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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, June 28, 2018 7:52 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, June 28, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=000-164&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=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=001-7d9&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, June 28, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Poll: Biden Holds Double-Digit Lead Among Potential 2020 Democratic
Hopefuls. <#S1>

• Rogin: “Bit Of Truth” Biden Reluctant To Run, But “Leaving The Door Wide
Open.” <#S2>

• The Atlantic’s Beinart: Crowley Loss May Bode Ill For 2020 Biden Bid.
<#S3>

• Biden Endorses Torres Small In NM2. <#S4>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Says Kennedy Replacement Will Come From List Of Conservative
Jurists. <#S5>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Confirms Meeting With Putin Next Month. <#S6>

• Trump To Harley-Davidson: “We Won’t Forget” Decision To Move Production
Overseas. <#S7>

• Trump Sides With Mnuchin, Declines To Impose Chinese Investment
Restrictions. <#S8>

• Xi To Mattis: China Won’t Give Up “Even One Inch” Of Territory. <#S9>

• Pompeo: North Korea Yet To Return US Troop Remains. <#S10>

• Administration Begins Ending Iran Sanctions Relief. <#S11>

• Libyan Sentenced To 22 Years For Attack On US Consulate In Benghazi.
<#S12>

• Pompeo: US To Impose More Sanctions On Venezuela, Resume UNRWA Funding.
<#S13>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• In 301-121 Vote, House Rejects Trump-Endorsed Ryan Immigration Bill.
<#S14>

• Media Analyses: SCOTUS Ruling On Union Dues Major Defeat For Labor,
Democrats. <#S15>

• Goodlatte: Strzok’s Answers To Lawmakers’ Questions “Not Believable.”
<#S16>

• East Pittsburgh Police Officer Charged In Shooting Of Unarmed Teen. <#S17>

• VA Secretary Nominee Vows To Implement Patient-Centric Modernization.
<#S18>

• Fox News Executive Shine To Join White House Communications Team. <#S19>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Research Indicates Survivin May Be Good Target For Immunotherapy
Approaches. <#S20>

• Old Dominion University Researchers Use Electric Pulses To Kill Cancer
Cells. <#S21>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S22>

• Washington Post. <#S23>
Biden in the News
Poll: Biden Holds Double-Digit Lead Among Potential 2020 Democratic
Hopefuls.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=002-422&t=c>
(6/27, Kamisar) reported that a Harvard CAPS/Harris national poll of
“registered Democratic voters” shows former Vice President Joe Biden
leading a field of potential 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls with
32%, followed by Hillary Clinton at 18%, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) at 16%,
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) at 10%, Sen. Cory Booker (D) at 6%, ex-New York
Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 3%, Sen. Kamala Harris (D) at 2%, and Gov.
Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) each at 1%; 12% “said
they supported someone not listed.” The Hill did not say how many
Democratic voters were surveyed or when the poll was in the field. USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=003-0cc&t=c>
(6/27, Cummings) also reports on the results of the poll and adds that
Biden, “who would be 77 on Election Day in 2020, has been one of Trump’s
most vocal critics since the 2016 campaign. On at least two occasions,”
Biden “has indicated that he wishes he was back in high school so that he
could physically confront the president over his comments about women.”
Rogin: “Bit Of Truth” Biden Reluctant To Run, But “Leaving The Door Wide
Open.”

Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin was asked during a Wednesday
appearance on HLN – S.E. Cupp Unfiltered[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=004-504&t=c>
(6/27) about his recent interview with former Vice President Joe Biden.
Rogin said, “He’s amazingly active for a guy who doesn’t want to be
president, as he claims. ... And to believe what he says...he doesn’t want
to run for president. He’s looking at it and he’s saying, ‘Wow, I really
don’t want to be put in that position. But if you have to choose me – if I
got to save the Republic, if I’m the only one who can save the world – I
might be enticed to’” run. “That’s his line, okay? And there’s a bit of
truth to that. ... He’s done what he needs to do career-wise. At the same
time, he’s leaving the door wide open. I think he’s just playing it safe
and preserving his options, however it works out.”

*Rogin: If He Mounts Bid, Biden “Has His Platform Laid Out.” *Of
his interview with Biden, Rogin also said on HLN – S.E. Cupp Unfiltered[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=005-6e3&t=c>
(6/27), “The parts I couldn’t use were all about his plans to reconnect the
Democratic Party to the Trump voters – to the people they have lost. He’s
got extensive, detailed ideas on how to do that. It’s fascinating. It’s
about free community college and health care. It’s about taking this
globalization and distributing its benefits to the people who are left
behind, but not canceling it the way some of the Trump people want to do.
... There’s definitely passion there. It’s also calculated. And I would say
that if he decides to run, he has his platform laid out and he has his
strategy laid out – all he has to do is make that decision. And if he
doesn’t become the king, he wants to be the kingmaker. He wants to help
choose who leads the party going forward.”

*Rogin Highlights Biden’s Remarks At Copenhagen Democracy
Summit. *Meanwhile,
Rogin writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=006-d80&t=c>
(6/28) column, “As democracies falter and authoritarianism rises,
internationalist world leaders are scrambling to figure out how to save the
democratic system and its values from external and internal threats. They
all concede that democracies must...address the grievances of their lost
constituencies or risk losing their historic struggle for greater freedom.”
Rogin goes on to discuss the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where Biden spoke
this past week, writing that Biden argued that in democracies around the
globe, “governments have failed to live up to their promises and left the
door open for domestic anti-democratic forces to gain power. ‘In ways that
evoke disturbing echoes of the 1930s, frustrated and disaffected voters may
turn instead to strongmen,’ he said. ‘Demagogues and charlatans step up to
stoke people’s legitimate fears and push the blame onto scapegoats.’”
The Atlantic’s Beinart: Crowley Loss May Bode Ill For 2020 Biden Bid.

