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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, April 19, 2018 7:55 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, April 19, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=001-801&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, April 19, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Trump Sounds Optimistic Note On Upcoming North Korea Summit. <#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Cites “Very Big Deficit” With Japan, Takes Hard Line On TPP. <#S2>

• Russia Promises “Precise, Painful” Response To US Sanctions. <#S3>

• Lawmakers Express Concerns Over Trump Plans To Pull US Troops From Syria.
<#S4>

• Corker: Trump Ready To Pull Out Of Iran Nuclear Deal. <#S5>

• Erdogan Calls For Early Presidential, Parliamentary Elections. <#S6>

• Cuban First Vice President Díaz-Canel Chosen Castro’s Successor. <#S7>

• NYTimes, WPost Editorials: US Should Heed Macron Warning Of Rise In
Nationalism. <#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• As White House Pushes For Pompeo Confirmation, Critics Offer “Grudging
Praise.” <#S9>

• Trump On Potential Mueller, Rosenstein Firings: “They’re Still Here.”
<#S10>

• Administration, California Reach Deal On National Guard Troops On Border.
<#S11>

• Senate Votes To Kill Obama-Era Policy Warning Auto Lenders About
Discrimination. <#S12>

• Democratic Senators Offer Expanded Public Option For Health Insurance.
<#S13>

• House Republicans Advance Plan To Boost Food Stamps Work Requirements.
<#S14>

• First Lady, Obamas, Clintons To Attend Barbara Bush’s Funeral On Saturday.
<#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• Bezos Joins Investors In Early Cancer-Detection Startup Grail. <#S16>

• NCI To Fund Univ. Of Alabama Research Of Brain Tumors In Dogs. <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• The Hill: Biden To Decide On 2020 Bid At “End Of The Year.” <#S20>

• Al Dia News Highlights Biden’s Endorsement Of Mucarsel-Powell. <#S21>

• Biden Honors College Student Who Was Shot After Stopping Attempted Sexual
Assault. <#S22>

• Jill Biden Lauds Portland Schools’ “3 To PhD” Partnership. <#S23>
Leading the News
Trump Sounds Optimistic Note On Upcoming North Korea Summit.

To mostly favorable media coverage, President Trump yesterday confirmed
that CIA Director Pompeo recently visited North Korea for talks with leader
Kim Jong-Un ahead of a planned summit between the two leaders and said the
two had established a “good relationship.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=002-726&t=c>
on Wednesday morning, “Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last
week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed.
Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a
great thing for World, but also for North Korea!”

Trump also discussed North Korea later in the day during a joint
press conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=003-43f&t=c>
(4/18, Chamberlain) reports on its website that Trump told reporters “he
would not hesitate to walk out” of the meeting with Kim “if I think it’s a
meeting that is not going to be fruitful.” Said the President, “I hope to
have a very successful meeting. If we don’t think it’s going to be
successful, we won’t have it. If I think it’s a meeting that is not going
to be fruitful, we’re not going to go. If the meeting when I’m there is not
fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting.” To the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=004-0a8&t=c>
(4/18, Gearan, Nakamura), Trump “expressed optimism Wednesday that his
planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can help make the world
safer.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=005-346&t=c>
(4/18, Landler), meanwhile, says Trump “continued to express optimism –
verging on eagerness – about sitting down with the North’s reclusive
leader,” but “as the momentum for a meeting grows in both Washington and
East Asia, the president acknowledged that it was a perilous undertaking
that could still end in failure.”

All three networks covered the story last night, and their reports
are generally positive. NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=006-23b&t=c>
(4/18, story 3, 2:20, Holt) said Trump “lifted some of the curtain of
secrecy surrounding planning for a face-to-face meeting between himself and
North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un.” NBC’s Peter Alexander said Trump’s remarks
represented “the first concrete signs of a historic summit between
President Trump and Kim Jong-Un could happen.” The planning is also
“earning praise among some of Trump’s fiercest critics.” Rep. Adam Schiff
said[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=007-d16&t=c>:
“I think it is good news for diplomacy.” On ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=008-933&t=c>
(4/18, story 3, 2:10, Muir), Jonathan Karl said Trump “offered a review of
Pompeo’s secret trip to North Korea,” saying, “He just left North Korea.
Had a great meeting with Kim Jong-Un. And got along with him really well.
Really great. He’s that kind of a guy. He’s very smart, but gets along with
people.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=009-ed2&t=c>
(4/18, lead story, 2:25, Glor), in its lead story, showed Trump saying, “I
will be meeting with Kim Jong-Un in the coming weeks to discuss the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Hopefully, that meeting will be a
great success, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=00a-dcf&t=c>
(4/18) says Pompeo’s meeting with Kim “provides the strongest sign yet of
Trump’s willingness to become the first serving US president to meet a
North Korean leader as he seeks to resolve a crisis” over Pyongyang’s
nuclear weapons program, and to Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=00b-5db&t=c>
(4/18, Lima), Pompeo’s trip “marked the largest step yet toward direct
talks between the two leaders.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=00c-a95&t=c>
(4/18, Bierman) similarly says the developments “underscore the dramatic
turn in Trump’s approach toward North Korea.” While the US “did not appear
to have won any concessions from Kim in exchange for the visit from
Pompeo,” Trump did say Wednesday he would not meet with Kim “if we don’t
think it’s going to be successful.”

*NYTimes: Mongolia Could Be Site Of Trump-Kim Summit. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=00d-5f6&t=c>
(4/18, Watkins) notes that since taking power in 2011, “Kim is not known to
have flown outside his country, and the question of his transportation adds
a layer of political complications to a fraught and uncertain summit
meeting.” The Times says “a venue in Asia might be the easiest compromise,”
but “the options are limited if he wants to maintain his own political
capital.” It suggests that Mongolia “could serve all parties, and its
government has offered to play host to the meeting.”

