EMAIL DETAILS

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Friday, June 15, 2018 7:53 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Friday,
June 15, 2018


*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=000-a24&t=c>
mobile-optimized online version, including download options and an audio
reader.*


[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=001-57d&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Friday, June 15, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Biden Cancer Initiative Announces FiERCE Awards. <#S1>

• Biden To Visit Memphis Tonight On American Promise Tour. <#S2>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• DOJ IG Slams Comey, Notes Strzok Vowed To “Stop” Trump From Becoming
President. <#S3>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Pompeo: Sanctions On North Korea To Remain Until “Complete
Denuclearization.” <#S4>

• Trump Expected To Announce Tariffs On Chinese Goods Today. <#S5>

• NSC Official Says US, Russia Exploring Trump-Putin Meeting. <#S6>

• US Appears Poised To Withdraw From UN Human Rights Council. <#S7>

• Major Offensive On Port City Risks Escalating Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis.
<#S8>

• State Department To Release $6.6 Million For Syria’s White Helmets. <#S9>

• Kenyan Village Tied To Obama Seeks Revival In Former President’s Visit.
<#S10>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• White House Blames Democrats For Immigrant Children Separated From
Parents. <#S11>

• New York AG Files Lawsuit Against Trump, Trump Foundation. <#S12>

• Broad Range Of Healthcare Constituencies Oppose Lawsuit Challenging ACA.
<#S13>

• IMF: Tax Cuts Eventually Will Slow US Economic Growth. <#S14>

• Comptroller Of The Currency Acknowledges Lending, Housing Discrimination.
<#S15>

• Bankruptcy Judges Beginning To Offer Relief From Student Debt. <#S16>

• High Court Strikes Down Minnesota Law Banning Political Apparel At
Polling Places. <#S17>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Higher Concentrations Of Vitamin D In Blood May Lower Colorectal Cancer
Risk. <#S18>

• Researchers Examine Detection Tools For Gasdermin E. <#S19>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S20>

• Washington Post. <#S21>
Biden in the News
Biden Cancer Initiative Announces FiERCE Awards.

Writing for Fortune
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=002-8a2&t=c>
(6/14), Clifton Leaf said the Biden Cancer Initiative on Thursday
“announced a new program, called the FiERCE Awards, intended to honor
individuals and organizations that are having ‘a transformative impact on
the lives of cancer patients’ and it’s” seeking “nominations.” Biden Cancer
Initiative President Greg Simon is quoted as saying, “VP Biden and Dr.
Biden started the Biden Cancer Initiative to address what is wrong with our
current cancer research and care systems. But we know there are people and
organizations doing wonderful things across the country we don’t know about
– and we hope these awards will bring attention to people in all walks of
life caring for others with cancer.” Leaf urged readers to submit their
nominations for the awards, and then offered one of his own: Dr. Harold P.
Freeman, for the award honoring “the person who has done more to
demonstrate the power of ‘patient navigation.’”
Biden To Visit Memphis Tonight On American Promise Tour.

WHBQ-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=003-a67&t=c>
Memphis (TN)'s Good Morning Memphis (6/15) reports this morning that former
Vice President Joe Biden “will be in Memphis today. He’s going to be at the
Orpheum [Theatre] tonight – part of his ‘American Promise Tour.’ The show
is set to start at 8 p.m. We checked overnight and there are still tickets
available...starting around $45.” In another broadcast this morning,
WATN-TV[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=004-7df&t=c>
Memphis, TN (6/15) reports that Biden “plans to talk about the biggest
political moments of his career, the loss of his son, Beau, and finding his
purpose. Biden has not formally declared his intention to run in 2020,
although there has been speculation – and he says he hasn’t ruled it out.”
In a piece highlighting a number of upcoming events in Memphis, the Memphis
(TN) Daily News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=005-43e&t=c>
(6/15) briefly reports that Biden “brings his American Promise Tour to
Memphis Friday, June 15, at 8 p.m. at The Orpheum Theatre.” He “will reveal
the big political moments of his career, the life-altering choices he made,
and the key traits that have helped him persevere through challenges.
Tickets start at $45.”

*Biden’s Thursday Visit To St. Louis Draws Minimal Local Media
Coverage. *There is extremely little local media coverage of Biden’s
Thursday visit to St. Louis. In an online article ahead of the event,
KTVI-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=006-6fd&t=c>
St. Louis (6/14) reported that Biden’s visit to St. Louis is “part of his
American Promise Tour. Biden will be at the Peabody Opera House Thursday
night at 7:30 pm. He’ll discuss the big political moments of his career,
life-altering choices he made, and the traits that have helped him
persevere through challenges.”
Leading the News
DOJ IG Slams Comey, Notes Strzok Vowed To “Stop” Trump From Becoming
President.

Much of the coverage of the release of the Department of Justice Inspector
General Michael Horowitz report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=007-9b8&t=c>
on the FBI’s handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s mishandling
of classified information focuses on the criticism of former FBI director
James Comey, and notes a previously undisclosed text from FBI agent Peter
Strzok in which he vows to block then-candidate Trump from getting elected.
Though Horowitz ruled out political bias as Comey’s motivation, the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=008-090&t=c>
(6/14, Barrett, Demirjian, Wagner, Zapotosky) notes that the IG found that
“some senior bureau officials...exhibited a disturbing ‘willingness to take
official action’ to hurt Trump’s chances to become president,” and the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=009-b3e&t=c>
(6/14, Schmidt) that “the FBI agent overseeing the investigation into
President Trump’s campaign pledged to stop Mr. Trump from becoming
president.”

