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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, January 31, 2019 7:57 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, January 31, 2019


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=001-eff&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, January 31, 2019 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• “Former White House Official:” In 2020 Race, Trump Views Biden “As The
Biggest Threat.” <#S1>

• The Atlantic’s Dovere: A 2020 Bloomberg Run Likely Hinges On Whether
Biden Enters Race. <#S2>

• In New Book, Jon Ward Writes That Biden Was “Sensitive” To Warren’s
Criticism. <#S3>

• WPost’s Blake: Biden, Haley Take Political Risk With Pricey Paid Speeches.
<#S4>

• Fox News Analysis: In Democrats’ 2020 Field, “A Yawning Age Gap.” <#S5>

• Booker, Harris Jockeying For Support Of CBC Members. <#S6>

• Schultz Distances Himself From Democratic Party That Is “So Far Left.”
<#S7>

• Mulling 2020 Bid, Brown Launches “Dignity Of Work” Tour, Blasts Trump.
<#S8>

• WPost’s Will: Klobuchar May Be “Best Equipped” To Defeat Trump. <#S9>

• Indictment Of Union Heavyweight Dougherty May Hurt Pennsylvania Democrats.
<#S10>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Trump Tells Intel Chiefs To “Go Back To School” After They Contradict Him.
<#S11>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Trump Congratulates Guaidó As Maduro Warns US Against Intervention. <#S12>

• White House Downplays Trump’s Meeting With Putin Without Translator,
Note-Taker. <#S13>

• US, China Revive Trade Talks One Month Ahead Of Tariff Deadline. <#S14>

• Pompeo: Trump To Make “Significant Announcement” About ISIS During SOTU.
<#S15>

• Taliban Claim They Are Prepared To Share Power. <#S16>

• Pompeo Says Team Heading To Asia To Prepare For Trump-Kim Summit. <#S17>

• Rouhani: Iran Faces Worst Economic Challenge In 40 Years. <#S18>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Trump Says Border Security Proposal Without “Wall Or Physical Barrier”
Would Be Waste Of Time. <#S19>

• Media Highlight Trump’s Role As Foxconn Announces It Will Not Build
Wisconsin Factory. <#S20>

• Media Analyses: In Wake Of Criticism From Trump, Fed Does “Full 180” On
Rates. <#S21>

• Reports Credit Fed, US-China Trade Talks As Dow Closes Over 25,000. <#S22>

• Mueller’s Office Says Purported Hackers Stole Information To Tarnish
Investigation. <#S23>

• DOE “Secretly Shipped” Plutonium To Nevada Site. <#S24>

• VA Reveals Proposals To Expand Private Care Options To Veterans. <#S25>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Review Finds African Americans Have Worse Prognoses For Head And Neck
Cancer, Lower HPV Infection Rates. <#S26>

• Medtronic Reveals Positive Data For Lung Cancer Detecting Device. <#S27>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S28>

• Washington Post. <#S29>
Biden in the News
“Former White House Official:” In 2020 Race, Trump Views Biden “As The
Biggest Threat.”

Under the heading “‘There’s a Revolt Against Parscale’: Amid Biden Night
Sweats, The Knives Come Out (as Always) in Trump’s West Wing,” Gabriel
Sherman, writing for Vanity Fair
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=002-7c1&t=c>
(1/30), quotes “a former White House official briefed on [President]
Trump’s thinking” as saying of the 2020 race for the Democratic
presidential nomination, “Trump is very, very worried about [Joe] Biden
getting in. He sees him as the biggest threat because he can win
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.” Sherman adds, “Whether or not Biden
enters the race, Trump’s plunging poll numbers in the wake of the
government shutdown have raised alarms in some corners of Trumpworld about
the president’s re-election prospects. ‘It’s a [expletive],’ a veteran of
the 2016 campaign told me. The person who is drawing much of the blame is
Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale. ‘There’s a revolt against
Parscale,’ said the former official.”
The Atlantic’s Dovere: A 2020 Bloomberg Run Likely Hinges On Whether Biden
Enters Race.