On [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=00e-d8e&t=c>
(4/18, story 3, 2:10, Muir), Jonathan Karl said “one of the biggest
questions is where will this meeting happen? The President has said that
five locations are under consideration. One of them is not the United
States. I’m also told that North Korea has been ruled out. China has been
ruled out. The bottom line: Finding a secure location that is acceptable to
both sides is no easy task.” [image: Image removed by sender. Video]NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=00f-e7d&t=c>
(4/18, story 3, 2:20, Holt) likewise said it is “still unclear where the
summit will be held. President Trump said it’s down to five locations and
tonight...multiple officials tell NBC News, among the front-runners [are]
Sweden, Switzerland and Singapore.” According to the [image: Image removed
by sender. Video]CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=010-a93&t=c>
(4/18, lead story, 2:25, Glor), “it is unclear how far Kim is willing to
travel given that North Korea lacks reliable aircraft to fly long
distances.”

*Trump: US Negotiating Release Of Three Americans. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=011-886&t=c>
(4/18, Boyer) reports three US citizens are still being held by North Korea
– Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak-song, who have been held more than a year, and
Kim Dong-chul, who was detained in 2015 for unknown reasons. Trump said the
US is “negotiating now” to gain their release. Trump told reporters, “They
do have three prisoners. We have been talking about them. It’s harsh
treatment. We’re having a very good dialogue. I think there’s a good
chance.”

*Seoul Confirms Treaty To Formally End Korean War Already Being
Discussed. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=012-d62&t=c>
(4/18, Choe, Perlez) reports South Korea confirmed Wednesday “that it had
been in talks with American and North Korean officials about negotiating a
peace treaty to formally end the Korean War after more than 60 years.”
Chung Eui-yong, national security adviser to President Moon Jae-in of South
Korea, said he had discussed the matter with National Security Adviser
Bolton in Washington last week. Referring to his meetings with
Administration officials, Chung said Wednesday, “We held in-depth
discussions on various ways of how to end hostilities and eventually
establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, how to address the North
Korean concerns and how to ensure a bright future for the North if it makes
the right choice.” Bolton, he added, “made it clear to me that he will do
his best as an honest broker in successfully implementing President Trump’s
peace policy on the Korean Peninsula.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=013-797&t=c>
(4/18, Jeong) reports that a South Korean security official said any peace
deal involving the two Koreas would need input and backing from others, a
likely reference to China and the US.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=014-226&t=c>
(4/18, Fifield) says the “mood in South Korea has changed dramatically in
just a few months, from palpable fear of another Korean war to cautious
optimism about making progress on the decades-long standoff on the
peninsula.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=015-91c&t=c>
(4/18, Lee, Miller) says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying
told a briefing Wednesday “that Beijing hopes the two sides will work on a
political resolution of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”

*WPost: Trump Frequently Shares Historical Facts Most Already Know.
*The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=016-90e&t=c>
(4/18, Johnson) reports that as Trump announced that South and North Korean
leaders “have his blessing to discuss a permanent end to the military
conflict between their two countries, he dropped in a quick history
lesson.” Trump said, “People don’t realize the Korean War has not ended.”
Trump’s public remarks, the Post says, “are filled with dozens of similar
comments,” often beginning “with some variation of the phrase, ‘Most people
don’t know...,’ and end with a nugget of information that many of those
surrounding him – fellow world leaders, diplomats, journalists, politicians
or aides – do indeed already know.”

*US Practicing Evacuation Of Americans From South Korea. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=017-4ad&t=c>
(4/18, Gordon, Cheng) reports that the US is testing procedures for the
emergency evacuation of American citizens from South Korea. As part of the
military exercise, a small group of Americans will be flown to Dallas.
Foreign Policy
Trump Cites “Very Big Deficit” With Japan, Takes Hard Line On TPP.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=018-150&t=c>
(4/18, Miller, Colvin) reports President Trump said Wednesday during a
second day of talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he wants
to see “free, fair and reciprocal trade” between the two countries. Said
Trump, “We have a very big deficit, and we’re going to weed that down and
hopefully get a balance at some point in the not-too-distant future.” While
Trump “appeared to be seeking to reassure [Abe] of the pair’s close
alliance,” the AP says there was “at least one area where he and Abe would
have to agree to disagree: the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” Abe, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=019-e20&t=c>
(4/18, Palmer) reports, “deliberately avoided saying Japan was going to
start talks on a bilateral free trade agreement with the US, emphasizing
that Tokyo still believes that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is the best
choice for both countries.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=01a-aa2&t=c>
(4/18, Rich) reports that in a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=01b-cbf&t=c>
Tuesday night, Trump “signaled he was no longer interested in rejoining”
the TPP, “less than a week after he suggested the United States could enter
the pact.” The Times says the shift “reinforced the view that he sees
Japan’s interests as expendable.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=01c-d7c&t=c>
(4/18, Spiering) reports Trump on Wednesday reaffirmed is commitment to
staying out of the TPP unless drastic changes are made to the agreement.
Speaking after his meeting with Abe, Trump said, “Unless they offer us a
deal that we cannot refuse, I would not go back into TPP. ... We’ll see
what happens.”

*Perdue Says Trump Eyeing TPP As Leverage Against China. *The
Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=01d-a6a&t=c>
(4/18, Higgins) reports Agriculture Secretary Perdue said Wednesday that
the White House is considering reentering talks over the TPP in order to
use the deal “as a buffer against any Chinese tariffs targeting the US.”
Perdue, who did not mention a Tuesday tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=01e-cf5&t=c>
from Trump in which he “appeared to reject the idea of going back to TPP,”
said “he was encouraging Trump to make the move, arguing the administration
may be able to reach better terms than the Obama administration
negotiated.”

