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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, August 2, 2018 7:51 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, August 2, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=000-9e9&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=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=001-a0c&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, August 2, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Media Highlight Morning Consult/Politico Poll Showing Biden Leading Trump
44%-37%. <#S1>

• Biden Endorses Harpootlian In South Carolina State Senate Special
Election. <#S2>

• Springfield Event Featuring Biden Expanded To Accommodate More People.
<#S3>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Media Analyses: Trump Call For Mueller Probe’s End Could Raise
Obstruction Issues. <#S4>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Pence Welcomes Return Of Korean War Dead. <#S5>

• State Dept. Says Iran Pressure Strategy Working As Parliament Summons
Rouhani. <#S6>

• US Sanctions Top Turkish Officials Over Continued Imprisonment Of Pastor.
<#S7>

• State Dept. Says Pompeo Will Not Meet With Lavrov At ASEAN. <#S8>

• State Dept. Offers Tajikistan Help In Probe Of ISIS-Claimed Killing Of US
Couple. <#S9>

• Taliban Routs ISIS In Northern Afghanistan. <#S10>

• US Preparing To Decrease Troops, Missions In Africa. <#S11>

• Mnuchin, Navarro Reportedly At Odds Over Threat To Increase Tariffs On
Chinese Goods. <#S12>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Trump Again Threatens Government Shutdown Over Border Wall. <#S13>

• New Rule Allows Short-Term Health Plans Costing Less Than ACA
Alternatives. <#S14>

• Justice IG Says Obama Clemency Initiative Was Poorly Planned, Executed.
<#S15>

• Grassley Hopes Kavanaugh Will Be Confirmed “Soon After” October 1st.
<#S16>

• Senate Approves Defense Policy Bill For Trump’s Signature. <#S17>

• Trump Discusses Prison Reform In Roundtable With Inner-City Pastors.
<#S18>

• TSA Considering Proposal To Eliminate Security Checkpoints At Smaller
Airports. <#S19>

• Obama Endorses 81 Democratic Candidates In Fall Elections. <#S20>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Lung Cancers Among Women Expected To Rise, Breast Cancers To Decline.
<#S21>

• AI Tool May Cut Time Needed To Develop Radiation Therapy Plan. <#S22>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S23>

• Washington Post. <#S24>
Biden in the News
Media Highlight Morning Consult/Politico Poll Showing Biden Leading Trump
44%-37%.

A number of media outlets highlighted the results of the new Morning
Consult/Politico poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=002-82c&t=c>,
covered in yesterday’s briefing, that showed former Vice President Joe
Biden leading President Trump 44%-37% in a hypothetical 2020 matchup, with
19% undecided. The Detroit Free Press
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=003-3ae&t=c>
(8/1, Spangler) reports that the poll results continue “a trend indicating
Democrats have an edge on Trump: The poll showed a generic Democratic
candidate scored slightly better than Biden even, with 48 percent support
to 35 percent for Trump, with 17 percent undecided.” However, “including
the margin of error, the potential spread between Biden and Trump may not
be much different than it was between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=004-3b7&t=c>
(8/1, Price) reported that while the poll shows Biden leading Trump, the
former Vice President “is not the preferred choice among Democrats. While
Biden would beat Trump by seven percentage points, a generic Democrat would
actually defeat Trump by nine percentage points, according to the
Politico/Morning consult poll. ‘Notably, 89 percent of Democrats said they
would vote for a generic Democrat over Trump, but only 80 percent of
Democrats said they preferred Biden over Trump,’ Morning Consult managing
director Tyler Sinclair said.” The Daily Mail (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=005-724&t=c>
(8/1, Martosko) reported that Biden “is by no means a White House shoe-in,
or even a serious contender, at this point. In a future Democratic primary
matchup against unnamed opponents, he would lose by 9 points,” according to
the poll.

In its report on the poll, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=006-b30&t=c>
(8/1, Birnbaum) said that Biden “has been floated as a 2020 contender, and
a poll in June found that he would attract the highest support among
Democratic voters of any candidate in the survey.” On MSNBC’s Hardball[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=007-09e&t=c>
(8/1), host Chris Matthews and three guests – McClatchy’s Anita Kumar and
the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank and Eugene Robinson – discussed the
poll. Among the other media outlets reporting on the poll results were
the Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=008-fd9&t=c>
(8/1, Giaritelli) and People
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=009-c33&t=c>
(8/1, McAfee).
Biden Endorses Harpootlian In South Carolina State Senate Special Election.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00a-b23&t=c>
(8/1, Kinnard) reports that ex-South Carolina Democratic Party chief Dick
Harpootlian (D-SC) said in a Wednesday email to supporters “that he is
being supported by former Vice President Joe Biden in his special election
quest for a state Senate seat in the Columbia area. Harpootlian released a
60-second ad – which the campaign says is running on radio stations, but
online is accompanied by video and images – in which Biden asks voters to
support his bid.” Biden is quoted as saying in the ad, “I’ve known Dick for
a long time. He’s a fighter who stops at nothing to get things done and
makes South Carolina a much better place.” The AP says Biden “has long been
politically allied with Harpootlian,” who was “an early backer of Barack
Obama’s presidential bid” in South Carolina. Harpootlian “unsuccessfully
tried to persuade Biden to enter the 2016 presidential race.” The Columbia
(SC) State
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00b-417&t=c>
(8/1, Marchant) quotes Harpootlian as saying of Biden in a statement, “He
has been an incredible friend to my family and me over the years. He knows
what’s required to be effective in our legislative branch of government
better than anyone.” In a brief broadcast, WIS-TV[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00c-55e&t=c>
Columbia, SC (8/1) reported on Biden’s endorsement of Harpootlian.
Springfield Event Featuring Biden Expanded To Accommodate More People.

