In 2020.

In his Adirondack (NY) Daily Enterprise
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=00d-aee&t=c>
(12/1) column, George Cassidy Payne touted former Vice President Joe Biden
as the best Democrat to take on President Trump in 2020, saying, “In many
ways, Joe Biden is the antithesis of Donald Trump. Biden is strong, steady,
seasoned, moral, and a tried and true public servant.” Discussing who
Biden, if he runs, might “tap as his running mate,” Payne wrote that Sen.
Cory Booker (D-NJ) would be the best choice, saying, “That ticket has a
nice ring to it. It’s energy and wisdom; it’s the white rural working class
and the black urban middle class. Both can speak directly to the needs of
the working poor in a way that transcends racial and class barriers.”
Beau Biden Foundation Partners With Special Olympics On New Initiative.

In an online article, Delaware Public Media
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=00e-951&t=c>
(12/2, Ciolino) reported that the Beau Biden Foundation “is partnering with
Special Olympics International to start an initiative to protect people
with intellectual disabilities from physical and sexual abuse.” The group’s
“partnership with the Special Olympics is called Operation Safeguard. It is
meant to utilize the foundation’s expertise to determine best practices,
policies and procedures to implement in Special Olympics athletic and
educational programs around the country, and eventually around the world in
180 different nations.” Beau Biden Foundation Executive Director Patricia
Dailey Lewis “says best practices include eliminating all one-on-one,
unobservable, uninterruptible contact between adults and children or people
with intellectual disabilities.” She also “says the initiative seeks to
improve incident reporting and tracking, and create new training programs
for staff and volunteers.”
Leading the News
Trump Says China Will “Reduce And Remove Tariffs On Cars.”

At 11:00 p.m. Sunday, President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=00f-f21&t=c>,
“China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China
from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=010-a50&t=c>
(12/3, Lawder) reports that the tweet came “a day after he and Chinese
President Xi Jinping called a 90-day cease-fire in their trade war to allow
time for negotiations.” The President “did not specify a new level for the
Chinese tariffs.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=011-235&t=c>
(12/2, Moss) reports that the US exported $9.5 billion worth of new
passenger vehicles and light trucks to China in 2017, according to the
Commerce Department. Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=012-ac2&t=c>
(12/3), Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=013-765&t=c>
(12/2, Forgey, Palmer), and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=014-f98&t=c>
(12/2, Conradis) also cover the President’s Twitter announcement.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=015-e1f&t=c>
(12/2, story 3, 2:00, Snow) reported that Trump “spent much of this weekend
in Argentina for the G20 summit, and after a key meeting with the Chinese
leader the President announced what he touted as an incredible deal with
China. The White House says the agreement puts on hold any new US tariffs
on goods in China, at least for now.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=016-bf3&t=c>
(12/2, story 5, 0:20, Llamas) briefly reported that the US and China are
“hitting pause on the escalating trade war, rocking the stock market.
President Trump and China’s President agreeing to a 90-day cease fire
during the G20 summit.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=017-701&t=c>
(12/2, Fritze) reports that while the President’s “trade truce with
China...may ease skittish investors and lawmakers this week, but experts
began to question its potency hours after the president walked back into
the White House.” White House officials “said the deal, outlined in a
seven-paragraph statement late Saturday, will involve the United States
holding off for 90 days on a round of steep tariffs that had been set for
January” in exchange for China buying “‘a not yet agreed upon, but very
substantial’ amount of U.S. products.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=018-abf&t=c>
(12/2, Bradsher, Rappeport) writes, “The political need for some type of
truce has increased as both countries begin struggling with signs of
economic softening.” Treasury Secretary Mnuchin told the Times, “The
President has been clear that if there is a real deal he’s willing to give
some period of time to get this firmly negotiated – that’s the direction
he’s given to the team. On the other hand, if there’s not a real deal, he
said he will proceed with the tariffs.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=019-03a&t=c>
(12/2, Lynch) reports that the trade talks “have raised hopes for a
peaceful resolution of the trans-Pacific tariff war – but the economic
relationship between the U.S. and China has been permanently altered.”
Fraser Howie, author of a book about China’s financial rise, said, “I don’t
see the West ever going back to business as usual with China. Too many
genies have been let out of bottles.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=01a-6bd&t=c>
(12/2, Lee) calls the agreement “less an end to the trade war than a
tenuous truce.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=01b-560&t=c>
(12/2, Davis) reports under the headline “U.S., China Face Thorny Obstacles
To Lasting Trade Peace” that even with the President’s tweet, many issues
remain unresolved, including intellectual property protections, nontariff
barriers, and cyberespionage. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=01c-8f6&t=c>
(12/2, Palmer, Behsudi, Restuccia) reports, “The cease-fire arrangement
came with no public guarantee from China that it would address those” and
other issues. Still, the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=01d-a5b&t=c>
(12/2, Hopkins) headlines its report “Trump Wins Trade Battle With China.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=01e-b01&t=c>
(12/3, Gordon) writes that the US-China trade truce “should boost rattled
financial markets, at least through the year’s end, experts say. But the
stock market’s recent wild gyrations likely will persist as the two
countries strain to reach a permanent accord.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=01f-e08&t=c>
(12/2, Spicer, Burns) reports that futures “jumped on Sunday, suggesting
Wall Street was set rise further after its biggest weekly gain last week in
nearly seven years.”

