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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, July 25, 2018 7:52 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, July 25, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=000-be2&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=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=001-313&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, July 25, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Axios: Biden Is Candidate Trump, His Advisers Most Fear In 2020. <#S1>

• Vanity Fair’s Frank Identifies “Likeliest Flaws” Of Biden, Other
Potential 2020 Democrats. <#S2>

• Dr. Oz Highlights Beau Biden’s Role In Case Of Pedophile Pediatrician
Bradley. <#S3>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Tells Farmers Not To Believe Media On Trade, Authorizes $12B Aid
Package. <#S4>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Says He’s Open To New Iran Nuclear Deal. <#S5>

• Pompeo Urges Caution In Wake Of North Korean Dismantling Reports. <#S6>

• US, Australian Officials Meet In San Francisco. <#S7>

• Mattis: No Plans For US-Russia Military Cooperation In Syria. <#S8>

• Haley: Arab Nations Playing Hypocritical Role In Israel-Palestinian
Conflict. <#S9>

• May To Take Lead On Brexit Negotiations. <#S10>

• IMF: Venezuelan Inflation Rate May Reach One Million Percent. <#S11>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Trump “Concerned” Russia Will “Be Pushing Very Hard” For Democrats In
Midterms. <#S12>

• Capito Willing To Support Spending Up To $5 Billion On Border Wall. <#S13>

• Administration Restores ACA Risk Adjustment Program. <#S14>

• McConnell Says Kavanaugh Will Get Vote Before Midterm Elections. <#S15>

• Ryan Downplays Trump’s Threat To Revoke Security Clearances Of Former
Officials. <#S16>

• Sessions Joins “Lock Her Up!” Chant During High School Event. <#S17>

• Trump Discussed McDougal Payment With Cohen In Secretly Taped 2016
Conversation. <#S18>

• Trump-Backed Kemp Wins Georgia GOP Gubernatorial Primary Runoff By 39
Points. <#S19>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• FDA Issues Warning Against “Alternative Cancer Treatment” Cesium Chloride.
<#S20>

• Massachusetts Governor Tours Law Covering Cancer Costs For Firefighters.
<#S21>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S22>

• Washington Post. <#S23>
Biden in the News
Axios: Biden Is Candidate Trump, His Advisers Most Fear In 2020.

Writing for Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=002-c7d&t=c>
(7/25), Mike Allen says, “Advisers to President Trump say Joe Biden is the
Democrat he most fears running against” in 2020, “and that Pennsylvania is
the state he worries most about flipping against him. Trump’s calculation
is based partly on how weak he sees other Democratic possibilities,
including Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, and partly on who’s capable
of appealing to his base of working class whites.” Biden, says Allen, “sees
the same opening Trump does with working class voters, especially in
Democratic states like Pennsylvania that Trump won.”

Axios editor-in-chief Nicholas Johnston, appearing this
morning on MSNBC’s
First Look[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=003-dde&t=c>
(7/25), discussed the report from Allen, saying “that the one
candidate...Trump and his advisers are most worried about facing” in 2020
is Biden. Johnston said, “They see Biden as a person who could most likely
make in-roads at the core group of voters that helped Trump win the
election – that would be white, working-class voters. They’re particularly
worried about Pennsylvania. ... They think Joe Biden would do very well, be
a very effective candidate in rural Pennsylvania.” Johnston added, “I think
it’s important to note that recently in an interview on CBS, President
Trump was asked about Joe Biden. He said he would love to face him. What
our reporting says – that actually meant he wouldn’t.”
Vanity Fair’s Frank Identifies “Likeliest Flaws” Of Biden, Other Potential
2020 Democrats.

In a piece for Vanity Fair
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=004-131&t=c>
(7/24), T.A. Frank offers a look at the field of potential 2020 Democratic
presidential hopefuls and “their likeliest flaws,” writing that while
former Vice President Joe Biden “connects with ordinary Americans” and is
“loved by Senate” members of both parties, “he’s also, frankly, a
goofball.” His “campaign gaffes in 2008, which included asking a paraplegic
to stand, were so relentless that Barack Obama once reportedly fumed, ‘How
many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?’ Such foibles don’t
diminish with age, and Biden will be 78 in 2020. All of this is fodder for
a bully, meaning” President Trump. Biden “is tied to the record of Barack
Obama, who disappointed many of the voters who need to be won back.”
However, Biden’s “embarrassing episode of having plagiarized the oratory of
British Labor leader Neil Kinnock, is off limits for attack, unless Trump
wants a reminder that his wife did something similar.”
Dr. Oz Highlights Beau Biden’s Role In Case Of Pedophile Pediatrician
Bradley.

In a broadcast of “The Dr. Oz Show” on WWOR-TV[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=005-a35&t=c>
New York (7/25), host Dr. Mehmet Oz discussed what he described as the case
of “pedophile pediatrician Earl Bradley,” saying, “The late Beau Biden, the
son of former Vice President Joe Biden, was the attorney general of the
state of Delaware at the time. And he gave up the opportunity for political
advancement and made it his mission to see this horrific case through –
that’s how much he cared about it.” Dr. Oz went on to interview Beau Biden
Foundation for the Protection of Children Executive Director Patty Dailey
Lewis about the case.
Leading the News
Trump Tells Farmers Not To Believe Media On Trade, Authorizes $12B Aid
Package.

Media coverage of President Trump’s remarks in Kansas City was markedly
unfavorable, with reports and analyses indicating the Administration’s
trade policies created the need for the emergency farming aid package Trump
authorized yesterday. The coverage also highlights Republican criticism of
the aid package, with ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=006-469&t=c>
(7/24, story 5, 2:30, Moran) reporting last night, “Being a Republican used
to mean a belief in free trade and budget discipline. But...Trump took over
this party. He doesn’t share that” and “remains undaunted, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=007-082&t=c>
today, ‘tariffs are the greatest.’” To the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=008-bd6&t=c>
(7/24, Rucker), meanwhile, Trump “sought...to temper a growing Republican
rebellion over his escalating trade war.”