The Springfield (IL) State Journal-Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00d-642&t=c>
(8/1, Schoenburg) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden’s “planned
visit to Springfield on Aug. 16 is proving so popular that plans have
changed to accommodate more people. ‘Logistically, it’s a far more
challenging event than we anticipated,’ said Toby Trimmer, spokesman for
the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association, which has Biden
keynoting its brunch that day at the Crowne Plaza, 3000 S. Dirksen
Parkway.” Trimmer said the Crowne Plaza’s “main floor ballroom has already
been planned” to accommodate “2,500 people, and tickets for that room sold
out in a week after it was announced in June. But because of demand, there
is room for another 700 people on the hotel’s second floor. There will be
“less-formal programming” there, Trimmer said, but speakers including Biden
are expected to be there.” Under the headline “Joe Biden Visit Attracting
More Interest Than Expected,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00e-78a&t=c>
(8/2) reports on the story, drawing from the State Journal-Register
article.
Leading the News
Media Analyses: Trump Call For Mueller Probe’s End Could Raise Obstruction
Issues.

In a pair of tweets Wednesday morning, President Trump called on Attorney
General Sessions to end Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00f-dea&t=c>,
“This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should
stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our
country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry
Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” In a second
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=010-0a0&t=c>,
he wrote, “Russian Collusion with the Trump Campaign, one of the most
successful in history, is a TOTAL HOAX. The Democrats paid for the phony
and discredited Dossier which was, along with Comey, McCabe, Strzok and his
lover, the lovely Lisa Page, used to begin the Witch Hunt. Disgraceful!”

Media reports cast the tweets as creating the appearance of Trump
seeking to obstruct justice. Outlets also highlight criticism of Trump’s
tweet from Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins, who Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=011-780&t=c>
(8/1, Dopp, Talev, Dennis) reports “gasped” when she was read Trump’s
tweets, and said, “Jeez. This is unbelievable. ... Those comments are
totally inappropriate. The president should not be talking about the
investigation at all.” She also said, according to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=012-620&t=c>
(8/1, Wagner, Barrett, Leonnig), “The only person who could fire Mueller is
Rod Rosenstein, who is bound by Justice Department guidances that specify
that he would have to have good cause, and it would have to be reported to
Congress.”

In a series of tweets
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=013-67b&t=c>,
Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis reported that he had spoken with “a lot” of
senators and none had offered any support for Trump’s tweets. According to
Dennis, along with Collins, among those critical of the President were
Republican Sens. Thune, Hatch, Tillis, Fischer, Capito and Rubio. NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=014-076&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 2:05, Holt) too said Trump’s “critics pouncing.” Sen.
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): “These kinds of threats are no accident. They
reflect a state of mind and intent to obstruct justice.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=015-c53&t=c>
(8/1, Bender, Gurman) quotes Rep. Adam Schiff as saying, “This is an
attempt to obstruct justice hiding in plain sight.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=016-013&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 3:50, Muir) said it “has learned...Mueller made it clear to
the Trump legal team that he wants to ask the President about obstruction
of justice, and he wants that interview to be in writing and in person. The
President found out within the past 24 hours, and sources say he became so
enraged, that today he fired off this extraordinary tweet.” Major Garrett
said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=017-3b5&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 2:15, Glor) that the tweet “suggested a new level of anxiety
about Robert Mueller’s probe.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=018-77d&t=c>
(8/1, Sullivan, Schmidt) reports Trump’s “order immediately raised
questions from some lawyers about whether it was an attempt to obstruct
justice.” Trump’s lawyers “quickly moved to contain the fallout, saying it
was not an order to a member of his cabinet, but merely an opinion.”
According to the Times, “An hour and a half after the tweet was posted, Mr.
Trump’s lawyers contacted a reporter for The New York Times,” and “in a
subsequent telephone conversation,” Rudy Giuliani “dismissed the
obstruction of justice concerns, calling it a ‘bizarre and novel theory of
obstruction by tweet,’ adding that it was ‘idiotic.’” Jay Sekulow, another
of Trump’s attorneys, said, “He doesn’t feel that he has to intervene in
the process, nor is he intervening.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=019-db2&t=c>
(8/1, Wagner, Barrett, Leonnig) reports that in an interview, Giuliani and
Sekulow “said Trump was not ordering Sessions to take any specific action.”
Stressing that Trump is allowed to express his opinions on Twitter, Sekulow
said, “The president has issued no order or direction to the Department of
Justice on this.” Giuliani added. “He very carefully used the word
‘should.’” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01a-d6f&t=c>
(8/1, Samuels) also reports their comments to the Post, and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01b-c1f&t=c>
(8/1, Morin, Cheney, Schor) likewise reports “Trump’s personal lawyers
quickly sought to downplay his comments, calling them an expression of his
personal opinion – not an order to Sessions.”

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01c-571&t=c>
(8/1) that he regards Trump’s tweets as a directive to Sessions. Castro
added, “I think he’s made his intentions pretty clear that he wants to shut
down the Mueller investigation and he’s used multiple tactics to try to
accomplish that – badgering, bullying Jeff Sessions, firing James Comey
because of the Russia investigation, berating Rod Rosenstein – he’s done so
many things now and this is one more.” Asked if Trump’s tweets amount to
obstruction of justice, Castro said, “Yes. I think it’s obstruction of
justice.” Senate Minority Whip Durbin was more cautious, telling CNN’s
Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01d-33d&t=c>
(8/1) that Trump has a First Amendment right, “but when he starts trying to
influence a man that he appointed as Attorney General, it gets dangerously
close to obstruction of justice.”

