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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 17, 2018 7:55 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, October 17, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=000-47a&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=001-2a5&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, October 17, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Biden: “Age Is A Totally Legitimate Thing To Raise” About A Presidential
Candidate. <#S1>

• Trump Dings “One Percent Joe” Biden In Interview With AP. <#S2>

• USA Today Highlights CNN Poll Showing Biden Leading Possible 2020
Democrats. <#S3>

• Steve McMahon: Advisers Telling Clinton She Can Win 2020 Nod If Biden
Doesn’t Run. <#S4>

• Biden Backs Bryce’s Bid To Succeed Ryan In WI1. <#S5>

• Biden Endorses Shaw In Race To Succeed Florida Attorney General Bondi.
<#S6>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Says Now He Can Go After “Horseface” Daniels “And Her 3rd Rate
Lawyer.” <#S7>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Compares “Rush To Judgment” In Khashoggi Case To Kavanaugh
Accusations. <#S8>

• US Announces Additional Iran Sanctions. <#S9>

• Dunford Warns Of Complacency In Fight Against Al Qaeda, ISIS. <#S10>

• Head Of Iraq’s Chaldean Church Says Promised US Aid Hasn’t Come. <#S11>

• US Airstrike In Somalia Kills Dozens Of Al-Shabab Militants. <#S12>

• Trump: No US President Has Been Tougher On Russia. <#S13>

• Google CEO Acknowledges Building Search Engine To Appease Chinese Censors.
<#S14>

• McConnell: Senate Won’t Vote On USMCA This Year. <#S15>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Trump Calls Warren “Total Fraud”; Democrats, Cherokee Nation Also
Criticize Her. <#S16>

• Trump: Central American Nations To Lose All US Aid If They Don’t Stop
Migrant Caravan. <#S17>

• Trump Calls Russia Investigation A “Con Job.” <#S18>

• Trump Touts Strong Economy, Says US “Number One In The World, By Far.”
<#S19>

• McConnell: Spending, Not Tax Cuts, To Blame For “Very Disturbing” Deficit
Spike. <#S20>

• GOP Ads Include Pledges To Back ACA Preexisting Condition Protections.
<#S21>

• Hurricane Michael Death Toll Now As High As 30. <#S22>

• Heitkamp Apologizes For Naming Sexual Assault Victims Without Consent.
<#S23>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• FDA Approves Talazoparib For An Advanced Form Of Breast Cancer. <#S24>

• FDA Mandates Pediatric Trials For 200 Cancer Targets. <#S25>

• NIEHS Funding SUNY Polytechnic Study Of Genetics, Colon Cancer. <#S26>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S27>

• Washington Post. <#S28>

• Wall Street Journal. <#S29>
Biden in the News
Biden: “Age Is A Totally Legitimate Thing To Raise” About A Presidential
Candidate.

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=002-659&t=c>
(10/16, Saenz) reported that former Vice President Joe Biden, speaking on
Tuesday at the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, “said a candidate’s
age is a ‘legitimate’ issue in elections – including if he were to run for
president in 2020.” Biden is quoted as saying, “I think age is a totally
legitimate thing to raise. I think it’s totally appropriate for people to
look at me and say if I were to run for office again, ‘Well God darn you’re
old.’ Well chronologically I am old.” Biden added, “Every voter is entitled
to know exactly what kind of shape you’re in. You owe it to them. It’s a
legitimate question and so I think age is relevant.” CNN said that Biden
“is currently 75 years old, and if he runs for president in 2020, he would
be 77 when the caucus and primary contests get underway.”

*Biden Emphasizes Importance Of “Shared American Values.” *On its
website, WSJM-AM
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=003-76a&t=c>
Saint Joseph, MI (10/16) reported that during his appearance at the
Economic Club, Biden “issued an appeal for a commitment to shared American
values,” saying that “over the past ten years, Americans have seen a
gradual breakdown of their system, and in the past ten months, a politics
not seen since the Civil War. He decried phony populism and ‘half-baked
nationalism,’ but said it can be fixed,” telling the audience, “We gotta
start talking to one another again.” Biden also “said both parties
desperately need men and women of character who can recognize common values
even in disagreement. He pointed out the late Senator John McCain as
someone who understood those ideas, and closer to home, Biden called
[Michigan] Congressman Fred Upton ‘one of the finest guys I’ve ever worked
with.’”

The St. Joseph (MI) Herald Palladium
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=004-4ef&t=c>
(10/17, Matuszak) reports, “An already great America can be even greater if
we work together and stand up for our ideals...Biden told the Economic Club
of Southwestern Michigan on Tuesday. ‘America owns the finish line.
Remember who we are!’ a forceful Biden” said. Biden also told the audience,
“The only way the system works is consensus.” Over the past decade, Biden
said, “he has seen a gradual breakdown in that system. He blamed unlimited
campaign spending and the lack of transparency with donations, along with
gerrymandering, for creating political extremes.” In a broadcast this
morning, WNDU-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=005-b78&t=c>
South Bend (IN)'s Morning News (10/17) reports that Biden spoke “about the
political abuse of power that’s being seen today. He discussed political
transparency and his relationship with John McCain.”
Trump Dings “One Percent Joe” Biden In Interview With AP.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=006-70c&t=c>
(10/17) runs a piece highlighting various statements President Trump made
in a Tuesday interview with the wire service. The AP says, “On whom he
might face in 2020: ‘Well, (Joe) Biden ran twice and actually a lot of
people think he really ran a third time, but he was so low in the polls
that he never registered. But he ran twice. And I call him One Percent Joe
because you know he did very poorly and then (Barack) Obama took him off
the trash heap and made him vice president. And in a sense he did a good
job as vice president, in my opinion, because Obama liked him, and if
President Obama didn’t like him, you would have been hearing about it.”
USA Today Highlights CNN Poll Showing Biden Leading Possible 2020 Democrats.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=007-01a&t=c>
(10/16, Cummings) highlighted the recent CNN poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=008-763&t=c>
showing former Vice President Joe Biden with “a wide lead over the other
potential candidates to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.” The
poll, covered in a previous edition of this briefing, showed Biden at 33%,
with his closest potential rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), at 13%.
Steve McMahon: Advisers Telling Clinton She Can Win 2020 Nod If Biden
Doesn’t Run.

Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=009-d6f&t=c>
(10/16, Lee) reported, “Top Democrats close to Hillary Clinton are
reportedly telling her to keep her 2020 options open in case former Vice
President Joe Biden passes on” mounting a White House run. During a Monday
appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Democratic strategist Steve McMahon “said
that ‘some people close to the Clintons and close to Hillary Clinton who
look at the field and think if Joe Biden doesn’t run, it’s an awfully weak
field and someone like Hillary Clinton could get back in.’ He added that
some of these confidants are ‘whispering in her ear’ that she might be able
to win the nomination if Biden decides not to run.”
Biden Backs Bryce’s Bid To Succeed Ryan In WI1.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=00a-1a4&t=c>
(10/16) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday endorsed
ironworker Randy Bryce’s (D) bid to succeed retiring House Speaker Paul
Ryan (R) in the WI1. In a statement, Biden said that “Bryce ‘knows what it
means to fight for working people.’” Bryce is battling ex-Ryan aide Bryan
Steil (R) in the general election. In a brief report, the Janesville (WI)
Gazette
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=00b-1b6&t=c>
(10/16) quoted Biden as saying in a statement, “Randy Bryce will bring a
working-class message to Washington, DC, that will cut through the partisan
gridlock and help get our country back on track.”
Biden Endorses Shaw In Race To Succeed Florida Attorney General Bondi.

The Tampa Bay (FL) Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=00c-14a&t=c>
(10/16, March) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday
endorsed state Rep. Sean Shaw’s (D) bis to succeed term-limited Florida
Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). The Times adds, “In a news release, Biden
called Shaw ‘a fighter, with a proven track record of standing up for the
little guy.’ ... The news release from the Shaw campaign calls Biden, who’s
considered a potential 2020 presidential candidate, ‘an icon in the
Democratic Party.’” Orlando (FL) Weekly
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=00d-c6b&t=c>
(10/16, Peters) also reported on Biden’s endorsement, and added that Shaw
faces Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Ashley Moody (R) in the general
election.
Leading the News
Trump Says Now He Can Go After “Horseface” Daniels “And Her 3rd Rate
Lawyer.”

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=00e-c2e&t=c>
yesterday, “‘Federal Judge throws out Stormy Danials lawsuit versus Trump.
Trump is entitled to full legal fees.’ @FoxNews Great, now I can go after
Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will
confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!”
The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=00f-0b8&t=c>
(10/16, Viebeck) reports, “It was not immediately clear what Trump meant
when he vowed to ‘go after’ Daniels and [Michael] Avenatti in Texas,” but
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=010-bfa&t=c>
(10/16, Morin) says “Daniels lives in Texas and the judge applied Texas law
in dismissing” her libel suit. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=011-3a9&t=c>
(10/17, Lucey, Lemire, Miller) reports that later yesterday, Trump “did not
back down from derisively nicknaming” Daniels “Horseface” in a tweet. Asked
“if it was appropriate to insult a woman’s appearance,” Trump said, “You
can take it any way you want.”

Asked in an interview with Fox Business’ Trish Regan Primetime[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=012-9e1&t=c>
(10/16) about Avenatti running for president, Trump said, “I don’t think
he’s a serious person. ... I just beat him in a big case. He has to pay me
legal fees. I don’t think he has any money, but he and she have to pay me a
lot of legal fees. Based on Texas law – I love Texas – based on Texas laws
where the legal fees are plentiful.” Asked if he will hold them to the
judgment, Trump said, “Are you serious? Of course. ... They’ll pay a lot.”

Trump’s use of the epithet “horseface” generated unfavorable media
coverage, which cast it as part of a pattern of presidential insults
against women. Media analyses also saw the incident potentially hurting GOP
candidates with female voters in the upcoming election. Along those lines,
Trump was asked in an interview with Fox Business’ Trish Regan Primetime[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=013-e7d&t=c>
(10/16) about his poll numbers among women. Trump said, “I had worse poll
numbers when I went into the last election and you saw how well I did with
women. If you looked at my poll numbers going into 2016, you would have
said there is not a woman in the country who is going to vote for me. I did
phenomenal with women. That’s...probably the reason I won, in a true
sense.”

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=014-4df&t=c>
(10/16, story 3, 2:15, Holt) – the only major network newscast to note the
story – referred to Trump’s “latest jab at a woman’s appearance as
Republicans face a major gender gap just three weeks until the midterm
elections.” NBC (Jackson) added that “‘horseface’ is just the latest insult
aimed at the looks of women he doesn’t like.” After running footage of
Trump comments about Carly Fiorina, Alicia Machado, Jessica Leads, “who
accused him of sexual assault,” and Megyn Kelly, NBC showed Elise Jordan,
an “NBC News Political Analyst,” saying, “Women who previously voted
Republican just aren’t going to do it this midterm cycle and they might not
ever do it again in their lifetime.”