*Report: China Using Investment Initiative To Expand Its Military
Footprint. *A report this week from the Center for Advanced Defense Studies
says China “is using its $1 trillion-plus investment initiative in
infrastructure projects as a way to expand its military footprint,
projecting power and influence around the globe from the Horn of Africa
into the Middle East and South Asia,” the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=01f-401&t=c>
(4/18, Muñoz). The One Belt One Road initiative, which “effectively seeks
to mimic China’s old Silk Road trade routes and reshape the global
marketplace more to Beijing’s liking,” has drawn speculation that Chinese
military expansion is tied to the program, “dogg[ing] China’s claims that
the program is driven purely by economic factors.”

*NYTimes: Qualcomm Stuck In Middle Of Looming US-China Trade War. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=020-c25&t=c>
(4/18, Swanson, Stevenson) reports that Qualcomm finds itself in the middle
of the “looming trade war between the United States and China.” While the
company “has long managed to play the trading relationship between the
world’s two largest economies to its advantage,” an “escalating trade
battle over which country will dominate the technologies of the future is
now threatening Qualcomm’s business and its growth.” The company’s
“situation illustrates the perils of trying to punish a major trading
partner that has become a crucial link in supply chains stretching across
the globe. By targeting foreign players with ties to their own markets, the
United States and China are putting their own economic futures at risk.”

*EU Preparing To Propose Trade Deal To Avoid US Tariffs. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=021-9c5&t=c>
(4/18, Pop, Pancevski) reports the EU is preparing to propose a trade deal
with the US in order to avoid the Administration’s steel and aluminum
tariffs being imposed on the bloc in two weeks. According to European
officials, the plan will center on a simplified version of the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which was negotiated but
never concluded under the Obama Administration.

*US Companies Seek Exemptions From Steel And Aluminum Tariffs. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=022-3d3&t=c>
(4/18, Wiseman, Rugaber) reports “hundreds of companies” are requesting
exemptions from steel and aluminum tariffs from the Commerce Department.
The AP adds that “American steelmakers have already raised their prices”
and some may “shift production” to Mexico in order to “buy cheaper steel.”
On Wednesday, some producers announced the Coalition of American Metal
Manufacturers and Users “to fight the steel tariff.” Companies seeking
exemptions must “show they can’t obtain the metals they need from U.S.
producers.”

*Midwestern Farmers Concerned Trump Trade Policy May Hurt Soybean
Market. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=023-d31&t=c>
(4/18, Martin) reports on farmers in the Midwest opposing Trump’s trade
positions for fear of “how much they stand to lose if President Trump
starts a trade war with China.” The Times adds that China has threatened a
25 percent tariff on US soybeans which “would hit hardest in states like
Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota — where there are highly competitive House races
— as well as Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota, whose Senate contests may
determine control of the chamber.” The Times says by focusing on protecting
“the steel and aluminum industries,” Trump is “aiding the Rust Belt states
that were crucial to his election” to the detriment of “another, larger
bloc of voters” in “the farm belt.”

*Southern Catfish Farmers Blame Vietnam For Fall In Sales.
*The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=024-d91&t=c>
(4/18, Varney) reports catfish farmers in “Mississippi and the handful of
other Deep South states” blame “intense competition from catfish farmed
cheaply in Vietnam,” for a decline in sales. In response, members of
Congress “got the inspections of imported catfish moved from the Food and
Drug Administration to the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and
Inspection Service” so that it could rule Vietnam’s fish “did not meet
code” and then gave Vietnam 180 days to do so in the recent omnibus bill.
In response, Vietnam filed a request with the World Trade Organization for
“bilateral consultations with the United States.” The Times says that “most
of Washington opposes” the effort to benefit catfish farmers and that some
economists argue catfish sales are off because higher prices for diesel and
corn made catfish more expensive, and blame ethanol requirements for the
corn price.

*Singapore Prime Minister Op-Ed: “Unilateral Tariffs Are Not The
Correct Solution.” *Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong writes in
the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=025-89e&t=c>
(4/18) that “trade friction between China and the United States has been
brewing for some time. But with the Trump administration’s announcement of
unilateral tariffs on imports, targeted at China, the specter of a trade
war has never been clearer.” Lee argues that “unilateral tariffs are not
the correct solution. A trade war between the United States and China is
far from inevitable, but if one breaks out, it will gravely undermine the
rules-based multilateral system that has underpinned global prosperity
since the end of World War II.”
Russia Promises “Precise, Painful” Response To US Sanctions.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=026-84a&t=c>
(4/18) reports Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of the Russian upper house
of parliament, said that her country’s response to US sanctions “will be
precise, painful, and without question sensitive.” She added, “Sanctions
are a double-edged sword and those who impose them should understand that
sanctions against countries, especially those like Russia, will carry with
them risks of serious consequences for those who impose them.”

*US Tells Russia No Current Plans For New Sanctions. *Jim Acosta
reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=027-2c5&t=c>
(4/18) that the Administration “informed the Russian Embassy on Sunday
there would not be an additional round of sanctions on Moscow” for its
support of Syria after Trump “changed his mind over the weekend.” CNN’s
Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=028-943&t=c>
(4/18) reported that in his press conference with Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, President Trump reportedly said sanctions will be placed
against Russia “when the time is right.” CNN also showed the President
saying, “There has been nobody tougher on Russia than President Donald
Trump.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=029-3aa&t=c>
(4/18, story 7, 1:55, Muir) reported on “controversy surrounding President
Trump and his ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley. She declared on Sunday
that new sanctions were coming on Russia after the chemical attack on
Syria. Then on Monday, the White House said not so fast.” ABC (Bruce):
“Trump’s new Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow blamed Haley for the
contradiction.” Kudlow: “She got ahead of the curve. She’s done a great
job, she’s a very effective ambassador. There might have been some
momentary confusion about that.” Bruce: “Haley shot right back. Confusion?
No way. Haley telling Fox News, ‘with all due respect, I don’t get
confused.’” Kudlow says he has since apologized to Haley. Kudlow is “saying
that Haley was certainly not confused, I was wrong to say that. He says the
policy was changed, and she wasn’t told about all of this.”