Writing for The Atlantic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=007-785&t=c>
(6/27), Peter Beinart said that a key factor in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s
(D) Tuesday defeat of Rep. Joe Crowley (D) was “ideological succession. And
if I were former Vice President Joe Biden mulling a presidential bid in
2020, that would worry me a great deal.” During his lengthy tenure in
Congress, Crowley “has always stayed in his party’s ideological
mainstream,” but has done so by shifting left, as have others, such as
Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. To progressives, however, “their newfound
progressivism didn’t appear genuine.” In 2020, says Beinart, that may prove
problematic for Biden, whose “career follows an arc similar to Crowley’s.”
Biden is “likely to face younger Democrats who, like Ocasio-Cortez, entered
politics after the New Democratic era had ended, and older ones, like
Bernie Sanders, who rejected it all along. And he’ll do so in an era in
which...the activist left is defining the Democratic Party.” In a blog post
on the website of WDEL-AM
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=008-7fb&t=c>
Wilmington, DE (6/27), Allan Loudell highlighted Beinart’s piece in The
Atlantic.
Biden Endorses Torres Small In NM2.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=009-322&t=c>
(6/28) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden has endorsed water
attorney Xochitl Torres Small’s (D) bid to succeed Rep. Steve Pearce (R),
who is running for governor this year. Torres Small “announced Biden’s
support Thursday, saying the former vice president led by example and
reached across the aisle to solve the challenges.” Torres Small faces state
Rep. Yvette Herrell (R) “in a general election campaign that is expected to
center around President Donald Trump and immigration.”
Leading the News
Trump Says Kennedy Replacement Will Come From List Of Conservative Jurists.

Media coverage of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement casts
the vacancy he is creating as an opportunity for President Trump to shape
the Supreme Court for at least generation. As the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=00a-172&t=c>
(6/27, Shear) puts it, Trump now has “the chance to cement a conservative
judicial philosophy on the American legal system for generations.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=00b-a9b&t=c>
(6/27, Wolf), meanwhile, says the conservative control of the court could
“last for decades.” Moreover, the upcoming debate holds the potential to
energize the GOP’s conservative base in the run-up to the November
elections. In a front-page “news analysis,” the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=00c-8cd&t=c>
(6/27, A1, Savage) reports that “no matter what else happens in the Trump
presidency, the retirement of...Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s swing voter,
set up Mr. Trump to cement a lasting legacy. Given a second Supreme Court
vacancy to fill, he appears likely to go down in American history as an
unusually influential president.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=00d-005&t=c>
(6/27, Rucker, Gearan) reports that the battle over Kennedy’s replacement
“immediately became a rallying cry for base voters of both political
parties ahead of this fall’s midterm elections. The already-ferocious
nomination battle is likely to clarify the choices for voters in Senate
races across the country, strategists said, and impact other contests down
the ballot. And even if Republicans install a replacement for Kennedy
before the November election, the debate is still likely to thrust to the
forefront issues that have been largely overlooked on the campaign trail
until now.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=00e-164&t=c>
(6/27, Savage) reports “Kennedy, 81, will leave the court effective July
31,” and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=00f-ff9&t=c>
(6/27, Gerstein) said that “his exit is expected to create a furious fight
in the Senate over his replacement,” which “could thrust the often
overlooked issue of judicial selection to the forefront in close Senate
races in this year’s midterms.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=010-262&t=c>
(6/27, Jackson, Estepa) also reports “Kennedy’s retirement is likely to
elevate the issue of the Supreme Court in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.”

Along those lines, NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=011-bc2&t=c>
(6/27, story 2, 2:15, Jackson) called the issue “a major motivator for
Republicans,” and for Trump, “a chance to define his legacy. And keep in
mind there is nothing Senate Democrats can do to stop the President’s pick
here if Republicans stay united.” On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=012-172&t=c>
(6/27, story 2, 3:00, Muir), Jonathan Karl said “the reason many
conservatives came to support...Trump in the first place” was “his promise
to transform the Supreme Court. And now, that moment may be here.” Charles
Hurt of the Washington Times said on Fox News Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=013-e26&t=c>
(6/27) that “this is the sweetest of sweet spots for Trump,” and A.B.
Stoddard of RealClearPolitics, also on Fox News Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=014-90b&t=c>
(6/27), said that “for Democrats, this is very, very tough day.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=015-7cb&t=c>
(6/27, Arkin) reported that “conservative groups quickly signaled they
would spend heavily on the confirmation fight. That fight will focus on
five Senate Democrats in states Trump won by double-digits — places where
Republicans are running as close allies to the president and hoping voters
view this year’s congressional elections as referendums on support for
Trump, who remains popular in those states. Three of those Democrats –
Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) –
voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch last spring, while
Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) voted against Trump’s
first Supreme Court pick.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=016-96b&t=c>
(6/27, Martin, Peters, Dias) reports “senators and strategists from both
parties said the clash over the balance of the Supreme Court would
immediately overwhelm a campaign that to date had largely revolved
around...Trump’s conduct.” At any rate, says the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=017-9eb&t=c>
(6/27, Sullivan), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “could barely hide
his glee Wednesday” after “a political gift for the GOP leader determined
to hold on to his fragile Senate majority.” To Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=018-12b&t=c>
(6/27, Restuccia, Woellert), “Kennedy’s retirement announcement was the
moment Republicans have been waiting for since Neil Gorsuch was confirmed
in April 2017. ... Now, Republicans are eager to set aside their
disagreements with Trump to unite around the common goal of installing
another conservative on the high court.” In another story, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=019-9ca&t=c>
(6/27, Siders) reported that that “news of...Kennedy’s retirement was met
with groans – and a cry of ‘Oh, My God’ – as Democratic National Committee
members first learned of the development during a meeting Wednesday.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=01a-818&t=c>
(6/27, Stohr) reports that McConnell said the Senate “will vote to confirm
Kennedy’s successor in the fall,” while Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles
Grassley “said he looks forward to hearings ‘in the weeks ahead.’” CQ Roll
Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=01b-456&t=c>
(6/27, Dick) indicates “the swiftness of the announcement of the vote
timing called to mind McConnell’s decision shortly after the death
of...Scalia in February 2016 that it did not matter whom President Barack
Obama nominated, no hearings would take place until Obama’s successor was
in office.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=01c-372&t=c>
(6/27, Bolton, Carney) said that “Democrats immediately cried foul, arguing
the nomination fight should come after the midterm election.” Moreover,
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=01d-666&t=c>
(6/27, Hurley) reports, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the
Senate “should reject any nominee from Trump who would vote to overturn Roe
v. Wade or undermine key healthcare protections.”