Along similar lines, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=015-0fb&t=c>
(10/16, Sullivan, Haberman) reports Trump’s “use of the term
‘horseface’...could...prove problematic for Republicans facing female
opponents in the upcoming midterm elections, now just weeks away.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=016-f34&t=c>
(10/16, Fabian) also reports Trump’s “latest insult comes just weeks before
the November midterm elections, when Republican strategists fear the party
could lose control of the House, in part, because of its poor marks among
women.” The Hill adds that “those concerns were also heightened during the
battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation in the
Senate, during which Trump mocked a woman who came forward to accuse the
then-nominee of sexually assaulting her.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=017-649&t=c>
(10/16, Morin) reports, “The timing of Trump’s attack confused some of his
GOP allies,” with “one former White House official, who said ‘plenty of
descriptive terms’ were used to describe Daniels inside the West Wing,”
finding Trump’s “tweet troublesome with the midterm elections are three
weeks away.” Said the “former White House official,” “It’s not going to
impact his base – stuff like this never does – but it makes it tougher for
Republican candidates to attract suburban women and it makes it tougher for
women to believe their president respects them.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=018-60e&t=c>
(10/16) also says that “Trump has a history of derogatory comments about
women’s appearances,” the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=019-bc4&t=c>
(10/16, Finnegan) reports that the tweet was “an extraordinary provocation
even for a man whose habit of denigrating the appearance of women draws
frequent accusations of misogyny,” and the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=01a-913&t=c>
(10/16, Sullivan, Haberman) says Trump’s insult “was jarring, even though
he has previously used similar disparaging language to describe women who
challenge him.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=01b-4ce&t=c>
(10/16, Choi) reports, meanwhile, “Trump on Tuesday took a step back from
his hectic public schedule in the run-up to the midterms, but filled his
free time with a flurry of eyebrow-raising activity on Twitter.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=01c-65f&t=c>
(10/16, Shear, Sullivan) also casts Trump as adding Daniels “to a long list
of women he has attacked by demeaning their looks, mocking their bodily
functions or comparing them to animals,” and describes his “horseface”
insult as “verbal assault.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=01d-2d8&t=c>
(10/16, Viebeck) similarly refers to “the latest example in his
long-standing pattern of attempting to undercut female adversaries with
jabs at their physical appearance.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=01e-bab&t=c>
(10/16, Moore) and Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=01f-efc&t=c>
(10/16, Dorning), among other news outlets, run similar reports this
morning. CNN national security and legal analyst Susan Hennessey said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=020-2a4&t=c>
(10/16), “This isn’t only something that Trump does whenever he’s being
insulting. He reduces women to their looks, even whenever he’s praising
people. Whenever UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her departure last
week, he said that she brought an element of glamour to the role. It’s more
than just him hitting back. It actually does say something about the way he
views women, even women who have obtained high-ranking office in this
country.”

At any rate, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=021-e97&t=c>
(10/16, Jackson, Fritze) reports, “both Daniels and Avenatti hit back” at
Trump – also on Twitter. Wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=022-841&t=c>
Daniels, “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present your president. In addition
to his...umm...shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred
of women and lack of self control on Twitter AGAIN! ... And perhaps a
penchant for bestiality. Game on, Tiny.” Avenatti, meanwhile, “called
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=023-7b1&t=c>
Trump ‘a disgusting misogynist and an embarrassment’ to the country.” The
Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=024-1db&t=c>
(10/16, Samuels) notes that “Avenatti, who has expressed aspirations to run
for president in 2020, has pledged to appeal the judge’s ruling on the
defamation suit.”

Avenatti said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=025-780&t=c>
(10/16), “This is a disgrace. ... Never in my lifetime did I think that I
would witness behavior like this from the President of the United States.
I’m a father to two daughters, and I know many of your viewers are also
fathers and mothers. How do you tell your kids to look up to the President
of the United States when he behaves in this manner? It’s an absolute joke,
and it’s a disgrace. And it’s about time that we stop shaking our head and
we...start punching back. I mean, this guy can no longer be permitted to
get away with this. ... It’s a complete disrespect to the office of the
presidency.” Earlier Tuesday, Avenatti said on MSNBC Live[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=026-312&t=c>
(10/16), “This idea that this is a total victory for...Trump and a total
defeat for my client is a bunch of nonsense.”

*Trump: Cohen Lied Under Oath About Alleged Scheme To Silence
Daniels. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=027-485&t=c>
(10/17, Lucey, Lemire, Miller) reports that in an interview, Trump accused
his former lawyer Michael Cohen “of lying when testifying under oath that
the president coordinated on a hush-money scheme to buy Daniels’ silence.”
Trump “declared the allegation ‘totally false.’” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=028-4d4&t=c>
(10/16, Correll) notes that last night, “Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis
defended his client against Trump’s criticisms, and said Trump’s comments
should be taken as a ‘compliment.’” Tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=029-bb9&t=c>
Davis, “Under oath @MichaelCohen212 acknowledged and took responsibility
for @realDonaldTrump @POTUS bad behavior. Trump calling anyone a #liar is a
compliment! ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=02a-8c1&t=c>
@MichaelCohen212 who testified under oath doesn’t fear the #truth.
@realdonaldtrump @potus will NEVER testify under oath because he can not
afford to tell the #truth. #TeamMichael.”

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=02b-77b&t=c>
(10/16, Lapin) reports that “in August, Cohen copped to two campaign
finance violations, saying he and Trump paid two women – believed to be
porn star...Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal – ‘for the purpose of
influencing the election.’”
Foreign Policy
Trump Compares “Rush To Judgment” In Khashoggi Case To Kavanaugh
Accusations.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=02c-3af&t=c>
yesterday afternoon, “Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who
totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate.
He was with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=02d-175&t=c>
during the call, and told me that he has already started, and will rapidly
expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be
forthcoming shortly.” In an interview with the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=02e-49d&t=c>
(10/16, Lemire, Lucey, Miller), meanwhile, Trump “criticized rapidly
mounting global condemnation of Saudi Arabia” over Khashoggi’s
disappearance, “warning of a rush to judgment.” Said Trump, “I think we
have to find out what happened first. Here we go again with, you know,
you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that. We just went
through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far
as I’m concerned.”