Not all lawmakers, however, were critical. Rep. Chris Stewart
(R-UT) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01e-f3d&t=c>
(8/1), “I think it would be very, very difficult as a prosecutor to make
the case. I’m not an attorney but common sense would tell me it’s going to
take much more than that to prove any kind of case towards what you’ve
indicated there. The President can voice his opinion. I don’t deny him that
ability. But in this case, I wish he wouldn’t. I just don’t think it helps
him. I don’t think it helps those of us who agree with him. The original
intent of the special counsel is to investigate collusion. There’s been no
evidence of that. And I wish he would just let the special counsel finish
his work and show the American people what he has found and if there’s
something that we need to deal with we will at that time.”

To Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01f-1ff&t=c>
(8/1, Chiacu, Cornwell), Wednesday’s tweet from Trump “appeared to be his
most direct call for shutting down...Mueller’s investigation.” However, the
White House “said the tweet was not an order to Sessions and that Trump was
expressing his frustration with the length of the probe.” Said Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders, “It’s not an order. It’s the president’s opinion.
... He’s fighting back.” For his part, Giuliani said, “We have been saying
for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end. The president
has expressed the same opinion.” The White House, reports the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=020-ab6&t=c>
(8/1, Muñoz), said Trump “hasn’t taken any formal action with Mr.
Sessions.” Sanders argued, “The president is not obstructing, he’s fighting
back.” According to The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=021-a90&t=c>
(8/1, Fabian), Sanders also “said she was unaware of Trump making similar
comments to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the
special counsel.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=022-a52&t=c>
(8/1, Hanchett) and the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=023-ec6&t=c>
(8/1, Morrongiello), among other sources, also report Sanders’ comments.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=024-f4c&t=c>
(8/1, Dopp, Talev, Dennis) calls the tweets “an extraordinary departure
from traditional boundaries between the president and law enforcement,” and
the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=025-21a&t=c>
(8/1, Bierman) says they are “opening the president to further complaints
that he is trying to obstruct the investigation into Russia’s election
interference and his campaign’s possible complicity.” In a report titled
“Do Trump Tweets Cross Legal Line For Obstruction Of Justice?” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=026-680&t=c>
(8/1, Sherman, Gresko) likewise says Trump’s tweet “raises difficult
questions about whether Trump’s frequent use of Twitter might be used to
build a case of obstruction of justice against him.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=027-cc3&t=c>
(8/1, Fabian) reports that while Sessions “has long been the target of
Trump’s ire over his decision to recuse himself from the Russia
investigation,” Trump “has seldom suggested publicly that his attorney
general should halt the probe.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=028-9ec&t=c>
(8/1, Jackson) says Trump’s “demand comes at what looks to be a pivotal
point in the probe: Mueller’s team is prosecuting former Trump campaign
manager Paul Manafort on financial allegations, and some Trump aides
believe that Mueller will submit a report soon on his findings as they
relate to the president.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=029-219&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes that it is “easy to become inured to President Trump’s
persistent, exhausting campaign to delegitimize the people and institutions
unwilling to accommodate his personal desires. A skilled propagandist, Mr.
Trump constantly repeats and escalates his accusations, threats and
outlandish claims.” But “his latest escalation...should not be shrugged
off.” The Post argues that “by all appearances, Mr. Mueller is conducting
the sober, effective investigation that the government asked him to
conduct. He does not leak. He does not grandstand. He does his job. Let him
get on with it.”

Judge Andrew Napolitano said on Fox News’ Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02a-56e&t=c>
(8/1), “If the President brought about the closure of this investigation in
order to save himself, that would be a decision made for a corrupt purpose.
On the other hand, if the President just expressed an opinion as he’s been
doing for 18 months – he is entitled to express an opinion just like the
rest of us. Which was it? Who knows?”

*Sources: Mueller Offers To Limit Questions In Proposed Trump
Interview. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02b-881&t=c>
(8/1, Leonnig) reports that according to two sources, Mueller “indicated
this week that he is willing to reduce the number of questions his
investigators would pose to President Trump in an interview.” In a letter
sent Monday, Mueller’s team “suggested that investigators would reduce by
nearly half the number of questions they would ask about potential
obstruction of justice, the two people said.” It was unclear, however,
“which topic or topics would be left out.” ABC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02c-819&t=c>
(8/1, Santucci) reports on its website that Mueller’s office wants to ask
Trump “about obstruction of justice,” but “will limit the scope of
questioning and would like to ask questions both orally and written for the
President to respond to.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02d-c53&t=c>
(8/1, Schmidt, Haberman), meanwhile, reports Trump “pushed his lawyers in
recent days to try once again to reach an agreement” with Mueller’s office
about him sitting for an interview, “flouting their advice that he should
not answer investigators’ questions, three people briefed on the matter
said on Wednesday.” Trump has told advisers “he is eager to meet with
investigators to clear himself of wrongdoing,” and “believes he can
convince the investigators...of his belief that their own inquiry is a
‘witch hunt.’”

John Roberts said on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02e-1a5&t=c>
(8/1), “Fox News has learned that special counsel Robert Mueller has not
agreed to demands from President Trump’s attorneys to limit questioning to
matters of collusion, that he still wants to ask questions regarding
obstruction of justice and a few other topics. ... Sources say talks with
the special counsel continue, but add there is a long way to go.” Major
Garrett said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02f-4df&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 2:15, Glor) that an interview with Mueller by Trump is
“highly, highly unlikely, but for appearance’s sake, both sides are going
through negotiations.” Former US Attorney Joe DiGenova said on Fox News’
Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=030-dea&t=c>
(8/1) that Trump “should not be interviewed by these people. His attorneys
should obviously, and I know they will do everything they can to advise him
not to do an interview. This is an illegitimate investigation. It’s a
perjury trap even though the President cannot be indicted for anything.”