Special correspondent Jamie Gangel argued on CNN’s Situation
Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=01e-340&t=c>
(6/27) that “this is going to energize the base on both sides in November
because we’ve heard that Trump has speculated that he may have more seats
to fill. In 18 months, he’s had two. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 85. They are
elderly. So, what happens in November, whether or not it affects this
confirmation could very well affect what happens afterwards.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=01f-3fe&t=c>
(6/28, Sherman) reports that “if past practice is any indication, the
president will name a nominee within weeks, setting in motion a process
that could allow confirmation by the time the court reconvenes in early
October.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=020-8ab&t=c>
(6/27, Fabian) reported that Trump “said he will ‘immediately’ begin
searching for a replacement,” and Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=021-05b&t=c>
(6/27, Spiering) quoted him as saying, “We have a very excellent list of
great, talented, highly educated, highly intelligent, hopefully, tremendous
people. ... I think the list is very outstanding.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=022-bcc&t=c>
(6/27, Morrongiello) said that Trump added that his nominee “will be
somebody from that list.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=023-d04&t=c>
(6/27, lead story, 3:55, Crawford) reported “there are three primary front
runners: Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and Amul Thapar,” who “would
actually be the first Indian American on the Supreme Court.” The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=024-bc4&t=c>
(6/27, Boyer) points out that “also on the list is Sen. Mike Lee.” The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=025-1f7&t=c>
(6/27, Enjeti) reported on Trump’s comments under the headline “Trump
Reveals Who Could Replace Kennedy. Conservatives Will Be Thrilled,” and
Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=026-392&t=c>
(6/27, Pavlich) ran a similar story.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=027-589&t=c>
(6/27, Swoyer, Miller) reports “Kennedy was long viewed as the court’s
swing vote,” but “during the term which wrapped up Wednesday” he
“solidified his party-leaning, closing out the year without breaking from
the conservative majority.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=028-846&t=c>
(6/27, Barnes) also reports “it will be the first time since Justice
Clarence Thomas replaced Thurgood Marshall more than 25 years ago that a
new justice could radically change the direction of the court,” because
“since then, new members added to the court have replaced justices of the
same general ideology.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=029-638&t=c>
(6/27, Fredericks), Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=02a-d49&t=c>
(6/27, Daley) and Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=02b-c96&t=c>
(6/27, Kendall), among other news outlets, run similar analyses this
morning.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=02c-922&t=c>
(6/28, Sherman) reports that Kennedy “informed his colleagues of his plans,
then went to the White House to meet with Trump, where the president said
they talked for half an hour about a potential successor and other topics.” NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=02d-098&t=c>
(6/27, lead story, 3:45, Williams) said that Kennedy is “a conservative, he
is comfortable with...Trump and with someone Trump would nominate to
succeed him. He’s simply ready to step down.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=02e-f70&t=c>
(6/27, lead story, 4:10, Muir) reported that “Trump is a chief executive
who tests the system. He tests the limits of presidential power,” and
“Democrats are trying to use the courts to block President Trump. And so,
there’s almost no doubt that among the major issues that will come before
this court in the coming years, the court that...Trump is reshaping, is the
Trump presidency itself.” On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=02f-18b&t=c>
(6/27, story 3, 1:40, Muir), Dan Abrams said, “Now the question is, what
happens with Chief Justice Roberts? Meaning, does he become a potential
swing vote? He’s not going to be Kennedy. I don’t think anybody expects
that, but he’s so respectful of the institution of the court, and as a
result, the question is going to be, does he fight to keep precedent on the
books, in effect? And as a result, will he end up splitting from some of
his conservative allies, will he evolve? We’ll just have to see.”

Sen. John Kennedy, asked on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=030-f52&t=c>
(6/27) whether he thinks there will be a vote before the midterm elections,
said, “I do. I think there will be a long confirmation hearing. I hope it’s
orderly. I hope everybody has plenty of time to ask questions. I know who
I’m looking for. I want a cross between Socrates and Dirty Harry. I don’t
want a hater. I want a whip-smart man or woman who understands the role of
the United States Supreme Court vis-a-vis Congress and the President. I
think Neil Gorsuch was an excellent choice. I don’t know if Justice Gorsuch
has a twin sister or twin brother but if he does, that’s the kind of person
I would look for.”

