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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, April 11, 2018 8:00 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, April 11, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=001-942&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, April 11, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Trump Blasts Mueller “Witch Hunt,” Says “Attorney-Client Privilege Is
Dead.” <#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Cancels Trip To Latin America To Focus On Syria. <#S2>

• Xi Vows To Lower Chinese Tariffs, Offers Other Trade Concessions. <#S3>

• US Condemns Cuba For Keeping Dissidents From Regional Summit. <#S4>

• Senate Committee Reaches Compromise On New War Resolution Vote. <#S5>

• WPost: Proposed Trump Summit Highlights Limits Of Kim’s Flying Habits.
<#S6>

• NYTimes: Russia’s Influence Campaign In Balkans Draws Attention From US,
EU. <#S7>

• Ex-Russian Spy, Daughter Recovering After Poisoning In UK. <#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Zuckerberg Apologizes To Facebook Users, Says Company Cooperating With
Mueller. <#S9>

• White House Homeland Security Adviser Bossert Resigns At Bolton’s Request.
<#S10>

• Two Democratic Senators Call For Investigation Of 24/7 Security For
Pruitt. <#S11>

• Gradual Deployment Of National Guard To Mexican Border Begins. <#S12>

• Trump Signs Order Encouraging Work Requirements For Safety Net Programs.
<#S13>

• Reuters: Administration To Delay Biofuel Reforms. <#S14>

• Fed Proposes Rule Change For Big Banks. <#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• NCI Researchers Trying To Find Better Models For Human Cancer. <#S16>

• Genmab Plans To Own Bigger Share Of Drugs In Pipeline. <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• Speaking At Vanderbilt University, Biden Decries Partisanship. <#S20>

• Brad Bannon: Biden’s “Biggest Challenge” In 2020 Would Be “Millennial
Mobilization.” <#S21>

• Rutgers University Official: Biden Declined Invitation To Give
Commencement Address. <#S22>

• University Of Miami Student Discusses Biden Appearance At “It’s On Us”
Rally. <#S23>
Leading the News
Trump Blasts Mueller “Witch Hunt,” Says “Attorney-Client Privilege Is Dead.”

President Trump yesterday blasted Special Counsel Robert Mueller over the
raid of the offices of Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, and the White
House pointedly did not rule out firing Mueller. As reported in yesterday’s
Frontrunner, Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=002-9d5&t=c>
on Tuesday morning, “Attorney – client privilege is dead!” and said in a
second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=003-f33&t=c>,
“A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=004-e9e&t=c>
(4/10, Restuccia, Cook) reports that an unnamed “GOP operative close to the
White House” said, “The all caps tweet, that’s the primal scream. That’s
the war cry. ... He’s losing his s[**t] ... We’re at a different level
now.” Mainstream media reports and analyses – including nearly 14 minutes
of combined reporting on the major network newscasts – were overwhelmingly
unsympathetic to Trump’s complaints.

[image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=005-bce&t=c>
(4/10, lead story, 3:45, Karl) reported “Trump is now openly musing about
what once seemed unthinkable, firing...Mueller.” Trump was shown saying,
“Why don’t I just fire Mueller? Well, I think it’s a disgrace, what’s going
on. We’ll see what happens, but I think it’s really a sad situation when
you look at what happened, and many people have said ‘you should fire
him.’” ABC, as well as the other two major network newscasts, also showed
footage of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying Trump
“certainly believes he has the power to” fire Mueller. However, added ABC,
“there’s real doubt about” whether Trump has that authority, as DOJ
“regulations say the special counsel, quote, ‘can be removed from office
only by the personal action of the Attorney General,’” and “since Jeff
Sessions recused himself, the acting attorney general in this case is his
deputy, Rod Rosenstein. So, it’s unclear what exactly the President can
do.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=006-81b&t=c>
(4/10, Lima, Gerstein) notes, at any rate, that “after saying for months
that Trump was not considering firing Mueller, Sanders did not rule out a
dismissal,” and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=007-cbd&t=c>
(4/10, Fabian) further indicates that “when Sanders was asked by reporters
on Tuesday whether Trump has spoken to people about firing Mueller, Sanders
said that while she can confirm she hasn’t spoken with the president about
that topic, ‘I can’t speak beyond that.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=008-a22&t=c>
(4/10, Savage) calls Sanders response “provocative” and “surprising because
the general understanding has been that Mr. Trump himself cannot directly
fire Mr. Mueller” and that “he would instead have to
order...Rosenstein...to do so.” Rosenstein, meanwhile, “has repeatedly said
that he will refuse any order to fire Mr. Mueller unless he decides the
special counsel committed misconduct.” Don Lemon said on [image: Image
removed by sender. Video]CNN Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=009-b6a&t=c>
(4/10) that unnamed “sources” tell CNN that Trump “is now considering
firing...Rosenstein,” a development that “could put Trump in ‘Saturday
night massacre’ territory.” Officials, however, “say even that may not be
enough for a furious President.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=00a-029&t=c>
(4/10, Woodward, Tucker), meanwhile, reports that “although Trump focused
his fury on the Mueller probe, Monday’s raid was overseen by the US
Attorney’s office in Manhattan, not the special counsel,” even though
“Cohen’s lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said the raid was based in part on a
referral from Mueller.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=00b-fdd&t=c>
(4/9, Voreacos, Pettypiece, Larson, Sink) notes that “the referral to the
US attorney in the Southern District of New York was approved
by...Rosenstein, according to a person familiar with the situation.” To the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=00c-5c0&t=c>
(4/10, Shear, Apuzzo, Schmidt, Lafraniere, Haberman), “the involvement of
Mr. Rosenstein and top prosecutors in New York...makes it harder for Mr.
Trump to argue that his legal problems are the result of a witch hunt led
by Mr. Mueller.” The Times adds that “in addition to Mr. Rosenstein, all of
the top law enforcement officials involved in the raid are Republicans: Mr.
Mueller, Christopher A. Wray, the FBI Director, and Geoffrey Berman, the
interim United States attorney in New York.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=00d-869&t=c>
(4/10, Mordock) indicates, however, that “Berman...has recused himself from
the Cohen investigation.” Berman, “a Trump appointee, donated $5,400 to the
president’s 2016 campaign,” and “volunteered for Mr. Trump’s New Jersey
campaign operation.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=00e-86b&t=c>
(4/10, Johnson) says Berman “was recused from the investigation before FBI
agents raided...Cohen’s offices and home, a person familiar with the matter
said Tuesday.” He “was recused by Justice Department officials
under...Rosenstein, said the source, who was not authorized to comment
publicly.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=00f-7e0&t=c>
(4/9, Shear) noted that on Monday night, Trump assailed the “raids as a
‘disgraceful situation’ and an ‘attack on our country in a true sense.’”
Under the headline “The Law Is Coming, Mr. Trump,” the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=010-451&t=c>
(4/10) editorializes, “No, Mr. Trump – a true attack on America is what
happened on, say, Sept. 11, 2001. Remember that one? Thousands of people
lost their lives. Your response was to point out that the fall of the twin
towers meant your building was now the tallest in downtown Manhattan. Of
course, that also wasn’t true.” In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=011-b4b&t=c>
(4/10) notes Trump’s tweets, and offers its draft of “what a presidential
president, and one with nothing to hide, might have said: ... I have
confidence that the Justice Department will follow its carefully designed
rules to protect attorney-client communications. ... Under extreme
political pressure, our justice system has worked honorably, and I trust
that it will continue to do so, which is why I have assured the Justice
Department that Mr. Mueller and all other prosecutors can continue their
investigations for as long as they need with no interference, pressure or
carping from me.”