Writing for The Atlantic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=003-947&t=c>
(1/31), Edward-Isaac Dovere says that ex-New York City Mayor Mike
Bloomberg, who is weighing a run for president, isn’t “sure there is a
realistic space in the Democratic primaries for his centrist record. And he
almost certainly won’t run if Joe Biden does, members of his team believe.”
Bloomberg’s “aides have nonetheless been working on a fallback that only a
man worth $40 billion can afford, whether he runs or not. Bloomberg is
pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a data-centric political
operation designed to assure one goal: Crush Donald Trump.” Dovere details
that operation, which “may yet turn this into an effort on behalf of a
Bloomberg campaign, with his advisers carefully watching Biden’s moves to
decide what to do, and asking around for intel on the former vice
president’s deliberations. They doubt there’s room in the Democratic field
for both.”
In New Book, Jon Ward Writes That Biden Was “Sensitive” To Warren’s
Criticism.

In an online article, ABC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=004-632&t=c>
(1/30, Weinberg) reported that in his new book titled, “Camelot’s End:
Kennedy Vs. Carter And The Fight That Broke The Democratic Party,” Yahoo!
News’ Jon Ward writes that then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2015 “was
‘sensitive to the critiques’ Elizabeth Warren had been leveling at Biden
for years.” Speaking with ABC News’ Rick Klein and Jonathan Karl during an
appearance on the “Powerhouse Politics” podcast, Ward said that when he
interviewed Biden, the former Vice President “talked about Elizabeth Warren
frequently, unprompted.” Years before, Warren “had critiqued Biden for his
support of legislation that made it harder for consumers to declare
bankruptcy. ‘So she framed it as him basically attacking women at the
behest of large corporations back when she was a Harvard professor – and
that was obviously still sticking in his craw,’ Ward said.”
WPost’s Blake: Biden, Haley Take Political Risk With Pricey Paid Speeches.

Writing in “The Fix” on the website of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=005-ba2&t=c>
(1/30), Aaron Blake said, “For the second time in a week, we’ve learned
that a person who could become the next president of the United States is
giving speeches for $200,000 a pop. Last week it was former vice president
Joe Biden; now it’s” ex-US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who’s
reportedly “quoting that price for her speeches.” Blake said, “Everyone who
does this is engaging in an increasingly dangerous gamble with their
political future,” as “the debate over this practice is already proceeding
apace. Back in 2016, it was Hillary Clinton’s many speeches (for even
larger sums) that dogged her campaign for the presidency.”
Fox News Analysis: In Democrats’ 2020 Field, “A Yawning Age Gap.”

In an online article, Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=006-231&t=c>
(1/29, Steinhauser) reported that veteran New Hampshire Democratic Party
chief Ray Buckley says that in the 2020 Democratic presidential race,
“there’s a number of declared or potential White House hopefuls ‘under the
age of 50 who could very well win this nomination.’ If Buckley’s theory
holds, it could spell trouble for” a number of announced an potential
candidates: former Vice President Joe Biden, 76; ex-New York City Mayor
Micheal Bloomberg, 76; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 77; and Sen. Elizabeth
Warren (D-MA), 69. Fox News added, “Their presence, and that of a slew of
30- and 40-somethings weighing or launching bids, speaks to a yawning age
gap emerging in the Democratic field – one that could force primary voters
to choose between the party’s old and new guards.”
Booker, Harris Jockeying For Support Of CBC Members.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=007-26c&t=c>
(1/30, Barrón-López, Bresnahan) reported that in the nascent 2020 race for
president, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), who are
African American, are battling “for support from members of the influential
Congressional Black Caucus.” The pair “showed up at the CBC’s weekly
meeting on Wednesday,” mingling with the members. However, former Vice
President Joe Biden “could complicate their plans,” because he “is a
longtime ally of the CBC and has been reaching out to veteran black
lawmakers to talk about the race, according to multiple members.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=008-11f&t=c>
(1/30, Wong) reported that in interviews, “CBC members said they are torn
between backing Harris or...Booker.” The Hill added, “The Harris-Booker
conundrum represents the toughest presidential decision for the CBC since
2008, which pitted CBC ally Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama, who hoped
to make history as the first black president.”