*Trump Congratulates Jarrett On “Tremendous Success” Of Book. *Trump
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=031-38c&t=c>
Wednesday night, “Congratulations to @GreggJarrett on The TREMENDOUS
success of his just out book, “The Russia Hoax, The Illicit Scheme To Clear
Hillary Clinton & Frame Donald Trump.” Already number one on Amazon. Hard
work from a brilliant guy. It’s the Real Story of the Rigged Witch Hunt!”

*Judicial Watch: Strzok Allowed To Declassify Documents After
Joining Mueller Probe. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=032-f3a&t=c>
(8/1, Scarborough) reports that “new internal emails” show FBI agent Peter
Strzok “demanded to preserve all the powers he held as a deputy assistant
director as he agreed to move to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia
probe in 2017.” The emails obtained by Judicial Watch show “his superiors
agreed and made him a ‘floating’ deputy who could still handle
counterintelligence cases and declassify documents as he investigated the
Trump campaign for Mr. Mueller.”

*Watchdog Files Suit Against DOJ Seeking Comey’s Personal Emails. *The
Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=033-ed2&t=c>
(8/1, Shepherd) reports the government watchdog group Cause of Action filed
a lawsuit Wednesday against the Department of Justice “claiming that the
agency has not responded to three Freedom of Information Act requests, one
of which is seeking emails from former FBI Director James Comey’s personal
email accounts that deal with government business.” Cause of Action argues
the DOJ “acknowledged receipt of the requests but has not proceeded any
further,” saying in the complaint that the DOJ “has failed to issue a final
determination on or promptly produce records responsive to CoA Institute’s
FOIA requests within the applicable time limits.” A DOJ official “said the
request is in progress.”

*White House Downplays Criticism Over Handling Of Election
Security. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=034-c83&t=c>
(8/1, Nakashima, Timberg) reports that lawmakers and independent analysts
say the US “has done little to protect itself against a renewed effort to
influence voters in the coming congressional midterm elections,” but
“Administration officials dispute such criticism.” NSC spokesman Garrett
Marquis said in a statement that NSC staff “leads the regular and
continuous coordination of the whole-of-government approach to addressing
foreign malign influence and ensuring election security. The President has
made it clear that his Administration will not tolerate foreign
interference in our electoral process from any nation state or other
malicious actors.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=035-a3f&t=c>
(8/1, Taylor), meanwhile, reports that the State Department on Wednesday
“called out Russia in warning against foreign interference in US democracy,
a day after the White House declined to do so.” In a statement, spokeswoman
Heather Nauert said, “We demand that Russia and all other malign actors
immediately cease this reckless behavior. ... The United States will not
tolerate foreign, including Russian, attempts to subvert our democratic
processes and institutions.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=036-551&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes that while the White House “made a big to-do last week
about the president convening the first-ever meeting of his National
Security Council specifically dedicated to election security,” that meeting
“clocked in at well under an hour and, according to officials, was not a
strategy session but rather a basic review of measures already adopted by
various agencies absent direction from the White House.” The Times adds,
“No coordinated plan was discussed, nor were any new steps for countering
or deterring future attacks.” The “biggest hurdle” to combating the threat
posed by Russia, it argues, “seems to be America’s president.”

*Senate Republicans Block Increase In Election Security Funding. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=037-d95&t=c>
(8/1, Hayes) reports Senate Republicans “blocked a Democratic push
Wednesday that would have provided $250 million to beef up election
security.” The funding “would have been doled out in grants through the
Federal Election Assistance Commission and helped, among other things,
replace outdated voting equipment and increase cybersecurity efforts.” But
the amendment failed “on a 50-49 vote, 10 votes shy of the 60 needed for it
to pass. The votes fell almost entirely on party lines as only one
Republican – Sen. Bob Corker – voted for the grant.”

*NYTimes: Online Influencers Adapting To Better Disguise
Themselves. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=038-9f9&t=c>
(8/1, Roose) reports that the “people behind an influence campaign ahead of
this year’s elections, which Facebook disclosed on Tuesday, copied enough
of the tactics used by Russians in the 2016 races to raise suspicion that
Russia was at it again. But the new efforts also revealed signs of a
maturing adversary, adapting and evolving to better disguise itself, while
also better imitating real activists.” The coordinated activities, says the
Times, also “show the enormity of the challenge ahead of Facebook, as it
tries to weed out impersonators.”

*Trump: Charges Against Manafort “Have Nothing To Do With
Collusion.” *Trump also tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=039-476&t=c>
Wednesday morning, “Paul Manafort worked for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and
many other highly prominent and respected political leaders. He worked for
me for a very short time. Why didn’t government tell me that he was under
investigation. These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion – a
Hoax!” In a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03a-c2f&t=c>
several hours later, he added, “Looking back on history, who was treated
worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and ‘Public Enemy Number
One,’ or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/Dole darling, now
serving solitary confinement – although convicted of nothing? Where is the
Russian Collusion?”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03b-603&t=c>
(8/1, Lafraniere, Cochrane) reports Trump “has at times sought to distance
himself from Mr. Manafort and at others to support him,” but on Wednesday
“took to Twitter to suggest that Mr. Manafort was being victimized by the
special counsel’s team because Mr. Mueller had turned up no evidence of
collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.” Kyra Phillips said on ABC
World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03c-9b4&t=c>
(8/1, story 3, 2:40, Muir), “President Trump’s tweet this morning...said
Manafort only worked for him for a very short period of time. But remember,
Manafort was on the Trump campaign for six months, and that includes three
months when he was the top official.”