[image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=012-706&t=c>
(4/10, lead story, 3:45, Karl) reported “Republican leaders in Congress
have a blunt message for the President: do not fire the special counsel.”
Senate Majority Leader McConnell was shown saying, “He shouldn’t be removed
from the office. He should be allowed to finish the job.” Sen. John Kennedy
likewise said, “I think the President’s too smart to fire Mr. Mueller. If
he did, it wouldn’t end the investigation.” The [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=013-4cc&t=c>
(4/10, story 3, 2:30, Reid) also said “renewed talks of firing the special
counsel elicited concerned pleas from Senate Republicans.” Sen. Chuck
Grassley was shown saying, “It would be suicide for the President to talk
about firing Mueller. The less the President said on this whole thing, the
better off he would be.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=014-327&t=c>
(4/10, House) notes Sen. John Cornyn said, “I don’t think the president’s
going to fire him. That would be a big mistake.” Cornyn “declined to say
how Congress would react to a Mueller firing or whether that might trigger
impeachment proceedings against Trump,” saying, “I don’t think he or I or
anybody could predict what the consequences might be. So I think, just let
Mr. Mueller do his job.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=015-3d6&t=c>
(4/10, Dinan) reports “Democrats warned Tuesday of a ‘constitutional
crisis’ if...Trump were to fire...Mueller, and demanded Congress move
quickly to approve legislation that would take the decision out of the
president’s hands.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=016-aba&t=c>
(4/10, Jackson, Collins) says, however, that Republicans “said that would
be unnecessary because they do not think Trump would seek Mueller’s removal
– and some warned that such a move might endanger his presidency.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=017-79a&t=c>
(4/10, Fandos) reports “leading” Republicans “used some of the harshest
language yet on Tuesday to warn...Trump,” but “they again stopped short of
endorsing legislation to preemptively protect the special counsel,” and the New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=018-f13&t=c>
(4/10, Moore) quotes McConnell as saying, “I haven’t seen clear indication
yet that we needed to pass something to keep him from being removed because
I don’t think that’s going to happen. ... I don’t think he’s going to be
removed from the office.”

CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=019-667&t=c>
(4/10, Bennett) reports “Democratic lawmakers see a ‘desperate’...Trump
lashing out at...Mueller III,” but “Republicans are split, with some
defending a frustrated president and others warning him to calm down,” and
the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=01a-18a&t=c>
(4/10, Sullivan) that “there were no immediate indications that
congressional Republican leaders were gearing up to take legislative action
to protect Mueller.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=01b-f0c&t=c>
(4/10, Everett, Schor, Cheney), on the other hand, says “Republicans
lawmakers are desperately trying to keep Mueller’s probe into Trump on
track,” and that “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is pressing for the Senate
Judiciary Committee to take up his legislation aimed at insulating Mueller
from any attempt to fire him.” Tillis “is in discussions with Sens. Chris
Coons (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) about merging
two separate Mueller protection bills and then persuading Judiciary
Chairman Chuck Grassley to pass them.”

Mara Liasson of NPR said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]Fox
News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=01c-6ec&t=c>
(4/10), “This is an investigation that’s getting awfully close to the
President. I thought what was really interesting...is you had some polite
push back from Republicans. You had...McConnell saying the investigation
should go forward. You had...Cornyn saying that Mueller’s report should
definitely be given to Congress, which is not required. You also had Chuck
Grassley saying it would be suicide to talk about firing Mueller. And this
comes after people who are talking to the President outside advisers are
saying that he is as mad as he has ever been and the idea of firing Jeff
Sessions is very, very live.”

Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon said on [image:
Image removed by sender. Video]Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=01d-3c7&t=c>
(4/10), “It’s important to ask how...Trump found himself in this situation
to begin with and that was by firing James Comey. And after Comey’s firing,
Comey leaked the memos which then led to the appointment of the special
prosecutor. So now if...Trump thinks can he fix this situation by firing
the special prosecutor, it doesn’t make much sense. The first firing led to
only more problems for him.”