Moreover, as the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=00a-2c5&t=c>
(6/14, Dinan) reports, the IG found that “while bias didn’t appear to
affect the big decisions in the handling of the initial investigation into
Hillary Clinton’s email practices, investigators couldn’t rule out a role
for bias in the final days of the campaign, when the FBI chose to focus on
the Russia probe rather than speedily review a new set of emails found on
the laptop of Anthony Weiner.” Ultimately, says USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=00b-33c&t=c>
(6/14, Kelly, Johnson), “the inspector general’s report did not address
whether any of its findings would be referred to federal prosecutors for
possible criminal action.”

Charles Hurt, opinion editor for the Washington Times, said Fox
News Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=00c-0cc&t=c>
(6/14), “I think the most interesting thing is, top line, you have people
saying there is no evidence of political bias in the whole process, which
is strange credulity to think about that. There is no smoking gun where
James Comey said blatantly, ‘I want to rake this thing so that Hillary
Clinton wins and Donald Trump loses.’ But all throughout – this whole
report shows at rampant political bias, all up and down the system.”

Tucker Carlson, in his opening monologue on Fox News’ Tucker
Carlson Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=00d-97b&t=c>
(6/14), said, “Within minutes of [the IG report’s] release, the hair-spray
geniuses of cable news had it neatly summarized for the rest of us. ‘It was
a tough day for the FBI,’ they said. ‘Here’s the bottom line: A month’s
long investigation found no evidence that political bias played any role in
this high profile criminal investigation.’” Carlson added that “if you are
looking to understand what’s actually happening in this country, always
assume the opposite of what they are telling you on the big news stations.
And that’s certainly the case here. They are lying.”

On the other hand, justice reporter Laura Jarrett said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=00e-9fa&t=c>
(6/14), “We’ve heard an uninterrupted narrative from...Trump that the
entire investigation was rigged in Clinton’s favor and this report says ‘No
it wasn’t.’” Justice correspondent Evan Perez said CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=00f-d9b&t=c>
(6/14), “I think...the people at the justice department, people at the FBI
who were very concerned about how this would come across have to be
relieved.”

To the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=010-977&t=c>
(6/14, story 2, 1:30, Brennan), meanwhile, “neither Republicans nor
Democrats can claim total vindication, because...there is no evidence of
political bias that would have influenced the investigation into Hillary
Clinton’s email server.” In its lead story, the CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=011-a07&t=c>
(6/14, lead story, 3:20, Glor) said the IG found “some FBI agents showed
anti-Trump bias, but that bias did not affect the case.” Also in its lead, NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=012-7e2&t=c>
(6/14, lead story, 2:45, Holt) described the report as “providing ammo for
all sides on the partisan war over the integrity of the FBI,” as it
“brought to light some FBI investigators did have politics on their minds.” ABC
World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=013-3f1&t=c>
(6/14, lead story, 4:25, Thomas) said, meanwhile, “the Inspector General
concludes there was ‘no evidence’ that the decision to clear Hillary
Clinton ‘was influenced by political preferences’ or bias,” and directs
“perhaps” its “harshest criticism...at two senior FBI officials who
exchanged blatantly anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 campaign,
including two new ones we saw today for the first time.”

Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=014-b56&t=c>
(6/14, Pappas) reports that in his “comprehensive and at-times scathing
report,” Horowitz “exposed extraordinary text messages by a top FBI
official vowing to ‘stop’ Donald Trump.” According to Fox, “one of the most
stunning findings concerns texts between” Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
According to the report, Page “texted Strzok in August 2016 and said:
‘[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!’” Strzok
replied, “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.” Fox notes that Strzok “was a
lead investigator on the Clinton case and later worked the Russia
investigation before being removed from that assignment.” The IG report
says, “In particular, we were concerned about text messages...that
potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative
decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=015-181&t=c>
(6/14, Apuzzo, Fandos, Savage) reports Horowitz “said that, because of his
views, Mr. Strzok may have improperly prioritized the Russia investigation
over the Clinton investigation during the final weeks of the campaign.”
However, “the report did not cite evidence that Mr. Strzok had acted
improperly or influenced the outcome of the investigation.” The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=016-63e&t=c>
(6/14, Baker) says in an analysis piece, moreover, that the IG report
“undercut Mr. Trump’s narrative. Whatever the agent, Peter Strzok, meant,
the F.B.I. did not ‘stop’ Mr. Trump, nor did the inspector general find
evidence it tried.”

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=017-f42&t=c>
(6/14, Kerr) noted the report stated that Strzok’s texts are “not only
indicative of a bias state of mind but, even more seriously, it implies a
willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s
electoral prospects.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=018-919&t=c>
(6/14, Mason) reports that “the exchange would have taken place during the
2016 campaign as Strzok and Page were both working on the Clinton email
probe.”

Sean Hannity said in his opening monologue on Fox News’ Hannity[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=019-cc7&t=c>
(6/14), “This is, sadly, a swamp document. Now, the swamp always protects
the swamp. ... And tonight we’ll highlight the stark difference between two
investigations. You get the white glove special treatment for Hillary
Clinton and then the heavy handed tactics all in against Donald Trump. ...
The hatred of Donald Trump from the left in the media in this country knows
no bounds.”

Along those lines, the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=01a-06a&t=c>
(6/14, Halper) reports “Trump’s allies quickly seized on those texts as
evidence for his claim that people within the FBI have conspired against
him.” On the other hand, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=01b-00b&t=c>
(6/14, Gerstein, Cheney) reports its story “Watchdog Rips Comey But Says
Bias Didn’t Taint Clinton Probe,” and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=01c-3a6&t=c>
(6/14, Wilber, Viswanatha, Gurman) titles its report “DOJ Clinton Report
Blasts Comey, Agents, But Finds No Bias In Conclusion.”