The Kansas City (MO) Star
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=009-09a&t=c>
(7/24, Kite, Hancock) recounts that during his “campaign-style speech at
the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ national convention,” Trump “implored
Americans to be patient and trust his policies.” Sparking “boos from the
crowd aimed at reporters in attendance,” Trump said, “Don’t believe the
crap you see from these people, the fake news.” Trump went on to vow “to
cut trade deficits and took aim at Democrats, whom he called ‘disciples of
a very low-IQ person, Maxine Waters.’” The Wichita (KS) Eagle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=00a-f8f&t=c>
(7/24, Shorman) also reports that Trump told the audience, “What you’re
seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” while Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=00b-291&t=c>
(7/24, Spiering) said that he “appeared frustrated by the news coverage,”
and “the audience cheered Trump and booed the news media in response.”

CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash said on CNN’s Situation
Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=00c-9f9&t=c>
(7/24), “It is Orwellian – the idea that he is saying ‘don’t believe what
you see and hear. Nothing to look at. The only truth is me.’ It’s
dangerous. It really is. And I know we have said this so many times. But
it’s important to keep pointing it out because it’s not normal, and it’s
not accurate. And the issue is the reason it’s dangerous is because the
more he says it to the base and to people who do genuinely believe
everything he says, the more it doesn’t just chip away at the institution
of the press and other institutions that are important, it really takes a
sledgehammer to them, and it’s not going to be that easy to put it back
together.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=00d-933&t=c>
(7/24, Stokols) says Trump “spent much of his 54 minutes on stage as if it
were one of his political rallies – promoting himself and other Republicans
and attacking Democrats and the media,” and “though the convention center
was half-empty” he “clearly relished the applause from a friendly crowd
estimated at about 4,000 veterans and spouses.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=00e-af8&t=c>
(7/24, Cochrane) similarly reports “Trump transformed a speech on Tuesday
before thousands of veterans into a political rally.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=00f-755&t=c>
(7/24, Heavey, Shepardson) says Trump “aggressively defended his trade
policies” during the speech, saying, “We have to do it. But it’s all
working out,” and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=010-84b&t=c>
(7/24, Samuels) quotes him as saying, “We’ve got to fight it. Nobody else
fought it. ... Not any longer, folks. We’re making tremendous progress. ...
They don’t want to have those tariffs put on them. They’re all coming to
see us.”

All three network newscasts last night, meanwhile, showed footage
of Trump telling the crowd, “The farmers will be the biggest beneficiary.
Watch. We’re opening up markets. You watch what’s going on. Just be a
little patient.” To ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=011-543&t=c>
(7/24, story 5, 2:30, Moran), however, “Trump admitted that American
farmers...are becoming collateral damage in his escalating trade wars,”
though “he promised better days ahead.” ABC added, however, that among
farmers “patience is wearing thin,” and that “after igniting the trade
war,” Trump yesterday “authorized a $12 billion emergency aid package to
bail out the nation’s farmers,” with “the payouts beginning in September,
just before the midterm elections.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=012-056&t=c>
(7/24, story 7, 2:00, Jiang) noted “the proposal includes direct payments
to farmers, purchasing excess crops, and building new export markets.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=013-b8b&t=c>
(7/24, Davis, Swanson) reports the Administration is “moving to insulate
food producers from looming financial losses that would be a direct result
of...Trump’s policies.” The aid, announced by the Department of
Agriculture, “will come through a direct assistance program, one designed
to help with food purchase and distribution and one specifically geared
toward promoting trade.” The Times calls the move “an indication that Mr.
Trump – ignoring the concerns of farmers, their representatives in
Congress, and even some of his own aides about the adverse consequences of
a trade war he says he relishes – plans to plow forward in escalating his
tariff tit-for-tat around the world.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=014-7fa&t=c>
(7/24, Paletta, Dewey) reports that in announcing the aid, Agriculture
Secretary Perdue told reporters, “As you know, President Trump has promised
since day one that he had the back of every American farmer and rancher.
Today this announcement is the fulfillment of that promise.” The Post notes
that “farm groups have complained that moves by China and other countries
in response to Trump’s protectionist trade stance could cost them billions
of dollars, spooking Republicans who fear a political and economic blowback
to Trump’s approach.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=015-133&t=c>
(7/24, Salama) reports Perdue also said, “This is a short-term solution
that will give President Trump and his administration time to work on
long-term trade deals.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=016-c94&t=c>
(7/24, Boudreau, Behsudi, Evich, Cassella) notes that while “Perdue said
the amount is in line with the roughly $11 billion in negative effects that
USDA has calculated agricultural producers have suffered as a result of
‘illegal’ retaliatory tariffs,” it is “unclear whether the aid will cover
many of the price losses that various agriculture sectors are
experiencing.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=017-c13&t=c>
(7/24, Ferrechio) reports “Senate Republicans on Tuesday showed little
enthusiasm for a Trump administration plan,” but “none said they would
oppose” it. ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=018-597&t=c>
(7/24, story 5, 2:30, Moran) said that “on Capitol Hill, Republicans are
unimpressed,” and NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=019-048&t=c>
(7/24, story 4, 2:40, Jackson) reported that “patience is running thin at
the Capitol, where Republicans from hard-hit states are not happy and not
hiding it.” Sen. Ron Johnson was shown saying, “Give me trade, not aid. We
spent decades developing these markets. Let us have access to them. End the
trade war now.” Sen. John Kennedy said, “I’ve said many times the best way
to win a trade war is don’t fight the thing.” Sen. Ben Sasse, meanwhile,
said yesterday, “When you choose a war of choice, which is what this trade
war is, and then you say afterwards, let’s just solve it by buying people
gold plated crutches, farmers and ranchers of America, they don’t want
crutches, they want work.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=01a-79f&t=c>
(7/24, Bjerga, Sink) also says “farm state Republicans...criticized the
plan as welfare for farmers who would be better served by an end to the
trade war.” Sen. Jerry Moran said, “There will never be enough money to
solve the problem” created by Chinese duties on US farm goods. Bloomberg
also notes that the announcement came “just two days before Trump is set to
travel to Iowa,” and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=01b-22c&t=c>
(7/24, Fritze, Shesgreen) says that the move comes as Trump “embarks on a
multistate tour through parts of the country hit heavily by trade battles.”
The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=01c-f10&t=c>
(7/24, Salama) runs a similar story, and the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=01d-8a8&t=c>
(7/24, Thomas, Wiseman, Mascaro) reports “some farm-state Republicans
quickly dismissed the plan, declaring that farmers want markets for their
crops, not payoffs for lost sales and lower prices.” The Wichita (KS) Eagle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=01e-2ad&t=c>
(7/24, Shorman) reports, “Rep. Roger Marshall, who represents Kansas’ First
Congressional District, called the $12 billion aid package a band-aid,”
saying, “I think the message sent today by the USDA is for our farmers to
hang on and believe in this administration, that our farmers are not being
forgotten about.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=01f-4f9&t=c>
(7/24, Boyer) reports, “Former White House Communications Director Anthony
Scaramucci also weighed in against the move,” tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=020-bcc&t=c>,
“Targeted bailouts are anti-capitalist and won’t begin to cover damages
from trade war. ... If we continue down this road, long-term costs to
American industry will be incalculable. Now is time to compromise.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=021-63e&t=c>
(7/24) editorializes that the “farm bailout will not undo the damage the
administration’s incoherent policies are doing to American industry and
workers.” Adds the Times, “The plan to help farmers reveals instead that
trade wars are complicated and difficult. Yes, the American piggy bank is
now being robbed – but it’s the president and his aides who are raiding it,
to cover up the costs of policies they still show little sign of
understanding.”

