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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, May 23, 2018 7:56 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, May 23, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=000-a5c&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=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=001-35a&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, May 23, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Trump Says FBI “Spies” On His Campaign Would Be “Disgrace To The Country.”
<#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump: “Good Chance” Summit Will Happen, But It “May Not Work Out For
June 12.” <#S2>

• Trump Says US-China Trade Talks Still Have “Long Way To Go.” <#S3>

• US Officials Have Reached Out To Sadr Allies. <#S4>

• Palestinians Request ICC Investigation Into Israel’s Alleged Human Rights
Abuses. <#S5>

• Pompeo: US, Europe Can Reach Consensus On Iran. <#S6>

• Maduro Expels Two US Envoys From Venezuela. <#S7>

• WPost: FBI Overstated Encryption Threat Statistics To Congress, Public.
<#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Delivers Keynote Address At “Campaign For Life Gala.” <#S9>

• House Leaders Plan Vote On Immigration Measure Backed By Conservatives.
<#S10>

• House Passes “Right-To-Try” Bill. <#S11>

• House Passes Dodd-Frank Rollback 258-159. <#S12>

• Senate Democratic Bill Would Add LGBT Protections To Religious Freedom
Act. <#S13>

• Georgia’s Abrams First Black Woman Major-Party Governor Nominee In US
History. <#S14>

• Valdez Becomes Texas’ First Latina, Openly-Gay Major-Party Gubernatorial
Nominee. <#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• Report Finds Declining Overall US Cancer Death Rate. <#S16>

• Task Force Modifies 2012 Recommendation To Drop Routine PSA Screening.
<#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• Biden Backs Ex-Rep. Horsford’s Bid To Succeed Kihuen In NV4. <#S20>

• Biden Expected To Endorse Cuomo During Speech At State Democratic Party
Convention. <#S21>

• The Heavy Examines Biden’s Net Worth. <#S22>
Leading the News
Trump Says FBI “Spies” On His Campaign Would Be “Disgrace To The Country.”

In a pair of tweets Tuesday night, President Trump argued that the FBI
placed a “spy” in his campaign “for political purposes.” The tweets came
after Trump said earlier Tuesday that if reports that the FBI had “spies”
in his campaign prove true, it would be the a “disgrace to the country” and
“very illegal.” Media coverage of Trump’s comments is heavy with several
reports suggesting he is trying to discredit Special Counsel Robert
Mueller’s investigation.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=002-fdc&t=c>
(5/22, Correll) reports that in his tweets Tuesday night, Trump “asked why
an FBI source who met with some members of his 2016 campaign was paid by
the government, arguing the informant was ‘there to spy for political
purposes.’” Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=003-31d&t=c>,
“If the person placed very early into my campaign wasn’t a SPY put there by
the previous Administration for political purposes, how come such a
seemingly massive amount of money was paid for services rendered – many
times higher than normal.” He followed that tweet with another
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=004-8df&t=c>
stating, “Follow the money! The spy was there early in the campaign and yet
never reported Collusion with Russia, because there was no Collusion. He
was only there to spy for political reasons and to help Crooked Hillary win
– just like they did to Bernie Sanders, who got duped!” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=005-11c&t=c>
(5/22, Caruso) also reports on Trump’s tweets.

Earlier Tuesday, during an event with South Korean President Moon
Jae-in, the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=006-b82&t=c>
(5/22, Fredericks) reports, Trump told reporters, “A lot of people are
saying that they had spies in my campaign. If they had spies in my
campaign, that would be a disgrace to this country. That would be one of
the biggest insults that anyone has ever seen. ... It would be very illegal
aside from everything else. It would make probably every political event
ever look like small potatoes. So we want to make sure that there weren’t.
I hope there weren’t, frankly.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=007-21f&t=c>
(5/22, Wagner) says Trump “was referring to the FBI’s use of a confidential
source to aid its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016
election.” While there is “no evidence to suggest that the source,” Stefan
Halper, then an emeritus professor at the University of Cambridge, “was
inserted into the Trump campaign,” he “did engage in a pattern of seeking
out and meeting Trump campaign advisers.” Trump “has seized on news reports
about Halper as part of a bid to discredit the ongoing special counsel
investigation as politically motivated.” Similarly, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=008-510&t=c>
(5/22, Nelson) says Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, have “seized” on
the news that the FBI probe included the use of government informants, and
Trump and his allies “have characterized those informants as spies working
for the FBI, lambasting their deployment as a deep-state political attack.”

Kristen Welker said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=009-dc3&t=c>
(5/22, story 3, 1:50, Holt) that Trump “is escalating his assault on the
investigators who are investigating him, prompting a critical question: Is
the President threatening the long-standing independence of the Justice
Department?” On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=00a-59a&t=c>
(5/22, story 6, 3:32, Muir), Cecilia Vega described Trump as “dialing up
the outrage at the unsubstantiated claim that the FBI may have used spies
to infiltrate his campaign” while there is “no evidence that actually
happened.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=00b-e89&t=c>
(5/22, Fabian) reports that critics say Trump “is using the allegations to
muddy the waters in the Russia probe.”

Carter Page said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=00c-22b&t=c>
(5/22) that he first met Halper in July 2016 when he attended a conference
at Cambridge University. Asked if there was anything unusual about hi
conversations with Halper, Page said, “I never found anything unusual
whatsoever.” Page added, “We ended up staying in contact for over a year.
... You know, he’s someone who is, you know, long-term – someone who had
been part of the establishment in Republican politics. So typically, you
know, around the convention time and halfway through a presidential
year...you keep bringing on more people in terms of potential supporters
from the party, et cetera. It just seemed like something like that.”