*In Tweets Today, Trump Decries “Fake News” About “Calm” White
House, Slams Raid. *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=01e-7cc&t=c>
this morning, “So much Fake News about what is going on in the White House.
Very calm and calculated with a big focus on open and fair trade with
China, the coming North Korea meeting and, of course, the vicious gas
attack in Syria. Feels great to have Bolton & Larry K on board. I (we)
are [continuing
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=01f-059&t=c>]....doing
things that nobody thought possible, despite the never ending and corrupt
Russia Investigation, which takes tremendous time and focus. No Collusion
or Obstruction (other than I fight back), so now they do the Unthinkable,
and RAID a lawyers office for information! BAD!” Trump also tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=020-d05&t=c>
this morning, “The Failing New York Times wrote another phony story. It was
political pundit Doug Schoen, not a Ukrainian businessman, who asked me to
do a short speech by phone (Skype), hosted by Doug, in Ukraine. I was very
positive about Ukraine-another negative to the Fake Russia C story!”

*Sources: Mueller Seeking Information About Payments To Stormy
Daniels, Playboy Model. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=021-765&t=c>
(4/10, Shear, Apuzzo, Schmidt, Lafraniere, Haberman) reports, “The FBI
agents who raided the office of...Trump’s personal lawyer...were looking
for records about payments to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr.
Trump, and information related to the publisher of The National Enquirer’s
role in silencing one of the women, several people briefed on the
investigation said.” The search warrant “seeks information about Karen
McDougal, an ex-Playboy model who claims she carried on a nearly yearlong
affair with Mr. Trump shortly after the birth of his son in 2006. Ms.
McDougal was paid $150,000 by American Media Inc., the Enquirer’s parent
company, whose chief executive is a friend of Mr. Trump’s.” They “were also
searching...Cohen’s office for information related to Stephanie Clifford,
better known as Stormy Daniels, who says she also had sex with Mr. Trump
while he was married.”

[image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=022-f70&t=c>
(4/10, story 2, 4:30, Phillips) also reported that “a source who saw the
search warrant” is “telling ABC News Cohen is being investigated for
possible bank and wire fraud, after that $130,000 payment to...Daniels,” as
“critics argue Cohen might have also broken campaign finance law, that the
$130,000 was in essence a campaign contribution aimed at helping Trump win,
a contribution never disclosed.” [image: Image removed by sender. Video]NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=023-c05&t=c>
(4/10, story 2, 3:00, Welker) said “multiple sources tell NBC News Stormy
Daniels is cooperating with federal investigators.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=024-2bf&t=c>
(4/10, Wagner, Barrett) cites “three people with knowledge of the case” who
also say Cohen “is under federal investigation over possible bank fraud,
wire fraud and campaign-finance violations,” while another Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=025-a56&t=c>
(4/10, Barrett, Zapotosky, Parker) piece cites “a person familiar with the
matter” who said “the interest in both Daniels and McDougal indicates that
federal investigators are trying to determine whether there was a broader
pattern or strategy among Trump associates to buy the silence of women
whose accounts could harm the president’s electoral chances and whether any
crimes were committed in doing so.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=026-c26&t=c>
(4/10), meanwhile, cites a “source” who “said investigators were looking
into whether there was a broader pattern of tax fraud, wire fraud, tax
evasion, money laundering and other crimes in Cohen’s private dealings,
including his work for Trump and some real estate transactions that
involved Russian buyers and prices that appeared to be well above market
values.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=027-ca9&t=c>
(4/10, Morrongiello) reports “a former senior intelligence official said
the search warrant for the raid was extremely broad, allowing agents to
also confiscate bank records, emails, and other documents related to
various financial transactions,” and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=028-457&t=c>
(4/9, Kranish) says “a looming question” in the investigation “is whether
Cohen went too far in seeking to solve Trump’s problems.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=029-2e8&t=c>
(4/10, McIntire, Rutenberg, Haberman) reports “the investigation poses a
legal threat to Mr. Cohen – and possibly his client,” because “few people
closer to Mr. Trump have more knowledge of what the president has been
involved with over the years.” Hank Sheinkopf, “a veteran New York
political strategist who knows both men,” tells the Times, “Michael Cohen
would lay his life down for Donald Trump. ... He is the ultimate Trump
loyalist.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=02a-be6&t=c>
(4/10, Tucker, Day) also says it “has confirmed that agents...seized
records related to a $130,000 payment made to Daniels,” and the Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=02b-5c0&t=c>
(4/10, Rothfeld, Palazzolo, Maremont) reports, meanwhile, that federal
prosecutors have also asked the Trump Organization for documents regarding
Daniels.

Sean Hannity said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]Fox
News’ Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=02c-c3a&t=c>
(4/10) last night, “Does anyone actually believe that a porn star and a
former Playboy playmate, that they are going to shed any light on potential
collusion with Russia? The answer is of course not.” Mueller “is now
officially gone rogue and declared war against the President.”

*Rand Paul: “What Does This Have To Do With Russia?” *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=02d-793&t=c>
(4/10, Ernst) reports “Sen. Rand Paul says all Americans should be worried
about civil liberties in the wake of the FBI’s raid on...Trump’s attorney.”
Paul “told a Fox News’ Bill Hemmer that the FBI’s legal tendrils have
wandered far from their original target – the truth about possible
collusion between Russian state actors and Mr. Trump’s presidential
campaign.” said Paul, “The first question we ought to ask is what does this
have to do with Russia. ... Going after someone’s personal attorney is a
great overstep, I think, in the authority of the prosecutor.” The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=02e-ec6&t=c>
(4/10, Givas) notes Paul added, “This is why I have opposed really having
special prosecutors for almost anything. ... I think they abuse their
authority. I think Mueller has abused his authority. They say. well he
asked somebody else, another US Attorney to do it. Yes but this is coming
at the behest of Mueller.”