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) said on Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=020-281&t=c>
(12/2), “Clearly it is encouraging to see that we are talking with the
Chinese on the trade front. China has created many problems with trade. ...
My concern about the President’s trade policy is that his first action was
to take tariffs against our closest allies based upon national security
exceptions. We’ve lost the unity that we needed in dealing with China.”

In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=021-009&t=c>
(12/2) calls the President’s Buenos Aires trip one of the most productive
of his presidency due to advances on trade with China. The Journal writes
that neither side would benefit from an extended trade war, but cautions
that enforcing agreements with China has often proven more challenging than
forging them.

Fred Hiatt writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=022-2e0&t=c>
(12/2) column, “As the United States and China face off, President Trump
seems determined to disarm his own country,” not in terms of “tariffs or
trade rules,” but “something more fundamental. Long after the truce
expires, China will be promoting its authoritarian model throughout the
world as a superior alternative to Western democracy. ... Trump has done
everything he can to squander” America’s moral advantage.

*Grassley May Try To Limit President’s Section 232 Tariff
Authority. *Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=023-7bb&t=c>
(12/2, Owens) reports that in “a fresh example of the political hurricane
about to hit Trump’s hardline trade agenda,” incoming Senate Finance
Chairman Charles Grassley “told Axios he may try to make it harder for the
president to impose new tariffs.” Grassley “said he would take a favorable
view of legislation limiting the administration’s power to impose tariffs
to protect national security (known as Section 232 authority).”

*Media Analyses: “Subdued” Trump Made “Modest Breakthroughs” At
G20. *Other sources examine the President’s trip to the G20 summit from a
broader angle. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=024-d86&t=c>
(12/2, Lucey, Miller) writes that the “brisk two days in Argentina saw
Trump reach a trade ceasefire with China and sign a three-way trade deal
with Mexico and Canada. With little public spectacle, he joined the leaders
of the other member nations on the traditional group statement. He buddied
up with traditional allies and largely avoided controversial strongmen,”
canceling a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=025-a25&t=c>
(12/2, Hudson) writes that it was a “relatively subdued” trip for Trump,
“where he announced modest breakthroughs on trade but chose to avoid
provocative meetings” with Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman. The Post says his “performance – coupled with his listless two-day
visit to Paris days after the midterms, during which he skipped a visit to
an American cemetery and appeared isolated from other world leaders – has
created the impression of a president scaling back his ambitions on the
world stage amid mounting political crises.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=026-b77&t=c>
(12/2, Pop, Leary) also says Trump was subdued and stuck to his scripted
remarks during discussions.

Max Boot writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=027-5fb&t=c>
(12/2) column, “Trump may have had his most successful international outing
at the Group of 20 summit that concluded on Saturday in Buenos Aires. But
that’s not because he accomplished anything significant. He didn’t. It was
simply because he did not commit a massive gaffe.” Though it was “a
disaster averted,” there was “not much accomplished either.” The
Independent (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=028-c7a&t=c>
(12/2, Rahim) reports that Trump “was recorded off camera saying ‘get me
out of here’ to an aide at the end of the G20 summit in Argentina, as he
walked off stage even as other world leaders gathered for a photo.” But
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=029-193&t=c>
(12/2, Restuccia) writes that Trump “arrived back in Washington on Sunday
feeling triumphant, believing his latest international trip to be a
resounding success.”
Foreign Policy
CIA Intercepts Suggest MBS Culpable In Khashoggi’s Killing.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=02a-39a&t=c>
(12/2, Barnes, Schmitt) reports that the CIA “has evidence that Mohammed
bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, communicated repeatedly with a key
aide,” Saud al-Qahtani, “around the time that a team believed to have been
under the aide’s command assassinated Jamal Khashoggi, according to former
officials familiar with the intelligence.” Qahtani “topped the list of
Saudis who were targeted by American sanctions last month over their
suspected involvement in the killing,” and US “intelligence agencies have
evidence that Prince Salman and Mr. Qahtani had 11 exchanges that roughly
coincided with the hit team’s advance into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul,
where Mr. Khashoggi was murdered.” Current and former US officials
“insisted that while the communications are suggestive and reinforce the
intelligence agency’s conclusions about the culpability of the crown
prince, they are not the kind of definitive, direct evidence that President
Trump has suggested would be needed to convince him that Prince Mohammed
ordered the killing.”