Jim Sciutto said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=02a-f87&t=c>
(4/18) that it’s “not just a communication failure, because this is the
latest of a number of indications of what appears to be a real division,
not just within the Republican party, but within the Administration itself,
on an approach to Russian policy.”

*In Upcoming US Visit, Merkel To Seek Exemptions From Russia
Sanctions. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=02b-2fe&t=c>
(4/18, Thomas, Boston) reports that during their visit to Washington,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz
will seek exemptions from new US sanctions on Russia. A Merkel aide also
said she plans to warn President Trump about possible fallout from US trade
policies. Many German companies do substantial business in Russia, and
large German companies do business with entities tied to people subject to
the sanctions. German businesses are seeking to not be hurt by the
deteriorating relations between Washington and Moscow. The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=02c-208&t=c>
(4/18, Boyer) reports Merkel will visit Trump at the White House on April
27. According to the White House, the two “will reaffirm the
German-American partnership – a bedrock of the transatlantic relationship
and the NATO alliance – as both nations work together to address a broad
range of geopolitical and economic challenges.” The Times predicts the
meeting will include a discussion of trade, “with Mr. Trump being highly
critical of the European Union’s trade practices with the US.”

*Dead Journalist Broke Story On Syria Mercenaries Linked To
Putin-Friendly Oligarch. *Brian Todd reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=02d-33d&t=c>
(4/18) reported a Russian reporter with “explosive information embarrassing
to Vladimir Putin and his friends” died earlier this week after falling
from his fifth-floor apartment. Russian officials “don’t believe any crime
has been committed,” but friends and colleagues say there’s been a “typical
cover-up.” They say the journalist, Maxim Borodin, thought he was in danger
in the days before he died. According to Todd, Borodin had broken a story
about Russian mercenaries in Syria “linked to an oligarch who supports
Putin.”
Lawmakers Express Concerns Over Trump Plans To Pull US Troops From Syria.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=02e-042&t=c>
(4/18, Deyoung) reports, “Lawmakers from both parties expressed alarm
Wednesday over President Trump’s plans to forge ahead with the withdrawal
of US troops from Syria, particularly in the absence of what they see as a
viable strategy to secure American objectives there.” During a meeting of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, “members repeatedly challenged the
State Department’s top officials on the Middle East and Russia to explain
how the administration planned to reach its stated goals of defeating the
Islamic State, building a stable Syria without President Bashar al-Assad,
and keeping his Russian and Iranian backers from taking over.” A. Wess
Mitchell, assistant secretary of state for Europe, testified, “The United
States and our allies will degrade and defeat ISIS, support a stable Syria,
and limit the spread of Iranian malign influence,” but neither Mitchell nor
Acting Assistant Secretary for the Middle East David M. Satterfield
“provided what members considered a path to achieve those aims.”

*Mattis Pushes Back On Reports He Urged Hill Approval For Syria
Airstrikes. *The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=02f-c20&t=c>
(4/18, Alic) reports Secretary of Defense Mattis “pushed back on” a New
York Times article saying he urged Trump seek congressional approval for
airstrikes in Syria. Mattis said, “I have no idea where that story came
from,” and added, “I found nothing in it that I could recall from my own
last week’s activities.”

*UN Team Visiting Suspected Chemical Weapons Attack Site Comes
Under Fire. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=030-4a6&t=c>
(4/18) reports that Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü said that a UN security team performing
reconnaissance at in the town of Douma prior to inspectors investigating
the April 7 incident in which civilians were said to have been fatally
gassed by government forces, “came under small arms fire and an explosive
was detonated.” Officials say it isn’t clear when inspectors will be able
to visit the site of the suspected chemical weapons attack. Defense
Secretary Mattis “blamed the Syrian government for delays in inspectors
reaching the sites and said it has a history of trying to ‘clean up the
evidence before the investigation team gets in.’”

*New Al Qaeda Offshoot Gaining Power In Syria. *The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=031-e2c&t=c>
(4/18, Engel) reports that as the US focuses on fight in the remnants of
ISIS, a new group born from al Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is
consolidating power in northwestern Syria, fighting Western-backed rebel
groups to expand its control of Idlib province. The group is enforcing
Shariah and raising taxes, and its leader, former al Qaeda fighter Abu
Mohammad al-Julani, seeks to impose Islamic rule across Syria. Hayat Tahrir
al-Sham has set up a religious police force, broken hookah pipes as part of
a smoking ban, required mannequins’ heads be covered, required beauty
salons to not offer makeup, jailed unrelated men and women who socialize,
and closed a university for offering mixed-gender classes.
Corker: Trump Ready To Pull Out Of Iran Nuclear Deal.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=032-172&t=c>
(4/18, Sands) reports Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob
Corker said that while, in the words of the Times, “there was a chance
frantic last-minute negotiations with America’s European allies could
produce a ‘framework’ to address” President Trump’s concerns with the Iran
nuclear deal, Corker added, “that the President is ready to pull out of the
deal next month.”