On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=02f-104&t=c>
(10/16, lead story, 3:10, Glor), Major Garrett said, “Despite the mounting
evidence, the President said he is not yet ready to blame the Saudi royal
family for Khashoggi’s disappearance,” and to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=030-758&t=c>
(10/16, Cunningham), the remarks put Trump “widely out of step with many
world leaders amid Turkish assertions that Khashoggi was killed by a Saudi
hit team.” They could also “complicate talks” Wednesday between Pompeo and
Turkish officials on the Khashoggi case. And the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=031-646&t=c>
(10/16, Taylor) says “it was not immediately clear what the president meant
by ‘forthcoming shortly’ — a comment that came amid reports Tuesday that
the Saudi government may soon claim Mr. Khashoggi was killed at the
consulate in an interrogation gone wrong.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=032-6cb&t=c>
(10/16, Gallu, Nereim, Abu-Nasr), meanwhile, reports that in an interview
with Fox Business on Wednesday night, Trump said it “would be bad” if Saudi
Arabia’s crown prince and king knew about what happened to Khashoggi. Trump
told Fox Business’ Trish Regan Primetime[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=033-090&t=c>
(10/16), “It depends whether or not the King or the Crown Prince knew about
it. Number one, what happened, but whether they knew about it. If they knew
about it, that would be bad. If they didn’t know about it, bad things can
happen.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=034-45a&t=c>
(10/16, Donachie), among other outlets, also report Trump’s comments to
Fox.

On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=035-ea5&t=c>
(10/16, story 2, 2:40, Muir), Jonathan Karl said, “In the days since
Khashoggi’s disappearance, the President has tried to walk a fine line
between vowing punishment and preserving the US-Saudi relationship, a
relationship he has worked hard to cultivate.” Andrea Mitchell said on NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=036-f7e&t=c>
(10/16, story 2, 1:25, Holt), “On the line: the President’s big bet that
the Saudis could deliver billions in arms deals, dominate Iran, and help
him achieve Middle East peace. Now colliding with the alleged murderer of a
US-based journalist in their custody.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=037-37f&t=c>
(10/16, Morello) says Pompeo “came to Saudi Arabia to highlight US concern
over the fate of...Khashoggi...whose name Pompeo has not yet uttered in
public since arriving in the kingdom.” While spokeswoman Heather Nauert
described the talks as “direct and frank,” the Post says “cameras that
recorded the officials’ small talk ahead of the private meetings captured
smiles and pleasantries, giving no hint that relations between the two
countries are in crisis over Khashoggi’s disappearance.” In fact, the Crown
Prince told reporters, “We are strong and old allies. We face our
challenges together — the past, the day of, tomorrow.” Pompeo replied,
“Absolutely.”

On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=038-370&t=c>
(10/16, lead story, 3:10, Glor), Major Garrett said, “The pleasantries with
the Crown Prince made it appear the Trump Administration’s strong backing
of the Saudi regime remained intact,” and ABC World News Tonight[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=039-00f&t=c>
(10/16, lead story, 3:10, Muir) reported, “It looked like sweetness and
smiles today as America’s top diplomat made small talk with the Crown
Prince. ... But the Saudis have been accused of murdering” Khashoggi,
“something the royal family repeatedly denies.” Pompeo “thanking the Saudis
for, quote, ‘a thorough, transparent and timely investigation.’ Many
critics think it’s been anything but that.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=03a-15c&t=c>
(10/16, Wilkinson) says Pompeo” did not report any progress following a day
of meetings in Riyadh,” and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=03b-92a&t=c>
(10/16, Boyer)reports Pompeo “thanked the king for his commitment to
supporting a thorough, transparent, and timely investigation,” Nauert said.
The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=03c-265&t=c>
(10/16, Donati, Stancati) likewise reports on Nauert’s statement about
Tuesday’s meetings, while USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=03d-23d&t=c>
(10/16, Shesgreen, Hjelmgaard) reports Pompeo characterized the meetings as
“direct and candid conversations.” He added, “During each of today’s
meetings, the Saudi leadership strongly denied any knowledge of what took
place in their consulate in Istanbul. My assessment from these meetings is
that there is serious commitment to determine all the facts and ensure
accountability, including accountability for Saudi Arabia’s senior leaders
or senior officials.” However, Pompeo did not address media reports that
the Saudi government “would soon release a report that Khashoggi was
accidentally killed as a result of a planned rendition.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=03e-9b9&t=c>
(10/16, Toosi, Morin) has similar report headlined “Pompeo Stays Cordial
With Saudis As Much Of Washington Recoils,” while a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=03f-48b&t=c>
(10/16, Gearan) analysis says the Crown Prince “did most of the talking,”
but “neither the prince nor Pompeo said anything about the grave purpose of
the hasty trip to Riyadh as the two shook hands, posed for photos and made
small talk about jet lag during a relaxed and friendly sit-down before news
cameras.”

In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=040-1c4&t=c>
(10/16) says the “best metaphor for Mr. Pompeo’s diplomacy seemed to be
what reporters witnessed outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Mr.
Khashoggi was last seen Oct. 2: the arrival of a cleaning crew with
buckets, mops and fluids.” Pompeo, it says, “appeared less intent on
determining the truth than in helping the de facto Saudi ruler escape from
the crisis he triggered.”