Still, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=02b-52e&t=c>
(12/2, Harris, Mekhennet) reports, the CIA rated its assessment “at
‘medium-to-high confidence,’ and privately, officials have said it is
inconceivable that the prince, who exercises total authority over the
government, could not have known about such an audacious operation.” Yet,
Administration officials continue to emphasize “the importance of the
United States maintaining a close relationship with Saudi Arabia.” In an
interview Saturday, Secretary of State Pompeo told CNN, “I have read every
piece of intelligence that is in the possession of the United States
government,” and “when it is done, when you complete that analysis, there’s
no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.” Pompeo
also “said the United States was working closely with Saudi Arabia on major
foreign policy issues, including Afghanistan, and that the kingdom was a
vital regional counterweight to Iran.” Likewise, Defense Secretary Mattis
“said the question of holding the killers responsible and the strategic
importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship were separate issues.”

In an appearance on Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=02c-83e&t=c>
(12/2), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) compared Trump’s response to Khashoggi’s
killing to his “denial of Mr. Putin’s involvement in our 2016 elections
even though the evidence was very clear. There’s no doubt in my mind that
the crown prince understood what was happening in Turkey and was very much
involved in that.” Cardin stressed, “We cannot allow that type of conduct
to go unchallenged. Our strength, American foreign policy, the values that
we stand for and what happened in Turkey just affects all of our core
beliefs. If the United States has to have a pretty strong position on it
and we have to demand that to be accountability. That does not mean that we
can’t continue to have a strategic relationship with the kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. They need America. It’s more important for that relationship from
their point of view and we must make it clear that it can’t go
unchallenged.”

*Saudi Dissident Files Lawsuit Alleging Israeli Software Helped
Riyadh Spy On Khashoggi. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=02d-e8a&t=c>
(12/2, Kirkpatrick) reports a “Saudi dissident close to the murdered
journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” Omar Abdulaziz, “has filed a lawsuit charging
that an Israeli software company” known as the NSO Group “helped the royal
court take over his smartphone and spy on his communications with Mr.
Khashoggi.” The lawsuit “puts new pressure” on the NSO Group and the
Israeli government, “which licenses the company’s sales to foreign
governments of its spyware, known as Pegasus.” More broadly, the Times
says, the lawsuit “calls new attention to Israel’s increasingly open
alliance with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchies.” It also
“follows parallel suits by journalists, activists and others charging that
the NSO Group improperly helped the governments of Mexico and the United
Arab Emirates spy on their smartphones even though the individuals had no
criminal records and posed no threat of violence.”

*MBS Arrives In Algeria Amid Criticism Over Khashoggi Killing. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=02e-05e&t=c>
(12/2, Chikhi) reports that “Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived
in Algeria on Sunday from Mauritania, resuming a tour of Arab countries
after attending the G20 summit in Argentina.” He was received by Prime
Minister Ahmed Ouyahia “in the capital Algiers, the state news agency APS
said.” The news agency added that “Algerian-Saudi investments and trade
relations, especially in the oil and petrochemical sectors, will be
discussed during the two-day visit.” According to Reuters, “The crown
prince is on his first trip abroad since the killing of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which has strained
Saudi Arabia’s ties with the West and battered the prince’s image abroad.”
While MBS “is unlikely to face protests over the murder as he did in
Tunisia, as demonstrations are banned in Algiers,” a “group of prominent
journalists and intellectuals has written an open letter opposing his
visit, saying it is ‘unethical and politically inappropriate.’”

*WPost: Trump Encouraging Oppression In The Middle East. *A Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=02f-ac1&t=c>
(12/2) editorial says as US lawmakers consider possible responses “to the
state-sponsored murder of Khashoggi, it’s important to take into account
that it was not an isolated act.” The Post explains that these “regimes,
which include Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as Saudi
Arabia, don’t hesitate to employ the most extreme methods to accomplish
their aims, including mass arrests, torture, forced disappearances and
extrajudicial killings.” The Post argues that by “offering the regimes
unqualified support, the Trump administration in turn is putting vital U.S.
interests at risk.” To the Post, the Administration’s “policy supposes that
the dictators can indefinitely maintain control over their restless
populations by denying basic freedoms and assaulting anyone who advocates
them.” Unless “checked by Congress,” the Post concludes, that policy is
“likely to produce more trouble in the Middle East.”
Trump Expects Second Meeting With Kim In Early 2019.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=030-13f&t=c>
(12/2, Cummings) reports President Trump on Sunday told reporters aboard
Air Force One that he expects to hold a second meeting with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-un “at some point” in early 2019. Calling his relationship
with Kim “very good,” the President also “touted the progress he has made
negotiating with the communist ruler, saying his administration had only
been dealing with North Korea for a short time, after ‘people have been
working on that one for 80 years, right?’” Trump continued, “And 20 years
with the nuclear – you know, if you just take the nuclear. But he is
agreeing to work with me 100 percent on North Korea, and that’s a big
thing, too.” Asked whether he expected his North Korean counterpart to
visit the US, Trump responded, “At some point, yeah.” Trump said three
sites are under consideration for the next meeting, although he did not
specify whether it could potentially take place in the US.