*Cohen Claim He Paid Off Daniels Without Notifying Trump May Have
Voided Privilege. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=02f-736&t=c>
(4/10, Wagner, Barrett) reports that “Cohen has said that he arranged the
$130,000 payment to Daniels and that Trump was unaware of it,” and Trump
recently “said he did not know of the payment.” As a result, “legal
experts” say that “because both the lawyer and the client insisted that
Trump had no idea that Cohen had made the payment, they cannot assert that
those activities were protected by attorney-client privilege.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=030-4b8&t=c>
(4/10, Wolfe), meanwhile, reports that “crucially, attorney-client
privilege also does not apply to communications by a lawyer in furtherance
of a crime or fraud,” and the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=031-dab&t=c>
(4/10, Sherman, Gurman) that “federal agents were treading on sensitive,
but not new, legal ground,” because “the privilege is not absolute.”
Randall D. Eliason similarly argues in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=032-62b&t=c>
(4/10) that “no legal privilege is absolute,” as “a rule designed to ensure
the fair operation of that system cannot be wielded to undermine it by
shielding criminal conduct.”

Don Lemon said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CNN’s
Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=033-13b&t=c>
(4/10) that in an exclusive interview, Cohen “wouldn’t go into detail about
the raid. His lawyers are steering him away from that. He did say in his
words the raids were upsetting. He says in contrast to what the President
said about the raid yesterday” that the FBI “were courteous and could not
have been nicer. He stressed the opposite of what the President did.” Lemon
added, “I think in the end he believes everything he did was legal and that
will be proven. Everything he did when it comes to Stormy Daniels, he
believes that part is legal. I said ‘are you worried about this’ and he
said ‘I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t worried about this.’”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=034-735&t=c>
(4/10, Savage) asks, “What does it mean that the FBI got a search warrant?
It means that a federal magistrate judge looked at the information
investigators had already gathered and agreed that Mr. Cohen probably
possessed additional evidence of a federal crime.” The Times adds that
“notably, investigators also could have used a grand jury subpoena to order
Mr. Cohen to turn over the materials they were pursuing, without seeking a
judge’s advance permission.”

*Rep. Jordan: Sessions, Rosenstein “Need To Be Held Accountable.” *The
Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=035-e0c&t=c>
(4/10, Datoc) reports that Rep. Jim Jordan “says...Sessions
and...Rosenstein should be ‘held accountable’ for the leadership they have
displayed at the Department of Justice, specifically as it relates
to...Mueller’s Russia investigation.” Jordan said in an interview, “I’ve
been extremely disappointed. ... They’re keeping critical facts from us,
like the conversation between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page where they talk
about the relationship Strzok has with one of the FISA court judges, the
same judge who by the way heard Michael Flynn’s case and recused himself
after Flynn pled guilty.”

*NYTimes: Trump Wanted To Fire Mueller In December. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=036-9d2&t=c>
(4/10, Haberman, Schmidt) reports, “In early December...Trump, furious over
news reports about a new round of subpoenas” from Mueller, “told advisers
in no uncertain terms that Mr. Mueller’s investigation had to be shut
down.” His “anger was fueled by reports that the subpoenas were for
obtaining information about his business dealings with Deutsche Bank,
according to interviews with eight White House officials, people close to
the president and others familiar with the episode.” The Times adds that
for “Trump, the subpoenas suggested that Mr. Mueller had expanded the
investigation in a way that crossed the “red line” he had set last year in
an interview with The New York Times.” However, “in the hours that followed
Mr. Trump’s initial anger...his lawyers and advisers worked quickly to
learn about the subpoenas, and ultimately were told by Mr. Mueller’s office
that the reports were not accurate, leading the president to back down.”

*Former DOJ Official’s Notes Appear To Collaborate Comey Testimony
On Trump Conversation. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=037-84c&t=c>
(4/10, Chaitin) reports, “The notes of a former top Justice Department
official discussing what ex-FBI Director James Comey told him about being
pressured by...Trump to lay off the Russia investigation were revealed in a
MSNBC report Tuesday evening.” According to the Examiner, Acting Deputy
Attorney General Dana Boente’s notes “were dated March 30, 2017, and would
appear to be the first hard evidence to corroborate Comey’s testimony that
he Trump had asked him to ‘lift the cloud’ put over his administration by
the Russia inquiry looking into his ties to Russia.” The Examiner adds that
“in the Boente’s handwritten notes obtained by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow,
Boente said, ‘cloud as a result of Russia business. This makes running the
country difficult,’ echoing the exact words Comey had told congressional
investigators.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=038-e86&t=c>
(4/10, Zapotosky) reports Boente “has been interviewed by the special
counsel’s office and turned over handwritten notes that could be a piece of
evidence in the ongoing investigation into whether President Trump
obstructed justice, according to people familiar with the matter.” Boente
was interviewed “some months ago” by Robert Mueller’s team “on a wide range
of topics, including his recollections of what former FBI director James B.
Comey told him about troubling interactions with Trump, one of the people
said.”

*Trump Meets With Dershowitz At White House. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=039-23b&t=c>
(4/10, Mayfield) reports, “Lawyer Alan Dershowitz spent time at the White
House on Tuesday after heavily criticizing the FBI’s decision to seize
documents from the office of Trump’s personal lawyer.” Dershowitz “debunked
speculation surrounding his meeting with the president during a Fox News
interview Tuesday night, saying the meeting was prearranged and regarded
the ongoing peace process in the Middle East.” Said the lawyer, “I was
scheduled to meet with staff members at the White House for a period of
time.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=03a-01f&t=c>
(4/10, Davis, Haberman) notes Dershowitz also told Fox’s Hannity, “This is
a very dangerous day today for lawyer-client relations. ... Shoe on the
other foot. If this were Hillary Clinton being investigated and they went
into her lawyer’s office, the A.C.L.U. would be on every television station
in America, jumping up and down.”