Former Trump campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis said on Fox News’
Tucker Carlson Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=00d-284&t=c>
(5/22) that when he met with Halper, it “was like two faculty members in
the faculty lounge. I didn’t think any of it until I started to see the
reporting that came out recently. Then I started to put two and two
together. ... I really think that’s what his task was, was to create an
audit trail back to those emails from someone in the campaign or someone
associated with the campaign so that they could develop a stronger case for
probable cause to continue to issue warrants and to further an
investigation.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=00e-0c0&t=c>
(5/22), “What Trump is trying to do is deflect attention from the
investigation and go after those people who are trying to secure the truth.
Let this investigation play out. I’ve been asked a million times, do I
think Trump should be impeached? I don’t right now. Let the investigation
play out. Let the truth come out and leave Mueller and his team alone so
they can pursue this investigation.”

In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=00f-233&t=c>
(5/22) column, David Ignatius writes that it is “outrageous that Trump has
encouraged ‘outing’” Halper, and adds that “this latest attempt to deflect
special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation only adds to
suspicion that Trump has something very big to hide.” Ignatius also argues
that it is “laughable to imagine Halper as a superspy.” Trump, Ignatius
adds, “is running a circus of distraction. But at the center of the ring
remains Mueller, silent and unblinking.”

Frank Bruni writes in his New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=010-f6d&t=c>
(5/22) column that the Mueller investigation has become “the one test that
Trump must pass.” But even if he passes it, “that won’t make him a
successful president, a fit leader or even a decent human being.” However,
“it will permit a master of distraction to distract many Americans from his
other misdeeds.” Trump “knows that if he sets the bar at incontrovertible
evidence of him and Putin huddled over a Hillary Clinton voodoo doll, he
just might clear it. And he knows that if Americans are fixated on
collusion, they aren’t concentrating on much else. That’s good for him and
terrible for the country.”

*In Tweet Today, Trump Says “What Goes Around, Comes Around” For
“Criminal Deep State.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=011-57e&t=c>
this morning, “Look how things have turned around on the Criminal Deep
State. They go after Phony Collusion with Russia, a made up Scam, and end
up getting caught in a major SPY scandal the likes of which this country
may never have seen before! What goes around, comes around!” Trump added in
a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=012-f29&t=c>,
“‘It’s clear that they had eyes and ears all over the Trump Campaign’ Judge
Andrew Napolitano.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=013-5fb&t=c>
later this morning, “SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals
in history!” In a fourth tweet on the topic today, Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=014-653&t=c>,
“‘Trump should be happy that the FBI was SPYING on his campaign’ No, James
Clapper, I am not happy. Spying on a campaign would be illegal, and a
scandal to boot!”

*Trump Declines To Express Confidence In Rosenstein. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=015-d17&t=c>
(5/22, Butler, Day) reports that Trump “declined to say...whether he has
confidence in” Rosenstein, and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=016-165&t=c>
(5/22, Boyer, Mordock) that he “dodged questions” about Rosenstein, who
“has been a frequent target of the president.” Asked by a reporter if he
has confidence in Rosenstein, the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=017-941&t=c>
(5/22, Caralle) reports, Trump said, “What is your next question, please?
... I have the President of South Korea here, okay? He doesn’t want to hear
these questions, if you don’t mind.”

Meanwhile, media reports Tuesday morning suggested that Trump is
satisfied that the Justice Department IG will provide a full accounting of
the FBI’s interactions with his campaign aides in 2016. The coverage gives
Rosenstein credit for having seemingly assuaged the concerns of both the
White House and law enforcement officials, at least temporarily. On CBS
This Morning[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=018-c8d&t=c>
(5/22, 7:04 a.m. EDT, O'Donnell), Paula Reid reported that Rosenstein, “in
a political maneuver, has managed to avoid a showdown with President
Trump.” Reid said Rosenstein “passed this issue off to the inspector
general’s office before the President could issue any order, and at a
meeting...at the White House yesterday, it appeared that the President was
satisfied.” Reid said the White House is “trying to paint this as a win.”

On NBC’s Today[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=019-77c&t=c>
(5/22, 7:05 a.m. EDT, Guthrie), Peter Alexander said Trump’s “pressure
campaign on the Justice Department may be paying off.” Likewise, on ABC’s
Good Morning America[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=01a-b86&t=c>
(5/22, 7:07 a.m. EDT, Stephanopoulos), Cecilia Vega said the promised IG
probe “seems to have pleased President Trump enough to avoid a showdown
with his Justice Department, at least for now,” and on Fox News’ Fox &
Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=01b-9a6&t=c>
(5/22), Steve Doocy said Trump “went along with” Rosenstein’s suggestion
that the DOJ IG “look into any irregularity.”

Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=01c-1d0&t=c>
(5/22, 7:07 a.m. EDT, Stephanopoulos), Chris Christie said Rosenstein
“responded the right way” to Trump’s demand for an inquiry “by not
overreacting” and delegating it to DOJ IG Michael Horowitz, “an Obama
appointee” and “longtime Justice Department employee.”

*Republicans Call For Second Special Counsel To Probe FBI Spying
Allegations. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=01d-e31&t=c>
(5/22) reports that some of Trump’s “closest conservative allies in
Congress called for the appointment of a second special counsel on Tuesday
to investigate the probe into Trump’s campaign.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=01e-56f&t=c>
(5/22, Kelly) says 19 “ultraconservative House Republicans offered a
resolution Tuesday directing the attorney general to appoint a special
counsel to investigate alleged ‘misconduct at the highest levels’ of the
FBI and Department of Justice.” The resolution, which is not legally
binding, “seeks a special counsel to investigate ‘how and why the Hillary
Clinton probe ended, and how and why the Donald Trump-Russia probe began.’”

Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=01f-c09&t=c>
(5/22), Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) said, “We...need to get people to be held
accountable for any FISA abuse that occurred, and then how did this
investigation into the Trump campaign start and was it on the up and up
from the very beginning? ... I don’t think that the Justice Department is
going to be able to investigate themselves.” DeSantis said an inspector
general probe is not sufficient because the IG has “no subpoena power,”
and, “if they uncover evidence of criminal misconduct,” they “can’t
prosecute.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=020-1f0&t=c>
(5/22), “Here we see the potential collection of intelligence on the Trump
campaign and we also see the misrepresentation of information before the
FISA Court, which would violate Woods Procedures. That would be something
that we would absolutely want to get to the bottom of. We’ve seen a number
of personnel changes at the FBI and the Department of Justice that seem to
indicate something is not right.” Gaetz added, “My specific concern deals
with the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. I think Mr. Rod Rosenstein
is deeply conflicted. I think that in many cases he is playing Jeff
Sessions.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R) said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=021-a00&t=c>
(5/22), “Jeff Sessions says only under extraordinary circumstances do you
name a special counsel. How about the fact the top five people at the FBI
have been fired or demoted? Those same people that ran the Clinton
investigation, who launched the Russia investigation, who used the
opposition research document at the FISA court and now look like they paid
informants to be a part of the Trump campaign. How about that for a fact
pattern that’s extraordinary? If that’s not extraordinary, someone better
tell me what is.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=022-8fd&t=c>
(5/22) reports that House Speaker Ryan “isn’t committing to that idea” of a
second special counsel, and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=023-b47&t=c>
(5/22, Demirjian) says he has “not promised the conservative Republicans
pushing for a vote on their resolution that he will give it time on the
floor.” In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=024-06d&t=c>
(5/22) column, Dana Milbank casts the call for a second special counsel as
an effort to distract from the progress in Mueller’s investigation.

*Two GOP Lawmakers To Review Information On Confidential FBI
Source. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=025-875&t=c>
(5/22, Demirjian) reports the White House said Tuesday that Nunes and House
Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy would be the only two
lawmakers “allowed to review classified information about a confidential
FBI source who aided the investigation into the Trump campaign at a meeting
Thursday with Justice Department and intelligence officials.” According to
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the meeting will “also include
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, Director of National Intelligence Daniel
Coats and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=026-2a7&t=c>
(5/22, Fabian) says the list of those invited “will almost certainly spark
criticism of political bias from Democrats.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=027-19a&t=c>
(5/22, Sink) reports that Senate Minority Leader Schumer called the
meeting, which was organized by Chief of Staff Kelly, “totally
inappropriate.” Said Schumer, “It would be inappropriate for the White
House to inquire about any ongoing investigation and put pressure to direct
it’s outcome. ... It’s even worse when the President and his campaign are
subject to that investigation. So I think it’s very wrong and I think it
shouldn’t be done. It’s unprecedented, it’s outrageous. And it has
overtones of things that would be done in a banana republic.”

Charles Lane of the Washington Post said on Fox News Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=028-be8&t=c>
(5/22), “If this is about congressional access to these vital materials,
why shouldn’t it be bipartisan? The Democratic ranking member of that
committee is cleared as well. Especially if you don’t want to create the
impression that this is just partisanship in the other direction, that
there is a real principle at stake here.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=029-763&t=c>
(5/22, Morrongiello) reports that the White House “defended its decision to
only invite Republican lawmakers,” arguing that Democrats “never asked” to
see the materials. Sanders said, “To my knowledge, Democrats have not
requested that information so I would refer you back to them on why they
consider themselves randomly invited to see something they’ve never asked
to.”

*Townhall: Emails Show FBI Contacted CNN About Trump Dossier. *Matt
Vespa writes on Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=02a-376&t=c>
(5/22) that “disgraced Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe not only lied to
investigators multiple times about unauthorized media leaks, he also
discussed the infamous Trump dossier with CNN.” A series of emails obtained
by Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson show “top FBI officials
were in contact with the news organizations about the dossier.” McCabe
wrote that “a flood is coming.”

*Clapper Says FBI Was Not Spying On Trump Campaign. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=02b-58c&t=c>
(5/22, Leonor) reports that in an appearance on ABC’s The View[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=02c-22c&t=c>
(5/22) Tuesday morning, former Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper said that the FBI was not spying on the Trump campaign. Clapper
said, “They were not. They were spying – a term I don’t particularly like –
on what the Russians were doing.” Politico adds that Clapper “defended the
use of an informant,” calling it “a fairly benign tool available to the
FBI, given all the other capabilities available.”

*Stone: Brennan Will Die In Federal Penitentiary. *Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=02d-c66&t=c>
(5/22, Wong) reports that Roger Stone “said in an exclusive interview with
SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily on Tuesday morning that former CIA Director
John Brennan will ‘die in a federal penitentiary.’” Stone said, “John
Brennan should pop the glass capsule and take the cyanide now. ... He’s the
perp who started the entire Russian dossier matter. He’s lied about it
under oath. He’s going to die in a federal penitentiary.” Stone added, “He
goes on Twitter and threatens the President of the United States. He’s
constantly foreshadowing what Robert Mueller has. ... Mr. Brennan, you’re
out of government. How would you know? John Brennan is the number one
criminal perp in this entire matter, and it’s only a matter of time before
justice catches up with him.”