*Iran Displays New Missile System. *In an article that led the
Drudge Report on Wednesday evening, the Daily Star (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=033-f66&t=c>
(4/18, Blair) reports that, in its “latest show of strength as tensions
rise,” Iran “showed off the ‘Kamin-2’ missile system” during the National
Army Day military parade in Tehran. The low-altitude missile system, “an
upgraded version of the Mersad missile system,” the Kamin-2 “is designed to
confront military drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and low-flying
planes.” The Star predicts the move “will be seen by many as a direct
challenge to President Donald Trump’s attempt to shut down the country’s
military programme.” Iranian Army Airborne Commander Yousef Qorbani
announced the missile unveiling earlier in the week.
Erdogan Calls For Early Presidential, Parliamentary Elections.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=034-f07&t=c>
(4/18, Fahim) reports that citing the need “‘for Turkey to overcome
uncertainties,’ a reference to the country’s ongoing military operations
against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, in a televised speech, called for June presidential and
parliamentary elections, more than a year ahead of schedule. Analysts said
Erdogan was “probably” motivated “by signs of a worsening economy.” With
the new elections he will “assume sweeping new powers” under the “new
system of government that was narrowly approved by voters last year.”
However, critics say “the new system dooms Turkey to one-man rule,” and
“complaints about Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian leadership...have
also caused friction with Turkey’s allies.” While President Trump’s
“relationship with Erdogan is said to be warm, despite spiraling tensions
between their two governments,” Trump’s recent tweet in support of Pastor
Andrew Brunson, who is being tried by Turkey on terrorism-related charges,
is “a sign that the personal ties may also be fraying.”
Cuban First Vice President Díaz-Canel Chosen Castro’s Successor.

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=035-8bd&t=c>
(4/18, story 4, 1:00, Glor) reported, “The Castro era is coming to an end,”
with the choice of a successor for Raul Castro. CBS (Bojorquez) added,
“Only members of the National Assembly can directly vote, and there was
only one candidate, the first Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel.” Bojorquez
called the move “a clear sign the Communist Party wants to send a message
of continuity.” Additionally, Castro will remain the head of the Communist
Party. Meanwhile, US Cuban-American lawmakers “called this transition a
mere passing of the torch from one dictator to the next and see little
chance of it improving the relations between the US and Cuba.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=036-729&t=c>
(4/18, Faiola) reports, “Díaz-Canel’s selection amounts to the dawn of a
new era,” but he is “a consensus-builder” and “is almost sure to make
decisions in concert with the country’s communist brain trust.” Díaz-Canel
will have “to balance two realities: the need to respond to Cubans’ growing
frustration over economic stagnation and the reluctance of the Communist
Party to embrace faster reforms.”

In an analysis piece, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=037-249&t=c>
(4/18, Ahmed) writes that Díaz-Canel policy options “could be hemmed in
from multiple sides”: Raúl Castro will remain the head of the Communist
Party, the government is filled with older leaders from the revolution, and
“the diplomatic opening with the United States has closed abruptly under
President Trump,” which will have an “unclear” effect on the new leader’s
“ability to sustain the economy and stave off domestic pressure.”
Meanwhile, Díaz-Canel has spent time with few American officials, and “even
the most seasoned Cuba experts have only faint clues as to what he will do,
how he will lead and how much latitude he will have to chart his own
course.”
NYTimes, WPost Editorials: US Should Heed Macron Warning Of Rise In
Nationalism.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=038-ef1&t=c>
(4/18) editorializes that French President Emmanuel Macron warned this week
“of the rising fascination with antidemocratic and ‘illiberal’ ideas,” and
“the deadly tendency which might lead our continent to the abyss,
nationalism, giving up of freedom.” Macron “said his goal was to open a
critical public debate on what Europe is about,” but the Times argues “that
debate should not be limited to Europe.” On its editorial page, the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=039-279&t=c>
(4/18) says Macron’s address “was a needed summons. Irresponsibly,
President Trump cannot find a voice for such essential principles. In this
vacuum, it would be reassuring to hear German Chancellor Angela Merkel be
more outspoken, as well as others who lead democratic societies. The danger
of sleepwalking is real. So are the consequences of losing this battle.”
Domestic Policy
As White House Pushes For Pompeo Confirmation, Critics Offer “Grudging
Praise.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=03a-2ee&t=c>
(4/18, Korte, Collins) reports the White House “renewed its push to confirm
CIA Director Mike Pompeo as secretary of State Wednesday, suggesting that
any delay in a Senate vote on President Trump’s pick could hamper upcoming
talks with North Korea.” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=03b-287&t=c>,
“Nothing could better underscore the importance of getting America’s top
diplomat in place for such a time as this.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=03c-8a3&t=c>
(4/18, Nelson, Johnson) reports the White House cast Pompeo’s recent
meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “as evidence of his
qualification” to be secretary of State, “putting a political spin on his
act of high-stakes nuclear diplomacy.” Politico says the public disclosure
of the trip “was timed to shore up Pompeo’s image as a diplomat capable of
executing sensitive negotiations on the president’s behalf, according to a
senior administration official – and to undermine Democratic efforts to
portray him as a warmonger unsuited to lead the country’s diplomatic
corps.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=03d-57a&t=c>
(4/18, Zengerle) says the White House “cranked up pressure” on “Democratic
senators facing tough re-election fights to back...Pompeo, who looked
increasingly likely to face a rare committee rejection before the full
Senate can vote on his nomination.” On a White House call with reporters,
Sen. Tom Cotton “warned Democratic senators not to vote against Pompeo if
they face tough re-election fights in states Trump won easily in 2016,”
mentioning Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe
Manchin of West Virginia. To CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=03e-f99&t=c>
(4/18, Bennett), the White House “circled the wagons,” dispatching Cotton,
who “on a call arranged by the White House, challenged several Senate
Democrats by name.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=03f-ec8&t=c>
(4/18, Demirjian), meanwhile, says Pompeo’s recently disclosed trip is
“earning him grudging praise from senators opposed to his bid to be the
nation’s top diplomat – a potentially important development as Pompeo tries
to shore up at least some Democratic support for his confirmation vote.”
Sen. Chris Murphy said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]MSNBC’s
Morning Joe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=040-1dc&t=c>,
“I’m glad that there’s some preparatory work happening for this potential
summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un. ... I think we should all admit that
it’s good, not bad, that the Trump administration is trying to do some work
ahead of this meeting, perhaps setting the stage for success rather than
failure.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said also on [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]MSNBC’s Morning Joe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=041-9cd&t=c>,
“The preparation, certainly, is welcome – there’s no way that Donald Trump
should go into that meeting without a lot of groundwork being laid,” but
added that “Pompeo is the wrong person to be engaging in diplomacy.”