*Conway’s Husband Appears To Mock Trump On Twitter. *The New York
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=03b-837&t=c>
(4/10, Golding) reports, “The husband of White House Counselor Kellyanne
Conway on Tuesday mocked...Trump’s outrage over the FBI raids on the law
office and hotel suite of his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.” George
Conway lll retweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=03c-a44&t=c>
“an image of a Watergate-era headline – ‘Nixon Sees ‘Witch-Hunt,’ Insiders
Say’ – atop the bylines of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein, whose exposes helped topple the nation’s 37th president.”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=03d-90d&t=c>
(4/10, Mordock) says that “Conway, a conservative lawyer, embedded the
president’s message in his own tweet, adding a link to the Justice
Department’s website explaining why attorneys are not always protected by
privilege.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Cancels Trip To Latin America To Focus On Syria.

President Trump’s decision to cancel an upcoming trip to Latin American in
order to focus on the developments in Syria is garnering significant media
coverage, with reports suggesting that the move indicates he is close to
making a decision on how to respond to a suspected chemical weapons attack
over the weekend near Damascus. On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=03e-5d1&t=c>
(4/10, story 4, 2:10, Muir), for example, Martha Raddatz said “the
countdown” has begun “to possible US military action,” with Trump “making
clear a US military strike could happen any time.” David Martin likewise
said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=03f-65b&t=c>
(4/10, story 4, 2:05, Glor) that Trump “is getting closer to a decision on
how the US will respond,” and, “after meeting with senior military
leaders...canceled a weekend trip to South America to remain at the White
House as the US, Britain, and France draw up plans for high-stakes
airstrike against Syria.” McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=040-39d&t=c>
(4/10, Ordoñez, Wyss) quotes White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders as
saying, “The president will remain in the United States to oversee the
American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.”
McClatchy says the decision “heightens speculation that Trump will respond
in force against an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in Syria.”

Several media reports indicate that the Administration is
considering a more robust response. NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=041-fce&t=c>
(4/10, story 4, 1:45, Holt) said Trump is “consulting US allies, including
Britain and France and Israel, and weighing a multinational operation. US
officials tell NBC they expect a broader assault than a year ago when a
barrage of Tomahawk missiles damaged parts of a Syrian air base. Among the
options under consideration: an assault on the Assad regime or a wider
attack on regime targets in the region, including Iranian and Russian
military assets.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=042-2d8&t=c>
(4/10, Baker, Cooper, Gibbons-Neff) similarly says Trump and his advisers
“on Tuesday weighed a more robust retaliatory strike against Syria than
last year’s missile attack, reasoning that only an escalation of force
would look credible and possibly serve as a deterrent against further use
of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians.” Administration officials said
they expected any new strike “to be more expansive than last year’s, but
the question was how much more. Possible options included hitting more than
a single target and extending strikes beyond a single day.”

According to a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=043-e5a&t=c>
(4/10, A1, Nissenbaum, Gordon, Meichtry), Administration officials on
Tuesday worked to rally international support for a possible military
strike as the US and France positioned warships armed with cruise missiles
within firing range of Syria. French President Emmanuel Macron said strikes
could target the Syrian regime’s chemical-weapons storage facilities, and
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who spoke with Trump on Tuesday,
declined to say whether Britain would join in any military response. Bill
Neely reported on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=044-8f8&t=c>
(4/10, story 5, 1:00, Neely) that “Syrian soldiers [are] evacuating bases
before a possible military strike against Assad.”

Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=045-c65&t=c>
(4/10) reported Defense Secretary Mattis has “also canceled weekend plans
to travel to Nevada and San Francisco in order to be ready at a moment’s
notice to respond to the President’s call,” but according to the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=046-521&t=c>
(4/10, Wagner, Rucker, Gearan), Trump’s decision “took some aides by
surprise.” Shortly before the announcement, National Economic Council
director Larry Kudlow said Trump was able to “compartmentalize,” and added,
“I’ll be traveling with him with a group going to Latin America. ... I
don’t think it’s going to stop him.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=047-9fa&t=c>
(4/10, Sullivan, Davis) too says the decision “appeared to have taken even
some senior White House officials by surprise,” adding that Kudlow “was not
aware of the president’s new plans when he told a conservative radio host
on Tuesday morning that he would be traveling with Mr. Trump.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=048-f24&t=c>
(4/10, Rampton) says Trump’s decision to cancel the trip is “triggering a
mix of relief and criticism from a region he has repeatedly disparaged over
immigration, narcotics and trade.” His meetings with heads of state in the
region “had been expected to be tense because of his divisive rhetoric and
fraught relationships with leaders such as Mexican President Enrique Pena
Nieto.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=049-a5c&t=c>
(4/10, Jackson), however, reports Vice President Pence will attend the
Summit of Americas meeting in Peru instead, and the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=04a-075&t=c>
(4/10, Burns, Miller, Lee) notes that the decision “marks the first time an
American president has not attended the summit.”

*In Tweet Today, Trump Mocks Russian Threat To Down Missiles, Says
To “Get Ready.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=04b-03f&t=c>
this morning, “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at
Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and
‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his
people and enjoys it!”

*WPost: Possible US Strike Unlikely To Advance Wider US Goals.
*A Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=04c-7ee&t=c>
(4/10, Deyoung, Ryan) analysis says that deliberations over how and when to
respond to the latest apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria have
“overshadowed a deeper internal debate over the Trump administration’s
overall goals there, and whether a US military strike would add to or
subtract from their potential for success.” According to the Post, “some
officials and experts on the region believe that a purely punitive American
airstrike on Syrian military targets, similar to one launched by President
Trump a year ago this month, would risk a broader confrontation with Russia
and Iran while having little to no effect on stated US objectives in Syria
itself.” Others, however, argue that punishing Syria for the use of
chemical weapons against its own people “is reason enough, and would send a
valuable message to Assad, as well as to his partners in Moscow and Tehran,
that they must de-escalate the destructive civil war.”