*WTimes: Harris’ “Tough-On-Crime Record” Could Be Albatross In
Democratic Race. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=009-acf&t=c>
(1/30, Miller) reports on Harris’ background as a former state attorney
general and San Francisco district attorney, saying that her
“tough-on-crime record, which is rife with cases in which she aggressively
defended misconduct by her teams of prosecutors to get convictions, could
be one of the biggest hurdles in her quest to lead a Democrat Party that
has moved far to the left on racial and criminal justice issues.” While
Harris” staked her claim to a justice reform agenda in formally announcing
her candidacy Sunday,” veteran “advocates for justice reform” say she
“repeatedly opposed or kept mum on some of the most pressing liberal
priorities for race and policing.”

*NYTimes Fact Check: Harris Misled With Response On Police Shooting
Bill. *In a “Fact Check” piece for the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=00a-995&t=c>
(1/30), Linda Qiu says that Harris was recently asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper,
“When you were attorney general, you opposed legislation that would have
required your office to investigate fatal shootings involving police
officers. Why did you oppose that bill?” Harris replied, “I did not oppose
the bill. I had a process when I was attorney general of not weighing in on
bills and initiatives, because as attorney general, I had a responsibility
for writing the title and summary. So I did not weigh in.” Of Harris’
claim, Qiu says that although Harris “was technically accurate that she did
not take a position the police shooting bill, she had repeatedly expressed
disagreement with its aims and declined to support the bill. Her statement
that her silence on legislation was a matter of policy – which her staff
said was an error – was also not accurate.”

*Washington Examiner: CNN Claim On Harris Town Hall Was Misleading.
*The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=00b-38b&t=c>
(1/30, Caralle) reported that CNN “misleadingly touted its Monday night
town hall with...Harris...as the ‘most watched cable news single candidate
election town hall ever.” In a Tuesday statement, CNN “claimed it had
shattered a cable news network record in the headline and again in the
first sentence,” saying the event “averaged 1.957 million viewers according
to Nielsen data. However, just over two years ago, Fox News held a town
hall with then-candidate Donald Trump getting 2.7 million viewers.” The
article added, “A number of outlets, including Mediaite, Politico, and also
the Washington Examiner, have...updated their initial stories on the CNN
announcement to reflect accurately that CNN’s record was only a record for
that network and not all of cable news.”
Schultz Distances Himself From Democratic Party That Is “So Far Left.”

On NBC’s Today[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=00c-20b&t=c>
(1/30) Craig Melvin reported that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is
“getting it from all sides” as he explores a potential independent bid for
president. Peter Alexander added that Schultz is “distancing himself from
his Democratic roots, trying to cast himself as the man in the middle,
publicly criticizing the extremes on the right and the left, but in the
process opening himself up to a fierce backlash largely from liberal
Democrats who want him out.”

Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=00d-af8&t=c>
(1/30), Schultz said, “I must be doing something right to create so much
interest and backlash from the Democratic Party. Some of it is a surprise.
We expected to see some of the level of vitriol, but not to the extent that
it has been.” Schultz added, “What if Republicans and Democrats, lifelong,
are looking for a home? They’re not going to vote for a left-wing Elizabeth
Warren or Kamala Harris candidate, and they don’t want to reelect Donald
Trump.” Asked, “Why not run as a Democrat?” Schultz said, “I don’t
affiliate myself with a Democrat Party [that] is so far left” and
“basically wants the government to take over healthcare, which we cannot
afford, and...give free college to everybody and...give everyone a job,
which basically is $40 trillion on the balance sheet of $21.5 trillion.
What can we do? What we need is comprehensive tax reform. What we need is
sensible solutions to immigration.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=00e-ba0&t=c>
(1/30, Wagner) reports that during his appearance on MSNBC, Schultz also
said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “once asked him for a campaign
contribution and that he turned her down because her policies would lead
the country toward ‘socialism.’” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=00f-81f&t=c>
(1/30, Moore) reports that freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on
Wednesday blasted Schultz “after he dismissed her proposal for a tax on the
nation’s wealthiest, asking why billionaire candidates are not told they
have to ‘work their way up.’ ‘Why don’t people ever tell billionaires who
want to run for President that they need to ‘work their way up’ or that
‘maybe they should start with city council first?’’ she” tweeted. The tweet
came after Schultz “said he couldn’t campaign as a Democrat because he
would be unable to support a tax plan that she is pitching.”