*Trump Adviser Says To Expect “Another” Gorsuch. *Leonard Leo,
adviser to Trump on judicial nominations, said on Fox News Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=031-454&t=c>
(6/27) that Trump “had enormous success in nominating Neil Gorsuch to the
Court. I think that is the kind of process that you will see going forward.
Another nominee like him.” Asked about a timeline, Leo said, “Usually it
takes the White House about two or three weeks to get the nomination out
and it normally takes 70 to 100 days for the Senate to confirm. ... You
could have somebody seated before the beginning of October term of the
Court or just after.” Asked about calls form Democrats top wait until after
the election. Leo said, “The President appoints justices to the Court. It’s
one thing to say that just before a presidential election, we should have a
cooling off period. But we have a president. The American people knew who
he was going to nominate because he gave them a list. So, we should just
move forward.”

*Toobin: Roe V. Wade Will Be Reversed Within 18 Months. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=032-125&t=c>
(6/27, Richardson) reports that Jeffrey Toobin “says the retirement
of...Kennedy means Roe v. Wade will be reversed by the high court in the
next year and a half.” In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=033-5b3&t=c>,
“the New Yorker staff writer said 20 states will have abortion bans in
place by 2020,” asserting, “Anthony Kennedy is retiring. Abortion will be
illegal in twenty states in 18 months.” Toobin later said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=034-9a5&t=c>
(6/27) that Kennedy “was the fifth vote, the fifth and the final vote, to
defend Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade is going to disappear. It arrived in 1973
and it will die shortly.”

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=035-fca&t=c>
(6/27, story 3, 2:00, Gosk) reported that “within an hour” of Kennedy’s
announcement, “the National Association For Abortion Rights posted a
message: Roe v Wade was in danger.” Ilyse Hogue, NARAL Pro-Choice America
President, was shown saying, “If they get their way and ram this justice
through by any means necessary, women will suffer.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=036-c59&t=c>
(6/27, Davis) reports that “for decades...Kennedy has been seen by
supporters and opponents of abortion rights as a crucial swing vote, the
deciding force on a profoundly polarized court who weighed in at key
moments to preserve the core of Roe.”

*Democratic Lawmakers Ask For Confirmation To Take Place During
Next Session. *ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=037-998&t=c>
(6/27, story 2, 3:00, Muir) reported, “Democrats on Capitol Hill are
scrambling. They say Republicans have just a one-vote majority in the
Senate, and that this nomination should wait until after the midterms. But
Republicans say no way.” Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D) said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=038-e6c&t=c>
(6/27), “I think Mitch McConnell ought to stick with his story. He said he
couldn’t fill the vacancy under Obama because the American people had an
election coming up and they should make the decision.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=039-a35&t=c>
(6/27), “I have no hope that he will appoint anything resembling a moderate
justice who will take both sides into consideration. I think what we are
looking for is the nomination of a right-wing extremist. I would say this.
You may recall that when Merrick Garland’s nomination was brought forth by
President Obama, Mitch McConnell said, ‘Let the American people decide. You
shouldn’t be considering this important nomination just before an
election.’ And he obstructed it and refused to allow a vote to take place.
I would say to Mitch McConnell, remember what you said when Obama was
President.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D), asked on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=03a-fa0&t=c>
(6/27) if there is anyone Trump could nominate that she would support,
said, “You never know. The President might decide to do the right thing and
not pick somebody who has been hand-picked by the Federalist Society and/or
the Heritage Foundation. I kind of think that that’s nor in play, Mitch
McConnell should follow his own rule and let the people of America have a
voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice.” Asked about
McConnell’s claim that there is a difference between a midterm
congressional election and a presidential election, Hirono said, “Of course
you can compare the two because...the Senate has its own responsibility to
advise and consent on the President’s nomination. The President nominates.
We do advise and consent. So, we have our own constitutional role to play.
Therefore, the people should be able to decide who will be engaging in the
advise and consent role.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=03b-b38&t=c>
(6/27), “I think in all of this, you can look forward to intense, intense
pressure by the big special interests behind the Republican Party to make
sure that whoever the next Supreme Court justice is, they will continue to
support the unlimited money and the dark money that have allowed big, big,
big special interests to bedevil American politics.” Asked if he will
oppose any nominee before the midterm elections no matter who the nominee
is, Whitehouse said, “I haven’t seen the nominee to vote against at this
point. ... I’ve got a lot of skepticism about this president. I’ve got a
lot of skepticism about the nominations process which looks like it is a
special interest obstacle course to get a checklist as to who nominees will
agree with before they get on the court.”

Asked on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=03c-ec9&t=c>
(6/27) about the chances of Trump nominating someone she could support,
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) said, “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound good given
that he’s been pointing to the number of some of the people that have come
out in the top group, a number of those people, I had not supported – the
top five that they are talking about today or top four. So, that’s not
looking good.”

*More Commentary. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=03d-929&t=c>
(6/27) editorializes that if the Senate battle over Trump’s nominee is
“extra-bloody because of justifiable Democratic ire” over McConnell’s
“refusal to give President Barack Obama’s choice a vote in 2016, no one
should be surprised. For now, it’s enough to note that we could do a great
deal worse than another...Kennedy on the Supreme Court.” In an editorial, USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=03e-413&t=c>
(6/27) also warns the upcoming debate could be contentious, “If you thought
Washington couldn’t get any more polarized, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=03f-195&t=c>
(6/27) editorializes that without Kennedy, “and thanks to Mr. McConnell’s
nakedly cynical ploy, any remaining sense that the court can exist apart
from partisan politics is gone.” Adds the Times, “Do not for a moment
underestimate the importance of getting out and voting in November. Four
years ago, only 36 percent of Americans cast ballots in the midterm
elections. Had more people showed up, the Senate may well have remained in
Democratic control,” McConnell “would not be the majority leader and Judge
Merrick Garland would now be Justice Garland. In the days and months ahead,
remember this.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=040-fe0&t=c>
(6/27) writes in an editorial that Trump should once again follow the
script of picking a nominee with impeccable credentials and no scandals in
his or her past (as he did with Neil Gorsuch). That approach, says the
Journal, makes it possible for the nominee to be confirmed even in the
closely divided Senate. Along those lines, former Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales writes in USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=041-d73&t=c>
(6/27) that Trump “should nominate someone with a record of achievement and
excellence in the profession that one would expect of a Supreme Court
justice.” Trump “is also likely to nominate someone between the ages of 45
and 55 years, someone old enough to have a record of accomplishments, yet
young enough to serve on the court for a substantial number of years and
influence the court’s jurisprudence over generations.”