*In Tweets Today, Trump Blasts Tariff Opponents, China, Says Trade
Talks “Going Really Well.” *Trump weighed in on tariffs and trade in three
tweets this morning. First, he tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=022-299&t=c>,
“Every time I see a weak politician asking to stop Trade talks or the use
of Tariffs to counter unfair Tariffs, I wonder, what can they be thinking?
Are we just going to continue and let our farmers and country get ripped
off? Lost $817 Billion on Trade last year. No weakness!” In the second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=023-dd5&t=c>,
he said, “When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation,
it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good
as it could have been with unity. Negotiations are going really well, be
cool. The end result will be worth it!” And in the third
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=024-4bb&t=c>,
Trump wrote, “China is targeting our farmers, who they know I love &
respect, as a way of getting me to continue allowing them to take advantage
of the U.S. They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We
were being nice – until now! China made $517 Billion on us last year.”

*VFW “Disappointed” Over Booing Of Media During Trump Speech. *The
Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=025-9b5&t=c>
(7/24, Anapol) reports the VFW “said Tuesday that the organization is
‘disappointed’ in its national convention attendees who booed the media
during...Trump’s speech earlier in the day.” VFW spokesperson Randi Law
said in a statement to The Hill, “We were disappointed to hear some of our
members boo the press. ... We rely on the media to help spread the VFW’s
message, and CNN, NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, and others on site today, were our
invited guests. We were happy to have them there.”

*Trump Offers EU Deal Where Both Sides Drop All “Tariffs, Barriers
And Subsidies.” *President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=026-c94&t=c>
Tuesday evening, “The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to
negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the
E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called
Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready – but they
won’t!”

*EU To Offer Proposal To Ease Trade Tensions With US. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=027-370&t=c>
(7/24, Swanson) reports that European negotiators will present ideas,
“including forging a new deal among the world’s biggest automobile
exporters,” to the Administration on Wednesday with an eye on “easing a
trade clash with the United States.” However, the offers “may fall short of
appeasing President Trump, who has expressed skepticism at past trade pacts
and branded the European Union as a ‘foe.’” The US and EU “are pushing
agendas that are increasingly at odds, threatening to turn allies into
adversaries. And trade is just part of the friction, as Mr. Trump seems
determined to undermine a global system that has defined the United States’
relationship with Europe for decades.”

*Ahead Of Today’s Juncker Meeting, Trump Tweets “Tariffs Are The
Greatest.” *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=028-6f0&t=c>
(7/24, Siegel) reports Trump “praised tariffs in a tweet Tuesday morning,”
saying “tariffs are the greatest!” He added that countries that treat the
US unfairly on trade must either negotiate fair deals or get “hit with
tariffs.” Wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=029-6c4&t=c>
the President, “It’s as simple as that – and everybody’s talking! Remember,
we are the ‘piggy bank’ that’s being robbed. All will be great!” In a
second tweet, he said
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=02a-62f&t=c>,
“Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming
to Washington to negotiate. This should have taken place many years ago
but, as the saying goes, better late than never!” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=02b-0ff&t=c>
(7/24, Dopp) says Trump’s tweets come “as he’s scheduled to meet with
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Washington for talks
aimed at heading off a trade war.” Bloomberg adds that the President “has
been critical of the EU over its $150 billion trade surplus with the US.”

To The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=02c-ef1&t=c>
(7/24, Bowden), Trump “praised his administration’s recent trade actions,”
while Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=02d-4ee&t=c>
(7/24, Nelson) says he “defended his trade policy Tuesday morning,
declaring that ‘tariffs are the greatest’ because they allow him to fight
back against nations that engage in trade practices unfair to the US.”
Politico similarly reports that the tweets come “as he is scheduled to meet
this week with...Juncker...on trade issues.” Juncker, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=02e-e95&t=c>
(7/24, Casert) reports, is “hoping to convince him to hold off from raising
tariffs on imported cars and avoid a trans-Atlantic trade war.” His visit
“comes on the heels of an especially ill-tempered continental tour by
Trump, in which he called the EU...his ‘foe.’”