Schultz said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=010-85b&t=c>
(1/30), “What I’ve said is nobody wants to see...Trump fired and out of
office more than me. I think a false narrative has been created in the last
48 hours that if, in fact, I ran for president as a centrist independent,
there has been a rush to judgment that perhaps I would take votes away from
the Democratic Party. What I believe is that there are millions of lifelong
Republicans who are not interested in reelecting...Trump, but are not going
to vote for a left leaning, progressive Democratic nominee. So given the
choice...Trump will probably be reelected. What I really want to do is
provide a better choice.”

*NYTimes’ Cohn: Schultz Bid Would More Likely Hurt Democrats, Help
Trump. *In a post titled, “Could Howard Schultz Help Re-elect The
President?” Nate Cohn wrote in “The Upshot” on the website of the New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=011-f8d&t=c>
(1/30), “At least for now, there is little reason to think a Schultz bid
would end differently from the other independent or minor-party bids of the
last 150 years (none won).” Cohn wrote, “Dissatisfied centrists are well
represented in the American elite, but not across the American electorate.
According to a Pew Research survey of more than 5,000 Americans in 2017, 78
percent of registered voters have a favorable view of at least one major
party, and only 18 percent have an unfavorable view of both.” Cohn added
that “if Mr. Schultz runs, it is easier to imagine how he could draw more
votes from the Democratic candidate than from [President Trump].”

*Milbank Mocks Schultz. *In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=012-9f9&t=c>
(1/30) column, Dana Milbank mocks Schultz and the nation of him running for
president, saying, “Americans have discovered, painfully, that running the
country is not the same thing as running a real estate business based on
dodgy accounting and stiffing partners. But running the country really is
like making coffee. As goes Starbucks, so goes the nation.”

*WSJournal: Democrats Fear Schultz Would Force Policy Debate. *In
an editorial, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=013-f20&t=c>
(1/30) argues that Democrats are trying to bully Schultz out of the 2020
presidential race because they fear Schultz would force a policy debate.
The Journal says Democrats fear a centrist independent could derail their
movement toward far-left policies.

*Starbucks Baristas Given “Talking Points” About Schultz’s Possible
2020 Bid. *Writing at Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=014-53c&t=c>
(1/30), Beth Baumann highlighted a Huffington Post article
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=015-512&t=c>
that indicated Starbucks “has provided Baristas with a list of talking
points to help eliminate tense and rather controversial conversations with
customers” about Schultz’s possible presidential bid. For example, a
“‘Barista Need-To-Know’ memo” HuffPost obtained said, in part, “If asked
about Howard’s political intentions: Howard’s future plans are up to him.”
Mulling 2020 Bid, Brown Launches “Dignity Of Work” Tour, Blasts Trump.

On its website, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=016-0b9&t=c>
(1/30, Egan) reported that Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is mulling a 2020
presidential bid, on Wednesday “kicked off his ‘Dignity of Work’ tour in”
Brunswick, Ohio, “focusing on worker rights and attacking Donald Trump for
‘phony populism.’ ‘[Trump] uses his phony populism to distract from the
fact that he has used the White House to enrich billionaires like himself,’
Brown told a crowd of over 300 supporters. ‘Real populism is not racist.
It’s never anti-Semitic,’ Brown said, adding that true populists ‘don’t rip
babies from their families at the border.’”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=017-fac&t=c>
(1/30, Tobias) reports that today, Brown “will head to Iowa for three days,
making stops in smaller cities across the state to try to introduce himself
to voters there.” He “also plans future trips to New Hampshire, South
Carolina and Nevada. He told reporters earlier Wednesday that he plans to
make a final decision on whether he’ll run for president sometime before
March.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=018-7a1&t=c>
(1/30, Whitesides) reports that Brown “faces a vexing question: In a 2020
Democratic presidential race already crowded with some of the party’s
biggest progressive stars, is there room for his perpetually rumpled brand
of blue-collar populism? Brown, one of the US Senate’s staunchest liberals,
kicked off a tour of early primary states on Wednesday to try to find out.”
Supporters of Brown say his backing of “liberal social causes and his
proven appeal to blue-collar workers make him a uniting force in a party
debating whether to focus on winning back working class voters who
favored...Trump in 2016 or rally the suburban, women and minority voters
who fueled the party’s gains in last November’s congressional elections.”