*Manafort Prosecutors May Not Call On Gates To Testify. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03d-f10&t=c>
(8/1, Lynch, Layne, Freifeld) reports that the prosecutor in Manafort’s
trial, Uzo Asonye, told Judge T. S. Ellis III Wednesday that the government
may not call on Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates, to testify
in the case. Gates, “who pleaded guilty to making false statements after
being indicted by Mueller, was expected to be a star government witness,”
according to Reuters. In its opening statement, Manafort’s defense “made
clear...that its strategy centered on discrediting Gates as an untruthful
embezzler.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03e-b2b&t=c>
(8/1, Mordock) calls reports that Gates will not testify “shocking.”
The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03f-c9b&t=c>
(8/1, Weiner, Helderman, Jouvenal, Zapotosky) reports Asonye also told
Ellis “that the prosecution is ahead of schedule and could rest its case
next week,” which “means the trial would end sooner than the three weeks
prosecutors had initially said they thought it would last.” According to
the Post, Ellis “has been pushing prosecutors to speed up their case and
has expressed annoyance about the volume of evidence they have attempted to
introduce at various points. “

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=040-cf4&t=c>
(8/1, Day, Tucker) reports that Ellis also “warned prosecutors Wednesday
against using the word ‘oligarchs’ to describe wealthy Ukrainians, and
admonished them for spending so much time documenting the former Trump
campaign chairman’s extravagant lifestyle.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=041-923&t=c>
(8/1, Marsh, Golding) similarly reports on Ellis’ demand that lawyers stop
using the word “oligarch.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=042-960&t=c>
(7/31, Weiner) reports that Ellis’ “sharp demeanor comes as no surprise to
lawyers who appear before him often.” According to the Post, Ellis
“regularly interrupts trial testimony with his own questions and demands
that certain lines of inquiry be cut short, clearing up ambiguity that
defense attorneys hoped to create.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=043-acd&t=c>
(8/1, Johnson), meanwhile, reports that “for more than an hour Wednesday,
prosecutors walked jurors through volumes of clothing invoices, attempting
to show that the Republican political operative lived well beyond the means
depicted in his annual income tax reports.” Every invoice, store
representatives testified Wednesday, “were paid by international wire
transfers – some sending hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time” –
“almost exclusively from secret accounts Manafort held in Cyprus.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=044-bef&t=c>
(8/1, Gerstein, Samuelsohn) likewise reports on yesterday’s testimony by
employees “a luxury men’s clothing boutique Manafort frequented.”

*Mueller Refers Cases Involving Obama Aide, Weber, Tony Podesta To
Federal Prosecutors. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=045-8c2&t=c>
(8/1, Rosenberg, Vogel, Benner) reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller “has
referred three investigations into possible illicit foreign lobbying by
Washington insiders to federal prosecutors in New York.” The Times says the
three cases “cut across party lines, focusing on both powerful Democratic
and Republican players in Washington,” and are “linked to Paul Manafort.”
The cases involve “Gregory B. Craig, who served as the White House counsel
under President Barack Obama before leaving to work for the law firm
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; former Representative Vin Weber,
Republican of Minnesota, who joined Mercury Public Affairs, a lobbying
firm, after leaving Congress; and Tony Podesta, a high-powered Washington
lobbyist whose brother, John D. Podesta, was the chairman of Hillary
Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=046-e9d&t=c>
(8/1, Hays) reports that Craig, Weber and Podesta all “did work related to
a lobbying effort on behalf of Ukraine’s government directed by Manafort
and longtime associate Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty and is expected
to testify at the trial.” According to the AP, “Two firms at which Podesta
and Weber have held executive positions – the Podesta Group and Mercury
Public Affairs – were retained through a nonprofit group in Brussels that
was directed by Manafort,” while Craig “oversaw his law firm’s report on
behalf of Ukraine’s government that defended the legitimacy of its
prosecution of a former prime minister.”

A New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=047-e85&t=c>
(8/1, Mazzetti, Benner) analysis, meanwhile, says at Manafort’s trial, “an
unflattering picture has emerged of lawyers, lobbyists and consultants from
both political parties winning big paydays for work on behalf of a
Kremlin-aligned former Ukrainian strongman.” The Times argues that the
“vigor with which Mr. Mueller has investigated the flows of foreign money
from Ukraine, Turkey and other countries into Washington could be as much a
part of his legacy as special counsel as whatever he discovers about
possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign or presidential
obstruction of justice.”

Dana Milbank writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=048-0ff&t=c>
(8/1) column that Tad Devine, “during his run as chief strategist for the
Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, railed against the corrupting
influence of money in politics.” But due to Manafort’s trial, “we now have
an unusual glimpse into the role the Democratic ad man had in electing and
preserving the power of Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych.” Milbank says that
while Devine did nothing illegal, it was ironic that he was responsible for
running Sanders’ anti-corruption campaign.

*WPost A1 Analysis: Trump Has Made 4,229 False, Misleading Claims
Since Becoming President. *A front-page Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=049-95b&t=c>
(8/1, A1, Kessler, Rizzo, Kelly) “Fact Checker” piece indicates that “we
had fallen a month behind in updating The Fact Checker’s database that
analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the
president. It turns out that’s when the president decided to turn on the
spigots of false and misleading claims. As of day 558, he’s made 4,229
Trumpian claims – an increase of 978 in just two months” – and “an average
of nearly 7.6 claims a day.” The Post adds, “In his first year as
president, Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims. Now, just six
months later, he has almost doubled that total.”
Foreign Policy
Pence Welcomes Return Of Korean War Dead.