Marc Thiessen writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=042-1ef&t=c>
(6/27) column, “For those conservatives who voted for Donald Trump because
of the Supreme Court, congratulations: You’ve been vindicated. ... Trump
was able to preserve the status quo before Scalia’s passing,” but now he
“has a chance to do something much bigger.” George Will, in his Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=043-871&t=c>
(6/27) column, says that “it is arguable, indeed plausible, that Trump
would not have won if [former Justice Antonin] Scalia had not died. And it
is likely that Kennedy’s retirement, by focusing attention on the Supreme
Court and hence on the Senate, will redound to the benefit of Republicans
this autumn.”

E.J. Dionne, in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=044-438&t=c>
(6/27) column, writes that “all the recent talk about civility should not
stop opponents of a right-wing court from doing everything in their power
to keep the judiciary from being packed with ideologues who behave as
partisans.” To Dionne, “there is nothing civil about rushing a nominee to
replace Kennedy before the midterm elections,” and “no rule of civility
demands the confirmation of justices who would leave an abusive president
unchecked and use raw judicial power to roll back a century’s worth of
social progress.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Confirms Meeting With Putin Next Month.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=045-45e&t=c>
(6/27, story 4, 0:40, Muir) reported President Trump confirmed Wednesday
that he plans to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin,
likely during his visit to Europe next month. Fox News Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=046-434&t=c>
(6/27) reported the White House and the Kremlin will announce the location
and date of the meeting on Thursday. According to Fox, it will “likely”
take place “the week of July 9th, when...Trump is in Europe for a NATO
summit.” There are “two possible locations” – Helsinki, Finland and Vienna,
Austria.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=047-06b&t=c>
(6/27, Nicholas, Marson, Kurmanaev) quotes Trump as saying, “I said it from
Day One: Getting along with Russia and China and with everybody is a very
good thing. It’s good for the world, it’s good for the US. It’s good for
everybody.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=048-830&t=c>
(6/27, story 2, 1:50, Glor) reported that National Security Adviser Bolton
is in Moscow “laying the groundwork for the meeting.” CBS (Jiang) added,
“Putin’s first words for Bolton were blunt: ‘US-Russia relations are not in
the best shape,’ Putin said, and then he blamed acute US political
infighting. Putin denies meddling in the 2016 presidential election, a
sensitive subject for President Trump.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=049-be8&t=c>
(6/27, Nelson) reports Bolton said “he ‘expects’ Russia’s efforts to
interfere in the 2016 presidential election will be a topic of
conversation” during the summit.

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=04a-5e0&t=c>
(6/27, Moore) reports Putin “praised Bolton,” saying, ​”​Your visit to
Moscow provides us with hope that we will be able to take at least the
initial steps towards restoring full-fledged relations between our
countries. Russia has never sought confrontation.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=04b-2d2&t=c>
(6/27, Isachenkov) quotes Bolton as saying, “There are a lot of issues to
talk about that have accumulated, and I think this was one of the reasons
why President Trump believed so strongly that it was time to have this kind
of meeting. And as you can see, President Putin agreed.” Michelle Kosinski
reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=04c-a80&t=c>
(6/27) that Bolton, who has “spoken out repeatedly” and “very harshly
against Putin,” said the summit will be in America’s best interests. Said
Bolton, “The fact is that it is important for the leaders of these two
countries to meet. There are a wide range of issues despite the differences
between us where both President Trump and President Putin think they may be
able to find constructive solutions. I’d like to hear someone say that’s a
bad idea.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=04d-cd4&t=c>
(6/27, Ivanova), however, says the summit “is likely to irritate US allies
who want to isolate Putin, such as Britain,” and “is also likely to go down
badly among foreign and domestic critics who question Trump’s commitment to
NATO and fret over his desire to rebuild relations with Moscow even as
Washington tightens sanctions.” Likewise, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=04e-0c9&t=c>
(6/27, Kramer) says “the prospect of a high-level encounter, one that would
presumably focus on the United States-Russia relationship, has stirred
anxieties in Europe given Mr. Trump’s growing tensions with top American
allies like Germany, France and Canada.”

To the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=04f-092&t=c>
(6/27, Troianovski), the summit “could overshadow the July meeting of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, raising fresh questions about Trump’s
commitment to America’s traditional alliances.” However, today in Moscow,
Bolton “dismissed those concerns while chiding Trump’s domestic critics,”
saying, “A lot of people have said or implied over time that a meeting
between President Trump and President Putin would somehow prove some nexus
between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which is complete nonsense. ...
[Trump] judges, correctly in my view, that this bilateral summit between
himself and President Putin is something that he needs to do and will do
regardless of political criticism at home.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=050-a58&t=c>
(6/27, Isachenkov) says the summit “would offer Putin a chance to try to
persuade Washington to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Russia over
its annexation of Crimea, interference in eastern Ukraine’s separatist
fighting and alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.”

*US, Russian Officials Discuss Sanctions, Pipeline. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=051-68d&t=c>
(6/27, Valdmanis) reports Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said
Tuesday he discussed US sanctions on Russia and Moscow’s plan to expand its
Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany, “which has irked Washington, in talks
with US Treasury and Energy Secretaries.” Said Novak of his meeting with
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, “We met. We discussed energy issues, among
other things. We touched upon questions related to sanctions. We can’t
sidestep these difficult questions, so of course we touched upon them
during our contact.”