Rep. Ted Lieu similarly said on [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]CNN’s The Lead
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=042-9b4&t=c>
(4/18), “I support any diplomacy with North Korea. And I support the Trump
Administration doing diplomacy with North Korea and yes, I hope it turns
out well.” Lieu added that it is “very strange for the President to send
the CIA Director to do high-level diplomacy. That is not something that the
CIA does and shows how depleted the State Department is. The President has
not appointed an ambassador to South Korea and our leading expert on North
Korea, the special envoy, resigned earlier this year.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=043-0d0&t=c>
(4/18, Kheel) too says Senate Democrats are “providing tepid praise” to
Pompeo’s meeting with Kim, saying they are happy the Administration is
preparing for the upcoming summit. Several, however, “also offered
criticism at the same time, questioning the CIA’s role instead of the State
Department.” Sen. Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee who has said he is voting against Pompeo’s nomination, said the
meeting was “good news,” but that it wouldn’t change his vote.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=044-222&t=c>
(4/18, Boyer), however, says Trump’s decision to send Pompeo to North Korea
“could make it more difficult for Senate Democrats to oppose Mr. Pompeo’s
nomination as secretary of state, allies of the administration say.” Sen.
James Lankford said, “I think he’s the best choice to be able to do the
advance work.” Rep. Jim Banks similarly said the talks with North Korea
“underscore the urgency of confirming Mr. Pompeo for secretary of state.”
The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=045-05c&t=c>
(4/18, Landler), meanwhile, says Trump’s decision to send Pompeo to North
Korea “underscores the confidence that Mr. Trump has developed in Mr.
Pompeo,” and “also underscores Mr. Trump’s unorthodox approach to one of
the riskiest diplomatic gambits of his presidency.”

*Pompeo Makes Rounds On Capitol Hill. *[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=046-0eb&t=c>
(4/18, story 3, 2:20, Holt) reported said Pompeo was “making rounds on
Capitol Hill today. His confirmation as the secretary of State far from
guaranteed, despite being one of the President’s most trusted
confidants.” [image:
Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=047-1f5&t=c>
(4/18, story 3, 2:10, Muir) reported Pompeo said on Capitol Hill, “I’m
enjoying my time here, trying to earn every vote I can.” In its lead story,
the [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=048-03c&t=c>
(4/18, lead story, 2:25, Glor) reported that Pompeo faces “a confirmation
battle in the Senate. ... Kentucky’s Rand Paul, a key vote to getting the
nomination out of committee, has already announced his opposition. The
President called Paul today and urged him to meet with Pompeo.” Paul: “At
this point, it would take a great deal to move me, but out of respect to
the President, I’m going the meet with him.”

*Haspel Confirmation Hearing Delayed Until May. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=049-a9c&t=c>
(4/18, Schor) reports Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr
said Wednesday that Gina Haspel’s confirmation hearing will take place next
month, “additional time that could help the CIA director nominee assuage
bipartisan concerns about her record on brutal interrogation practices.”
President Trump nominated Haspel last month, “but her paperwork formally
arrived in the Senate just this week,” and senators from both parties are
“continuing to press the CIA to reveal more details about Haspel’s
involvement” in the Bush-era “enhanced interrogation techniques” program.
Trump On Potential Mueller, Rosenstein Firings: “They’re Still Here.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=04a-e52&t=c>
(4/17, Colvin) reports, “As his frustration with the investigation into his
campaign and business expands into threatening new fronts,” President Trump
“refused to say Wednesday whether he plans to fire special counsel Robert
Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.” During a joint news
conference with Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, Trump said, “As far as
the two gentlemen you told me about, they’ve been saying I’m going to get
rid of them for the last three months. Four months. Five months. And
they’re still here. So we want to get the investigation over with, done
with, put it behind us.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=04b-e7b&t=c>
(4/18, Jackson, Korte, Fritze) reports that Trump, “repeating a well-worn
mantra,” said his campaign “did not collude with Russia to gain advantage
in the 2016 election,” and “asserted that the GOP-led House Intelligence
Committee found no evidence of collusion before voting to end its
investigation into Russia last month.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=04c-993&t=c>
(4/18, Gearan) reports that Trump “asserted again that the inquiry into
Russian interference in the 2016 election is part of ‘a hoax.’”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=04d-610&t=c>
(4/18, Drucker) reports that during a joint interview, “Trump’s confidantes
David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski recommended against” firing Mueller.
Bossie “said that Trump ‘fundamentally understands what is right and wrong.
... It was fine for them to investigate it, because people brought
allegations. You see if those allegations have any credit, merit, evidence
and you continue to investigate it. But that has gone away.’” Lewandowski
said, “I think Bob Mueller’s investigation has to have a definitive end
date to it. I think there is a fair time that he has had the opportunity to
investigate any possible collusion or coordination between the Trump
campaign and Russia.”