Meanwhile, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=031-6e0&t=c>
(12/2, Shin) reports, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who met with
Trump at the G20 summit and “is hoping to host Kim soon on the first ever
trip to Seoul by a North Korean leader as agreed earlier this year, said
Trump had asked him to pass on a message.” Moon told reporters, “The
message is that President Trump has very favorable views toward Chairman
Kim and he likes him.” As such, Moon continued, “He asked me to tell
Chairman Kim that he wants to implement the rest of their agreement
together and he will fulfill Chairman Kim’s wishes.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=032-743&t=c>
(12/2, Denyer) reports that “Trump and Moon also agreed on the need to
maintain existing sanctions against North Korea until it completely
denuclearizes, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said over the
weekend.” To the Post, “That statement would appear to leave talks at the
same impasse where they have been stuck for weeks, with North Korea
demanding sanctions relief before it makes any further concessions, and
rejecting a U.S. demand to hand over a list of its nuclear weapons and
missile facilities.”

*Conservationists Fear DMZ Development Threatens Wildlife. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=033-641&t=c>
(12/2, Yoon, Jeong) reports that because the demilitarized zone between
North and South Korea was effectively off limits to human habitation for at
least six decades, wildlife has flourished and transformed the area into a
preserve. Conservationists fear that the wildlife found in the DMZ is now
at risk with Seoul and Pyongyang vying for peace through cross-border
development and infrastructure projects.
Heightened Ukraine-Russia Tensions Shutter Travel Across Once-Friendly
Village Border.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=034-ffa&t=c>
(12/2, Vasilyeva, Chernov) reports on the “tall barbed-wire fence
separating” Milove, Ukraine and Chertkovo, Russia that was built by Russia
earlier this year across Friendship of Peoples Street. Residents of the
Ukrainian and Russian villages had routinely crossed “the once aptly named
main road” freely, and on Saturdays, “the Ukrainian side of Friendship of
Peoples Street was filled with vendors selling everything from eggs to fur
coats, their wares lid out on plastic folding tables.” After serving as “a
bustling meeting place for residents of both sides, the market now only
serves Ukrainian shoppers because Russians are either banned or reluctant
to come.” The once-friendly area is now “being sorely tested by the
animosity between their two nations, Russia and Ukraine.” According to the
AP, the border fence marks “what was once an invisible border in a symbolic
shutdown of nearly all ties between the two neighboring nations.”

*Barrasso Defends Trump’s Decision To Cancel Putin Meeting. *On NBC’s
Meet The Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=035-234&t=c>
(12/2), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said, “I think it was the right call” for
President Trump “not to meet” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Barrasso explained, “Putin is somebody that respects strength and
territory. Words don’t mean much to him, action does. I think we need to do
more. I’ve called for sending ships to the Black Sea. ... And have NATO do
it as well. To show Russia that international law must be followed. But in
terms of lethal weapons for Ukraine, we’ve given them anti-tank, we need to
give them anti-aircraft, we need to give them weapons also in terms of
anti-ship. Putin respects strength and action. He will not stop until he is
stopped. He can smell fear and that’s the way he acts.” Barrasso went on to
say, “Any kind of action has to be a deterrence and a deterrence has to be
a forceful response.”