*In Tweets Today, Trump Slams Strzok, Page, Comey, Lauds Wray. *Trump
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=01d-d01&t=c>
this morning, “FBI Agent Peter Strzok, who headed the Clinton & Russia
investigations, texted to his lover Lisa Page, in the IG Report, that
‘we’ll stop’ candidate Trump from becoming President. Doesn’t get any lower
than that!” Trump added in a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=01e-68f&t=c>,
“The IG Report is a total disaster for Comey, his minions and sadly, the
FBI. Comey will now officially go down as the worst leader, by far, in the
history of the FBI. I did a great service to the people in firing him. Good
Instincts. Christopher Wray will bring it proudly back!”

*Page Urged Colleges To Go Easy On Clinton, Who “Might Be Our Next
President.” *The Federalist
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=01f-6eb&t=c>
(6/14, Stotzfoos) notes, meanwhile, that the report disclosed that “Page
instructed her colleagues to go easy on Hillary Clinton during the FBI’s
email investigation, because ‘she might be our next president.’” Page
texted, “One more thing: She might be our next president. ... The last
thing you need us going in there loaded for bear. You think she’s going to
remember or care that it was more doj than fbi?”

*Another Lead FBI Attorney On Probes Also Was Dropped From Mueller
Team For Anti-Trump Texts. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=020-e55&t=c>
(6/14, Ross) notes the IG report reveals that “an FBI attorney who worked
on the special counsel’s Russia investigation until earlier this year sent
anti-Trump text messages to a colleague, including one exclaiming: ‘Viva le
Resistance.’” According to the Daily Caller, “The lawyer is not identified,
but he worked on the Hillary Clinton email investigation and was the FBI’s
lead attorney on the investigation into Russian election interference. He
was assigned to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation soon after
it began in May 2017 and left in late February of this year after some of
his private messages were shared with the special counsel.”

*“Agent 1” And “Agent 5” Also Exchanged Texts Expressing Political
Support For Clinton. *To the Weekly Standard
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=021-13f&t=c>
(6/15, Felten), “perhaps the most shocking information in the IG’s report
is the revelation that...Page and...Strzok were not the only amorous agents
with a habit of texting. There were also ‘Agent 1’ and ‘Agent 5,’ who were
involved in the Clinton investigation and, according to the IG’s report
‘were in a relationship at the time and are now married.’” In his texts,
Agent 1 “not only expressed his political support for Clinton, he advocated
against subjecting Hillary to an FBI interview.” Agent 5, meanwhile texted
after “completing the questioning of Clinton: ‘done interviewing the
President.’ She also texted, ‘You should know; … that I’m … with her.’ (The
IG helpfully adds in a footnote that ‘“I’m with her” was one of the Clinton
campaign slogans.’)”

*White House: Report “Reaffirmed” Trump’s “Suspicions.” *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=022-a56&t=c>
(6/14, Fabian) reports the White House “on Thursday touted the results” the
investigation, with White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying the
report “reaffirmed the President’s suspicions about Comey’s conduct and
about the political bias of some members of the FBI.”

*In Wake Of IG Report, FBI Institutes “Political Bias Training.” *The
Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=023-7d6&t=c>
(6/14, Cohen) reports “the FBI said it has accepted the findings of an
inspector general report that faulted actions taken by top officials during
the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, and is developing a
training purpose to eliminate bias within its ranks.” Said the FBI, “The
FBI is instituting new political bias training, drawing from, among other
sources, the training, guidance, and practices of the federal judiciary.”
FBI Director Wray “will require all employees to ‘undergo similar training
to reinforce the importance of maintaining a work environment free from
political bias.’” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=024-ab4&t=c>
(6/14, Dinan) says the FBI’s decision followed the release of the
“devastating report.” Wray writes in USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=025-1bd&t=c>
(6/14), “While the Inspector General didn’t find any evidence of political
bias or improper consideration impacting the investigation under review,
all of us at the FBI take this report seriously, and we accept its findings
and recommendations”

*Giuliani, Republicans: After IG Revelations, Mueller Should
Suspend His Investigation. *Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said on Fox News’
Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=026-aba&t=c>
(6/14), “I do believe this impacts whether or not the Mueller investigation
at its foundation, considering it’s the same people involved, now should
all go away as a result. .. We have investigation, in the words of
President Donald Trump, from the very beginning has been a fix, a frame-up
and a witch-hunt.” He added, “Mueller should suspend his investigation and
the Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General Sessions, who should now
step up big time to save his department, should suspend that investigation.
Throw out all the people is that have been involved in the phony Trump
investigation and bring in honest FBI agents from the New York office who I
could trust implicitly.” He also said, “I feel that this whole thing has
made fools of all of us.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=027-0b9&t=c>
(6/14, Datoc) runs a story on Giuliani’s comments.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=028-a34&t=c>
(6/14, Costa) says the IG report “gave new and potent ammunition to...Trump
and his allies in their ongoing efforts to undermine special counsel Robert
S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference during the 2016
presidential campaign.” Republicans “quickly seized on the report as a
meaningful development that they believe will further bruise Mueller’s
credibility with the public and bolster the president, whose administration
has long been gripped by the probe.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=029-f33&t=c>
(6/14, Cheney, Schor) also indicates that “though Democrats insisted that
the new report...should have no bearing on Mueller’s work, Republicans
across the ideological spectrum appeared increasingly emboldened in their
assertions that the special counsel’s investigation had been damaged –
perhaps irreversibly so.”

Donald Trump Jr. said on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=02a-ca0&t=c>
(6/14), “It probably doesn’t go far enough as it relates to what was really
going on. I think real America, and what I have been saying for weeks and
last time I was on with you, real America sees what’s going on here. They
see that these phony players at the top of the FBI.” He added, “These
lawyers at the top were trying to influence an election and then undermine
a presidency. ... When I see what’s gone on, I think I see what everyone
else in America is seeing and they should be disgusted.”