*Tusk: EU Must Be Prepared For “Worst-Case Scenarios.” *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=052-503&t=c>
(6/27, Erlanger) reports European Council President Donald Tusk said
Wednesday that Trump’s policies have “put trans-Atlantic relations ‘under
tremendous pressure’ and that Europeans should prepare for darker times.”
The Times adds, “As a trade war looms between the United States and the
European Union, with retaliation for American tariffs on steel and aluminum
and threats of further tariffs on imported cars, Mr. Tusk said in a letter
to the heads of government of the European Union that ‘unfortunately the
divisions go beyond trade.’” Said Tusk, “It is my belief that, while hoping
for the best, we must be ready to prepare our Union for worst-case
scenarios.”
Trump To Harley-Davidson: “We Won’t Forget” Decision To Move Production
Overseas.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=053-f1c&t=c>
(6/27, Thomas) reports that in a tweet early Wednesday, President Trump
“warned Harley-Davidson...’we won’t forget’ about the company’s decision to
shift some motorcycle production overseas, and suggested that the
Wisconsin-based company will lose out to its competitors.” The AP says
Trump “extended his feud with Harley-Davidson into a third day.” Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=054-541&t=c>,
“Harley-Davidson should stay 100% in America, with the people that got you
your success. I’ve done so much for you, and then this. Other companies are
coming back where they belong! We won’t forget, and neither will your
customers or your now very HAPPY competitors!” Sarah Gardner of Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=055-d8c&t=c>
(6/27) writes, “The problem with Trump’s tweet is that, while Harley makes
a majority of its motorcycles at several locations in the U.S., it’s had
several overseas manufacturing sites for years. The company opened an
assembly plant in Brazil in 1998, another in India in 2010, and is building
one in Thailand that it expects to start production later this year.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=056-a57&t=c>
(6/27, Barrett) says Harley-Davidson “responded while sidestepping the
controversy and not commenting on the president’s tweets.” President and
CEO Matt Levatich “responded to a fake tweet circulating under his name in
which he supposedly called Trump a moron.” Levatich tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=057-8e0&t=c>,
“It’s shameful we live in a time when people create fake quotes. There’s
one attributed to me on Twitter. I have not, nor would I ever speak about
the President of the United States or anyone else in that way.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=058-400&t=c>
(6/27, Rappeport) reports that the fake tweet “was being spread by some
accounts with very few followers, but quickly went viral. The company was
inundated with queries about its veracity.” A spokesman for Harley-Davidson
“said the company has been working with Twitter to see if the tweets could
be removed and to figure out where they originated.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=059-234&t=c>
(6/27, Murray) says “many Harley-Davidson fans reached Tuesday were
reluctant to pick sides in the Trump-Harley feud,” while the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=05a-e96&t=c>
(6/27, Simmons) reports from a motorcycle repair shop and museum in
Milwaukee that “Harley customers might not be willing to choose between the
president they support and the motorcycle company they love.” According to
the Post, “[s]upporters of the president, who made up the majority of
riders surveyed, continue to back him, though with caveats.”

*Harley Controversy Comes As Trump Is To Visit Wisconsin Today. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=05b-18f&t=c>
(6/27, Bauer) reports that the “ceremonial groundbreaking for a massive $10
billion Foxconn factory complex in Wisconsin was supposed to be evidence
that the manufacturing revival fueled by President Donald Trump’s ‘America
First’ policy is well underway,” but Harley’s announcement that it is
moving some production overseas “is fueling unease in Wisconsin – a state
Trump barely won and where fellow Republican Gov. Scott Walker is on the
ballot in just over four months.” This, as Trump is set to visit the state
today to “speak at the Foxconn site and hold a closed-door fundraiser just
a couple miles away from Harley’s headquarters.” While Walker “is counting
on a strong economy as part of his case for re-election,” polls “show
Wisconsin voters are split on the [Foxconn] project and the state of the
economy.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=05c-255&t=c>
(6/27, Glauber) reports that Trump arrived in Milwaukee Wednesday night,
where he will spend the night “before a fundraiser Thursday morning,
followed by the Foxconn ground-breaking in Mount Pleasant in the
afternoon.”