*Nielsen Says She Has Not Seen Evidence That Russia Tried To Assist
Trump’s Campaign. *On CNN[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=02e-02b&t=c>
(5/22) Tuesday morning, Kate Bolduan said that in a “pretty stunning
development,” DHS Secretary Nielsen “push[ed] back today against the
intelligence community’s assessment that Russia tried to tip the election
in Donald Trump’s favor,” which Bolduan said was “determined by the intel
community’s report in January of 2017.” Nielsen was shown saying, “I do not
believe I’ve seen that conclusion, that the specific intent was to help
President Trump win. I’m not aware of that, but I do, generally, have no
reason to doubt any intelligence assessment. ... I do believe that Russia
did and will continue to try to manipulate Americans’ perspective on a
whole variety of issues.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=02f-06a&t=c>
(5/22, Demirjian) reports that several top Democrats “said they are unsure
whether Nielsen,” who “met with house members Tuesday in a closed-door
briefing about election security,” was “being serious or simply playing
politics when she said she was unaware of the intelligence community’s
conclusions. They surmised she might have been trying to avoid upsetting
Trump.”

Paula Reid said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=030-be5&t=c>
(5/22, story 4, 1:50, Glor) that Nielsen’s comments “stunned some
lawmakers,” and DHS “tried to walk [them] back...insisting that she has
read the intelligence assessment, and that she is aware of the threat posed
by Russia.” Under the headline, “Homeland Security Chief Backtracks After
Saying Russia Didn’t Try To Help Trump,” the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=031-283&t=c>
(5/22, Nixon) says DHS “clarified Ms. Nielsen’s remarks to say that she
‘agrees with’ the intelligence community’s assessment about the 2016
presidential election.”

*Mnuchin Says It Appears Cohen Banking Records Were Leaked From
Treasury Database. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=032-9e9&t=c>
(5/22) reports Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said Tuesday “that banking
records of President Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen appear to have
been leaked from a database maintained by his department.” Mnuchin is
quoted as saying, “There is the appearance that some of the information may
have gone out.” Bloomberg notes that the New Yorker “reported last week
that a law enforcement official provided Suspicious Activity Reports on
Cohen’s accounts from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to
several media organizations.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=033-bc3&t=c>
(5/22, Crutsinger) reports that Mnuchin said the Treasury Department’s
inspector general is looking into the matter.

*Avenatti: Cohen Leaking Audio Recordings Seized By FBI. *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=034-801&t=c>
(5/22, Whitehouse) reports that Michael Avenatti, the attorney for Stormy
Daniels, claims in a new court filing that Cohen has “begun to leak” audio
recordings seized by the FBI tied to Daniels. In a letter to federal judge
Kimba Wood, Avenatti wrote, “We have reason to believe that plaintiff
Michael Cohen, or members of his team, have begun to leak select audio
recordings to the media that were seized in the FBI raids. ... We further
have reason to believe that these recordings may relate to our client.”
Avenatti added, “We respectfully request that the Court make inquiry of Mr.
Cohen’s attorneys of these leaks at Thursday’s hearing, including, among
other things, whether Mr. Cohen’s team is the source of the leaks, what was
disclosed, and the reasons for the disclosures.”

*Avenatti’s Firm Hit With $10 Million Bankruptcy Court Judgment. *The
Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=035-6cd&t=c>
(5/22, Finnegan) reports that Avenatti’s law firm, Eagan Avenatti, “was hit
with a $10-million judgment Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after he broke
his promise to pay $2 million to a former colleague.” Judge Catherine Bauer
of US Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana ordered the firm to pay $10 million to
Jason Frank, a lawyer who used to work at the firm. Avenatti “had
personally guaranteed that the $2 million would be paid to Frank last week,
but both he and his firm failed to turn over the money.”

*Cohen Business Partner Takes Plea Deal, Agrees To Cooperate. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=036-a87&t=c>
(5/22, Hakim, Rashbaum, Wang) reports that Evgeny A. Freidman, a
“significant business partner” of Cohen’s, “has quietly agreed to cooperate
with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be
used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel.”
Under the agreement, Freidman “will avoid jail time, and will assist
government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a
person briefed on the matter.” Freidman, who “faced four counts of criminal
tax fraud and one of grand larceny,” each of which “carries a maximum
prison sentence of up to 25 years in prison,” pleaded guilty “to a single
count of evading only $50,000 worth of taxes; he faces five years of
probation if he fulfills the terms of his agreement.”

Dana Bash said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=037-d43&t=c>
(5/22) that Freidman was “facing up to 25 years in prison and now much of
that is gone and he pleads to something much, much lesser.” Bash added that
“prosecutors don’t do that because they’re nice people. They do it because
they feel like they’ve got a lot to gain in return. And so the question is
what does this guy have on Michael Cohen. ... Even if he does have a lot on
Michael Cohen, it still doesn’t answer the question as to whether that
points arrows to and fingers at the guy in the White House, at the
President.”

Legal analyst Joey Jackson, on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=038-1f5&t=c>
(5/22), called Freidman’s plea a “huge development” that “brings Michael
Cohen one step closer to flipping on the President.” But, Paula Reid said
on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=039-69a&t=c>
(5/22, story 4, 1:50, Glor) that Cohen “could resist that pressure if he
believes the President would grant him a pardon in exchange for not sharing
sensitive information about the President’s inner circle and his family.”
However, a presidential pardon “only protects you from federal charges, not
anything filed by the state.”

*NYTimes: Cohen Sought To Capitalize On His Ties To Trump
Administration. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=03a-68f&t=c>
(5/22, Protess, Rashbaum, McIntire) reports on Cohen’s relationship with
Andrew Intrater, “an American private equity executive whose cousin” is the
Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Cohen and Intrater met weeks before the
2016 election, and over the next year, they “sat together at one of Mr.
Trump’s inauguration dinners along with” Vekselberg, Intrater’s firm,
Columbus Nova, “signed Mr. Cohen to a $1 million consulting contract,” and
Cohen “urged Mr. Intrater to attend Republican fund-raising events after
the inauguration.” The Times cites the relationship as an example of Cohen
“capitaliz[ing] on his ties to the new administration” but says “little in
the way of deals ever materialized” between Cohen and Intrater.