KGMB-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04a-c8d&t=c>
Honolulu (7/26) reports Vice President Pence, along with other dignitaries
and dozens of veterans attended “a somber repatriation ceremony” at Pearl
Harbor “to receive the possible remains of 55 American soldiers killed in
the Korean War.” Pence said, in an “an emotional address” at the Honorable
Carry Ceremony, “Today, we prove these heroes were never forgotten. Today,
our boys are coming home.” He called the return of the remains “tangible
progress” in the bid to “achieve peace on the Korean peninsula.” Similarly,
the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04b-e5c&t=c>
(8/2, McAvoy) calls the event “an emotional and solemn ceremony.”

In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04c-6e4&t=c>,
President Trump offered, “A special thanks to Vice President Mike Pence on
delivering a truly magnificent tribute,” calling the ceremony “incredibly
beautiful.” In a second tweet after midnight, he wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04d-791&t=c>,
“Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the
process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing
fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also,
thank you for your nice letter – l look forward to seeing you soon!”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04e-b9b&t=c>
(8/1, story 4, 0:25, Muir) reported that US officials “say a preliminary
review has confirmed the boxes do contain human remains, likely Americans,
they say.” Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04f-b29&t=c>
(8/1) reported that “among the 55 containers of remains, there is just one
dog tag, and that concerns some people.” However, Fox’s Dan Springer said,
“We are told that is not that unusual considering the war ended 65 years
ago and the remains have been in North Korea this entire time.” Fox News’
Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=050-c0d&t=c>
(8/1) opened with coverage of the repatriation of the remains of 55 US
soldiers killed in the Korean War from North Korea. The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=051-88f&t=c>
(8/1, Kim) reports the “initial forensic analysis suggested the remains
were likely to be of American servicemen, the US military said. But experts
say positive identification of all the remains could take years.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=052-e33&t=c>
(8/1, Maresca) reports officials said the remains “handed over by North
Korea to the United States last week were confirmed to be human and are
likely to be American soldiers.” Dr. John Byrd, laboratory director of the
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said, “The remains are what the DPRK
officials said they were. They appear to be remains from the Korean War.
They are likely to be American remains.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=053-1e4&t=c>
(8/1, Kim, Denyer) reports Byrd said North Korea “provided enough
information about where the bodies were found to allow US officials to
match them to battles fought between 1950 and 1951.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=054-401&t=c>
(7/31, Psaledakis) reports experts said the “painstaking identification
process” for the remains “could take from three days to two decades to
complete.” Paul Cole, an “expert on recovery of soldiers missing in action
and prisoners of war,” said the “remains within each box may not be those
of a single person and are likely fragments of bones.”

On NBC’s Today Show[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=055-06b&t=c>
(8/1), Keir Simmons reported, “The repatriation of US troops is a step
towards the agreements reached at June’s historic summit between President
Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.” Simmons said that at his
rally in Florida last night, the President was “praising the deal.” Trump
was shown saying, “There’s been no nuclear testing. There’s been no
missiles or rockets flying.” Simmons reported that North Korea has not
“tested a missile since November of last year,” and Kim “vow[ed] to stop
all missile and nuclear testing.” Simmons said the State Department is
“promising to keep Kim...to his word.” State Department spokeswoman Heather
Nauert was shown saying, “What we’re going on is the commitment that
chairman Kim made to our President. That is the commitment to
denuclearize.” Simmons went on to report that Secretary of State Pompeo
“admitted” last week that North Korea “is still producing nuclear weapons
fuel,” but Simmons said “that doesn’t necessarily mean the agreements made
with President trump have been broken.”

*WPost Editorial Calls For Pressing North Korea In Serious Nuclear
Negotiations. *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=056-57b&t=c>
(8/1) warns that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “will be a tough and wily
negotiator” who “must be pressed hard for transparency about his nuclear
and missile programs, and for verification of his promises.” The Post adds
that, “except for the relatively minor dismantlement of an engine test
stand, there is no evidence that North Korea has changed direction,” While
President Trump “recklessly declared after the summit that North Korea was
‘no longer a Nuclear Threat” and “made a concession in calling off joint
U.S.-South Korea military exercises,” he has not received a concession in
return. While there hasn’t been North Korean nuclear or missiles tests,
“silence does not mean Pyongyang is idle.” The Post calla for “a serious
negotiation at which Mr. Kim can be challenged and any concessions
verified.”
State Dept. Says Iran Pressure Strategy Working As Parliament Summons
Rouhani.

Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=057-077&t=c>
(8/1) reported that amid a “plummeted currency, slowing economy, persistent
protests,” and the US expected to restore sanctions lifted as part of the
Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s state press says the country’s parliament has
summoned President Hassan Rouhani to “answer for the economic conditions.”
State Department officials “say...the economic situation demonstrates the
strategy is working.” State and Treasury Department officials “say they
will travel to more than 20 countries, including those still part of the
Iran nuclear deal, to warn governments and businesses of the dangers of
conducting business” with the Iranians. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=058-53f&t=c>
(8/1, Vahdat) reports Iran’s parliament “announced Wednesday it would hold
a special session to question President Hassan Rouhani about the plummeting
currency and struggling economy.” Members of parliament said on their
website that Rouhani “must appear within a month in an open session to
answer questions, but no specific date was announced.”

*US “Monitoring” As Iran To Run Drills To Shut Down Strait Of
Hormuz. *Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=059-cbc&t=c>
(8/1) reported that two US officials say Iran is expected within the next
48 hours to “launch 100 small boats to practice and demonstrate the
potential of shutting down a vital international waterway, the Strait of
Hormuz.” Officials also “say Iran typically runs these drills in the Fall.” USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05a-4cd&t=c>
(8/1, Brook) reports, “Iran recently threatened to block the Strait of
Hormuz, a key passage for oil tankers from the Persian Gulf, a move the
Pentagon said would be countered.” Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for
Central Command, said in a statement. “We are monitoring” the increase in
Iranian naval operations “closely, and will continue to work with our
partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in
international waterways.”