On its editorial page, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=041-2a7&t=c>
(10/16) says if Pompeo “flew to Riyadh to read the Riot Act to Saudi rulers
over the apparent murder of Jamal Khashoggi, he hid it well behind cheery
smiles and professions of amity. But then outrage has been conspicuously
absent from the Trump administration in the two weeks” since Khashoggi went
missing. The Times warns that “if Saudi Arabia is allowed to get away with
some lame story about the apparent murder of Mr. Khashoggi, the world’s
growing gang of autocrats will feel even less constraint.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=042-f11&t=c>
(10/16, Wroughton, Ellsworth), meanwhile, reports the Administration “is
completely unified in calling for an investigation into the disappearance”
of Khashoggi, “but it also has a significant relationship with Riyadh, a
senior administration official said on Tuesday.” Said the Administration
official, “We are, I think, completely unified in this administration about
calling for an investigation into this. We need to get the facts of what
happened. Of course...we have a longstanding relationship that is very
significant to us, but that doesn’t mean we’re in any way ignoring or
downplaying this episode. We continue to believe those who are responsible
for it have to be held accountable.”

*Trump Denies Having Financial Interests In Saudi Arabia. *ABC
World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=043-2b2&t=c>
(10/16, story 2, 2:40, Muir) said Khashoggi’s disappearance “isn’t just a
diplomatic crisis for the US, it puts President Trump in a delicate
position. Today, the President denied having any financial interests in
Saudi Arabia.” On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=044-42a&t=c>
“For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia,
for that matter). Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of
which there is plenty)!”

*NYTimes: Khashoggi Disappearance May Disrupt Iran Sanctions. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=045-47d&t=c>
(10/16, Sanger) reports White House officials “are worried that the
apparent killing of...Khashoggi, and Saudi Arabia’s changing account of his
fate, could derail a major showdown with Iran and jeopardize plans to
enlist Saudi help to avoid disrupting the oil market.” According to the
Times, Trump Administration officials, as ell as “outside experts whom they
are consulting,” say the “possible repercussions on an elaborate plan to
squeeze the Iranians have dominated internal discussions about the fallout
over what happened to Mr. Khashoggi.”

*Turkish Investigators Expand Search To Include Saudi Consul’s
Residence. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=046-edc&t=c>
(10/16, Hubbard, Victor) reports President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told
reporters Tuesday that Turkish investigators who searched the Saudi
Consulate on Monday and Tuesday were looking into “toxic materials, and
those materials being removed by painting them over.” Later in the day,
Saudi Consul Mohammed al-Otaibi “left the country, the Turkish Foreign
Ministry said.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=047-47a&t=c>
(10/16, Lambert, Millis) reports that Turkish investigators are “expanding
their search to include the Saudi consul’s residence in Istanbul and
consulate vehicles, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.” But ABC
World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=048-097&t=c>
(10/16, lead story, 3:10, Muir) reported that Turkish investigators “were
not allowed into the [consul’s] residence, blocked by the Saudis,” and NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=049-55c&t=c>
(10/16, lead story, 1:40, Holt) said “the Saudis aren’t allowing the
Turkish police to interview any of their officials.”

According to the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=04a-9a9&t=c>
(10/16, Abuelgasim, Fraser, Gambrell), Turkish police searching the Saudi
Consulate “found evidence that...Khashoggi was killed there, a high-level
Turkish official said Tuesday, and authorities appeared ready to also
search the nearby residence of the consul general after the diplomat left
the country.” The Turkish official’s comments “intensified pressure on
Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.”

Turkish officials on Tuesday also provided the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=04b-924&t=c>
(10/16, Fahim) “with scans of passports that they say were carried by seven
men who were part of a Saudi team involved in” Khashoggi’s killing inside
the Saudi Consulate. The Post says the passport scans “add to the
information made public by Turkey as it seeks to fill out the narrative of
what happened to Khashoggi.” The officials say the seven men were part of
“a 15-member team dispatched from Saudi Arabia.”

According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=04c-838&t=c>
(10/16, Kirkpatrick, Browne, Hubbard, Botti), one the 15 men “was a
frequent companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — seen disembarking
from airplanes with him in Paris and Madrid and photographed standing guard
during his visits this year to Houston, Boston and the United Nations.”
Three others, meanwhile, “are linked by witnesses and other records to the
Saudi crown prince’s security detail,” and a fifth is “a forensic doctor
who holds senior positions in the Saudi Interior Ministry.” The Times says
if these men were present at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul during
Khashoggi’s suspected killed, “they might provide a direct link between
what happened” and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Clarissa Ward reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=04d-7b9&t=c>
(10/16) that “the man who reportedly organized this botched operation...is
known to be close to Mohamad bin Salman’s inner circle: a former military
officer now working in general intelligence.” Ward continued: “We are
hearing he was operating outside the usual chain of command and that he
attempted to orchestrate some kind of coverup afterwards to prevent people
back in Saudi Arabia...from finding out about this.”

*Graham: Saudi Crown Prince “Toxic,” “Has Got To Go.” *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=04e-299&t=c>
(10/16, Abu-Nasr) reports Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “slammed” Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a “wrecking ball” and “toxic” figure who he
said was directly responsible for the disappearance and possible killing of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Appearing on Fox
News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=04f-499&t=c>,
Graham said, “I’ve been their biggest defender on the floor of the United
States Senate,” but “this guy is a wrecking ball. Nothing happens in Saudi
Arabia without MBS knowing it.” Bloomberg says Graham’s comments “were some
of the harshest words yet made in public from a senior Republican” and
“reflect rising concern in Washington that the crisis could seriously
damage US-Saudi ties.”

Asked on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=050-727&t=c>
(10/16) what Trump should do in response to Khashoggi’s apparent
assassination, Graham said, “It’s up to the President, but I know what I’m
going to do: I am going to sanction the hell out of Saudi Arabia. ... This
guy has got to go.” Asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=051-80e&t=c>
(10/16) what he thinks Congress is willing to do in response, Sen. Ben
Sasse (R-NE) said, “I think the Saudis have a real problem. ... Everything
has to be on the table, including the arms sales.”