*Mueller Looking Into Money Paid To Israeli Firm That Met With
Trump Jr. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=03b-162&t=c>
(5/22) reports that “Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team has asked about
flows of money into the Cyprus bank account of” PSY Group, an Israeli
company “that specialized in social-media manipulation and whose founder
reportedly met with Donald Trump Jr. in August 2016.”

*UAE Says It Did Not Try To Influence Election. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=03c-594&t=c>
(5/22) reports that in the wake of reports that Trump Jr. “met with an
envoy representing the crown princes of the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” the
UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, said Tuesday
that his country did not try to influence the election. Gargash tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=03d-1dc&t=c>,
“Attention needs to be paid to facts over innuendo & speculation; the UAE
made no effort to influence the 2016 U.S. election.” He added
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=03e-04e&t=c>,
“Like other governments friendly to the US, UAE officials had contact with
staff & advisors in both 2016 presidential campaigns to inform and be
informed of the candidates’ foreign policy positions.”

*Bannon Says Qatari Representatives Tried To Meet With Him. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=03f-6de&t=c>
(5/22) reports Steve Bannon has “said he was aware that Qatar was making
efforts to meet with him last year as part of a broader campaign to
influence the administration, but he said he rebuffed them.” Bannon is
quoted as saying, “I knew the Qataris were looking to sit down with me. I
never met with any of them.” Bloomberg says “efforts by Middle Eastern
countries – including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – to
influence U.S. policy have come under greater scrutiny following recent
reports that Elliott Broidy, a top Trump fundraiser, was positioning
himself as an intermediary for the campaign and administration.”

*Trump Seeks To Delay Zervos’ Lawsuit. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=040-854&t=c>
(5/22) reports that in a court filing Monday, Trump sought to delay former
“The Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos’ defamation lawsuit against him.
Trump told the New York Court of Appeals that the lawsuit “should be put on
hold because a sitting U.S. president is immune from being sued in a state
court during his term in the White House.”

*Human Rights Activist Sues Fusion GPS Founders Under RICO Statute.
*The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=041-990&t=c>
(5/22, Ross) reports that Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights
Foundation is suing Fusion GPS founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch
under the RICO statute. Halvorssen claims that Simpson and Fritsch “engaged
in a conspiracy to retaliate against him for blowing the whistle on one of
Fusion’s clients, a Venezuelan power plant company called Derwick
Associates.” According to the lawsuit, they were “hired to produce a
dossier and a media campaign ‘to depict Halvorssen as a pedophile, heroin
addict, and embezzler of the Foundation’s money.’”
Foreign Policy
Trump: “Good Chance” Summit Will Happen, But It “May Not Work Out For June
12.”

President Trump told reporters yesterday that plans for a summit with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-un “may not work out for June 12,” though he also
said “there’s a good chance that we’ll have the meeting.” Media reports
interpreted Trump’s comments as an attempt to lower expectations. Trump had
just met with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, who, the Los Angeles
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=042-c98&t=c>
(5/22, Stokols) reports, “lavished praise on” him – “as he has in past
meetings – for helping steer North and South Korea closer to a possible
peace agreement.” Said Moon, “Thanks to your vision of achieving peace
through strength, and your strong leadership. ... We find ourselves
standing one step closer to the dream of achieving the complete
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and world peace.” The Times adds
“Trump was less outwardly optimistic,” saying, “We’ll see what happens. ...
Whether or not it happens, you’ll be knowing pretty soon.”

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=043-82a&t=c>
(5/22, story 2, 2:25, Jackson) reported, however, that for Trump, this is
“the start of the deal,” and he is “still confident in how it will end.”
Trump was shown saying, “In the end, it will work out. Can’t tell you
exactly how or why, but it always does. It’s going to work out.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=044-986&t=c>
(5/22, Korte) notes Trump went on to caution, “You never know about deals.
... I’ve made a lot of deals. You never really know.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=045-577&t=c>
(5/22, Landler) reports Trump “appeared as baffled as anyone else about
what might come next,” and the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=046-1c5&t=c>
(5/22, lead story, 2:50, Glor) showed him saying, “We’re moving along, and
we’ll see what happens. There are certain conditions that we want, and I
think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we don’t have the
meeting.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=047-6f7&t=c>
(5/22, story 2, 3:03, Karl) reported, however, that Trump said “he would
still like to have what he called an ‘all in one’ deal, but he certainly
left open the possibility of accepting something short of that,” and “make
no mistake, rewarding North Korea before it gives up its entire nuclear
program would be a major concession.” Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=048-2d6&t=c>
(5/22, Pavlich) quotes Trump as saying that if there is a deal “it will be
a great thing for North Korea and if it doesn’t, that’s okay too. ...
Frankly, it has the chance to be a...great meeting for North Korea and a
great meeting for the world. ... North Korea has a chance to be a great
country and it can’t be a country under these circumstances they are living
right now. I think they should seize the opportunity.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=049-d8e&t=c>
(5/22, Epstein) says that “while Trump has previously acknowledged
uncertainty around the planned summit, his remarks Tuesday went further by
suggesting that the meeting could fall apart,” and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=04a-a12&t=c>
(5/22, Nakamura) reports that “the uncertainty comes after recent hard line
rhetoric from Pyongyang” in response to National Security Adviser Bolton
“suggest[ing] the North Koreans would be expected to fully relinquish their
nuclear weapons program before receiving reciprocal benefits from the
United States.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=04b-eee&t=c>
(5/22) reports that “before seeing Trump, Moon met with Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo and...Bolton and urged them to speed preparations for the
Trump-Kim summit.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=04c-9a1&t=c>
(5/22, Lucey, Miller) notes Trump “said he’d noticed ‘a little change’ in
Kim Jong Un’s ‘attitude’ after Kim took a second trip to China this month
in the run-up to the summit.” The AP also notes that Trump “said he hoped
that Chinese President Xi Jinping was committed to the goal of
denuclearizing the Korean peninsula,” and “said he was displeased by
China’s softening of border enforcement measures against North Korea.”
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=04d-bd7&t=c>
(5/22, Lima) quotes Trump as saying “‘there was a little change in attitude
from Kim Jong Un’ after his second meeting with Xi in early May,” and
adding, “So I don’t like that.” However, “pressed on whether he believed Xi
had discouraged Kim from meeting with US leaders, Trump said ‘no’ and that
he wasn’t ‘blaming anybody.’” Added Trump, “President Xi is a world-class
poker player and I’d probably maybe doing the same thing that he would do.
But I will say this, there was a somewhat different attitude after that
meeting and I’m a little surprised.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=04e-715&t=c>
(5/22, Fabian), Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=04f-026&t=c>
(5/22, Boyer), and The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=050-751&t=c>
(5/22, Bender, Cheng), among other news outlets, run similar reports on
Trump’s comments.

Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=051-b1b&t=c>
(5/22), “The President made very clear from the beginning and said it again
today that if [the summit] happens that’s great, if it doesn’t happen
that’s okay, too. Maybe it won’t happen on June 12, it will happen at a
later date. We are still way ahead. we still made tremendous progress there
because of President trump’s leadership. Without him North Korea would not
be talking to south Korea. Those three American detainees would not be
back. ... What the President has said is that we will continue to make
progress, continue to talk. Remember, the goal here is not to have a
summit. The goal is denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and that’s
with the President is looking at.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=052-dc0&t=c>
(5/22) reports, meanwhile, that Secretary of State Pompeo said yesterday
that the Administration is “still planning for a June 12 summit,” but
“declined to predict whether the summit would actually take place.” Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=053-f4b&t=c>
(5/22, Atkinson), however, indicates “Pompeo struck an optimistic tone
regarding the planned summit,” saying “the administration is ‘still working
towards June 12th,’ despite the president’s earlier skeptic tone towards
the historic gathering.” Said Pompeo, “I wouldn’t care to predict whether
it will happen, only to predict that we’ll be ready in the event that it
does.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=054-447&t=c>
(5/22) notes that Pompeo also said today that North Korea “could benefit
from American investment and technology if it denuclearizes” and said “it’s
something he spoke about in general terms with Kim.” Pompeo is quoted as
saying, “if we get the denuclearization right, then America would be quite
capable of delivering them with lots of things that would make life better
for the North Korean people.”

Jeff Zeleny reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=055-9aa&t=c>
(5/22) that while Trump is “conceding next month’s Singapore summit...is in
doubt,” Pompeo “did not ever talk about it in those terms. He said they are
still working toward the idea of that summit happening. And of course,”
Pompeo is “the only US official who has held face-to-face meetings with Kim
Jong-un...so clearly the US government is trying to send a message that
they are still open for those talks.” John Roberts reported on Fox News
Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=056-407&t=c>
(5/22) that Trump “said the chances of a summit between him and...Kim...is
basically a coin flip,” but “later this afternoon...Pompeo said the State
Department is still working for the June 12 date and that the US is in deep
discussions with North Korea over substance.” Pompeo was shown saying, “We
are working to make sure there is a common understanding about the contents
of what will discussed but I am optimistic. But again, this could be
something that comes right to the end and doesn’t happen.”

*Trump Reiterates Kim Will Be Protected If Denuclearization
Happens. *ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=057-b22&t=c>
(5/22, story 2, 3:03, Karl) reported that Trump “made it clear he’s willing
to offer a lot to the North Korean dictator.” Trump was shown saying, “I
will guarantee his safety. Yes. He will be safe. He will be happy. His
country will be rich.” ABC (Karl) added, “He says Japan, China and South
Korea will pitch in, too.” Trump: “They will be willing to help and I
believe invest very, very large sums of money into helping to make North
Korea great.”

*Moon’s National Security Adviser: “99.9 Percent” Chance Summit
Will Take Place. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=058-f77&t=c>
(5/22, Choe) reports that Chung Eui-yong, a national security adviser to
South Korean President Moon Jae-in “played down recent reports that Mr.
Trump had become nervous about meeting Mr. Kim in Singapore next month for
a historic summit meeting,” and said “there was a ‘99.9 percent’ chance of
it happening.”

*Top US Aides Meeting North Koreans In Singapore To Prepare Summit.
*The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=059-bb8&t=c>
(5/22, Nakamura, Leonnig, Hudson, Parker) reports that “top” Administration
aides are preparing “to travel to Singapore for a crucial planning meeting
this weekend with North Korean officials.” The Post adds “members of the
White House negotiating team, which includes Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph
Hagin and deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel, intend to discuss
with their North Korean counterparts the specific agenda and logistics for
the June 12 summit in Singapore.”

*NYTimes: “Denuclearization Is All But Off The Table In The Short
Term.” *Motoko Rich of the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=05a-952&t=c>
(5/22) says “Kim may have no intention of giving up his nuclear weapons any
time soon, if ever,” so “if Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim do sit down in a
room...it is clear that denuclearization is all but off the table in the
short term.” Rich adds that “some analysts said that North Korea could make
its own ‘down payment’ in Singapore, giving up some of its weapons or
missiles or agreeing to inspections of its existing storage sites,” and
“given the intensity of Mr. Trump’s threats last year...longtime North
Korea watchers suggested that Pyongyang would be restrained while Mr. Trump
is in office.” Said Andrei Lankov, “a North Korea expert” at Kookmin
University in Seoul,” As long as Trump remains in the White House and a
threat of a military attack looms, North Koreans will probably keep their
part of the bargain.”