*WSJournal: US Manufacturers Dismissing Tariff Concerns Amid Strong
Demand, High Profits. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=02f-657&t=c>
(7/24, Cameron) reports that strong domestic and foreign demand is
producing higher-than-anticipated profits and causing many US manufacturers
to dismiss concerns about tariffs and trade tensions.

*Harley: Profits Will Suffer This Year. *That sentiment is not
universal, however. The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=030-b95&t=c>
(7/24, Hufford, Tita) also reports that Harley Davidson said Tuesday that
its profits would suffer this year as tariffs add to the company’s
longstanding sales slump. Harley predicted its costs would rise as much as
$55 million this year due to increased steel and aluminum costs and higher
duties on motorcycles it exports to Europe. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=031-b93&t=c>
(7/24, Barrett) reports that Harley said “it faces up to $100 million in
European Union tariff costs in 2019” in addition to “about $50 million this
year as the company calculates the damages from recently imposed tariffs.”

*NYTimes Lists Indicators Of Economic Damage From Trade War. *In an
analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=032-e50&t=c>
(7/24, Irwin) says that while assessing how “the trade war could affect
growth, the job market and inflation at the macroeconomic level” requires
data, a lot of economic data “operates with long time lags. By the time
there would be solid evidence that the trade war was doing damage, the
damage would already have been done.” However, “certain indicators are
likely to provide early signs of trouble: data that is more big picture
than individual anecdotes, but more timely than things like G.D.P. and the
unemployment rate.” The Times says a “dashboard for evidence of economic
damage from the trade war” should include: business confidence and capital
spending, the stock market, prices and inflation, and jobs and
unemployment.

*Bloomberg News: China Wary Of New Round Of Trade Talks With
US. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=033-41a&t=c>
(7/24) reports that the “last time the US and China engaged in serious
trade negotiations, President Xi Jinping’s top economic aide got burned.”
Following talks in Washington this May, Vice Premier Liu He “declared that
a trade war had been avoided,” but “just days later, [President] Trump said
the US would slap tariffs on as much as $50 billion of Chinese imports.”
The move, says Bloomberg, “torpedoed any progress, and was an embarrassment
for Liu.” Now, as both sides “hint at the possibility of restarting talks,
China is worried that it might get played again, according to three Chinese
officials.”

*WSJournal: Apple Exposed In US-China Trade Battle. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=034-2cb&t=c>
(7/24, Mickle, Kubota) reports that Apple is exposed in the increasing
trade fight between the US and China because while assembling its iPhones
in China enabled Apple to use China’s workforce and manufacturing
capabilities, it made the phones a Chinese export, which could face tariffs
in the trade battle. Moreover, China is Apple’s strongest non-US market,
which means the company is exposed if Beijing clamps down on its sales.

*Chinese Real Estate Investors Roll Back US Buying Spree. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=035-810&t=c>
(7/24, Fung) reports that amid pressure from Beijing, Chinese real estate
investors are rolling back a US buying spree in which they often paid
record prices for major properties. Chinese investors have, for the first
time in a decade, have become net sellers of US commercial real estate,
selling $1.29 billion worth of U.S. commercial real estate in the second
quarter versus only $126.2 million in property purchases, according to data
firm Real Capital Analytics.

*IMF: US Large Driver Of Global Trade Deficits. *The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=036-05d&t=c>
(7/24, Zumbrun) reports the IMF’s annual assessment of global imbalances
found that the US remained by far the largest driver in 2017, running the
world’s largest deficit and adopting policies that are likely to increase
its imbalances in coming years. Last year, the US ran a $466 billion
deficit, and accounted for 43% of all global deficits, up from 39% in 2016,
according to the IMF.
Foreign Policy
Trump Says He’s Open To New Iran Nuclear Deal.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=037-aae&t=c>
(7/24, Miller) reports that in a speech Tuesday to the Veterans of Foreign
Wars national convention in Kansas City, President Trump “tempered his
threatening rhetoric toward Iran Tuesday, two days after he sent an
all-caps warning of future conflict.” In his remarks, Trump “took credit
for pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear accord, but said his
administration stands ready for Iran to come back to the negotiating
table.” Said the President, “We’re ready to make a real deal, not the deal
that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster.” To
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=038-67d&t=c>
(7/24, Holland), Trump “kept open the possibility of negotiating an
agreement to denuclearize Iran, two days after he rattled his saber at the
nation on Twitter,” while Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=039-06a&t=c>
(7/24, Morin) reports he said the US “is ready to make a ‘real deal’ with
Iran just days after he threatened the country ‘will suffer consequences
the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.’”

*Mattis: Trump’s Tweet Made “Clear That Iran Is On The Wrong
Track.” *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=03a-846&t=c>
(7/24, Marinucci) reports Defense Secretary Mattis “appeared to
defend...Trump’s all-caps tweet threatening Iran earlier this week,” saying
Tuesday that Trump was merely “making clear that Iran is on the wrong
track,’’ given the “destabilizing influence that Iran has consistently
portrayed and demonstrated throughout the region.” Mattis, speaking to
reporters alongside Secretary of State Pompeo at bilateral talks with
Australian officials in California, was asked by reporters about the Trump
tweet. In response, Mattis “launched into a litany of examples of Iran’s
misbehavior,” noting that “the only reason that the murderer [Syrian
president Bashar-Al] Assad is still in power is that Iran has stuck by
him...and funded him.’’ Mattis added, “We see the same kind of malfeasance
down in Yemen, where they’re fomenting more violence. We’ve seen their
disruptive capabilities demonstrated” repeatedly.