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy said on Fox
News Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=02b-530&t=c>
(6/14) that the report “changes a lot going forward. Russia did something
to our country in 2016. It was serious, it deserved to be investigated and
it deserved to be investigated by a fair FBI agent who was not talking
about impeaching the person that he was investigating.” He added[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=02c-9fa&t=c>,
“It just so happens that the one picked to follow up and lead the Russian
investigation has manifest animus and can’t think of a single person to
vote Donald Trump. So those two are inextricably intertwined. Most of my
fellow citizens would say, ‘I want to know what Russia was doing to us in
2016, but I also want the person that is finding out and investigating it
to be free of bias and free of taint.’”

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said on Fox News’ Ingraham
Angle[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=02d-e3e&t=c>
(6/14), “These are text messages that clearly were pertinent to our
investigation and to FISA abuse and the Russian investigation, whether or
not there was collusion. These are emails or text messages that somebody
held a from us. Every day that goes by, there’s a new example of
obstruction of the congressional investigation.” He added, “I think the
same people in charge today still believe they can run the clock out and
they are trying to run the clock out for the rest of the Congress that we
can’t finish our investigations.”

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte said on Fox News Special
Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=02e-953&t=c>
(6/14) comparing how the Clinton investigation was improperly handled to
how “the investigation has been handled in the so-called Trump-Russia
collusion, and you have contrast that is shocking in terms of how they
handled one presidential campaign compared to another. It’s got to be
investigated further, changes have to be made.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R) said on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=02f-1d1&t=c>
(6/14), “We have caught [DOJ] hiding documents. How about the fact, Tucker,
we have seen all these text messages, thousands. The Attorney General said,
I forget, 50,000 text messages between Strzok And Page. The one most
telling was the one that says we’ll stop Trump. We don’t see that one until
today? ... We have caught them trying to hide information from us.”

*IG: Comey “Insubordinate” When He Decided Not To Consult With
Lynch About Clinton Probe. *Under the headline, “Watchdog Sees Errors, Not
Bias, In Comey’s Clinton Probe,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=030-483&t=c>
(6/14, Tucker, Day) reports that the DOJ IG concluded that Comey “was
‘insubordinate’ in his handling of the...Clinton email investigation during
the 2016 presidential election.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=031-1ba&t=c>
(6/14, Lynch) says Horowitz “did not contest the decision not to prosecute
Clinton for the email affair,” but he “sharply criticized Comey for
violating Justice Department policies and accused him of usurping the
authority of then Attorney General Loretta Lynch.” Reuters notes that Comey
has said Lynch “forced his hand when she did not recuse herself from the
Clinton probe, even after a June 2016 meeting with former President Bill
Clinton aboard her plane raised concerns she was conflicted.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=032-b92&t=c>
(6/14, Strohm) notes that the FBI “said in a statement included in the
inspector general’s report that Comey’s handling of the Clinton findings
may have violated regulations on releasing information and that his letter
disclosing reopening of the inquiry shortly before the election ‘was a
serious error in judgment.’” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=033-9af&t=c>
(6/14, Williams) calls the report “highly critical” of Comey, and the Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=034-938&t=c>
(6/14, Hasson) that it found he “acted like the rules didn’t apply to him.”

*IG: Comey Used Personal Gmail Account To Conduct FBI Business. *
CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=035-fa7&t=c>
(6/14) reports that the IG revealed that Comey “used a personal Gmail
account to conduct FBI business on numerous occasions when he was director
of the bureau – even though he had bluntly warned FBI workers they would be
in ‘huge trouble’ for doing the same thing.” The IG said Comey’s “frequent
use of a personal email account for unclassified FBI business was
‘inconsistent with’ Justice Department policy.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=036-8ca&t=c>
(6/14, Athey) and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=037-8a2&t=c>
(6/14, Samuels), among other news outlets, also note Comey’s email use.

*Report: FBI Employees Received “Free Perks” From Journalists.
*The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=038-f3e&t=c>
(6/14, Simonson) notes the report “identified a number of instances where
FBI employees regularly spoke with members of the media and received a
number of free perks from journalists including meals and tickets to
various events.” The IG “implies that such benefits could have encouraged
various agents to leak information to the press.” According to the Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=039-95f&t=c>
(6/14, Cohen), the IG found that “so many FBI officials are talking to the
press and attending ‘social events’ with the media that it’s impossible to
say who might have leaked confidential information to the media during the
investigation into...Clinton’s private emails.”

*Comey: Findings “Reasonable,” But Nothing To Indicate He Should
Have Acted Differently. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=03a-14e&t=c>
(6/14, Thomsen) says Comey responded to the reports by calling its
conclusions “reasonable” but adding nothing in it “makes me think we did
the wrong thing.” Comey wrote on Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=03b-b16&t=c>,
“I respect the DOJ IG office, which is why I urged them to do this review.
The conclusions are reasonable, even though I disagree with some. People of
good faith can see an unprecedented situation differently. I pray no
Director faces it again. Thanks to IG’s people for hard work.” The New York
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=03c-3d3&t=c>
(6/14, Fredericks) and Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=03d-6f1&t=c>
(6/14, Lim), among other news outlets, also report Comey’s tweets. In a New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=03e-611&t=c>
(6/14, Comey) op-ed, Comey further states the report endorsed much of his
work in the Clinton probe, and concludes, “Our nation’s institutions of
justice are up to the task of protecting the rule of law and defending
truth and transparency. All of us should stand up and support them.”

*Report Finds Comey Did Not Know Abedin Was Married To Weiner.
*The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=03f-38e&t=c>
(6/14, Dinan) reports that “in one striking finding, Mr. Comey says he
didn’t know Ms. [Huma] Abedin – who had been a key figure in the
investigation – was married to Mr. Weiner, a prominent former congressman
who was being investigated for sending sexually-focused messages to an
underage girl.”