*Brown Supports Harris Proposal To Abolish Private Health
Insurance. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=019-12b&t=c>
(1/30, Caralle) reported that Brown on Wednesday “said he backs a proposal
from Sen. Kamala Harris to abolish private health insurance. ‘I like
Kamala,’ Brown told MSNBC when asked if he would consider appearing on a
ticket alongside Harris in the 2020 elections. ‘I was amazed at somebody
called her un-American today for a proposal she had on health insurance.
... I stand with her on that, we have stood together on a number of issues,
and I think very highly of her.’”
WPost’s Will: Klobuchar May Be “Best Equipped” To Defeat Trump.

In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=01a-e54&t=c>
(1/30) column, George Will touts the likely White House bid of Sen. Amy
Klobuchar (D-MN), saying that she “is the person perhaps best equipped to”
defeat President Trump. Will says Klobuchar “is from the Midwest, where
Democrats need help in Michigan (Trump carried it by just 0.3 percent of
the vote), Iowa (Trump by nine percentage points) and Ohio (Trump by nine
points).” Hailing from a state with “a significant farming population and
agribusiness,” says Will, Klobuchar “has had practice speaking to
populations and interests that Democrats need.” Will also praises
Klobuchar’s “temperament,” saying she “laughs easily and often. If the
nation wants an angry president, it can pick from the many seething
Democratic aspirants, or it can keep the president it has,” or it can
choose Klobuchar.
Indictment Of Union Heavyweight Dougherty May Hurt Pennsylvania Democrats.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=01b-247&t=c>
(1/31, Otterbein) reports, “The indictment of one of Pennsylvania’s most
powerful behind-the-scenes political players is rattling Democrats in a
state that’s expected to be a key 2020 battleground.” The indictment of
“building trades leader John ‘Johnny Doc’ Dougherty – a Philadelphia labor
kingpin whose union is the single biggest independent source of campaign
funding in the state – threaten[s] to sap statehouse and congressional
Democrats of a mega-donor, slow the party’s momentum in the Philadelphia
suburbs, and sideline the man who orchestrated the Democratic takeover of
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.” The reach of Dougherty is so great “that
Republicans already think it could be a boon for President Donald Trump’s
election chances in 2020.” Dougherty “was charged with embezzlement,
bribery, and theft in a 116-count indictment that alleged he and others
stole more than $600,000 in union funds and repeatedly strong-armed public
and private officials.”
Leading the News
Trump Tells Intel Chiefs To “Go Back To School” After They Contradict Him.

A day after the nation’s top intelligence officials delivered their
assessment of global security threats to Congress, the President took to
Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=01c-9e1&t=c>
yesterday morning to write, “The Intelligence people seem to be extremely
passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!
When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East,
and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH
different, but....
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=01d-fe6&t=c>
a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last
week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now
crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran.
Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=01e-2fb&t=c>
(1/30, Jackson) reports that in “a tweet storm” earlier in the morning,
Trump “disputed the leaders of his intelligence services Wednesday with
respect to Iran, North Korea, the Islamic State, and other foreign policy
challenges.” He wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=01f-04a&t=c>,
“When I became President, ISIS was out of control in Syria & running
rampant. Since then tremendous progress made, especially over last 5 weeks.
Caliphate will soon be destroyed, unthinkable two years ago. Negotiating
are proceeding well in Afghanistan after 18 years of fighting....
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=020-cc8&t=c>
Fighting continues but the people of Afghanistan want peace in this never
ending war. We will soon see if talks will be successful? North Korea
relationship is best it has ever been with U.S. No testing, getting
remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of Denuclearization ....
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=021-100&t=c>
Time will tell what will happen with North Korea, but at the end of the
previous administration, relationship was horrendous and very bad things
were about to happen. Now a whole different story. I look forward to seeing
Kim Jong Un shortly. Progress being made-big difference!”

Media reports cast the President has “lashing out” at the
intelligence officials and note that this is not the first time he has
publicly disagreed with them. NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=022-599&t=c>
(1/30, story 4, 1:30, Holt) said that with “his own intelligence chiefs
publicly contradicting the President on his threat assessments on North
Korea and Iran, the President [is] lashing out, telling them to ‘go back to
school.’” NBC (Jackson) added, “Behind the scenes, multiple sources tell
NBC News intelligence officials felt frustrated by the President’s tweets
and debated a response, but in the end, decided that would be
counterproductive, so stayed silent.”