*Israel Warns Of Military Response. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05b-ad6&t=c>
(8/1, Lewis) reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that
his country’s military would respond should Iran try to block the Bab
al-Mandeb strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. While “Iran has
not threatened to block Bab al-Mandeb,” it previously warned “it would
block the Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Gulf, if it were prevented
from exporting its own oil.”

*Russia Says Iranian-Backed Militias Will Remain 50 Miles Away From
Israeli Territory. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05c-5ea&t=c>
(8/1) reports Russian envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said Wednesday
“that an agreement with Israel that includes Russian guarantees ensures
that Iran-backed fighters will remain more than 80 kilometers (50 miles)
away from Syria’s frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.”
Lavrentyev told “the Russian Interfax news agency the agreement was reached
in order not to ‘irritate’ Israel.”

*Reuters: US Making Little Progress On Hostages Held By Iran. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05d-07c&t=c>
(8/1, Torbati, Schectman) reports in a nearly 3,300-word story on Iran’s
practice of taking US citizens as prisoners and using them as bargaining
chips. Over a year into President Trump’s tenure, Iran “still holds
prisoner at least five US citizens and permanent residents – including one
taken during Trump’s tenure.” The White House “declined to comment, and the
State Department said the United States works ‘tirelessly’ to free
Americans held in Iran.” However, Reuters adds, Trump’s Administration
“confronts a troubling reality: There is no easy way to stop Iran from
taking Americans prisoner, a tactic Tehran has employed since the Islamic
Revolution of 1979.” Since 1979, Iran has “detained at least 25 American
citizens or permanent residents, Reuters found through interviews and a
review of court documents and news reports.”
US Sanctions Top Turkish Officials Over Continued Imprisonment Of Pastor.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05e-30f&t=c>
(8/1, Thomas) reports that the White House announced that the US “will
impose sanctions on two Turkish officials over a detained American pastor
who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges.” The AP notes
that President Trump “warned last week that he might impose sanctions
against Turkey...for its treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson.” Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “has said his government won’t back down and
was willing to ‘go its own way’ if the US imposes sanctions,” according to
the AP. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05f-adb&t=c>
(8/1) identifies those now under US sanctions as Turkey’s Justice Minister
Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=060-6ed&t=c>
(8/1, Olorunnipa) reports that “within the State Department, Brunson and
other prisoners including NASA scientist Serkan Golge and three Turkish
employees of the US mission to Turkey are referred to as ‘hostages.’”
According to Bloomberg, the Administration “says they’re innocent and being
held by Turkey for the sole purpose of extracting concessions on other
points of tension in the US-relationship.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=061-8d1&t=c>
(8/1, Jackson) reports Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said, “Pastor Brunson’s
unjust detention and continued prosecution by Turkish officials is simply
unacceptable.” White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sander “said Trump has
discussed the Brunson case with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
and is dissatisfied with Turkey’s lack of response.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=062-b8b&t=c>
(8/1, Goldman, Harris) calls the sanctions “an extraordinary use of
financial sanctions against an allied government” and “a rare public break
between Mr. Trump and Mr. Erdogan.” The Times predicts the move will
“inflame tensions that were already simmering over a litany of
disagreements.” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter
that “sanctions against our two ministers will not be left unanswered.”
According to a senior Administration official, Trump is upset partly
because he believed he and Erdogan had a deal that Brunson would be freed
if Israeli authorities released a Turkish woman accused of funding Hamas.
The woman was released, but Brunson remains on house arrest.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=063-ef4&t=c>
(8/1, Sonmez) reports, “Turkey’s Foreign Ministry registered a ‘strong
protest’ against actions it called inexplicable, disrespectful and
illegal,” warning in a statement that they will “seriously damage” efforts
to repair US-Turkey relations. Secretary of State Pompeo, in a statement,
said that the “Turkish government refused to release Pastor Brunson after
numerous conversations between President Trump and President Erdogan, and
my conversations with Foreign Minister Cavusoglu. President Trump concluded
that these sanctions are the appropriate action.” Also covering this story
are the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=064-2f3&t=c>
(8/1, Bender, Nissenbaum) and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=065-6d7&t=c>
(8/1, Boyer).
State Dept. Says Pompeo Will Not Meet With Lavrov At ASEAN.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=066-8ef&t=c>
(8/1) reports that State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert released a
statement confirming that Secretary of State Pompeo and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov “will not meet on the sidelines of a gathering of
southeast Asian nations in Singapore this week.” According to Reuters,
“Earlier on Wednesday the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement it
was trying to set up a meeting between Lavrov and Pompeo when the 10-nation
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met.”