*WPost, WSJournal Editorials Reach Different Conclusions On IG
Report. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=040-4ae&t=c>
(6/14) editorializes that the IG report found that the FBI violated the
public’s trust in a manner not seen since the J. Edgar Hoover era, and
urges Wray and Sessions to take drastic measures to restore confidence in
their agencies.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=041-bd9&t=c>
(6/14) editorializes that “the first thing to note is that the report
provides no support for the theory of a broad anti-Trump plot. True, the
inspector general uncovered private messages between...Strzok and...Page,”
but he “concluded that Mr. Strzok ‘was not the sole decisionmaker’ and, in
fact, ‘advocated for more aggressive investigative measures’ against Ms.
Clinton.” To the Post, “the valid, nonpolitical lesson arising from the
inspector general’s report is that the FBI needs to be better prepared to
handle politically sensitive investigations. The agency must take special
care not to affect elections. ... As for FBI officials, they can have
personal views, but they should refrain from saying careless things even in
private.”

*House Memo: “Foreign Actors” Accessed Clinton Email Marked
“Secret.” *Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=042-4e5&t=c>
(6/14, Herridge) reports that, “according to a new memo from two GOP-led
House committees and an internal FBI email,” some unidentified “‘foreign
actors’ obtained access to some of former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton’s emails – including at least one email classified as ‘secret.’ ...
‘Documents provided to the Committees show foreign actors obtained access
to some of Mrs. Clinton’s emails – including at least one email classified
“Secret,”’ the memo says, adding that foreign actors also accessed the
private accounts of some Clinton staffers.”

*NYTimes’ Cohn: “Unclear” Whether Comey’s October 2016 Letter Cost
Clinton The Election. *Writing in “The Upshot” on the website of the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=043-f8b&t=c>
(6/14), Nate Cohn said that in the closely contested 2016 presidential
election, “anything and everything could have been decisive.” Cohn says the
letter then-FBI Director James Comey sent to Congress in October 2016 about
Hillary Clinton’s emails “is one of these potential factors,” though “it is
still unclear whether [it] cost her the presidency.” When Comey sent the
letter, “most polling averages showed Mrs. Clinton ahead by around six
percentage points in national polls. A week later, her lead had declined to
three points,” a swing “against her...often attributed to Mr. Comey’s
letter – three points being more than enough to cover Donald J. Trump’s
narrow margins in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.” However, says
Cohn, “Clinton’s support was probably already in decline before the Comey
letter,” making “it harder to claim definitively that [the] letter was
responsible for any subsequent decline.”

*Trump Denounces Mueller “Witch Hunt” Over “Phony Crime.” *Ahead of
the release of the DOJ IG report yesterday, Trump took to Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=044-f24&t=c>
to denounce the Mueller investigation, writing, “Now that I am back from
Singapore, where we had a great result with respect to North Korea, the
thought process must sadly go back to the Witch Hunt, always remembering
that there was No Collusion and No Obstruction of the fabricated No Crime.
...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=045-224&t=c>
So, the Democrats make up a phony crime, Collusion with the Russians, pay a
fortune to make the crime sound real, illegally leak (Comey) classified
information so that a Special Councel will be appointed, and then Collude
to make this pile of garbage take on life in Fake News!”

*Trump Jr.: Trump Should Not Answer Mueller’s Questions. *Asked, on Fox
News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=046-2e6&t=c>
(6/14), if he thinks his father should submit to questions from Robert
Mueller, Donald Trump Jr. said, “I don’t trust these people as far as I can
throw them. I wouldn’t sit down with them. ... The reality is, the greatest
investigative bodies of the world have been looking for two years...and
they have come up with nothing.” Trump added, “We’re not talking about
Russian collusion anymore because they have given up on that.”

*Percentage Of Voters Who Believe Probe Conducted Unfairly Up Six
Points. *Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=047-7b9&t=c>
(6/14, Benson) reports “voters interviewed for the Politico/Morning Consult
poll...have changed direction on whether they think the Mueller
investigation has been on the up and up.” Townhall notes that “in the
latest survey, 40 percent of voters said it had been handled unfairly,
compared to early February when 34 percent said the probe wasn’t being
handled fairly.”
Foreign Policy
Pompeo: Sanctions On North Korea To Remain Until “Complete
Denuclearization.”

Secretary of State Pompeo was in South Korea and China on Thursday, where
he said UN sanctions would remain on North Korea until Pyongyang completely
abandoned its nuclear program and weapons. [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=048-f4b&t=c>
(6/14, story 6, 2:25, Muir) reported North Korean state media had reported
that President Trump “pledged to quote, ‘lift sanctions as mutual relations
improve through dialogue and negotiation.’” On Thursday, however, Pompeo
“said that’s not actually the case.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=049-728&t=c>
(6/14, Perlez, Sang-Hun) reports Pompeo “told Asian powers on Thursday that
President Trump was sticking to demands that North Korea surrender its
nuclear weapons, as he sought to hold together a fragile consensus on
maintaining tough sanctions against the North despite Mr. Trump’s
declaration that it was ‘no longer a nuclear threat.’” In Seoul, Pompeo
“softened some of the president’s recent comments – but did not retract
them – and insisted that United Nations sanctions would remain in place
until North Korea had accomplished ‘complete denuclearization.’” Pompeo
made the “same point later Thursday in Beijing, where he met with China’s
president, Xi Jinping.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=04a-9bc&t=c>
(6/14, Lederman, Bodeen) reports that in his meeting with South Korean and
Japanese officials in Seoul, Pompeo “put a more sober spin on Trump’s
summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after the president’s comments
fueled unease in Washington, Tokyo and Seoul.” Pompeo said Trump’s “curious
claim that the North’s nuclear threat was over was issued with ‘eyes wide
open,’ and brushed off a North Korean state media report suggesting Trump
would grant concessions even before the North fully rids itself of nuclear
weapons.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=04b-c21&t=c>
(6/14, Kim) reports Pompeo told reporters, “President Trump has been
incredibly clear about the sequencing of denuclearization and relief from
the sanctions,” but the US is “going to get complete denuclearization; only
then will there be relief from the sanctions.” While “Pompeo insisted
Pyongyang was committed to giving up its nuclear arsenal,” he also “said it
would ‘be a process, not an easy one.’” Pompeo continued, “It could be the
case that our effort won’t ... work but we are determined to set the
conditions so that we can right this failure of decades and reset the
conditions for North Korea’s participation in the community of nations.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=04c-4e0&t=c>
(6/14, Gearan, Hudson) says Pompeo’s “stop in China, which also covered
U.S. trade disputes, was largely intended to ensure Beijing remains
committed to enforcing sanctions on North Korea, its neighbor and ally.”
Pompeo asserted, “China has reaffirmed its commitment to honoring the U.N.
Security Council resolutions. Those have mechanisms for relief contained in
them, and we agreed that at the appropriate time that those would be
considered.” He added, however, that “we have made very clear that the
sanctions and the economic relief that North Korea will receive will only
happen after the full denuclearization, the complete denuclearization, of
North Korea.” Rich Edson reported on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]Fox
News Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=04d-10e&t=c>
(6/14) that China also “approves” of Trump’s decision to halt military
exercises with South Korea.