*Russian State Media Outlets Criticize Trump For Canceling Putin
Meeting. *The Daily Beast
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=036-d02&t=c>
(12/2, Davis) reports that Russian state media outlets “roasted” President
Trump for his “abrupt cancellation” of a “G20 meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.” The media outlets, “which operate in perfect
lockstep with the Kremlin, kept keying off their supposed shock at the
cancellation of the meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin” and “took
turns laying into the president of the United States.” According to the
Beast, “The Kremlin and the state media admittedly see Trump as a useful
tool in the enemy camp, undermining the transatlantic unity, NATO, the
image of the United States and the West in general.” Whether or not this
coverage is “awkward for Trump, Putin is not about to let go of an
opportunity for another press-free staff-free expert-free meeting like the
still-mysterious face to face in Finland.”
Syria Alleges US-Led Coalition Fired Missiles On Its Positions.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=037-6d9&t=c>
(12/2) reports Syria’s state-run SANA “news agency says the U.S.-led
coalition has fired several missiles at Syrian army positions in the
country’s east, causing material damage.” The US-led coalition did not
immediately confirm the report. According to the AP, “Such attacks by the
U.S.-led coalition against Syrian troops have been rare.”
Iran Rejects Pompeo’s Condemnation Of Ballistic Missile Program.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=038-10d&t=c>
(12/2, Fitch, Eqbali) reports that in response to Secretary of State
Pompeo’s Saturday tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=039-58e&t=c>
condemning Iran’s ballistic missile test as a violation of a United Nations
resolution, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi on Sunday
issued a statement saying that the country’s “missile program is defensive
in nature and is designed based on the country’s needs.” Later Sunday, an
Iranian armed forces spokesman added that the nation would continue to
develop and test such missiles, according to the semi-official Tasnim News
Agency.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=03a-69f&t=c>
(12/2) reports Tasnim quoted Iranian armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen.
Abolfazl Shekarchi as stating that the program “is outside the framework of
(nuclear) negotiations and part of our national security, for which we will
not ask any country’s permission.” Shekarchi “did not confirm or deny Iran
had tested a new missile.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
also rejected Pompeo’s criticism, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=03b-1d3&t=c>:
“While (the United States) itself violates (U.N. Security Council
resolution) 2231 – and even threatens to punish those who don’t wish to
violate it in abiding with illegal US sanctions – it now falsely accuses
Iran of violating the very SAME resolution.” In a separate tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=03c-11f&t=c>,
Zarif “accused Washington of arming militant groups that fight against the
Tehran-backed Syrian government and the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement in
Yemen.”
Pompeo To Meet Israel’s Netanyahu On Monday.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=03d-f2d&t=c>
(12/3) reports, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels later on Monday, the prime
minister’s office said in a statement.” The statement “said the meeting was
arranged last week and that ‘developments in the region’ would be
discussed, although it did not provide details.” According to Reuters,
“Pompeo is an outspoken critic of Iran’s nuclear program and he condemned
on Saturday the latest missile test by the Islamic republic.” For his part,
“Netanyahu often uses meetings with international officials to push his
agenda of halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”

AFP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=03e-0e0&t=c>
(12/3) reports that Netanyahu “was expected to leave Israel at around
midday and meet this evening with Pompeo, who will be in Brussels for a
NATO meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday.”

*Police Recommend Charges Against Netanyahu, Again. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=03f-ea7&t=c>
(12/2, Federman) reports, “Israeli police on Sunday recommended indicting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bribery charges,” saying that “they
found sufficient evidence that confidants of Netanyahu promoted regulatory
changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to” Israel’s telecom giant
Bezeq, which they believe was in exchange for “positive press coverage on
Bezeq’s popular news site Walla.” Netanyahu, in a “scathing” speech
attacking police investigators, called the investigation a “witch hunt”
that was “tainted from the start.” Police previously recommended indicting
Netanyahu on corruption charges in two other cases. However, Netanyahu’s
“hand-picked attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit,” will decide whether to
file any charges. Still, the recommendation adds to the “growing collection
of legal troubles that have clouded” Netanyahu’s prospects for re-election.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=040-b21&t=c>
(12/2, Lubell) reports Netanyahu “is politically unusually vulnerable as
his right-wing coalition’s majority has shrunk to a precarious single
seat.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=041-840&t=c>
(12/2, Halbfinger, Kershner) calls the new recommendations “potentially the
most damaging of a series of corruption cases against” Netanyahu, dealing
“another blow to his teetering governing coalition.” However, his position
currently is secure, and should he win “another election before charges are
brought, he could be strong enough politically to try to remain in office
even while facing prosecution.”