*Turkey Opposes US Sanctions On Iran. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=03b-0e8&t=c>
(7/24, Kucukgocmen, Gumrukcu) reports Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said Ankara has “told American officials it opposes US sanctions
on Iran and is not obliged to implement them.” Said Cavusoglu, “We do not
have to adhere to the sanctions imposed on a country by another country. We
don’t find the sanctions right either.”

*Iran To Respond In Kind If US Blocks Oil Exports. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=03c-295&t=c>
(7/24, Dehghanpisheh) reports Iran “will react with equal countermeasures
if Washington tries to block its oil exports, the foreign ministry said on
Tuesday,” while the nation’s armed forces chief “said US threats would draw
an ‘unimaginable and regrettable’ reaction.” State-run media quoted foreign
ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi as saying, “If America wants to take a
serious step in this direction it will definitely be met with a reaction
and equal countermeasures from Iran.” Separately, Armed Forces Chief of
Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri “said on Tuesday that Iran wants peace
but will defend its interests in the Gulf.”
Pompeo Urges Caution In Wake Of North Korean Dismantling Reports.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=03d-23c&t=c>
(7/24, Lee) reports that as President Trump “expressed appreciation to
North Korea on Tuesday following reports that Pyongyang has started to
dismantle key parts of a missile test site,” Secretary of State Pompeo
“expressed a note of caution.” At a news conference Tuesday, Pompeo told
reporters that dismantling activities would “be entirely consistent with
the commitment that Chairman Kim [Jong-un] made to President Trump when the
two of them were in Singapore together,” but the US has nonetheless “been
pressing for there to be inspectors on the ground when that engine test
facility is dismantled, consistent with Chairman Kim’s commitment.” Asked
what additional steps North Korea must take, Pompeo replied: “That’s easy.
They need to completely, fully denuclearize. That’s the steps that Chairman
Kim committed to and the world has demanded through U.N. Security Council
resolutions. It’s that straightforward.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=03e-171&t=c>
(7/24, Wolfgang) says like Pompeo, “other top administration officials and
leading lawmakers, including some prominent Republicans, were more muted”
than Trump in their assessments of the reports, “and there are serious
questions about whether the Sohae facility still plays a major part in
Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.” Sen. Marco Rubio “said the US. shouldn’t
assume the Korean Peninsula is any safer now that the site is being
dismantled.” Regional analysts cautioned that by dismantling the facility,
Pyongyang sent “mixed signals on its readiness to give up its nuclear
programs, and Mr. Trump’s critics say there is still no firm outline of the
steps North Korea is willing to take.” The Times says the move also “leaves
the U.S. far short of Mr. Trump’s original demand: a quick, complete,
verifiable and irreversible end to the North’s nuclear weapons and missile
programs.” Likewise, Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=03f-32e&t=c>
(7/24, Lawler) says it “remains unclear” whether Pyongyang “intends to do
anything that would more directly impact its nuclear weapons program” and
whether it will return the remains of US soldiers “as expected in coming
days – another potential signal of goodwill from Pyongyang.”

According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=040-deb&t=c>
(7/24, Sanger), “inside the White House, Mr. Trump’s aides wonder whether
they are falling into a familiar pattern of endless negotiations with the
North, which in the past has destroyed a few symbolic facilities but kept
expanding its arsenal.” With the President “now arguing that the clock is
moving the other way in Iran,” the Times says Trump’s “combination”
approach – “flatter Mr. Kim, threaten the mullahs” – is “based on his
negotiating approach as a New York developer, according to several current
and former American diplomats and intelligence officials who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.”

*Trump Hopeful North Korea Will Return US War Remains Soon. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=041-a95&t=c>
(7/24, Holland) reports in remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars national
convention, Trump said he “hoped that the remains of American soldiers
killed in the Korean war will be returned by North Korea soon.” Said Trump,
“As you may know we’re also working to bring back the remains of your
brothers in arms who gave their lives to Korea and I hope that very soon
these fallen warriors will begin coming home to lay at rest in American
soil.”

*GQ Report: Warmbier Suffered Brain Injury Shortly After Trial. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=042-6c4&t=c>
(7/24, Saker) reports that an article in GQ
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=043-3ba&t=c>
magazine by Doug Bock Clark says late UVA student Otto Warmbier “most
likely was not tortured during his 15 months in North Korean captivity,”
but he “may have suffered the brain damage that ultimately killed him
immediately after his trial.” The GQ report also “suggests the Trump
administration promoted the idea that Warmbier had been physically tortured
as part of its drumbeat of war against the isolated Asian nation last
year.” But after President Trump “secured a summit meeting in June with
North Korea’s leader, ‘The story of Otto being brutally beaten had outlived
its usefulness.’”
US, Australian Officials Meet In San Francisco.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=044-699&t=c>
(7/24) reports Secretary of State Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mattis are
in San Francisco for a two-day meeting with their Australian counterparts.
The officials are expected to discuss US talks with North Korea and trade
tensions with China. Pompeo, Mattis, Australian Foreign Minister Julie
Bishop and Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne are expected to hold a
joint news conference at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Mattis: No Plans For US-Russia Military Cooperation In Syria.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=045-d21&t=c>
(7/24, Muñoz) reports that in “a rare televised press conference” Tuesday
alongside Secretary of State Pompeo, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister
Julie Bishop, and Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne, Defense
Secretary Mattis said the Pentagon has received no directives on initiating
joint US-Russian operations in Syria. Mattis said the Pentagon was awaiting
possible orders on adjusting the scale or scope of the US presence in
Syria, but those changes will not take place “until the secretary of state
and the President have further figured out, at what point, we are going to
start working alongside our allies with Russia in the future.” According to
the Times, “Defense officials in Moscow made clear, in no uncertain terms,
that American military cooperation in Syria is the Trump administration’s
only option if the U.S. wants to continue its operations in the country.”