*Trump Nominee To Be South Korean Ambassador: North Continues To
Pose Nuclear Threat. *Pompeo’s comments come after Trump “tweet[ed] North
Korea is no longer a nuclear threat,” reported [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=04e-548&t=c>
(6/14, story 4, 1:45, Holt), which added, “That was news to Admiral Harry
Harris, the administration’s long awaited nominee to be Ambassador to South
Korea.” During his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, Harris “said he backs halting major military exercises
on the Korean Peninsula, but said he suspects some readiness exercises will
continue as the U.S. and North Korea attempt to hammer out a
denuclearization deal,” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=04f-ad9&t=c>
(6/14, Murray) reports. The retired admiral “highly praised Trump’s
historic meeting earlier this week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,
saying the world is in ‘a dramatically different place’ after the summit,”
but he “expressed hesitancy about halting all training.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=050-374&t=c>
(6/14, Muñoz) quotes Harris stating: “I think we are in a dramatically
different place. I think the whole landscape has shifted and I believe that
we should give exercises, major exercises, a pause, to see if Kim Jong-un,
in fact, is serious.” Harris added, “I’m convinced that our alliance
commitments to South Korea remain ironclad and have not changed.” The Times
says Harris’ comments “are the latest example of the thawing of relations
between Washington and Pyongyang in the wake of Tuesday’s summit in
Singapore,” as the Pentagon and State Department were “seemingly caught
unaware of Mr. Trump’s cancellation of U.S. military drills on the
peninsula.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=051-e98&t=c>
(6/14) similarly says Harris may have “endorsed Trump’s plan to pause major
military exercises with South Korea,” but his remarks are “at odds with
Trump’s tweet on returning from his summit with Kim Jong Un, that there is
‘no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.’”

Separately, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=052-b87&t=c>
(6/14) runs a primer on the joint-US South Korea military exercises, which
take place annually in spring and summer.

*Trump’s Image Transformed In North Korean Media. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=053-1eb&t=c>
(6/14, Talmadge) reports North Korea’s official media are giving Trump an
image make-over. The “post-summit transformation of North Korea’s official
version of Trump, who’s now being shown by state media looking serious and
almost regal, underscores the carefully choreographed reality show the
government has had to perform to keep its people, taught from childhood to
hate and distrust the ‘American imperialists,’ ideologically on board with
the tectonic shifts underway in their country’s relationship with
Washington.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=054-16e&t=c>
(6/14, Taylor) reports North Korean state television “aired a 42-minute
documentary on Thursday that offered a different view of Kim Jong Un’s
meeting with President Trump in Singapore.” The documentary “appears to
have captured several scenes that international news organizations missed –
including one awkward moment when Trump was saluted by a North Korean
military leader,” who then returns the salute. Jean H. Lee, a North Korea
scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said, “This is a moment that will be
used over and over in North Korea’s propaganda as ‘proof’ that the American
president defers to the North Korean military.” The Post adds that although
it is “shown from the North Korean perspective, the documentary largely
presents Trump in a flattering light – at one point,” presenter Ri Chun Hee
“describes the president and Kim as ‘two supreme leaders’ of their
countries.”

*Abe Considering Summit With Kim To Address Abductee Issue. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=055-cdf&t=c>
(6/14, Gale) reports Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering
meeting with Kim to address Japanese claims that Pyongyang kidnapped
Japanese citizens. A Japanese government spokesman said the two countries
should meet in a summit to address unresolved issues between them. Japanese
media report Abe and Kim could meet in August or September.

*North Korea’s Tourism Plans Underway. *In an online video, the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=056-db1&t=c>
(6/14, Times) reported “live fire drills were conducted” along the coast of
North Korea’s Wonsan “as recently as 2017,” but “that didn’t stop President
Trump, a former real estate developer, from spotting the potential.” He
told reporters, “You could have the best hotels in the world right there.”
In fact, Kim “was already on the case,” and he “made those beach condos a
priority” in a 2018 New Year’s address. Satellite imagery reveals heavy
construction along the coastline, signaling the project is already
underway. Pyongyang has said once complete, the tourist zone could attract
up to one million visitors annually; however, the Times says, with North
Korea’s reputation for “prison camps, purges, and poverty, it is unclear
where these tourists will come from.” Nonetheless, Pompeo recently
suggested that Americans could help with the project.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=057-eac&t=c>
(6/14, Sharp) reports on investment prospects for North Korea, noting that
“pristine coastline” isn’t its “only untapped asset. The country boasts
vast stores of minerals – including iron and rare earths – which could be
worth $6 trillion, according to a 2013 estimate by the North Korea
Resources Institute in Seoul.” There are “also unconfirmed reports of oil
and gas deposits in the East and West seas,” and the country’s “working-age
population of about 17 million” is “another potential asset in the eyes of
businesses in Japan, South Korea, and China, where labor forces are graying
and shrinking.” Since UN sanctions barred foreign investment in 2006, to
some, “North Korea is still the ultimate frontier market, a place with
extra-large opportunities – and similarly sized risks.”