Kaitlan Collins said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=023-e9f&t=c>
(1/30), “We’re learning that the President singled out the Director of
National Intelligence, Dan Coats, specifically during his morning rant. ...
Now he didn’t name Dan Coats in those tweets, but according to two people
familiar with what the President said today, he was going after Dan Coats
specifically and was very angry about...Coats...saying it’s unlikely that
North Korea would ever give up its nuclear weapons.”

On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=024-d42&t=c>
(1/30, story 5, 2:20, Muir), Cecilia Vega said Trump “launched a blistering
attack on his own hand-picked intelligence leaders,” the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=025-6bc&t=c>
(1/30, Steinbuch) refers to “broadside,” while the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=026-e70&t=c>
(1/30, Muñoz) says he “slammed his own intelligence officials...a day after
they countered some of his claims in front of Congress.” To Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=027-265&t=c>
(1/30, Oprysko), Trump “lit into the US intelligence community” in what it
calls “a direct rebuttal of the public testimony his top intelligence
chiefs gave Tuesday.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=028-dd9&t=c>
(1/30, story 4, 2:25, Glor) said “Trump had harsh words for his
intelligence chiefs once again,” adding (Garrett) that he “has clashed with
the intelligence community before, questioning its conclusion that Russia
meddled in the 2016 election.” CBS added that Trump has “also publicly
disagreed with the CIA’s assessment that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince,
Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=029-c55&t=c>
(1/30, Harris) calls Trump’s tweets “his latest assault on the spies and
analysts who work for him but sometimes deliver facts that he doesn’t want
to hear.” In his “criticism” of the threat assessment, the Post says Trump
“seemed to ignore the many points where he and the intelligence agencies
agree.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=02a-e77&t=c>
(1/30, Sullivan) says the President’s tweets “reasserted his own
conclusions and trumpeted his accomplishments on critical national security
matters.” The Times cautions that the “divergent views of a president and
his intelligence agencies may diminish trust from the public and from
American allies about United States foreign policy goals.”

Mark Landler writes in a New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=02b-dd1&t=c>
(1/30) analysis that “normally, the ‘Worldwide Threat Assessment’ is an
annual bureaucratic exercise,” but Trump “treated the report...as a
scorecard on his foreign policy, and something close to an affront.” His
resulting “outburst,” Landler says, “laid bare” Trump’s “deep frustration
at what he believes is the lack of credit he has received for his efforts.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=02c-9f0&t=c>
(1/30, Chiacu, Zengerle) reports Trump’s comments “drew criticism from some
of his fellow Republicans in Congress.” Senate Majority Whip Thune said
Trump should have trusted the intelligence leaders’ judgment. Thune told
CNN, “I don’t know how many times you can say this but I prefer the
President would stay off Twitter – particularly with regard to those
important national security issues.” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) “defended
the intelligence agencies,” saying, “They are doing a very difficult job
and they are actually trying to advance the President’s priorities.”
Meanwhile, Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=02d-1b6&t=c>,
“The President has a dangerous habit of undermining the intelligence
community to fit his alternate reality. People risk their lives for the
intelligence he just tosses aside on Twitter.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=02e-f0c&t=c>
(1/30, Correll) reports “Trump’s jabs at the American intelligence
community drew backlash from top congressional Democrats,” including House
Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, who tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=02f-1cf&t=c>,
“It’s deeply dangerous that the White House isn’t listening.” NBC Nightly
News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=030-cfd&t=c>
(1/30, story 4, 1:30, Holt) said Schiff “warned rhetoric like the
President’s is downright dangerous.” Schiff said, “I’ve asked the
President, you’ve got the best intelligence agencies in the world, listen
to what they have to say. When you ignore them, you do that at our
country’s peril.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=031-ccc&t=c>
(1/30), “It is another deeply disconcerting suggestion that the President
is not accepting the professional briefings from the 17 different
intelligence agencies that make up our intelligence community. All of us
here in the Senate rely on their professional and independent advice. It is
very unusual for a President to disrespect them so publicly. I think that
frankly puts all of us at greater risk.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=032-2fe&t=c>
(1/30) the President’s comments were “devastating, because we are supposed
to follow the lead of what our national security officials tell us,
especially in Congress when we fund their priorities and to see the
President just undermine them. And also, they did not fall out of the sky
into those seats. They were appointed by a President who promised he would
only appoint the best. So this says more about the President’s failed
leadership than these individuals, but this is a call for us now, having
the majority in Congress, to fund where they see the risks are, not where
the President would rather fear-monger.”