*Israel Downs Syrian Fighter Jet Over Golan. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=046-299&t=c>
(7/24, Kershner) reports Israel “shot down a Syrian fighter jet on Tuesday
after it penetrated about a mile into Israeli-controlled airspace over the
Golan Heights, the Israeli military said, a rare encounter that underscored
the heightened risk of confrontation in the area.” According to the Times,
the shooting down of the military jet, “which crashed on the Syrian side of
Golan Heights, marked only the second time during the seven-year-old civil
war in Syria that Israel had intercepted a warplane; the first was in
2014.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=047-e95&t=c>
(7/24, Issa) reports that while the Israeli military “said it monitored the
advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of
Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace,” Syria’s military
“said one of its jets was targeted by Israel over Syrian territory as it
flew sorties against Islamic State militants.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=048-8ad&t=c>
(7/24, Morris) says the Israeli military has been on “high alert as
fighting inside Syria has pushed closer to Israel’s northern border in
recent weeks,” and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=049-ce5&t=c>
(7/24, Williams, Barrington) says the incident “added new fuel to weeks of
tensions over the Golan.”

*Coalition General: Defeat Of ISIS Still Months Away. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=04a-49a&t=c>
(7/24, McIntyre) reports that the defeat of ISIS “is still months of ‘hard
fighting’ away, but the outcome is inevitable, a senior commander with the
US-led counter-ISIS coalition said Tuesday.” French Brig. Gen. Frederic
Parisot, in a video briefing for Pentagon reporters from Baghdad, said, “We
are still in the fight for at least two or three months...but the good
thing is they are trapped.”
Haley: Arab Nations Playing Hypocritical Role In Israel-Palestinian
Conflict.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=04b-135&t=c>
(7/24, Gehrke) reports that in remarks to the United Nations Security
Conference on Tuesday, Ambassador Haley “argued that the Arab world needs
to put more pressure on Palestinian officials.” Haley asserted: “Too often,
the Arab countries give just enough money and mouth just enough
uncompromising words to stay out of the crosshairs of Palestinian
representatives,” but if Arab leaders “really cared about the Palestinian
people, they would not do that.” She also “defended Israel and dismissed
criticism of the United States from other world leaders more critical of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, observing that the U.S.
humanitarian aid to the Palestinians far outstrips any other donor.” The
Examiner says “Haley’s broadside came amid a series of clashes between
Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists, which have led to widespread
criticism of Israel over civilian casualties.”

*Palestinians To Lead UN Developing Nations Bloc. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=04c-b02&t=c>
(7/24, Gladstone) reports the Group of 77, the United Nations’ “biggest
bloc of developing countries,” selected “the observer state of Palestine as
its next leader, the Palestinian ambassador,” Riyad Mansour, told the Times
in a telephone interview Tuesday. According to the Times, “Symbolically at
least, the choice of Palestine as the Group of 77’s leader is a diplomatic
rejoinder to Israel and the United States in the protracted
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a political advance for the
Palestinians.” As such, the Times says, the bloc’s decision “could cause
new tensions with Israel and the United States.” Israeli Ambassador Danny
Danon, meanwhile, “was strongly critical” of the move, saying it its
“unfortunate” that the Group of 77 “will now become a platform for
spreading lies and incitement. This will not promote the G-77’s goals, and
encourages the Palestinians to not engage in negotiations for peace.”
May To Take Lead On Brexit Negotiations.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=04d-b95&t=c>
(7/24, James, MacAskill) reports British Prime Minister Theresa May said
Tuesday that she would now lead Brexit negotiations with the European
Union. Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned earlier this month, and a
“special unit within May’s office has played an increasing role in Brexit
talks during recent months,” so today’s announcement “formalizes that shift
in responsibility.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=04e-d20&t=c>
(7/24, Ross, Morales, Penny, Donaldson) says the move “reinforces [May’s]
drive to keep close to the European Union,” and comes “at a critical time
in the negotiations,” with “less than three months left to finalize the
UK’s divorce terms and map out the future trade agreement.”
IMF: Venezuelan Inflation Rate May Reach One Million Percent.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=04f-0a9&t=c>
(7/24, Krygier) reports the International Monetary Fund predicted “that
Venezuela’s hyperinflation is poised to shoot for the stars by year’s end,
reaching an annualized rate of 1 million percent” – a “far more severe
prognosis” than its prediction “earlier this year that hyperinflation in
Venezuela could top 13,000 percent.” The Post says Venezuela’s “inflation
is soaring as the economy has been broken by extreme corruption, failed
socialist policies and a collapsing oil industry where a lack of spare
parts and expertise has seen output fall to levels not seen since the
1950s.” Meanwhile, the Post says, “President Nicolás Maduro – the anointed
successor of Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013 – has sought to cling to power
by destabilizing institutions, rigging the courts and, his critics say,
stealing elections.”
Domestic Policy
Trump “Concerned” Russia Will “Be Pushing Very Hard” For Democrats In
Midterms.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=050-1b2&t=c>
yesterday, “I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to
have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no
President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very
hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!”

Media coverage of the tweet was decidedly skeptical. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=051-148&t=c>
(7/24, Chiacu, Heavey) says Trump expressed his concern “despite US
intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia tried to put” him “in the
White House in 2016,” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=052-696&t=c>
(7/24, Jackson) that he offered “no evidence for his claims,” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=053-37d&t=c>
(7/24, Sink) that “just eight days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin
stood beside Trump in Helsinki and said he favored a Trump victory in 2016
as a way to improve relations between their two countries,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=054-a56&t=c>
(7/24, Press) that “Putin said last week at his joint press conference with
Trump that he was rooting for the Republican,” and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=055-e92&t=c>
(7/24, Sonmez) that Trump made his claims “without evidence.” The Post also
describes Trump as “debuting a new line on Russian interference as the
uproar over his shifting stances on the issue enters its second week.”