Also covering this story are the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=042-b2a&t=c>
(12/2, Eglash) and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=043-9df&t=c>
(12/2, Schwartz, Lieber).
Macron Weighs State Of Emergency Amid Violent Protests.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=044-80e&t=c>
(12/2, story 5, 1:10, Snow) reported French President Emmanuel Macron
“rushed home from the G20 summit to deal with some of the worst rioting
Paris has seen in recent years.” Jonathan Vigliotti reported on the CBS
Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=045-195&t=c>
(12/2, story 6, 1:20, Glor) that “protesters torched cars, vandalized
buildings and clashed with police...in the worst riots to hit France’s
capitol in over a decade.” Vigliotti said the “so-called Yellow Vest
Protests, named after the safety vests worn by demonstrators, began three
weeks ago” in response to the increase in gasoline tax, “but have grown
into a fierce fight against declining living standards.” Now, “authorities
are accusing extreme political groups of hijacking these protests,” which
have become “violent.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=046-19a&t=c>
(12/2, story 6, 1:40, Llamas) reported police have used water cannons and
tear gas to try to control the “rioters.” Thus far, more than 100 people
have been injured and more than 400 have been arrested. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=047-02b&t=c>
(12/2, Lough, De Clercq) says the “violence in Paris was the worst in the
elegant center of the capital since the May 1968 student uprising that
brought France to its knees,” and it “now poses a serious challenge to
Macron’s presidency.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=048-6bc&t=c>
(12/2, Corbet) reports that just hours after he returned to Paris, “Macron
held an emergency meeting at the Elysee presidential palace while crews
worked to remove charred cars, broken glass and graffiti from the famed
Champs-Elysees Avenue and other top Paris sites.” During the talks, Macron
“asked his interior minister to consider making ‘adaptations’ to security
procedures to try to contain ongoing protests sparked by rising fuel taxes,
Macron’s office said in a statement.” He also “asked Prime Minister Edouard
Philippe to meet with the heads of France’s major political parties and
representatives from the grassroots movement behind the protests.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=049-4c7&t=c>
(12/2, Rubin) reports French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner “said on
Sunday that he would not rule out the president’s declaring a state of
emergency, but by day’s end that appeared less likely, at least for the
time being.” Even though the French government “has made no sign of
reversing course on the gas tax increase that precipitated the most recent
protests or of reducing other taxes, some of the Yellow Vests indicated
that they were ready to negotiate.” According to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=04a-aea&t=c>
(12/2, Corbet), “Plans for an earlier meeting between the prime minister
and representatives of the movement collapsed last week after a request to
broadcast the talks live was rejected.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=04b-e05&t=c>
(12/2, Dalton) says the outburst of violence caught French authorities off
guard and raises the stakes for Macron as he attempts to push through
pro-business economic overhauls. While Macron’s party has firm control of
the nation’s legislature, some members have recommended reversing the fuel
tax to restore public order.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=04c-a85&t=c>
(12/2, Nossiter) says in an analysis that the “Yellow Vest” protests
“present an extraordinary venting of rage and resentment by ordinary
working people, aimed at the mounting inequalities that have eroded their
lives.” While the “unrest began in response to rising gas taxes,”
protesters are ridiculing Macron “as a president of the rich and say[ing]
he is trying to balance his budgets on their backs as he remains deaf to
their concerns.”

Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=04d-6c4&t=c>
(12/2) columnist Anne Applebaum says that “the members of this new social
movement, if it can correctly be described as a movement, did not meet in
real-life institutions. Instead, they found one another on the Internet,
through social media and online petitions that can create new groups and
identities from one day to the next.” To Applebaum, “Rather than an
ideology or a clear philosophy, the gilets jaunes seem to share a set of
attitudes, as well as what might be described as an aesthetic.” Applebaum
says “these spontaneous new anti-politics movements” are a “new reality” in
France and elsewhere. She stresses, “If presidents, parliaments, existing
parties and existing institutions can find ways to listen to them, to
incorporate them and change with them, then democracy will survive in the
21st century. If they don’t, it might not.”
Domestic Policy
Nadler: Cohen Admission May Indicate Russian “Leverage” Over Trump.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=04e-ec2&t=c>
(12/2, Sonmez, Cunningham) reports that Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who is
set to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that
Michael Cohen’s admission that he lied to Congress “about a Trump
Organization real estate project in Moscow suggests the Russian government
may have damaging information” about President Trump. Nadler said on NBC’s
Meet The Press, “There certainly was leverage during the campaign period
and until recently because they knew he was lying, they knew he had major
business dealings or that Cohen on his behalf had major business dealings.” USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=04f-c33&t=c>
(12/2, McCoy) outlines Cohen’s “allegations” about the President.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said on CNN’s State Of The Union[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=050-fdb&t=c>
(12/2), “We know that now that then-candidate Donald Trump was still trying
to do business with Russia in the summer of 2016. We know as well that his
son and son-in-law had been meeting with Russians to get potential dirt on
Hillary Clinton. We know that his campaign aides knew about the emails that
had been stolen by the Russians. And we knew that his campaign chairman,
Paul Manafort, was trying to offer to brief the Russians. ... What I find
with the revelation of Cohen’s plea, he is saying he lied to protect
then-candidate’s Trump’s stories that he had nothing to do with Russia. The
President seems to be changing his story already, saying it’s all legal.
Lawyers will make those determinations.”

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) discussed the deals on NBC’s Meet The
Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=051-bfb&t=c>
(12/2). He said, “The President is an international businessman. I’m not
surprised he was doing international business. Cohen is in trouble for
lying to Congress, not anything related to the campaign or Russian
influence, but we have a Mueller investigation going on. We need to come to
completion on that. And it should be done quickly.”

Julie Pace of the AP said on CNN’s Inside Politics[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=052-420&t=c>
(12/2), “If there were contacts between Trump officials, campaign officials
or Trump Org officials, and Russia during the course of the campaign but
there was nothing nefarious going on, why do people continue to lie about
it? That is the great unanswered question. Is it because Trump has a
culture around him where people choose to lie? It could well be that. Or
are they trying to hide something? We don’t know.”