Ex-FBI Director James Comey said on ABC’s The View[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=04e-2a4&t=c>
(4/18) that he does not think Trump will fire Mueller because “it would
make no difference in the investigation. The President would have to fire
everyone in the Department of Justice and the FBI to stop an investigation.
So it doesn’t make any sense to fire Director Mueller and bring the kind of
storm that would bring.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=04f-e12&t=c>
(4/18) editorializes that after Trump last week “gave the clearest
indications to date of wanting to fire” Mueller, Senate Majority Leader
McConnell “responded by refusing to allow the Senate to consider
legislation to protect Mr. Mueller’s tenure.” McConnell said that “passing
a bill insulating the special counsel from the White House would be futile
because the president would veto it.” But it “would be far better for
Congress to deter Mr. Trump from making a rash move, rather than wait to
react after he has inflamed passions and further eroded trust in law
enforcement.”

*Media Analyses: Trump Shifts On Justification For Comey Firing. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=050-ddd&t=c>
(4/18, Miller) reports that Trump “is attempting to rewrite history on his
rationale for firing James Comey as FBI director last year.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=051-e81&t=c>
on Wednesday morning that Comey “‘was not fired because of the phony Russia
investigation.’ But in an interview days after the sudden firing, Trump
revealed that the probe into potential collusion during the 2016 campaign
was on his mind at the time he made the decision.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=052-819&t=c>
(4/18, Wagner, Barrett) reports that the tweet came shortly after an
appearance by Comey on NBC’s Today during which anchor Savannah Guthrie
“referred to comments Trump made in a May interview with NBC’s Lester Holt
that suggested that Trump’s rationale for firing Comey included the FBI’s
Russia investigation.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=053-f4f&t=c>
(4/18, Savransky) writes that Trump “in recent days has been going on the
attack against Comey, referring to the former FBI director as a ‘slimeball’
and saying he will go down as the worst FBI director in history.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=054-8f7&t=c>
(4/18) also covers Trump’s tweet.

Comey was asked on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC’s The
View
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=055-d8e&t=c>
(4/18) why he thinks Trump fired him. Comey said, “I don’t know. I took him
at his word when he told” Holt that the Russia investigation was on his
mind when he made the decision, “and I read in the media that he also said
that privately to the Russians the next day in the Oval Office. ... Today’s
tweet, which I’ve seen – I don’t follow him on Twitter, but I’ve seen the
tweet – both of those things can’t be true. I actually think that
illustrates part of the problem that I am trying to bring up that it
matters that the President is not committed to the truth as a central
American value. So I don’t know what to make of it.”

*Nadler Says Goodlatte Poised To Subpoena Memos; Rosenstein Could
Face Contempt Charge. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=056-4f9&t=c>
(4/18, Chaitin) reports that House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep.
Jerrold Nadler (D) said that Chairman Bob Goodlatte “is poised to subpoena
the Justice Department” for Comey’s memos, “which the agency so far has
failed to produce,” and that such a move “puts Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein in jeopardy of being placed in contempt of Congress and the
special counsel investigation of being shut down prematurely.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=057-367&t=c>
(4/18, Costa, Nakashima) reports that Reps. Jim Jordan (R) and Mark Meadows
(R), “two of President Trump’s top legislative allies,” met with Rosenstein
this week and warned him “that he could soon face impeachment proceedings
or an effort to hold him in contempt of Congress if he did not satisfy GOP
demands for documents.”

*Retired Judge: Mueller “Had No Involvement” In Bulger Case. *Retired
US District Nancy Gertner, who presided over a case involving mobster and
Whitey Bulger for which Mueller has been criticized by Sean Hannity and
other Trump allies, writes in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=058-29b&t=c>
(4/18) that Mueller “had no involvement in that case. He was never even
mentioned.”

*Eleven Republicans Urge DOJ To Prosecute Comey, Clinton, Others. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=059-189&t=c>
(4/18, Dinan) reports that 11 conservative House Republicans led by Rep.
Ron DeSantis (R) “sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department
Wednesday asking prosecutors to consider bringing charges” against former
FBI Director James Comey, Hillary Clinton, ex-Attorney General Loretta
Lynch, ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, ex-Deputy Attorney General
Sally Yates, ex-Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boenta, FBI agent Peter
Strzok, and FBI lawyer Lisa Page. Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=05a-e3f&t=c>
(4/18, Wong) reports that the representatives “said Comey potentially broke
the law when he chose not to seek charges against Clinton,” that Clinton
“potentially broke the law when disguising payments to Fusion GPS,” that
Lynch “potentially broke the law when she threatened a former FBI
informant,” that McCabe “potentially broke the law when he lied to
investigators four times when questioned about a leak that he had
arranged,” and that Strzok and Page “potentially violated the law by
interfering in the investigation of Clinton’s private email server.” The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=05b-b18&t=c>
(4/18, Donachie) and Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=05c-5af&t=c>
(4/18, Pavlich) also cover the letter.

Comey, asked about the referral on ABC’s The View[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=05d-5c3&t=c>
(4/18), said, “I haven’t read it. I don’t know what to make of it. It seems
they have been saying that stuff since the Clinton email investigation. A
whole lot of that is already being looked at by the Inspector General at
the Department of Justice which is a very good thing, and I don’t have any
other reaction. The accusations are not true. I guess I should have said
that first, but that’s okay.”

*McCabe Lawyer Says Comey Knew About Leak. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=05e-a21&t=c>
(4/18, Mordock) reports that an attorney for McCabe said that Comey knew
McCabe “was leaking information about the Clinton Foundation probe to the
press.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=05f-3c9&t=c>
(4/18, Lima) reports that in a statement, Michael Bromwich said, “The [OIG]
report fails to adequately address the evidence (including sworn testimony)
and documents that prove that Mr. McCabe advised Director Comey repeatedly
that he was working with the Wall Street Journal on the stories in question
prior to publication. Neither Mr. Comey nor the OIG is infallible, and in
this case neither of them has it right.”