*Tariffs Endangering Wisconsin’s Already Struggling Farmers.
*The Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=05d-858&t=c>
(6/27, Barrett) reports that trade disputes with Mexico, China, and Canada
are putting Wisconsin’s already struggling farms at grater risks. About 90%
of the state’s milk “is turned into cheese, and all but about 10 percent of
that cheese is sold outside the state’s borders.” Pete Hardin, publisher of
The Milkweed, a dairy industry publication, said that wholesale cheese and
butter prices “have slumped in recent weeks as buyers and sellers worry
about the effect of new tariffs on dairy products.” According to Hardin,
“the price that farmers receive for their milk could sink even lower than
it is now – putting many farms already in trouble out of business.”
Trump Sides With Mnuchin, Declines To Impose Chinese Investment
Restrictions.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=05e-6be&t=c>
(6/27, Wiseman, Thomas, Crutsinger) reports the Administration on Wednesday
“de-escalated a confrontation with China...dropping plans to impose strict
limits on Chinese investment in US technology companies and instead urging
Congress to strengthen existing laws that apply to all foreign countries.”
The Administration’s “more conciliatory stance raised at least the
possibility that the two sides could work toward a negotiated end to the
punishing tariffs that they’re set to impose on each other’s goods
beginning July 6. And it fueled a rally in financial markets, which had
been reeling on fears of an escalating trade war with China.” The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=05f-f1b&t=c>
(6/27, Tankersley, Rappeport, Swanson) reports President Trump said he
“supports a bipartisan push in Congress to expand the authority of the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which
reviews foreign investments for security threats,” and “will back an
expansion of the committee’s powers to address concerns about China buying
stakes in American companies in order to acquire valuable technology and
trade secrets.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=060-225&t=c>
(6/27, Lawder) reports that Trump has accepted the Treasury Department’s
recommendation to use CFIUS, “whose authority would be enhanced by new
legislation in Congress, to control investment deals.” Reuters says the
decision “marks a victory” for Treasury Secretary Mnuchin “in a fierce
White House debate over the scope of such curbs.” According to Reuters,
Mnuchin “favored a more measured and global approach to protecting US
technology, using authority approved by Congress, while White House trade
adviser Peter Navarro, the administration’s harshest China critic, had
argued for China-specific restrictions.” On CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=061-bb4&t=c>
(6/27) today, Mnuchin said, “We are not, on a wholesale basis,
discriminating against China as part of a negotiation.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=062-cb4&t=c>
(6/27, Lynch, Paletta) says Navarro and others in the Administration’s
“get-tough-on-China faction” had “urged the president to employ sweeping
powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which
would have allowed him to impose harsh limits.” Said Mnuchin, “We have
different views and the benefit of the President having different advisers
is at times we will express different views. That’s a healthy process. I
respect at the end of the day it’s the President’s decision.” The Post
notes that “early reaction from at least one prominent Republican was
negative.” Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted: “If in fact President Trump is now
backtracking on tough limits on Chinese investment, it is a VERY BIG
MISTAKE. #China is strategically buying up US companies specializing in
cutting edge technology. What they don’t steal from us they buy away from
us.”

According to Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=063-bae&t=c>
(6/27, Mohsin, Leonard), “While the action does not single out China, the
president is still very much focused on Beijing’s practices that were
outlined in the US Trade Representative’s Section 301 report,” which
“alleged China engages in infringement of intellectual property and forces
companies to transfer technologies.”

*Kudlow: New Trade Moves Protect US “Technological Family Jewels.” *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=064-ea7&t=c>
(6/27, Miller) reports National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said
Wednesday that overhauling the approval process for foreign investment in
the US would better protect the nation’s “technological family jewels.”
Speaking on Fox Business’ Varney & Co, Kudlow said the President’s move to
back an overhaul of CFIUS “is not meant to be harder or softer. It is going
to be very comprehensive and very effective at protecting our technological
family jewels in the United States.”

*Mnuchin Expects “Big Second Quarter GDP Number.” *Treasury
Secretary Mnuchin said on CNBC’s Squawk Box[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=065-6ff&t=c>
(6/27), “We’re expecting a big second quarter GDP number. Let me just say,
I have no advance notice of what it looks like but the Atlanta Fed is
projecting 4.7. I have no idea whether it will be that high but a year ago,
people were laughing when we talked about three percent GDP. We have an
economy that’s here because of the President’s tax plan and the President’s
regulatory relief and we’ve always said trade is part of this.”

*Flake Vows To Block Judicial Nominees Until Senate Votes On
Tariffs. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=066-d52&t=c>
(6/27, Kane) reports that Sen. Jeff Flake “has seized control of the
judicial confirmation process in a complicated move to try to defeat
President Trump’s new tariff policy.” Flake “made clear over the weekend
his objection earlier this month to a circuit court nominee from Georgia
was indeed part of his new policy to block these appellate judges from
confirmation” until he gets “a Senate vote on an amendment to rein in
Trump’s power to impose tariffs on foreign goods.” The Post adds that while
Flake “has many allies in his bid to block Trump from imposing higher
tariffs,” he “has no other public support on the means he is using to try
to force that vote.”

*Automakers Urge Administration Not To Apply Tariffs On Imported
Vehicles. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=067-af3&t=c>
(6/27, Shepardson) reports that the Association of Global Automakers and
the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers have “warned the Trump
administration that imposing up to 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles
would cost hundreds of thousands of auto jobs, dramatically hike prices on
vehicles and threaten industry spending on self-driving cars.”
Xi To Mattis: China Won’t Give Up “Even One Inch” Of Territory.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=068-020&t=c>
(6/27, Stewart) reports China “is committed to peace but cannot give up
‘even one inch’ of territory that the country’s ancestors left behind,
Chinese President Xi Jinping told” visiting Defense Secretary Mattis on
Wednesday during his first visit to Beijing. Xi’s remarks, Reuters says,
“underscored deep-rooted areas of tension in Sino-US ties, particularly
over what the Pentagon views as China’s militarization of the South China
Sea.” The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=069-0b9&t=c>
(6/27, Gertz) reports Assistant Defense Secretary Randall Shriver, who took
part in the meeting between Mattis and Xi, “said the Chinese leader
asserted Beijing’s control over the islands and also opposed growing US
support for Taiwan.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=06a-d82&t=c>
(6/27, Ryan, Denyer) reports Mattis, speaking alongside Xi, “sought to
telegraph American objectives in Asia in hopes of defusing mounting
tensions” by saying, “I’m here to keep our relationship on the right
trajectory” and “to share ideas with your military leadership as we look at
the way ahead.” According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=06b-dbb&t=c>
(6/27, Gibbons-Neff, Myers), Mattis had “hoped to start a conversation on
China’s position in the South China Sea,” but “left knowing just how firm
Mr. Xi is on the issue.” According to defense officials, Mattis “made clear
the Pentagon’s stance on contested waters, stressing the need for freedom
of navigation in the region and China’s adherence to international law.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=06c-9e9&t=c>
(6/27, Baldor, Bodeen) reports Mattis and Chinese defense officials “struck
a largely positive public tone Wednesday, talking up increased military
cooperation and open dialogue between the two powers despite security
tensions and an impending trade war.”