*Video Shows Trump Saluting North Korean General. *ABC World News
Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=058-874&t=c>
(6/14, story 6, 2:25, Muir) reported North Korean state media broadcast a
42-minute documentary of the Singapore summit in which Trump, “called the
‘Supreme Leader’ of the United States, [was] shown offering his hand to a
North Korean general. The general salutes instead, and the President
salutes right back.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=059-1b3&t=c>
(6/14, story 4, 1:45, Holt) reported there is “uproar” over Trump’s salute,
which is “now being used as propaganda on North Korean State TV.” Brian
Todd reported on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CNN’s Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=05a-897&t=c>
(6/14) that that the images in the documentary “seem to underscore another
propaganda win for Kim, making him appear, as one expert says, to be the
one in the driver’s seat.” Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey said, “The political
optics of it were bad. This is a murderous, brutal regime. He should have
just nodded his head and shaken his hand.” CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=05b-155&t=c>
(6/14) said a “US official told CNN the President was briefed on the
protocol...not to salute other countries.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=05c-06e&t=c>
(6/14, Hafner, Today) says some social media users “decried Trump’s
gesture, claiming it gave North Korea’s government more reason to claim
legitimacy on the global stage,” while others “urged understanding, calling
it a relatable snafu.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=05d-fa2&t=c>
(6/14, Rogers) reports the gesture “put the White House on the defensive
Thursday and drew questions about whether a high-ranking officer of a
militaristic dictatorship deserved to be on the receiving end of a gesture
meant to symbolize respect, camaraderie and reverence.” White House Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders clarified to reporters, “It’s a common courtesy
when a military official from another government salutes that you return
that.” Sanders added, “It’s possible that it was just instinctive and he
didn’t think it through,” but “that doesn’t mean it’s not consistent with
everything he’s believed the whole time.”

*White House Denies Trump Downplayed North Korea’s Human Rights
Record. *ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=05e-ce5&t=c>
(6/14, story 6, 2:25, Muir) said, “The President’s gushing praise for
Kim...is raising eyebrows. Six months ago, he said this --” Trump: “No
regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the
cruel dictatorship in North Korea.” Vega: “But now?” Trump: “I think we
understand each other.” Fox News’ Bret Baier: “But he has still done some
really bad things.” Trump: “Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done
some really bad things.” Sanders dismissed the notion that Trump downplayed
what “human rights groups say” is the Kim regime’s “torture, forced
starvation and systemic murder of thousands. Why is he now downplaying
North Korea’s horrific atrocities?” The White House is also “insisting”
Trump raised human rights in his meeting with Kim.

Commentator Angela Rye, when asked about President Trump’s praise
for Kim, said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CNN’s The Lead
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=05f-343&t=c>
(6/14), “I think he may not know protocol, he may not be reading briefing
documents and unfortunately he makes for a very embarrassing
commander-in-chief. I think our reality is Donald Trump calls things
‘tough’ that many of us including kids we might mentor or who may be our
own call bullies. I think of people who are resilient and have overcome
tremendous oppression and struggle and for whatever reason that doesn’t
resonate with Donald Trump. What resonates are people who make it
impossible and hard. I think he may admire the fact this person is a
dictator and that’s a platform he doesn’t have in this country thanks to
democracy.”

Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=060-921&t=c>
(6/14) columnist Josh Rogin says President Trump has undermined “his own
goal” of transforming “North Korea into a modern economy” by “taking human
rights off the table.” Rogin argues that for real economic change to take
place, North Korea must “elevate the rights and status of its people, which
Kim will do only if pushed. Unfortunately, Trump has taken the opposite
approach.” By ignoring the issue, Rogin writes, Trump has not only damaged
“America’s image as a champion of human rights worldwide,” but also harmed
his “own ability to get what he wants, namely real change in North Korea.”

*WPost Analysis: Trump Allegedly Pushed To Hold Summit Early.
*A Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=061-912&t=c>
(6/14, Parker, Dawsey, Leonnig, Deyoung) analysis says “Trump’s impatience,
coupled with a tense staff-level meeting between the two sides on Sunday,
left some aides fearful that the entire summit might be in peril.” Upon his
arrival in Singapore, “an antsy and bored Trump urged his aides to demand
that the meeting with Kim be pushed up by a day – to Monday – and had to be
talked out of altering the long-planned and carefully negotiated summit
date on the fly, according to two people familiar with preparations.”
Pompeo and Sanders ultimately “persuaded Trump to stick with the original
plan, arguing that the president and his team could use the time to
prepare, people familiar with the talks said.” The Post says the
“behind-the-scenes flurry of commotion” underscores “the ad hoc nature of
the summit, which was abruptly announced, called off and then reinstated
all before either leader had touched down in Singapore.”

*White House Spokesman Discusses Post-Summit Bilateral Relations. *In
an interview with NPR
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=062-081&t=c>
(6/14, Cornish), White House spokesman Raj Shah conceded that North Korea
“hasn’t acted in great faith over the last several decades,” but “the
President has, you know, extracted at least some good-faith signals from
North Korea and from Kim Jong Un.” Shah said he believes the “initial
statement” between Trump and Kim centered on “intent and about goals,” and
that “we’re going to move forward over the next few weeks and months toward
more concrete steps” on “verifiability, how you get to irreversible are
things that are tangible.” He added that “it will take a lot more than one
meeting to sort out” such details. On the issue of human rights, Shah said
the matter is “a priority,” but he stressed that “the core issue, as the
press secretary said today, is denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and
stopping a situation in which millions or tens of millions of people can be
killed almost instantly.”