Appearing on CNN’s New Day[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=052-d75&t=c>
(10/16), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said the apparent assassination of
Khashoggi is “a catastrophe” for the Saudis. Rubio added, “A fear we’ve had
for a long time is that the Crown Prince is a young and aggressive guy that
would overestimate how much room he had to do things...and cause a problem
such as this. ... But now this would really blow apart our Middle Eastern
strategy – and it’s something we have to address from a human rights
standpoint. Just because the country we’re working with did it doesn’t mean
the US can just shrug its shoulders.”

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=053-019&t=c>
(10/16), “The best you can say about the Saudis is they’re amoral. Back on
9/11, they were immoral. In recent years, they’ve come more to our side”
because “they realized it was in their best interest to do it. But, on a
moment’s notice they can turn away from us. Right now, Saudi is an
important ally, but we cannot allow this to happen. You cannot allow in
today’s day and age to have a journalist, a resident of the US, a citizen
of the Saudis, killed and murdered, apparently decomposed and torn apart in
the Saudi Consulate. It violates all standards of human behavior.”

Several Democrats also blamed Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s
suspected killing. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=054-c0b&t=c>
(10/16) that he “certainly” doesn’t believe Khashoggi’s death was an
accident, adding that “it’s almost inconceivable” that his murder came
without approval from the Crown Prince. He continued: “What is happening
now...is that the Saudi regime is trying to figure out how to make this as
least catastrophic as it can be, and quite frankly, it worries me with the
President trading rumors and maybe repeating the trial balloons that the
Saudis are running.”

Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=055-b1a&t=c>
(10/16) that Saudi Arabia “is responsible” for the “horrendous” and
“gruesome” murder. When asked why Trump “has been so quick to repeat
the...Saudi cover story,” Garamendi said, “He’s protecting his backside.
... He has a long-time relationship with Saudi Arabia.” Garamendi said
Trump is sending a “horrible signal,” because “instead of standing strongly
in support of a journalist that was murdered by a foreign country, he
is...going the opposite direction.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), asked on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=056-aa2&t=c>
(10/16) if he is confident that Pompeo “delivered a tough message on behalf
of President Trump,” said, “I’m not going to criticize Secretary Pompeo
from the public footage. I do wonder what appears to have been only with
the King, at least, a 10 or 15-minute meeting, whether he fully represented
the extent – maybe the President doesn’t feel, but I can assure you that
broadly-based bipartisan feeling here in the Senate is if this journalist,
who had been living in Virginia, in my state, was murdered in this heinous
way inside the Saudi Consulate, there needs to be consequences.”

Columnist David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=057-3fd&t=c>
(10/16) that Khashoggi’s disappearance “has now put MBS’s own future in
question. Putting a lid on a murder investigation won’t be easy, even for
the brashly confident crown prince.” David B. Ottaway, a Middle East fellow
at the Wilson Center, similarly writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=058-f17&t=c>
(10/16) that “whatever happens next, it is already clear that Saudi
Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, has gone a
ghastly step too far in his ruthless pursuit of absolute power.” Ottaway
adds, “I have been racking my mind as to why Mohammed might have become so
desperate as to silence Khashoggi,” and suggests that it may have been
because Khashoggi “was launching a project to establish a foundation
dedicated to promoting democracy in the Arab world, particularly in Saudi
Arabia.”

Thomas L. Friedman writes in his New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=059-4c2&t=c>
(10/16) column that “the promise of M.B.S., however much you did or did not
think he could bring social, economic and religious reform, is finished.
He’s made himself radioactive — absent a credible, independent exoneration
for Jamal’s disappearance and apparent murder. M.B.S. may be able to hold
onto power in Saudi Arabia, but his whole reform program required direct
foreign investment — and money has been flowing out of Saudi Arabia for
months, not in. Now it will get worse.”

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=05a-441&t=c>
(10/16), “It is true that you need facts before you decide on what your
course of action should be, and we do not have good, reliable information.
We know this man is missing, we don’t know much else. It’s very important
for people to get the facts.”

*NYTimes: Saudis Lack Leverage To Drive Up Oil Prices. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=05b-1cc&t=c>
(10/16, Krauss, Gladstone) reports that in response to threatened sanctions
and cancellations of arms deals, the Saudis “have warned that they could
push oil prices to $100 or $200 a barrel, an act that would probably plunge
the American and global economies into recession.” However, according to
the Times, “petroleum and defense experts have largely discounted such
possibilities.” The Times says Saudi Arabia “is no longer the energy
superpower that American motorists feared during the Arab oil embargo era
of the 1970s. And as longstanding clients of the American arms industry,
the Saudis cannot easily switch to other providers.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=05c-623&t=c>
(10/16, Brown, Bensinger), however, says that Saudi Arabia is the largest
single funding source for US startups, so any US move to sanction it would
hit Silicon Valley hard.

*Despite Departures, Saudis Still Have $6 Million Lobbying
Campaign. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=05d-9e7&t=c>
(10/16, Lardner) reports that despite several Washington firms cutting ties
with Kingdom following Khashoggi’s disappearance, Saudi Arabia is still
paying “lobbyists, lawyers and public relations experts nearly $6 million a
year to engage US officials and promote the Middle East nation.” The AP
says that while “more defections are possible as pressure mounts on Saudi
Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi...at least one US lobbyist
said that keeping a commitment to a client is especially important during
difficult times.” The firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck “has no plans to
alter its $125,000-a-month contract to represent the Saudi Embassy,
according to a person familiar with the arrangement.”