*Experts Says Trump Isn’t Ruining “Element Of Surprise” With
Threats. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=04d-4fa&t=c>
(4/10, Michaels) reports that candidate Donald Trump “complained the Obama
administration talked too much about when and where it would attack the
Islamic State in Iraq, ruining the element of surprise. Yet Trump signaled
to Syrian President Bashar Assad that he is considering an attack on
Assad’s forces in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack.” Military
experts say that while may be “contradicting himself,” neither Trump nor
Obama is “guilty of violating the military principle of surprise.” Michael
O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution said, “For this particular strike,
(secrecy) doesn’t matter that much.” Max Fisher, meanwhile, writes in a New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=04e-b5f&t=c>
(4/10) analysis that while “punitive airstrikes against the Syrian
government are the most discussed option,” there are two other categories
of options available to the Administration. One category would be “actions
that make the war costlier for Mr. Assad – arming anti-government rebels,
for instance – so as to pressure the Syrian leader into complying with
American demands.” The other option category “would be attacks that go
beyond what the Russians and Iranians can match, which is likely to mean
either a full intervention or strikes that existentially threaten the
Syrian government.”

*Haley At UN: “Russia Chose Protecting A Monster.” *ABC World News
Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=04f-780&t=c>
(4/10, story 4, 2:10, Muir) reported that “at the UN, Ambassador Nikki
Haley’s warm greeting to her Russian counterpart turned cold, after Russia
vetoed a resolution to conduct an international investigation into the
attacks.” Haley was shown saying, “Russia chose protecting a monster over
the lives of the Syrian people.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=050-7a0&t=c>
(4/10) reports the US and Russia “tangled” at the UN over the use of
chemical weapons in Syria, and “halted attempts by each other in the UN
Security Council to set up international investigations” into the attacks.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia “said Washington’s decision to put
forward its resolution could be a prelude to a Western strike on Syria.”

*Russian Jamming US Drones Over Syria. *NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=051-a52&t=c>
(4/10, story 4, 1:45, Holt) reported it has “learned that the Russian
military supporting Bashar Al-Assad has been jamming the US military drones
flying over Syria, seriously affecting US military operations, according to
four US officials.” On its website, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=052-a54&t=c>
(4/10, Kube) reports the Russians “began jamming some smaller US drones
several weeks ago, the officials said, after a series of suspected chemical
weapons attacks on civilians in rebel-held eastern Ghouta.”

*Analysts Warn Of Threat Of War With Russia. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=053-93f&t=c>
(4/10, Troianovski) reports that “in the Kremlin’s telling, this is a
country under siege. The United States is considering strikes on Russian
ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, prompting ominous speculation among people
close to the Kremlin that such a move could touch off a wider conflict.” At
the same time, US sanctions “wiped billions of dollars off Russian stock
market values this week, prompting fears the country’s already stagnant
economy could be thrown back into recession.” The question now, says the
Post, is “how Russia responds — both to the sanctions and to any US strike
in Syria.”

*Medical Workers: Evidence Points To Use Of Nerve Gas In Attack. *The
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=054-d9a&t=c>
(4/10, Sly) reports that “exactly what happened on the night of April 7 may
never be established with certainty,” but “medical workers claim a large
number of people suffering unusual symptoms visited hospitals, and some of
them died.” Later that evening, a “grisly video emerged showing a mangled
pile of at least 30 bodies strewn on the lower floor of an apartment
building, bearing no sign of physical injury but many of them with foam
around their mouths,” which is consistent with the use of nerve gas. The
Post cautions that “with Russia and Syria having strenuously denied from
the outset that any kind of chemical attack occurred, and with Russian
troops now deployed in Douma, it is unclear how much of an independent
forensic investigation into the cause of the deaths will be possible.”

*Crown Prince: Saudis Could Take Part In Military Response In
Syria. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=055-690&t=c>
(4/10, Irish) reports Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday
said his country “could take part in military action in Syria after a
suspected chemical attack” over the weekend. Speaking at news conference in
Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Crown Prince said, “If our
alliance with our partners requires it, we will be present.”

*Emir Of Qatar: Trump Agrees Syrians’ Suffering Must “Stop
Immediately.” *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=056-923&t=c>
(4/10, Boyer) reports Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in
a meeting with President Trump on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar
Assad is a “war criminal” who must be stopped from killing more of his own
people. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside the President,
Al Thani said, “Me and the president, we see eye-to-eye that this matter
has to stop immediately. We cannot tolerate with a war criminal, we cannot
tolerate with someone who killed more than half a million of his own
people. This matter should end immediately.”

*Some Israelis Calling For More Military Action In Syria. *The
Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=057-ef7&t=c>
(4/10, Eglash) reports that “even as Israel was being criticized” for a
raid Monday on a Syrian military base, “some security officials have been
calling for a more aggressive approach in Syria aimed at preventing Iran
and its proxy militia Hezbollah from expanding their influence there and
their ability to menace Israel.” In Moscow, Israeli Ambassador Gary Koren
was summoned to a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, a
move “Israeli analysts and commentators said...appeared to be designed to
signal to Israel that its previous freedom in carrying out military action
in Syria might no longer be acceptable.” Haaretz, however, “reported
Tuesday that security officials are increasingly pushing for a more
determined effort to stop Iran from expanding in Syria.”

*UN: 133,000 Flee Besieged Towns In Eastern Ghouta. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=058-d91&t=c>
(4/10, Cumming-Bruce) reports the UN refugee agency said Tuesday that “more
than 133,000 people have fled” the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta “in
the face of the government’s military onslaught.” The Times notes that
Douma, a town in eastern Ghouta, is the site of last weekend’s suspected
chemical weapons attack.