*Comey Says He Is No Longer A Republican. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=060-40f&t=c>
(4/18, Persons) reports that Comey “said Wednesday that he no longer
considers himself a Republican.” He said on an ABC News podcast, “I just
think they’ve lost their way, and I can’t be associated with it.” Comey
similarly said on ABC’s The View[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=061-0bf&t=c>
(4/18), “I feel like the Republican party left me and people like me. I
used to think that at the heart of being a conservative...was first that
character matters, and second that values matter most of all, and I don’t
know where that is today in the Republican Party.”

*Trump Calls Sketch Shared By Daniels “Total Con Job.” *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=062-122&t=c>
(4/18, Lucey) reports that Trump tweeted early Wednesday that adult film
performer Stormy Daniels “is pulling ‘a total con job’ by promoting an
artist’s sketch of a man she says threatened her to keep silent about an
alleged sexual encounter with Trump years ago.” Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=063-83a&t=c>,
“A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the
Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=064-987&t=c>
(4/18, Jackson) says Trump “prepared for the second day of a Japan summit
by tweeting” about Daniels, and the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=065-f71&t=c>
(4/18, Sullivan) points out that it was Trump’s “first ever Twitter post
related to” Daniels.

Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=066-9fd&t=c>
(4/18) that Trump “has no business tweeting about me or my client while he
is a party in litigation, especially when it comes to making misstatements
about his client. He has effectively now told the American people that
she’s a liar, that she’s a con. ... We’re likely going to be amending our
complaint. We are looking at doing that now to add a defamation claim
directly against the President.”

*Politico: Trump Allies Concerned Cohen May Cooperate With
Prosecutors. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=067-449&t=c>
(4/18, Samuelsohn, Restuccia) reports under the headline “Trump Allies
Worry Cohen Will Flip” that Trump “and his outside advisers are
increasingly worried that his longtime personal attorney” Michael Cohen
“might be susceptible to cooperating with federal prosecutors. Two sources
close to the president said people in Trump’s inner circle have in recent
days been actively discussing the possibility” that Cohen “might flip if he
faces serious charges as a result of his work on behalf of Trump.”

*Prosecutors, Cohen Lawyers Propose Special Master Candidates. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=068-d41&t=c>
(4/18) reports that Cohen’s attorneys and federal prosecutors have asked US
District Judge Kimba Wood “to consider several candidates to review whether
documents seized from Cohen in FBI raids are protected by attorney-client
privilege.” Prosecutors “proposed the former judges James Francis, Theodore
Katz and Frank Maas as special master candidates,” while Cohen’s lawyers
proposed “Bart Schwartz, chairman of Guidepost Solutions LLC, and three law
firm partners: Joan McPhee of Ropes & Gray, Tai Park of Park Jensen
Bennett, and George Canellos of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.”

*AMI Agrees To Release McDougal From Contract. *The CBS
Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=069-f7c&t=c>
(4/18, story 7, 0:20, Glor) reported, “Former Playboy model Karen McDougal
can now tell the full story of her alleged affair with Donald Trump a
decade ago. She sued American Media, which owns the National Enquirer,
claiming they tricked her into signing away the rights of her story, which
it never ran. Today they agreed to let her out of her contract.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=06a-f2a&t=c>
(4/18, Rutenberg) reports, “In a statement, A.M.I. called the settlement an
‘amicable resolution’ and said that under the new agreement it would devote
an upcoming magazine cover and feature article to Ms. McDougal, and would
run several of her fitness columns in its publications.”
Administration, California Reach Deal On National Guard Troops On Border.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=06b-46a&t=c>
(4/18, Miroff) reports that after “several days of back-and-forth posturing
between the White House” and California Gov. Jerry Brown, Brown “has
reached an agreement with Homeland Security and Defense officials on the
terms of his state’s National Guard deployment to the border, after
insisting the troops will not be used to help US agents enforce immigration
laws.” Wednesday’s agreement, which “appeared to be a compromise” between
President Trump and Brown, “gives Trump the full participation of every
border state in his plan to reinforce federal agents with Guard troops,
while allowing Brown to join the effort on his own terms.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=06c-a6a&t=c>
(4/18, Datoc) says Brown “changed course Wednesday night and announced the
mobilization of 400 National Guard troops to the border in compliance with
orders from the White House.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=06d-8ac&t=c>
(4/18, Myers) reports that Brown “announced that federal officials have
agreed to fund the plan he announced last week – a mission to ‘combat
criminal gangs, human traffickers and illegal firearm and drug smugglers’
in locations around California, including near the border.” The order Brown
signed stipulates “that the troops will not be allowed to perform a broader
set of duties as envisioned by Trump’s recent comments.”

*In Tweet, Trump Says “Revolution” In California Over Sanctuary
Policy. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=06e-8b5&t=c>
(4/18, Persons) reports that Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=06f-8e0&t=c>
on Wednesday morning, “There is a Revolution going on in California. Soooo
many Sanctuary areas want OUT of this ridiculous, crime infested & breeding
concept. Jerry Brown is trying to back out of the National Guard at the
Border, but the people of the State are not happy. Want Security & Safety
NOW!” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=070-fd3&t=c>
(4/18) also reports on Trump’s tweet.

*California City Sued Over Anti-Sanctuary Law. *The Los Angeles
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018041901biden&r=email-3e7d&l=071-4db&t=c>
(4/18, Carcamo) reports that Los Alamitos, a “small Orange County city at
the center of the anti-sanctuary movement in California has been sued for
enacting an ordinance that exempts it from the state’s sanctuary laws,
which were designed to protect immigrants in the country illegally.” On
Wednesday, “a Los Alamitos pastor, an attorney who lives and works in the
city and a group of concerned residents called Los Alamitos Community
United joined forces with several immigrant rights groups – including the
American Civil Liberties Union – to launch the lawsuit.” The lawsuit “asks
the court to declare the city ordinance illegal and to order Los Alamitos
leaders to comply with the California Values Act, which took effect Ja