Norman Eisen of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington and attorney Barry Berke write in a USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=053-216&t=c>
(12/2) op-ed, “One aspect of Michael Cohen’s blockbuster plea deal hasn’t
received as much attention as it deserves. It is the possibility that the
Trump Organization and others, perhaps even including the president
himself, might have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). ...
Under the FCPA, there does not have to be a transfer, or even a formal
offer, of something of value. It is sufficient if there is an attempt to
corruptly influence a government decision by holding out the promise of
something of value, or even just the possibility it might be available.”

Charles Blow asks in his New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=054-318&t=c>
(12/2) column, “What happens if the evidence that the
investigation...uncovers reveals a direct link between Trump and the
Russians? How do Trump’s boosters respond? ... How would Americans who
support Trump now respond to evidence that Team Trump put their own
personal and financial interests over the national interest?” Blow writes
that he does not “think that Trump would ever voluntarily leave office as
Nixon did. ... I don’t believe that Trump’s supporters would reverse course
in the same way that Nixon’s did. ... I don’t believe Trump will go down
without bringing the country down with him.”

*Schiff: Stone May Have Lied To Congress. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=055-4bf&t=c>
(12/2, Balsamo) reports that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is set to become
chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, “said Sunday that the
testimony of former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone should be provided
to special counsel Robert Mueller ‘for consideration of whether perjury
charges are warranted.’” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=056-e0c&t=c>
(12/2, Forgey) reports that Schiff also that Cohen’s “most recent plea deal
indicates to him that special counsel Robert Mueller wanted to ‘lock in’
[President Trump’s] longtime personal attorney as a key witness in his
probe.” Schiff said on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=057-04d&t=c>
(12/2), “It’s not going to materially affect his sentence. It has the
benefit of making sure nothing changes down the road, that there’s no
pardon that causes this witness to go south. I think the likelihood of that
was remote. But nonetheless, you don’t like to take chances as a
prosecutor.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=058-305&t=c>
(12/2, Wise) and Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=059-c05&t=c>
(12/2, Atkinson) also cover Schiff’s comments.

On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=05a-6ae&t=c>
(12/2, story 4, 2:35, Llamas), David Wright reported that Stone insisted
Sunday that “he won’t betray President Trump, no matter how much pressure
the Special Counsel brings to bear.” When asked on ABC’s This Week[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=05b-7f8&t=c>
(12/2) if he expects to be indicted, Stone said, “None of that is true, of
course. There’s no evidence to support that supposition. It’s now two years
in, $30 million. I think few Americans could withstand the kind of legal
proctological examination that Mr. Mueller has put me under.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=05c-385&t=c>
(12/2, Samuels) covers Stone’s remarks.

*SCOTUS Case This Week Could Have Future Impact On Manafort.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=05d-9a4&t=c>
(12/2, Barnes) reports that the Supreme Court will this week take up “the
case of a small-time Alabama felon, Terance Gamble, who complains that his
convictions by state and federal prosecutors for the same gun possession
crime violate constitutional protections against double jeopardy. ... The
outcome in the case could affect nascent plans by states to prosecute”
Manafort under state tax evasion laws “should Trump pardon Manafort on his
federal convictions.”

*Steyer Again Calls For Impeachment To Bring Trump “To
Justice.” *Billionaire
philanthropist and possible Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer
said on MSNBC’s Politics Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=05e-4dc&t=c>
(12/2), “I do believe that the Congress of the United States can walk and
chew gum at the same time, that they can both impeach this criminal
President and put forward a vision of what America can be. But I think we
have to accept that whatever the House of Representatives does, the idea
that we’re going to have progressive legislation get through this
Republican-dominated Senate and this Republican White House is extremely
unlikely. The action they can take that will change things is to impeach
this lawless President and bring him to justice.”

*Dershowitz: Trump’s Lawyers Should Draft Their Own Report. *Alan
Dershowitz argues in a Wall Street Journal
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(12/2) op-ed that the President’s legal team should draft its own report in
response to the report that Mueller’s team will submit, writing that since
the Mueller document will be prosecutorial, it will be one-sided, and that
Trump’s own lawyers should have a chance to respond.
Comey Makes Deal To Testify Privately Before House Judiciary Committee.

The AP
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(12/2, Tucker, Balsamo) reports, “Former FBI Director James Comey has
reached a deal to testify privately to the House Judiciary Committee,
backing off his legal fight for an open hearing, his attorney said Sunday.” USA
Today
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(12/2, Cummings) reports that Comey attorney David Kelley “had contested a
House subpoena ordering Comey to testify in court on Friday,” telling US
District Judge Trevor McFadden that it “was the equivalent of ‘dragging
[Comey] into a dark alley.’ ... McFadden had deferred a decision until
Monday. But Comey reached a deal with House Republicans to be questioned on
Friday that promises a transcript of the interview will be released within
24 hours, and which permits Comey to speak publicly about what transpires.”