*Analysts Hope Bolton Will Help Develop Long-Term Solution On
Syria. *The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=059-724&t=c>
(4/10, Crabtree) reports new National Security Adviser Bolton “will be
crucial in guiding President Donald Trump toward a long-term solution in
Syria,” national security experts said Monday. As Washington “focuses on
Trump’s immediate response to the chemical attack in Syria over the
weekend, top national experts are urging Trump to take a longer view and
stop repeating the Obama administration’s mistakes, including broadcasting
a withdrawal timeline.” The challenge for Bolton, says the Free Beacon,
“will be convincing Trump to make Syria a priority amid a number of
pressing national security and foreign policy issues.”

*Albright: Trump Needs To Think More Broadly On Syria Strategy. *In
an interview Tuesday with USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=05a-d7d&t=c>
(4/10, Page), former secretary of State Madeleine Albright called President
Trump’s decision a year ago to bomb a Syrian airfield after a previous
chemical attack “very appropriate,” but said he undercut that message with
his comments last week at a White House news conference when he said it was
time “to bring those troops home.” Albright added, “There’s this theory
having some unpredictability is a useful diplomatic tool, but unpredictable
unpredictability constantly is very difficult for people who are trying to
follow what we’re doing.” She also urged the Administration to devise a
broader strategy on Syria.
Xi Vows To Lower Chinese Tariffs, Offers Other Trade Concessions.

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=05b-084&t=c>
(4/10, Meyers) reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday “pledged
to reduce restrictions on imported cars by the end of the year, bolster
intellectual property rights, and allow greater access to financial markets
– all White House grievances.” The Times notes that “a day before Xi’s
speech, Trump” had “tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=05c-a36&t=c>
about the injustice of China’s 25% tariffs on foreign cars.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=05d-3ee&t=c>
(4/9) also says that the items Xi addressed were “all central issues in
Trump’s trade gripes,” and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=05e-264&t=c>
(4/10, Boyer) that “the White House said Tuesday that China’s
president...blinked in the trade feud between Washington and Beijing.”
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, in fact, said Xi “actually ‘may
have blinked three times’” as he “offered trade concessions.” Kudlow told
the Hugh Hewitt radio show, “He’s talking about market openings. He’s
talking about reducing barriers. He’s talking particularly in the
automobile industry. ... It’s a positive sign.” Trump weighed in on Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=05f-b48&t=c>,
writing, “Very thankful for President Xi of China’s kind words on tariffs
and automobile barriers...also, his enlightenment on intellectual property
and technology transfers. We will make great progress together!”

[image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=060-d16&t=c>
(4/10, story 6, 0:15, Muir) was the only network newscast to cover the
news, reporting that Xi is “promising more open markets and that he would
lower tariffs on imported cars,” and that the White House called “the move
encouraging.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=061-58b&t=c>
(4/10, Wiseman, McDonald) reports “investors and China watchers welcomed”
Xi’s “pledge,” the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=062-222&t=c>
(4/9, Denyer) that the “pledges were not new but could be seen as an
attempt by China to defuse a deepening conflict over trade with the United
States,” and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=063-c6a&t=c>
(4/10, Fabian) that “Xi’s remarks mostly reiterated pre-existing
commitments and contained few new initiatives, raising doubts among some
observers that it would be enough to defuse tensions.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=064-4ba&t=c>
(4/10, Wei) runs a similar story under the headline “Xi Pledges A More Open
China, Increased Imports And Lower Auto Tariffs,” and the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=065-06b&t=c>
(4/9, Stevenson) reports “the speech, delivered at the Boao Forum for Asia
in China’s southern island province of Hainan, is the latest effort by
China to position itself as an advocate of free trade and reliable growth.”
The Times adds “that pitch runs counter to China’s longstanding reputation
as a country that has been accused of violating trade rules and
intellectual property rights. It also comes as Mr. Xi tightens his grip
over his country’s political, social and economic life.”

*White House Sees “Step In The Right Direction,” But Not Enough To
Stop US Tariffs. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=066-e3d&t=c>
(4/10, Wiseman, McDonald) reports White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
“told reporters that ‘we want to see concrete actions from China, and we’re
going to continue moving forward in the process and in the negotiations
until those happen.’” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=067-851&t=c>
(4/10, Cassella) notes Sanders also “said the commitments mark ‘a step in
the right direction’ but are not enough to stop Trump from considering
imposing tariffs on up to $150 billion in imports from China to punish
Beijing for what the White House sees as the theft of intellectual
property.” Politico adds that “asked what specifically Trump wants to see
from the Chinese before he considers backing down from his tariff threats,
Sanders did not answer directly.” Said Sanders, “This is going to be
something that’s going to be part of private negotiations that we have with
the Chinese. ... But certainly we want to see more than just the
rhetoric.” Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=068-88a&t=c>
(4/9) notes that “a White House official” similarly stated that “the US was
expecting China to put concrete proposals forward.”

*US-China Talks Broke Down Last Week Over US Demands. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=069-c30&t=c>
(4/10, Zhai), meanwhile, reports “trade talks between the world’s biggest
economies broke down last week after the Trump administration demanded that
China curtail support for high-technology industries, a person familiar
with the situation said, signaling that a resolution may be some ways off.”
Bloomberg adds “the US demands came after Beijing offered to narrow the
trade deficit by $50 billion, including by importing more liquefied natural
gas, agricultural products, semiconductors and luxury goods, according to
the person.” The plans also “included opening the financial sector at a
faster rate and giving US companies more access to China’s booming
e-commerce market, the person added.”