Along those lines, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=056-22e&t=c>
(7/24, Morin) says Trump’s “tweet...appears to be an attempt to manage
expectations around Republicans’ performance in the midterms, which usually
favor the party that is not in control of the White House.” ABC World News
Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=057-3bb&t=c>
(7/24, story 6, 2:10, Thomas) reported, “We reached out to multiple
agencies to give them a chance to endorse the President’s statement, and
they would not comment. Just days ago, the President himself tweeted he got
along very well with Putin, who has been invited to the White House this
fall.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=058-5e0&t=c>
(7/24, Muñoz) recounts, “Trump faced harsh criticism for suggesting at the
Helsinki summit that he didn’t believe Russia was responsible for
interfering with the US 2016 elections, contrary to the findings of the US
intelligence community.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=059-7ea&t=c>
(7/24, Samuels) reports Trump also “appeared to tell reporters ‘no’ when
asked last week whether he believed Russia was still a threat,” though “the
White House later claimed he was saying ‘no’ to answering additional
questions.” CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=05a-758&t=c>
(7/24, Bennett), meanwhile, reports that “the acknowledgment that Moscow is
poised to meddle in its second consecutive US national election is perhaps
Trump’s clearest statement yet that he agrees with American intelligence
agencies about Russia’s intent to upend his country’s democratic process.”

Sen. Angus King said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=05b-451&t=c>
(7/24) that he doesn’t “know of any evidence” to support Trump’s claim that
Russia wants to help Democrats in the midterms. He said, “The only evidence
is what we saw last week when Putin said he supported Trump in 2016.” King
was critical of Trump for not being “able to separate the collusion
issue...and the fact the Russians did in fact attack our democracy. The sad
part is by not making that distinction...it has paralyzed our ability to
effectively respond to an ongoing challenge” from the Kremlin.

Max Boot, writing in a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=05c-16f&t=c>
(7/24) op-ed, argues that Trump won a close election contest in 2016
because of Russia’s help, and “that is the inconvenient truth the Putin
Republicans won’t admit.”

*Trump Touts Book “The Russia Hoax, The Illicit Scheme To Clear
Hillary Clinton & Frame Donald Trump.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=05d-bab&t=c>
last night, “‘The Russia Hoax, The Illicit Scheme To Clear Hillary Clinton
& Frame Donald Trump’ is a Hot Seller, already Number One! More
importantly, it is a great book that everyone is talking about. It covers
the Rigged Witch Hunt brilliantly. Congratulations to Gregg Jarrett!”

*Kremlin: Putin, Trump Could Meet At G20 In November. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=05e-0db&t=c>
(7/24, Pinchuk, Osborn) reports the Kremlin “was reticent on Tuesday about
whether it would accept an invitation” from Trump to hold a summit with
Vladimir Putin in Washington later this year, “saying only that the two men
had other chances to meet as well.” Reuters says the Kremlin’s “failure to
swiftly accept Trump’s invitation for a Washington summit has been
noticeable.” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, “There are other options (to
meet) which our leaders can look at,” citing a G20 meeting in Argentina in
November.

*Ryan: Putin Would Not Be Invited To Capitol Hill. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=05f-4b3&t=c>
(7/24, Bade) reports that while Trump “might be planning to welcome
Vladimir Putin to the White House this fall,” House Speaker Ryan told
reporters Tuesday that Putin “will not be invited to give a joint-session
of Congress, echoing comments Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s
office made Monday.” Ryan told reporters, “We would certainly not be giving
him an invitation to do a joint-session. That’s something we reserve for
allies.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=060-553&t=c>
(7/24) reports Ryan said “he did not have a problem with Trump sitting down
with foreign leaders like Putin, but said the message being conveyed during
such talks is what is important.” Said the Speaker, “If the message is,
‘Stop meddling in our country, stop violating our sovereignty,’ then I
support that. But it’s the message that counts.” He added that “we can
always be firmer on that.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=061-301&t=c>
(7/24), among other outlets, also report the comments.

*Graham, Menendez Propose New Sanctions On Russia. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=062-312&t=c>
(7/24, Litvan) reports Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez “said Tuesday
they’ll introduce a bipartisan bill to increase US sanctions against Russia
that would target Russian debt as well as the country’s energy and
financial sectors.” In a joint statement, the senators said, “The United
States must make it abundantly clear that we will defend our nation and not
waver in our rejection of his effort to erode Western democracy.”

*Poll: 51% Think Putin Has Compromising Information On Trump. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018072501biden&r=email-1c49&l=063-45c&t=c>
(7/24, Murray) reports that according to the new Quinnipiac University
national poll, “half of American voters think” the Kremlin has “dirt” on
Trump. Fifty-one percent of voters believe “the Russian government has
compromising information about President Trump.” Thirty-five percent of
respondents “believe the opposite.”

*Pompeo: Trump-Putin Meeting Was “Incredibly Important,” Will
Benefit World. *CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
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(7/24) reported Secretary of State Pompeo was asked Tuesday what happened
in the closed-door meeting between Trump and Putin. When asked about his
“understanding of the agreements that were made,” Pompeo was shown saying,
“The President has been clear about some of the things that were agreed to.
We’re going to put together a business council. There’ll be places where
we’ll start track two processes. There were many things that came from what
I view as an incredibly important meeting. ... One that I think the world
will have benefited from when history is written.” Anderson Cooper said
that “Pompeo doesn’t say he knows all of what was discussed,” and while he
said many things came from the meeting, Pompeo offered “zero specifics on
what they might be.”

*Cruz: Trump “Made A Mistake With Putin.” *The Dallas Morning News
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(7/24, Gillman, Chief) reports that Sen. Ted Cruz, who is one of Trump’s
“most ardent allies in Congress,” criticized him for “apologizing for
Russia” last week “and sending mixed messages about U.S. resolve toward
foes that meddle in American elections.” Cruz told Fox News’ Your World[image:
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(7/24), “President Trump made a mistake with Putin. He should have been
more vigorous in that news conference. I think it’s a bad idea for the
President not to be visibly and vocally standing up to Russia. ... We need
to continue focusing on defending this nation, and not be in a position of
treating America and Russia as morally equivalent – not be in a position of
apologizing for Russia.”