The New York Times
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(12/2, Garcia) reports that in a statement, House Judiciary Chairman Bob
Goodlatte said, “There was no need to use baseless litigation in an attempt
to run out the clock on this Congress, and I am glad that it was withdrawn.
Mr. Comey will join us for a closed-door transcribed interview later this
week. We will release the transcript of his interview to the public as soon
as possible after the interview, in the name of our combined desire for
transparency.” Earlier on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
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(12/2), Goodlatte said, “I expect that later today, Mr. Comey, will
withdraw his motion to quash our subpoena and agree to voluntarily appear
for a transcribed interview, and that of course remains to be seen, hasn’t
happened yet, but the counsel for the House and counsel for Mr. Comey have
been working cooperatively and I expect that’ll happen.”

The Daily Caller
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(12/2) reports that Comey tweeted
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Sunday “that he was ‘grateful for a fair hearing from judge.’ He said that
he will testify ‘in the dark’ but that Republicans had agreed he is ‘free
to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours.’” Politico
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(12/2, Cheney) says Comey “has abandoned his legal fight” against the
subpoena. Reuters
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(12/2, Lynch), Bloomberg News
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(12/2), the Wall Street Journal
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(12/2, Tau), the Washington Times
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(12/2, Swoyer) and The Hill
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(12/2, Keller) also report.
Trump Says “Terrific Guy” Bush “Will Be Missed.”

The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(12/2, story 3, 1:40, Glor) reported, “President Trump has offered kind
words for former President Bush, in sharp contrast to some past comments
about the Bush family.” Trump: “He was a terrific guy, will be missed.”
CBS’ Weijia Jiang: “President Trump this weekend praised [Bush] and ordered
the US flag outside the White House be lowered for 30 days, putting aside
the contentious relationship between him and the Bush family. In July, the
President mocked Mr. Bush’s famous phrase ‘thousand points of light’ that
celebrated American progress.” Trump: “‘Thousand points of light,’ what did
that mean?” Jiang: “And he frequently attacked political rival Jeb Bush
during the 2016 campaign.” Trump: “Poor Jeb Bush, this poor guy with this
low energy.” Jiang: “But Mr. Trump says he spoke with both Jeb and former
President George W. Bush after their father’s passing.” Trump: “We
discussed actually for quite some time the father and how much they loved
him and how much that he loved them.” Jiang: “President Trump plans to
attend President Bush’s state funeral at the National Cathedral on
Wednesday, after his body is transported from Houston to Washington
tomorrow.” Trump: “We will be sending Air Force One, which is a special
tribute that he deserves very much, and it is my honor.”

Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post
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(12/2) writes that the many tributes for Bush are “exposing the pitfalls
ahead this week for the Oval Office’s current resident. ... Trump seemed
aware of the perils of being compared to a beloved predecessor. The brash,
outsider president has often sparred with the Bush family.” Bush “preached
compromise, modesty and respect, if not reverence, for Washington’s
institutions and even its somewhat arcane policymaking processes. ...
Trump’s time in office, by contrast, has been defined by a war on virtually
all of the norms and institutions that Bush held dear, especially the CIA.”

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said on CNN’s Inside
Politics[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120301biden&r=email-ee67&l=06e-c53&t=c>
(12/2), “Donald Trump is going to be having to take backstage when he is at
the funeral. ... The family doesn’t like President Trump very much. After
all, he pummeled Jeb Bush when he ran against him and Barbara Bush, at her
own funeral, didn’t want Donald Trump there. However, Bush 41 has done the
right thing. The President of the United States should be invited. He will
be there. A lot of people are going to be watching how Donald Trump acts,
behaves while he’s there.”

Remembrances of the 41st president continued, leading all three
broadcast network newscasts. ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
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(12/2, lead story, 3:45, Llamas) reported that Bush is being “remembered
for his sense of decency, and kindness to others.” ABC’s Amy Robach:
“Tributes [are] pouring in. ... His final words: an exchange with his son
‘Bush 43’ on a speakerphone, telling his father he loved him. His father
responding, ‘I love you, too.’” On the CBS Weekend News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
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(12/2, lead story, 3:30, Glor), Bianna Golodryga reported, “One day after
the passing of the nation’s 41st president, flags flew at half-staff, from
Sacramento, California to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Kennebunkport where
Mr. Bush spent his summers. ... Today, lawmakers of all political
persuasions remembered Mr. Bush as a devoted career public servant, a
decent man who put th