*Pentagon Report: North Korea Unlikely To Agree To Give Up Nuclear
Weapons Program. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=05b-9d1&t=c>
(5/22, Burns) says a Pentagon report that was delivered to Congress last
month “says North Korea sees nuclear weapons as central to its security.”
According to the AP, the Pentagon report “offers little suggestion that the
Pentagon anticipated a circumstance in which North would consider giving up
its nuclear weapons.”

*Media Skeptical Of North Korea Nuclear Site Dismantling. *On the CBS
Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=05c-1e6&t=c>
(5/22, story 2, 2:10, Glor), Ben Tracy reported from North Korea as one of
the international journalists who have been invited to see the North shut
down their nuclear test site at Punggye-Ri. Tracy said that “like the last
time we flew to North Korea, they’re still showing the propaganda video on
the plane, but unlike that time, the newspaper they gave us, there is not a
single bad word in here about the United States. In fact, there’s a glowing
review of...Pompeo’s recent visit to North Korea.” Meanwhile, he said that
while North Korea says the nuclear test site is still usable, “Critics call
Kim Jong-un’s pledge to close it now an empty gesture and not a real
concession.” In fact, Tracy said, “I asked one of our North Korean guides
if they are going to allow any outside experts to come in and supervise the
closure of the site, and he said no, just a North Korean nuclear
scientist.” Will Ripley also reported from North Korea on CNN’s Situation
Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=05d-144&t=c>
(5/22), similarly saying that “some are raising concerns about the
legitimacy of this” since “there are no experts who will be conducting an
inspection of the site.” John Roberts reported on Fox News Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=05e-c05&t=c>
(5/22) that “it’s unclear whether the site was even usable after the last
nuclear test reportedly collapsed tunnels.”

*Schumer Wants Kim’s Face Off Commemorative Coin. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=05f-a0b&t=c>
(5/22, Boyer) reports Senate Minority Leader Schumer “called on the White
House Tuesday to remove” Kim’s image “from a commemorative coin
marking...Trump’s planned summit with Mr. Kim in Singapore.” Said Schumer,
“I urge the White House to take Kim off the coin. ... Challenge coins are a
time-honored tradition and certainly appropriate in this situation, but Kim
Jong-un’s face has no place on this coin.”

*NYTimes’ Baker: Bolton Expects Singapore Summit To Fail. *On MSNBC’s
Morning Joe[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=060-714&t=c>
(5/22), the New York Times’ Peter Baker said National Security Adviser
Bolton is among those who does not believe that the Kim regime intends to
abandon its nuclear-weapons program. According to Baker, Bolton “doesn’t
think they’re sincere and he thinks what will probably happen in the
Singapore summit is that the President will come to that realization, and
they can get off of this diplomatic track and return to the path of maximum
pressure. ... So I don’t think people like John Bolton think there’s much
possibility of success...but they have a president who wants to give it a
try.”
Trump Says US-China Trade Talks Still Have “Long Way To Go.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=061-c96&t=c>
(5/22) reports that President Trump said yesterday “he is ‘not really’
pleased with the results of US trade talks with China so far as some of his
loyalists attacked his retreat from threatened tariffs as a betrayal of his
populist campaign promises.” According to Bloomberg, the Administration
“decided to hold off on imposing tariffs on billions of dollars worth of
Chinese goods because of White House discord over trade strategy and
concern about harming negotiations with North Korea.” Bloomberg goes on to
report that “some White House officials blame poor coordination among the
warring factions in Trump’s economic team for the retreat.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=062-d37&t=c>
(5/22, Fritze) also indicates Trump said “he isn’t satisfied with a deal
that has drawn criticism from members of both parties.” Said Trump, “No,
not really. ... I’m not satisfied, but we have a long way to go.”

Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=063-89a&t=c>
(5/22), “The President has made clear from the beginning he thinks that
these imbalanced, unfair, nonreciprocal trade deals including with China
are killing the American worker, American interests and American industries
and he will always fight for them first.”

In an analysis for the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=064-fcd&t=c>
(5/22), Neil Irwin writes that “as negotiations proceed, a big question for
the administration remains. Is the goal to make some supporters in farm
states and energy extraction industries happy, and shrink the trade deficit
temporarily? Or is it to reset a dysfunctional economic relationship
between the world’s two biggest economies, in hope of ensuring that the
United States maintains competitive footing in the industries of the future
– even if dividends aren’t immediate?” Irwin says that “over the weekend,
Mr. Trump’s team de-escalated the trade war while seemingly choosing Option
A,” and “the problem with this strategy is not just that the trade peace
might prove less than durable. It creates a risk that after all the bluster
and threats of the last few months, there will be no payoff in terms of
solutions to bigger, longer-term problems.”