*Trump Names Career Diplomat As Unofficial US Envoy To Taiwan. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=06d-987&t=c>
(6/27, Chung) reports President Trump as appointed career diplomat Brent
Christensen as the “unofficial envoy to Taiwan in a move analysts say shows
it is trying to avoid further antagonizing Beijing.” Christensen, who “has
nearly three decades of diplomatic experience and is well versed in Taiwan
and mainland affairs, will succeed Kin Moy as director of the American
Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy” on the island.
Pompeo: North Korea Yet To Return US Troop Remains.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=06e-f16&t=c>
(6/27) reports Secretary of State Pompeo said Wednesday that North Korea
“has not yet turned over suspected remains of US soldiers killed during the
Korean War.” President Trump, however, claimed last week that North Korea
“has either turned some remains over or is in the process of doing so.”
Pompeo told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday he is
“optimistic” that the US will receive some remains “in the not-too-distant
future.” But added: “We have not yet physically received them.”

*Satellite Imagery Shows North Korea Making Improvements At Nuclear
Site. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=06f-198&t=c>
(6/27, Murphy) reports satellite imagery from 38 North “of a North Korean
nuclear research site suggests improvements have progressed at a ‘rapid
pace’ in recent months,” but the “level of current operations at the
facility remains unclear.” The analysis “offered a snapshot of the Yongbyon
Nuclear Scientific Research Center on June 21 – nine days after North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a declaration to ‘denuclearize’ after the
Singapore summit with President Trump.” In its report, the group says
“satellite imagery leaves doubts about the Yongbyon reactor’s ‘operational
status,’” but it concludes “that uranium enrichment appears to be in
progress.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=070-96b&t=c>
(6/27, Cheng) reports the new imagery shows North Korea is rapidly
developing infrastructure at the site. Experts said the new development at
the site does not necessarily mean Pyongyang is duplicitous in its
denuclearization pledge.

*Senate Bill Would Raise Oversight For Trump’s North Korea
Diplomacy. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=071-f0e&t=c>
(6/26, Pennington) reports legislation sponsored by Sens. Cory Gardner and
Bob Menendez “calls for stringent congressional oversight of US nuclear
diplomacy with North Korea and any deal” Trump strikes with Kim. In a
statement, Menendez said, “After the administration signed a vague joint
statement in Singapore without any details on a pathway forward on
denuclearization, the need for congressional oversight is more evident than
ever.” The bill “calls for the president to submit a report on how the
diplomatic negotiations with North Korea are expected to proceed, with
continual written updates every 30 days.” The bill also restricts sanctions
relief and limits US military action “against the North contrary to
international law.”

*South Korean Rights Groups Feel Left Out Amid Emerging Détente
With North. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=072-0e0&t=c>
(6/27, Kim) reports human rights and North Korean defector groups “in South
Korea say they are struggling to raise money, cutting jobs and programs,
and facing pressure to avoid criticism of Pyongyang as Seoul and Washington
focus on diplomatic outreach to the isolated country.” The activists say
they were “disappointed but unsurprised human rights has seemingly
disappeared from the agenda” during the flurry of diplomatic activity.
Defector Kim Tae-hee, who heads the Coalition for North Korean Refugees,
said, “As South and North Korea have promoted this ‘mood for peace,’ the
defectors and North Korean human rights activist groups feel excluded.”

*Boot, Terry: Trump’s “Bold Gambit” Unlikely To Succeed. *Columnist
Max Boot and Sue Mi Terry of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, question in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=073-83c&t=c>
(6/27) whether Trump’s “bold gambit of offering economic and security
benefits in return for lasting peace with North Korea” will work. They note
that the US “tried something similar with the Palestinians,” but it “hasn’t
brought peace any nearer.” Boot and Terry says they “have not seen any
evidence that Kim will prove any bolder or more courageous than the
Palestinian leaders in seeking peace.” Therefore, the “deal of the century”
that Trump seeks “is likely to remain out of reach.”
Administration Begins Ending Iran Sanctions Relief.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=074-426&t=c>
(6/27, Lee) reports the Trump Administration “began dismantling the
sanctions relief that was granted to Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal, a
step that follows President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the
international accord.” The Treasury Department announced “it had revoked
licenses that allowed US-controlled foreign firms to export commercial
aircraft parts to Iran as well as permitted Americans to trade in Iranian
carpets, pistachios and caviar,” giving affected businesses until August 6
to wind down operations. The new actions follow the Administration’s call
for importers of Iran’s crude oil to cease by November 4. The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=075-4f5&t=c>
(6/27, Rubenfield) reports a senior State Department official told
reporters that ending Iran’s oil exports is a top national security
priority.

*Japan, South Korea In Talks With US Over Iranian Oil Imports. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=076-c52&t=c>
(6/27, Kaneko, Tsukimori, Chung) reports Japan and South Korea, “two major
buyers of Iranian oil, are in talks with the US government in a bid to
avoid adverse impacts from Washington’s reimposition of sanctions aimed at
cutting Iran out of international markets.” Japan and South Korea
previously were granted waivers “that allowed them to buy limited amounts
of oil from Iran during the previous round of sanctions that ended in 2016,
but Washington has this time adopted a more aggressive stance.”

*Iran Opens Uranium Enrichment Plant For First Time In Nine Years. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018062801biden&r=email-c967&l=077-253&t=c>
(6/27) reports that Iran has “reopened a nuclear plant idle for nine years,
its atomic energy agency (AEOI) said on Wednesday, as Tehran prepares to
increase uranium enrichment capacity if a nuclear deal with world powers
falls apart after the US withdrawal.” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei “ordered the AEOI this month to s