*US Says Chinese Firms Are Transshipping Goods To Mask Their
Origin. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=06a-216&t=c>
(4/10, Yap, Patterson, Tita) reports that US trade officials say companies
in Southeast Asia and their Chinese suppliers are engaging in
transshipping, a practice in which Chinese goods are routed through another
country to mask their origins. According to the US, Asian firms channel
cheap Chinese metals, enabling Chinese steel producers to avoid US tariffs.

*US Navy Deploys Aircraft Carrier To Disputed China Sea Waters. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=06b-cd8&t=c>
(4/10, Gomez) reports a US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore
Roosevelt, “sailed through the South China Sea on Tuesday in the latest
display of America’s military might after China built a string of islands
with military facilities to assert its claims in the strategic waters,
sparking regional alarm.” The Roosevelt is the latest in a series of recent
US “deployments of aircraft carriers, backed by destroyers, to perform
freedom of navigation exercises to Beijing’s territorial claims” that “are
reassuring allies but also prompting concerns with China’s own show of
force in the busy waterway.” Beijing “has protested those moves, calling it
US meddling in an Asian conflict, and renewed warnings to Washington to
stay away.” Despite “fears and occasional exchanges of rhetoric, US Rear
Admiral Steve Koehler told reporters on board the Roosevelt that it has
been smooth sailing so far, with US, Chinese and other forces engaging each
other professionally.”
US Condemns Cuba For Keeping Dissidents From Regional Summit.

The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=06c-d97&t=c>
(4/10, Crabtree) reports that on Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman
Heather Nauert “said US government officials have received numerous
‘credible reports’ that the Castro regime is preventing political opponents
and other members of Cuba’s ‘independent civil society’ from traveling to
Peru” for the Summit of the Americas later this week. Condemning the
actions, Nauert urged “the Cuban government to facilitate full, robust
participation in the Summit by allowing the free and unrestricted travel of
its citizens, a universal human right.” According to the Free Beacon, this
“full-throated” support for the “Cuban dissidents ahead of the Summit
stands in stark contrast to the way Obama administration officials
approached its relationship with Cuban President Raul Castro in the weeks
and days leading up to” the summit in 2015, when former President Obama
“famously sat down for a meeting with President Castro, the first
face-to-face discussion between the leaders of the two countries in a
half-century.”

The Miami Herald
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=06d-993&t=c>
(4/10) reports that the Cuban delegation released “a statement on its
arrival Sunday saying that is members” are attending the summit “with a
great sense of responsibility and constructive spirit in order to
contribute the experiences of the Cuban revolution.” It also claimed that
its delegates “represent ‘the true civil society in Cuba’ and vowed that it
‘will not share any space with mercenary elements and organizations that
are financed from abroad and answer to the interests of a foreign power
with a clear agenda of subversion and violence.’” The Herald says despite
the “heated rhetoric,” thus fare there has “been no repeat of the violent
clashes set off by the official Cuban delegation during the last Summit of
the Americas, held in Panama in 2015.”

*Rubio Expected To Push Trump’s Policies At Summit Of The Americas.
*On Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio told McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=06e-05d&t=c>
(4/10, Ordonez) that he will attend the Summit of the Americas in Peru this
week, “where he is expected to help fill the vacuum of leadership at a
critical juncture for an administration that is calling for the Western
Hemisphere to take stronger action against Venezuela.” McClatchy notes
Rubio had “planned to attend even before Trump bowed out,” and he “is
expected to meet this week with Vice President Mike Pence who will act in
Trump’s role at the summit.” McClatchy adds that “Rubio has been
extraordinarily influential on Latin American issues in the Trump
administration,” and “the other 30 or so Latin American leaders at the
summit know that Rubio has Trump’s ear and is seen as the president’s
principal adviser on Western Hemisphere issues, particularly those
involving Venezuela and Cuba.”
Senate Committee Reaches Compromise On New War Resolution Vote.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=06f-98c&t=c>
(4/10, Kane) reports that “key members of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee said Tuesday that they had resolved the biggest stumbling block
to writing a new resolution to govern the ongoing war on terrorist groups.”
Chairman Bob Corker and Sen. Tim Kaine “each said that they had reached a
compromise on the ‘sunset’ provision of when new war authority would
expire, clearing the way for a committee debate to try to replace the
existing September 2001 war resolution.” Corker said he plans to unveil the
compromise legislation Thursday.
WPost: Proposed Trump Summit Highlights Limits Of Kim’s Flying Habits.

In an analysis, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=070-6da&t=c>
(4/9, Nakamura) says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “has sought to project
the image of a powerful leader who can face off against President Trump and
China’s Xi Jinping,” but “as he prepares for a possible summit with Trump
next month, it’s not clear that Kim possesses another piece of crucial
hardware for the aspiring global negotiator – an airplane that could
reliably fly him across the Pacific Ocean, or to Europe, without stopping.”
While most public speculation about a possible location for the proposed
summit “has focused on the demilitarized zone between North and South
Korea,” some analysts “suggested Trump would favor a grander setting in the
United States or another country outside the region,” raising questions
“about how Kim, who made his first trip outside North Korea to Beijing in
an armored train last month, would get there.”
NYTimes: Russia’s Influence Campaign In Balkans Draws Attention From US, EU.

In an analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041101biden&r=email-027c&l=071-89e&t=c>
(4/10, Erlanger) examines how the six Western Balkans nations – Bosnia,
Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo – have emerged as “a
battleground in what feels like a new Cold War.” According to analysts,
Russia “is expanding its influence and magnifying ethnic tensions” in those
nations as they “hope to join the European Union,” and Moscow “has made it
clear that it considers new NATO expansion to the Western Balkans as
unacceptable.” Because Russia’s campaign in the region “has the potential
to sow fresh instability in a region still emerging from the vicious war of
1992-95 that broke apart the former Yugoslavia,” its “involvement has
already spurred Brussels to revive dormant aims for enlargement” and