*Trump Floats $1.3 Billion Fine, Management Shakeup For ZTE. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=065-7ff&t=c>
(5/22) reports that Trump also “floated a plan to fine ZTE Corp $1.3
billion and shake up its management, as U.S. lawmakers vowed to keep
sanctions that crippled the Chinese telecommunications firm.” Reuters
reports that the President “said there was no deal with Beijing on ZTE. In
addition to the fine, Trump said ZTE should come under new management and
name a new board of directors.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=066-6e3&t=c>
(5/22, Paletta) reports that “under the broad outlines of the deal, which
hasn’t been finalized, the Commerce Department would lift its recent ban
that prohibits U.S. companies from selling material to ZTE.” The Commerce
Department “could instead replace that ban with new fines or other
requirements, such as leadership changes at the company,” according to the
Post.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=067-66d&t=c>
(5/22, Miller) reports, meanwhile, that “Trump said...that the US had not
struck a deal to lift a ban on ZTE Corp.” Said Trump, “There is no deal. We
will see what happens.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=068-0be&t=c>
(5/22, Swanson, Tankersley, Zhong) says “the fate of ZTE has quickly become
a key sticking point in negotiations with China, with lawmakers and others
concerned that the administration would ease restrictions on the company
after Mr. Trump’s suggestion in a Twitter message on May 13 that he was
working with China’s president, Xi Jinping, to give ZTE ‘a way to get back
into business, fast.’”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=069-2f2&t=c>
(5/22, Miller) reports Treasury Secretary Mnuchin “said Tuesday that any
easing of sanctions on Chinese cellphone maker ZTE Corp. would heed
national security concerns.” Mnuchin told a Senate hearing, “Anything that
they consider will take into account the very important national security
issues, and those will be addressed.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=06a-8ec&t=c>
(5/22, Wiseman, Crutsinger) notes “Mnuchin on Tuesday denied that the US is
offering relief for ZTE in exchange for trade concessions.” Said Mnuchin,
“This is not a quid pro quo or anything else.”

On its front page, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=06b-a71&t=c>
(5/22, A1, O'Keeffe, Davis) reports on congressional opposition to the
Administration’s ZTE moves, including unanimous Senate Banking Committee
approval of legislation tightening reviews of Chinese technology deals by
the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, and a letter by 27 senators
asking the USTR, Commerce and Treasury to oppose any plans to ease export
controls of technology to China.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on CNBC’s Closing Bell[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=06c-cb9&t=c>
(5/22) , “Just last month, the Secretary of Commerce imposed very tough
penalties on ZTE, not only for violating US sanctions, but also for lying
about it, time and time again, and when the Commerce Department made that
decision, that had bipartisan support in the United States Senate. Then the
President tweeted he wanted to help Chinese jobs, he wanted to help ZTE,
and now he saying what he is saying today. The big issue here is we should
not be trading off national security interests for whatever the latest deal
the President’s trying to cook up may be.”

*China Reduces Auto Import Tariffs. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=06d-b97&t=c>
(5/22, McDonald) reports that the Chinese government said yesterday that it
“will reduce auto import duties effective July 1 following pledges to buy
more US goods and end restrictions on foreign ownership in the industry.”
The Finance Ministry announced that “charges for many imported vehicles
will be cut from 25 percent to 15 percent,” which “still would be higher
than the 2.5 percent US tariff on imported autos but less than the 25
percent charged by Washington on imported pickup trucks,” according to the
AP. The AP notes that Chinese President Xi Jinping “promised the changes in
April amid mounting pressure from Washington.”

According to Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=06e-3a2&t=c>
(5/22), “the biggest beneficiaries would likely be German luxury carmakers,
which also include Volkswagen AG’s Porsche and Audi brands.” The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=06f-61c&t=c>
(5/22, Bradsher) reports that China “is also lifting in phases its
requirements that foreign automakers manufacture cars in China through
50-50 joint ventures with Chinese partners.” The Times says “by cutting the
tariff on imported car parts more than on imported cars, China may actually
strengthen its role as the world’s largest car-assembling nation.” The
Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=070-f83&t=c>
(5/22, Miller) runs a similar story.

*Politico, WSJournal Analyses, WPost Editorial: Trump Losing Trade
War. *Under the headline “Who’s Winning The Trade War? Everyone But Trump,”
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=071-668&t=c>
(5/22, Behsudi) reports that “there may be new winners as...Trump ramps up
trade pressures on China: America’s top competitors.” Politico adds that
“even as China and the U.S. push toward a trade deal, the long-term trends
in global trade are still against American producers when it comes to
China’s consumption.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=072-a10&t=c>
(5/22, Ip), in an analysis titled “In Trade War With US, China Gets The
Upper Hand,” says that China didn’t have to give up much in order to get
the US to pull back from punitive measures.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=073-a77&t=c>
(5/22), meanwhile, editorializes that Trump’s “trade war with China is
over, at least temporarily, and here’s the after-action report: Advantage,
China. ... Perhaps this unfavorable truce was the best Mr. Trump could
achieve at a time when he also needs Mr. Xi’s help dealing with North
Korea. Yet that conflict of interest, too, was foreseeable. No one ever
said winning a trade war would be easy, except for the one person who has
just proved that it’s not.”

*EU Officials: Trump Seeking 10% Cut In EU Steel, Aluminum Exports
To US. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=074-41b&t=c>
(5/22, Peker) reports that according to EU officials familiar with the
discussions, President Trump is weighing trade measures to cut steel and
aluminum exports from the bloc to the US by about 10%. The Journal suggests
that the move signals the Administration has not been able to reach an
agreement with EU officials to secure tariff exemptions.

*AP: Navarro, State Department Clashed Over Deal Opposed By US
Airlines. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018052301biden&r=email-8e21&l=075-101&t=c>
(5/22, Lederman) reports that “after striking a delicate deal with the
United Arab Emirates this month,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro
“repeatedly contradicted the State Department’s carefully crafted script
about what the agreement actually said.” The State Department wants to
allow Emirati airlines to “fly directly from the United States to places
like Europe, never stopping in the UAE,” which US airlines “loathe” because
they “compete with their own lucrative routes.” Navarro “has insisted that
the deal includes a ‘freeze’ in such flights,” while the State Department
“insists it does not.” After “a similar deal with Qatar’s airline was
reached,” Navarro “demanded changes to the agreed-upon text.” According to
the AP, the State Department was “so concerned” that Assistant Secretary of
State Manisha Singh “urged parties with a stake in the fight...to voice
concerns about Navarro directly to the White House.”

*Reuters: State Dept. To Publish P