*Zakaria: Trump’s Summit Performance A Gift For China. *Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=063-e1f&t=c>
(6/14) columnist Fareed Zakaria says the “real headline of the Trump-Kim
summit” should “have been: ‘U.S. weakens its 70-year alliance with South
Korea.’” At the same time, Zakaria says, Trump’s summit performance
strengthens the perception that for China in particular, “the Trump
administration has been the gift that keeps on giving.” Zakaria explains,
“The most striking elements of Trump’s initiative were not simply that he
lavished praise” on Kim, “but also that he announced the cancellation of
military exercises with South Korea, adopting North Korea’s own rhetoric by
calling them ‘provocative.’” Worse still, Zakaria argues, “Trump signaled
that he would like to end the U.S. troop presence in South Korea.” Zakaria
cautions, “The long game for the United States over the next few decades is
how to handle the rise of China. And right now, we are quitting the field.”

*Marcus: Trump’s Praise Of Kim Culminates A “Sickening” Week.
*Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=064-958&t=c>
(6/14) columnist Ruth Marcus says many weeks “in the age of Trump are
depressing,” but the latest week “has been sickening.” Marcus asserts that
“Trump’s consistent, unnecessary, escalating praise for Kim merits the word
‘sickening,’” as such “language about Kim represents a nauseating betrayal
of American values – and a telling exposure of Trump’s own.” Marcus writes,
“Trump’s North Korea performance is bad enough on its own,” but the week
was made worse by his “jarring, unwarranted mistreatment of our closest
allies, before, during and after the Group of Seven summit,” along with
“the jarring, unwarranted suggestion that Russia” should rejoin the group.
Marcus says “if your stomach isn’t already churning,” also add “what is
happening on the home front” regarding illegal immigrant family
separations, and the “word ‘sickening’ is not strong enough.”
Trump Expected To Announce Tariffs On Chinese Goods Today.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=065-9c6&t=c>
(6/14, Lynch, Paletta) reports, “President Trump on Friday will announce a
25 percent tariff on $50 billion of Chinese products, the latest move in
his intensifying campaign to rewrite the rules of global trade.” These
“trade barriers mark a historic change after three decades of deepening
ties between the world’s two largest economies.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=066-2ab&t=c>
(6/14, Davis, Nicholas) reports Trump’s approval came after a 90-minute
meeting of senior White House officials; national-security officials; and
senior representatives of the Treasury Department, Commerce Department, and
US Trade Representative’s Office.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=067-25f&t=c>
(6/14, Rappeport, Swanson) reports the White House could soon impose
tariffs – a final list of Chinese goods that would be subject to them is
expected to be released on Friday – “potentially reigniting a trade war
that had been on the back burner while President Trump engaged in delicate
nuclear diplomacy with North Korea.” China threatened “retaliatory tariffs
on American goods, including soybeans, pork and steel,” to which “Trump
responded by saying his administration would consider levies on another
$100 billion in Chinese products.” Trump and his advisers believe the
tariffs give the United States leverage in negotiations with Beijing,
although people familiar with the Administration’s plans say it may phase
them in “to allow for continuing discussions.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=068-ed3&t=c>
(6/14) reports Trump “approved a plan to impose punishing tariffs on tens
of billions of dollars of Chinese goods as early as Friday.” The AP adds
that Wall Street worries the tariffs “could strangle the economic growth
achieved during Trump’s watch and undermine the benefits of the tax cuts he
signed into law last year.” Also covering the expected tariff announcement
are the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=069-3d9&t=c>
(6/14, Miller) and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=06a-a63&t=c>
(6/14, Palmer).

*Supreme Court Sides With Administration In Antitrust Case With
China. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=06b-20f&t=c>
(6/14, Chung) reports the Supreme Court “sided with the Trump
administration and against China on Thursday on a disputed aspect of their
fraught trade relationship,” holding 9-0 that the Second US Circuit Court
of Appeals “gave too much deference to Chinese government filings
explaining China’s regulatory policy” when it threw out $148 million in
damages won by two American companies against two Chinese vitamin C makers
who violated American antitrust law. Writing for the court, Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg said that despite giving “respectful consideration” to
foreign governments’ interpretation of their own law, US courts are not
“bound to accord conclusive effect to the foreign government’s statements.”

*As China Curbs Borrowing, Growth Shows Signs Of Faltering. *GDP
growth in China appears to be slowing, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=06c-5eb&t=c>
(6/14, Bradsher) reports, as efforts to rein in rapidly rising debt in the
country start to bite into the real economy. Data from the National Bureau
of Statistics showed that investment, retail sales, and industrial
production all slowed in May, while small businesses face difficulty
borrowing. Ratings agencies including S&P Global Ratings have taken note of
the challenges ahead for Chinese policymakers and downgraded China’s
sovereign rating last year, citing concerns about the debt overhang.

*Trump Reportedly Wants 25% Tariff On Foreign Cars Before Midterms.
*Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=06d-ca8&t=c>
(6/14, Behsudi, Cook) reports that Trump wants to move ahead on imposing 25
percent tariffs on foreign cars “before the midterm elections in a bid to
score points with his political base, according to administration and auto
industry officials.” One “senior administration official” said, “Trump sees
the auto tariffs as part of his midterm strategy, a way to position
Republicans and the White House as pro-worker. He views it as part of the
broader story about to helping to revitalize the American-based economy.”

*Cohn: Trade War Could Cause Recession. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061501biden&r=email-e724&l=06e-3c1&t=c>
(6/14, Stein) reports that former NEC director Gary Cohn warned yesterday
that “an escalating trade war could wipe out the benefits of the Republican
tax law passed last fall.” According to the Post, Cohn “said that
retaliatory tariffs between countries could drive up inflation and prompt
American consumers to take on more debt, possibly pushing the country into
another economic downturn.