*Saudi Arabia Delivers $100M Pledged To US For Syria
Reconstruction. *“This summer, Saudi Arabia promised the Trump
administration $100 million for American efforts to stabilize areas in
Syria liberated from the Islamic State” – and those funds “landed in
American accounts on Tuesday, the same day that Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo landed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for discussions with the
kingdom’s leaders about the fate of a missing Saudi dissident,” the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=05e-21f&t=c>
(10/16, Hubbard) reports. While securing the funds constituted “a win for
President Trump, who has complained about how much the United States spends
abroad and has tried to get allies to foot more of the bill,” the Times
says that “the timing of the money’s arrival raised eyebrows even among
some of the bureaucrats whose programs will benefit from the influx of
cash.” Yet, “Brett McGurk, the United States envoy to the coalition
fighting the Islamic State, dismissed the idea that Mr. Pompeo’s visit and
the disbursement of funds were connected.”
US Announces Additional Iran Sanctions.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=05f-296&t=c>
(10/16, Lambert) reports the Treasury Department on Tuesday announced fresh
sanctions on Iran, “targeting Bank Mellat and Mehr Eqtesad Bank.” The US is
also imposing sanctions on Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company, Esfehan’s
Mobarakeh Steel Company, and “other companies linked to investment,
commodities and engineering.” According to Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=060-200&t=c>
(10/16, Wadhams), they represent “the Middle East’s largest steel producer
and largest tractor manufacturer,” alleging they provide financial support
to an Iranian paramilitary group known as the Basij Resistance Force and
“are complicit in the recruitment of children as soldiers.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=061-436&t=c>
(10/16, Boyer) reports Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the businesses
support Basij’s “efforts to recruit, train, and indoctrinate child soldiers
who are coerced into combat.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=062-5b7&t=c>
(10/16, Talley) says that by targeting the Basij’s financing network and
citing the group’s alleged use of child soldiers, the US hopes to not only
cut off its funding, but also scare off any business dealings with the
country. The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=063-108&t=c>
(10/16, Moore) and Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=064-263&t=c>
(10/16, Kredo), among other sources, have similar reports on the new
sanctions.

*Guilfoyle: Trump’s Support Blocks Iran From Wiping Israel “Off The
Map.” *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=065-1ea&t=c>
(10/16, Bedard) reports President Trump’s “move quickly after taking office
to rebuild strong support for Israel has helped block threats from Iran,
Hamas, and Hezbollah to eliminate the tiny nation,” Kimberly Guilfoyle,
vice chair of the “Trump-aligned super PAC” America First Action, told the
Republican Jewish Coalition in Los Angeles Monday night. Said Guilfoyle,
“Make no mistake, this president doesn’t gamble with Israel’s security the
way the last president did. This president has a great relationship with
Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, unlike the last occupant of the White
House.” She added, “Never forget Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and many other bad
actors in the region would wipe Israel off the map tomorrow if they could,
but with a strong partnership between Bibi and Trump that will not happen.”

*Iran Says It Has Killed Mastermind Of Deadly Attack On Parade. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=066-cd9&t=c>
(10/16) reports Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday “they had killed
the ‘mastermind’ behind an attack on a military parade” last month which
left 25 people dead. The Guards said in a statement published on state
media their forces had killed “a man named Abu Zaha and four other
militants in Diyala province in Iraq.”
Dunford Warns Of Complacency In Fight Against Al Qaeda, ISIS.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=067-2da&t=c>
(10/16, Baldor) reports that as the US and “other countries shift their
focus to growing security threats from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran,
the world must not become complacent in the fight against violent extremist
groups,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Tuesday. Gen.
Joseph Dunford “told a conference of more than 80 international defense
chiefs that easing pressure on al-Qaida and the Islamic State group will
give them time to reconstitute.” He also “issued a call for nations to find
a way to deal with the growing number of detained insurgents being held by
US allied Syrian rebels.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=068-769&t=c>
(10/16, Wolfgang) quotes Dunford as saying, “I think we’re all realists in
this room, and despite recent successes against ISIS and positive trends,
we know there’s actually much work to be done. ISIS is far from defeated
and has a presence in countries from West Africa to Southeast Asia. Its
ideology continues to inspire homegrown violent extremists in many of our
countries.”
Head Of Iraq’s Chaldean Church Says Promised US Aid Hasn’t Come.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=069-251&t=c>
(10/16, Winfield, George) reports that the head of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic
Church “complained on Tuesday that promised US aid for religious minorities
in Iraq hasn’t materialized, issuing an unusual public rebuke of the United
States on the same day Washington announced a new infusion of assistance.”
Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako spoke at a Vatican briefing as USAID
Administrator Mark Green “was at the Vatican for talks and announced a near
doubling of funding – to about $300 million since last year – and
on-the-ground results.” Asked about US aid, Sako said, “There are promises,
but the reality is that there’s been nothing up to now. Today, we need to
help and encourage Christians to remain in place, help them to find work,
repair their homes, give them a hope. Emptying these places is a mortal
sin, truly.”

*Anti-ISIS Coalition Forces Arrest Ten Terror Financiers In Iraq. *Fox
News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=06a-ff8&t=c>
(10/16) reported the Combined Joint Task Force says forces from the
coalition fighting ISIS have arrested ten members of “a group that finances
terror operations in Iraq.” The arrests come after coalition troops in
Syria “recently captured 28 suspected ISIS fighters and discovered more
than 1,000 improvised explosive devices.”
US Airstrike In Somalia Kills Dozens Of Al-Shabab Militants.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=06b-efc&t=c>
(10/16, Guled, Anna) reports the US military Tuesday announced “its
deadliest airstrike against the al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia in
nearly a year, killing about 60 fighters.” AFRICOM said Friday’s airstrike
in the central part of the country “was the largest US airstrike since one
on Nov. 21, 2017, killed about 100 al-Shabab fighters.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=06c-4fc&t=c>
(10/16, Schmitt) reports AFRICOM officials “offered no other details except
to say it did not kill or injure any civilians, suggesting the militants
were in a camp or massing for an attack.”
Trump: No US President Has Been Tougher On Russia.