*Trump Proposes Mueller Interview With Questions Limited To
Collusion. *Bloomberg News
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(7/23, Pettypiece) reports Trump “would agree to an interview with Special
Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators if it’s limited to questions on
whether his presidential campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016
election, lawyer Rudy Giuliani said.” In return, Giuliani said, Trump is
requiring “that he isn’t asked questions about obstruction of justice in
the probe.” Trump’s legal team is “concerned that Mueller and his staff
might believe witnesses who contradicted Trump’s account, such as former
FBI Director James Comey, Giuliani said. That could leave the president
vulnerable to a perjury charge, he added.”

Legal analyst Dan Abrams was asked on ABC’s Good Morning America[image:
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(7/24) if the offer is something Mueller would accept. Abrams said, “No,
they’re calling it a counter-offer. I don’t know what it means. A
counter-offer to the fact that Mueller says we want to talk to the
President, and now Giuliani is coming out and saying we have a
counter-offer now. ... Here’s the problem: obstruction of justice is too
closely linked to collusion. Even if there is no collusion, you still have
to be able to figure out what were the possible reasons for potential
obstruction of justice. So I don’t see how they can figure out where that
line is drawn between collusion and obstruction of justice in a way that
Mueller would deem to be acceptable.”

*Nunes Wants Intelligence Agencies To Declassify Report On Russian
Election Meddling. *The Washington Times
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(7/24, Scarborough) cites “a congressional source” who said the House
Intelligence Committee “wants intelligence agencies to declassify the
censored parts of its final report on Moscow election interference in light
of the fact that special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment this month of
12 Russians contains some of the same information.” According to the
source, the panel “will make the request to declassify huge sections of
Chapter 2, ‘Russia Attacks the United States,’ of its March report that
have been blacked out, or redacted, by the intelligence community.” The
matter represents “a new fight” between House Intelligence Chairman Devin
Nunes “and the intelligence bureaucracy over the contested issue of
disclosing as much information as possible on the ongoing Trump-Russia
probe.”

*Nunes Blasts CNN Over Surveillance Abuse Memo. *The Washington
Examiner
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(7/24, Chaitin) reports that Nunes “clashed with CNN” as the network
pressed him “to answer for a memo his panel released earlier this year on
alleged surveillance abuse.” Senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju
sought to ask Nunes “about whether he still stood by the memo,” to which
Nunes replied, “Do you really think I’m going to talk to the leading
Democratic Party propaganda?” Asked by Anderson Cooper “if all the
Republican did was accuse CNN being Democratic propaganda,” Raju replied,
“That’s pretty much it.” Nunes, in a tweet Tuesday, “excoriated CNN for not
mentioning a quote provided by his office: CNN’s slavish adherence to the
Democrats’ comical talking points is an amazing sight to behold.’ ... Guess
what? They refused to run the statement. ... This is another great example
of ‘Fake and fraudulent news.’”

*Meadows Weighs Resolution To Hold Rosenstein In Contempt Of
Congress. *Politico
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(7/24, Cheney, Bresnahan) reports that Trump’s “top allies in the House”
are weighing “a last-ditch attempt to circumvent Republican leaders and
punish Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Special Counsel
Robert Mueller.” Rep. Mark Meadows (R) said Tuesday that he is considering
introducing “of a resolution to hold Rosenstein in contempt of Congress,”
which “could force a vote – even without Speaker Paul Ryan’s blessing –
before the House leaves town for a five-week recess on Thursday.” Such a
move “would mark a sharp escalation of efforts to undercut the nation’s
second most powerful law enforcement official, one who holds great sway
over Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with
Russians.”

*Pew Poll: 49% Of Republicans View FBI Positively; Down 16 Points
Since Early 2017. *Axios
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(7/24, McCammond) reports that a new Pew Research Center poll
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“shows a 16-point drop in favorable views of the FBI among Republicans and
Republican-leaning independents since early 2017.” In the poll, 49 percent
“of Republicans view the FBI positively, which is a stark contrast to the
65% who had positive views of the bureau before President Trump took
office.” The finding “suggests President Trump’s repeated attacks on the
FBI are influencing voters. “

*Trump Allies Paid Gates For Advice On Administration. *The New
York Times
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(7/24, Vogel, Mazzetti, Haberman, Kirkpatrick) reports on the relationship
between former Trump campaign official Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty
in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, and Elliott Broidy, “a
top fund-raiser for President Trump.” The Times says that after the
inauguration, Gates “began receiving monthly consulting payments for help
navigating the new administration from a company headed by [California
investor and Trump inaugural committee chairman Thomas] Barrack, Colony
NorthStar, which paid Mr. Gates $20,000 a month, and one owned by Mr.
Broidy, which paid Mr. Gates $25,000 a month.” The payments “came despite
the fact that Mr. Gates and [former Trump campaign chairman Paul] Manafort
were emerging as subjects of federal and congressional investigations
looking into their lucrative Ukraine work, and any connections between the
Trump campaign and Russia.”

*Page: FISA Warrant Was Way To Attack Trump Campaign. *Carter Page
said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(7/24) that he was never approached to be a spy. Asked how he responds to
his characterization in the FISA warrant, Page said, “It is an unhidden way
of attacking the Trump campaign. It’s very clear, particularly given...the
association with the dodgy dossier.”

*NYTimes: In Criticizing Trump, Former Intelligence Officials Risk
Being Pulled Into Political Fray. *The New York Times
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(7/24, Barnes, Mazzetti) says Trump seems to view the nation’s intelligence
apparatus “as a phantom army opposing him” and has “waged a battle against
the people he sees as their public proxies – former officials who have
rebuked him in opinion ar