*NBC’s Mitchell: Trump, Bolton Acting Without Conferring With
Pompeo, Other Top Officials. *Asked, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=067-527&t=c>
(8/1), how the State Department has reacted to President Trump’s recent
foreign policy announcements, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell said, “Mike Pompeo was
about as close to this President as anyone can be as CIA director – he was
briefing him every day” – so “people in the State Department were initially
encouraged” when Pompeo became Secretary of State. However, State
Department and Intelligence officials see “the fact that John Bolton can
tell Sarah Sanders to tweet out an invitation to Putin without telling
Pompeo, Mattis, or Dan Coats” as evidence that Trump is continuing to act
unilaterally and “making it up as he goes.”
State Dept. Offers Tajikistan Help In Probe Of ISIS-Claimed Killing Of US
Couple.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=068-4ee&t=c>
(8/1, story 6, 0:15, Muir) identified the two Americans killed while
cycling through Tajikistan as Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin. Two
Europeans were also killed. A video “appears to show a vehicle deliberately
ramming” into them. The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=069-0b5&t=c>
(8/1, story 5, 2:00, Glor) reported, “ISIS, whose membership has been
growing in recent years in predominantly Muslim Tajikistan, claimed
responsibility for the attack.” Police ran down the five suspects and
killed four of them, Tajik authorities said. The State Department “says the
US has offered assistance, but the investigation is being led by
Tajikistan.”
Taliban Routs ISIS In Northern Afghanistan.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06a-dd2&t=c>
(8/1, Rahim, Nordland) reports that “more than 200 Islamic State fighters
and their two top commanders surrendered to the Afghan government on
Wednesday to avoid capture by Taliban insurgents, after a two-day battle
that was a decisive victory for the Taliban.” The Times says that a
“spokesman for Afghanistan’s commando forces...said in a post on his
Facebook page that the surrenders marked the end of the Islamic State in
northern Afghanistan.” According to the Times, the Taliban and ISIS “are
bitter enemies in Afghanistan, attacking each other wherever they can.”
US Preparing To Decrease Troops, Missions In Africa.

The New York Times
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(8/1, Cooper, Schmitt) reports that in “response to the Trump
administration’s strategy to increasingly focus on threats from China and
Russia,” Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, the head of United States Africa
Command, submitted a plan to reassign hundreds of American troops in Africa
and wind down Special Operations missions there. In an interview with the
New York Times, General Waldhauser said, “We’re not walking away,” and
added that the United States would “reserve the right to unilaterally
return” to protect American interests. “Africa has increasingly become an
emerging battlefield for the United States in the fight against Islamist
militant groups,” and Defense Department officials “expected most of the
troop cuts and scaled-back missions to come from Central and West Africa,”
where Special Operations are training militaries to combat extremist
Islamist militant groups.
Mnuchin, Navarro Reportedly At Odds Over Threat To Increase Tariffs On
Chinese Goods.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06c-db0&t=c>
(8/1, Swanson, Bradsher) reports the Administration has “escalated its
fight with China...saying that President Trump is considering raising
tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10
percent.” According to “senior administration officials...Trump has
directed the United States trade representative to consider increasing
tariffs on Chinese imports,” but “a final decision on the size and scope of
the tariffs is not expected before September.” The “effort to further
punish China is being led by hard-line advisers to Mr. Trump, who see the
measure as a way to force Beijing back to the negotiating table on trade.”
That approach, says the Times, “is once again creating fissures within Mr.
Trump’s own team, with his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, adamantly
opposed to ratcheting up the tariffs and Peter Navarro, a key trade
adviser, advocating for the higher levies.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06d-6f4&t=c>
(8/1, Mayeda) reports that the President asked USTR Lighthizer “to consider
hiking the duties, which could be implemented as early as next month.” On
Wednesday, Lighthizer said “the proposed higher tariff ‘is intended to
provide the administration with additional options to encourage China to
change its harmful policies and behavior and adopt policies that will lead
to fairer markets.’” According to Bloomberg, Mnuchin and Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He “are having private conversations as they look for ways to
reengage in negotiations after talks broke down last month.” In a
front-page article, the Wall Street Journal
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(8/1, A1, Davis, Wei) reports that some Administration officials believe
that the Chinese government is poised to back down eventually due to the
poor performance of the Chinese economy recently and pessimistic forecasts
regarding future growth. However, the Journal says the talks between
Mnuchin and Liu have yet to produce any tangible results.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06f-268&t=c>
(8/1) reports that Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute says
“a 25 percent tariff rate would be more effective in keeping out Chinese
goods from US markets” because “the Chinese government could more easily
offset a 10 percent tariff with subsidies or by weakening China’s yuan
currency.” Reuters points out that the yuan “has already weakened by about
7 percent against the dollar since the beginning of May, prompting” Mnuchin
to say he is “concerned that Beijing may be manipulating its currency.”

Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=070-8d9&t=c>
(8/1) reported Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he was “ramping up the trade
dispute with China, announcing today that the next $200 billion in Chinese
goods to be targeted by tariffs could be taxed at a rate of 25 percent,
more than double the initially proposed percent.” White House Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders said of the move: “The President is going to
continue to hold China responsible for their unfair trade practices. This
has gone on for long enough and he’s going to do something about it.”
China’s response was “swift and sharp.” Fox showed Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Geng Shuang saying, “US pressure and blackmail will not work. If
the US takes further measures to escalate the situation, China will fight
back.”

*Amid Washington-Beijing Trade Tensions, Cost Of Pig Feet
Increasing In China. *The Washington Post
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(8/1, Paquette) reports, “The first signs of trouble” with US and Chinese
tariffs “are just emerging in both countries, where some workers are
bracing for economic turmoil.” The Post focuses on the increasing price of
pig feet in China, where they are a “classic snack...called trotters.”

*Neil Bush Criticizes Trump Over Trade Policies Toward China. *George
H.W. Bush China-US Relations Foundation Chairman Neil Bush, in an op-ed in
the Washington Post
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(8/1), compares Trump to Don Quixote, in that “they both see illusionary
wrongs, set out to make them right and then claim victory at the end of
each battle against imaginary enemies.” Evidence shows that Trump’s
accusations about China taking US manufacturing jobs is a fantasy.
Meanwhile, as he seeks to address the “illusion of a problem,” Trump “is
damaging friendships, alliances, supply chains, long developed business
contracts, market efficiencies and hard-won, well-established treaties.”
Furthermore, “there are genuine giants that need to be conquered and
dragons to tame” in China, such as “protecting intellectual property rights
and leveling the playing field for international trade.” Progress on these
issues “will happen through honest negotiation,” and “jousting with
imaginary monsters will only hurt America’s credibility and hamp