President Trump said during his interview with Fox Business’ Trish Regan
Primetime[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=06d-65a&t=c>
(10/16), “Nobody has been tougher on Russia. No president, at least
certainly in the semi-modern era, has been tougher than I am.” Asked about
criticism that he should have been tougher on Russian President Vladimir
Putin in the Helsinki meeting, Trump said, “With Putin they want me to go
up and have a boxing match with him on stage?” Trump said that in his
meeting with Putin, “I said no more meddling if you did meddle. He said I
didn’t meddle. I said no more meddling.”

*Trump, Putin To Both Attend Paris Ceremony Next Month, Do Not Plan
To Meet. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=06e-b45&t=c>
(10/16, Jackson) reports Trump and Putin “both plan to be in Paris for a
World War I commemoration next month, but officials said there is no formal
meeting scheduled.” While “no formal bilateral meeting is planned between
Trump and Putin, neither side has ruled out a more informal meeting on the
sidelines of the Paris gathering.” USA Today adds that the two leaders held
“an impromptu meeting last November on the sidelines of an Asian economic
summit in Vietnam.”

*Kremlin: Putin Seeking To Host Summit With Kim This Year. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=06f-bb5&t=c>
(10/16) reports the Kremlin said Tuesday that it is discussing a possible
visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year. President Vladimir
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Moscow and Pyongyang
are “discussing the timing and venue for the visit, and no agreement has
been reached yet.”

*Korean Officials Discuss Removing Weapons From DMZ Village. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=070-d75&t=c>
(10/16, Choe) reports South and North Korean officials, as well as
representatives from the UN, on Tuesday “began talks...to turn a border
village into an unarmed neutral enclave where military guards and tourists
from both sides would move freely across the demarcation line.” The village
of Panmunjom, “also known as the Joint Security Area, lies inside the
Demilitarized Zone,” and “when President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, met last month in Pyongyang...both sides
agreed to disarm Panmunjom to turn it into what South Korea hopes will
become a ‘symbol of peace’ on the divided peninsula.”
Google CEO Acknowledges Building Search Engine To Appease Chinese Censors.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=071-cc2&t=c>
(10/16, Fung) reports that Google has “finally confirmed a secretive
project that’s been fueling an employee-led backlash for weeks at the
company: an effort to build a version of its search engine that complies
with China’s online censorship regime.” According to the Post, “The
project, code-named Dragonfly, is not only real but is already performing
to the satisfaction of top Google executives.” At a Wired event on Monday
night, Google CEO Sundar Piuchai said, “If Google were to operate in China,
what would it look like? What queries will we be able to serve? It turns
out we’ll be able to serve well over 99 percent of the queries.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=072-202&t=c>
(10/16) editorializes that Google announced that “it would not compete for
a $10 billion cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon” on grounds that
“the work would conflict with its corporate values,” but with Project
Dragonfly, it appears that this “ethical high-mindedness” did not “come
into play.” The Post urges “people in the United States, from employees to
members of Congress to everyday citizens, to speak up for what they
believe,” because “Google’s potential customers in China do not enjoy that
opportunity.”

*China Defends Muslim Detention Camps As Job-Training Program. *Under
what the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=073-a56&t=c>
(10/16, Buckley)calls “mounting international criticism, China has given
its most extensive defense yet of its sweeping campaign to detain and
indoctrinate Muslims, with a senior official on Tuesday describing its
network of camps in the far west as humane job-training centers.” Chairman
of Xinjiang’s government and a Uighur himself, Shohrat Zakir, “called the
camps a ‘humane’ and lawful shield against terrorism in an interview
published by China’s official Xinhua news agency.” In what the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=074-4c6&t=c>
(10/16, Shih) calls a “lengthy state media article aimed at rebutting a
mounting chorus of international criticism,” Zakir “characterized the
detention program as an effort to provide legal education and job training
in humane, ‘people-oriented’ facilities.”
McConnell: Senate Won’t Vote On USMCA This Year.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=075-9a0&t=c>
(10/16, Shepardson) reports Senate Majority Leader McConnell said Tuesday
that the Senate will not vote on the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
trade deal this year. Said McConnell, “That will be a next-year issue
because the process we have to go through doesn’t allow that to come up
before the end of this year.” The new trade deal is set to be signed on
Nov. 30, “but to comply with fast-track US trade rules, Congress must get a
report from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on the economic
impacts of the trade deal.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=076-87e&t=c>
(10/16, Leonard) also notes McConnell’s comments about the timing of a
Senate vote on the deal.

*Administration Moves To Begin Trade Talks With UK, EU, Japan.
*The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=077-6a9&t=c>
(10/16, Higgins) reports the Administration announced Tuesday that it would
seek separate trade agreement talks with the UK, EU and Japan. The Examiner
notes that “no specifics on the talks were announced, which are only at the
preliminary stages and would not be able to officially start until next
year.” USTR Lighthizer said, “Today’s announcement is an important
milestone in that process. We are committed to concluding these
negotiations with timely and substantive results for American workers,
farmers, ranchers, and businesses.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=078-804&t=c>
(10/16, Elis) reports the Administration made the announcement in three
letters to Congress, which allow “talks to formally open after a 90-day
period.” Lighthizer, however, “said the UK negotiations would only begin
after Britain finalizes its extrication from the EU.”
Domestic Policy
Trump Calls Warren “Total Fraud”; Democrats, Cherokee Nation Also Criticize
Her.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=079-b13&t=c>
yesterday, “Pocahontas (the bad version), sometimes referred to as
Elizabeth Warren, is getting slammed. She took a bogus DNA test and it
showed that she may be 1/1024, far less than the average American. Now
Cherokee Nation denies her, ‘DNA test is useless.’ Even they don’t want
her. Phony! ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018101701biden&r=email-215e&l=07a-39a&t=c>
Now that her claims of being of Indian heritage have turned out to be a
s