A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=033-a00&t=c>
(1/30) editorial says “aside from Mr. Trump’s by-now familiar
prevarications, it is breathtaking to see him so at odds with the
intelligence community.” The Post argues that Coats and CIA Director Haspel
“deserve credit for not ducking the responsibility to brief Congress and
the nation forthrightly on the threats they see, even though they must have
known Mr. Trump was likely to disagree. They did leave one serious threat
off their list: that of a president mired in his own delusions who refuses
to hear the truth.”

*Schumer Calls For CIA To “Stage An Intervention” With Trump. *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=034-cfb&t=c>
(1/30, Tacopino) reports Senate Minority Leader Schumer on Wednesday night
“called for US intelligence chiefs to ‘stage an intervention’ with
President Trump just hours after the president called them ‘naive’ in a
tweet.” Schumer “delivered a missive” to Coats “that said Trump’s frequent
disregard for their research puts the country at risk.” According to the
Post, Schumer asked Coats – along with Haspel and FBI Director Wray – “set
up a meeting with Trump to give him a reality check.” Wrote Schumer, “You
cannot allow the President’s ill-advised and unwarranted comments today to
stand. He is putting you and your colleagues in an untenable position and
hurting the national interest in the process. You must find a way to make
that clear to him.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Congratulates Guaidó As Maduro Warns US Against Intervention.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=035-c1e&t=c>
that he congratulated Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó “on his historic assumption
of the presidency and reinforced strong United States support for
Venezuela’s fight to regain its democracy,” adding in a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=036-3c4&t=c>
that with “large protests” in the country “The fight for freedom has
begun!”

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=037-a38&t=c>
(1/30, story 6, 1:05, Holt) reported President Trump spoke with Guaidó “as
large protests against Maduro once again filled the streets.” NBC
(Mitchell) added, “US officials warning Maduro against any violence toward
Guaidó or Americans.” CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=038-e45&t=c>
(1/30) reported “the political crisis in Venezuela is opening up a rare
rift between President Trump and Vladimir Putin,” with Russia backing
Maduro.

Secretary of State Pompeo said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=039-814&t=c>
(1/30), “The President had a chance actually to speak with President Guaidó
today. The quest for freedom is on. The Venezuelan people have made very,
very clear that their constitution demands that Maduro not be the
President...and the United States is here to support the Venezuelan people
to achieve freedom and democracy. ... This is a once wealthy nation with
enormous natural resources and yet we have a humanitarian crisis. ... This
is a man made catastrophe by the Maduro regime and we’re intent about
helping the Venezuelan people correct it.”

Ian Pannell reported on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=03a-1a6&t=c>
(1/30, story 6, 1:50, Muir), “Thousands of Venezuelans, young and old,
leaving their homes and their jobs. Flooding the streets, demanding
change.” Meanwhile, “as thousands protests against him, Nicolás Maduro
again working to shore up a key base: the military.”

Steve Harrigan reported for Fox News Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=03b-507&t=c>
(1/30) that Guaidó “told Fox News that Trump’s support is critical.”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=03c-d4d&t=c>
(1/30, Wolfgang) reports that in a statement Guaidó “thanked President
Trump for the United States’ commitment to freedom and prosperity in
Venezuela and the region and noted the importance of the large protests
across Venezuela against former dictator Maduro, set to occur today and
Saturday.” Guaidó also “ramped up a pressure campaign to oust embattled
President Nicolás Maduro” and “coordinated a national ‘walkout’ on
Wednesday to protest the Maduro government.” The “smaller than initially
expected” demonstration “underscored the deep resentment that’s bubbled to
the surface across the country.”

Elizabeth Palmer reported for the CBS Evening News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=03d-fe9&t=c>
(1/30, story 7, 1:50, Glor) that Maduro responded to continued protests
calling for him to step down Wednesday “with a show of force.” Palmer
reported, “State TV broadcast pictures of him with his military,” and
“Maduro also had a specific warning for the United States,” saying that “a
military intervention in Venezuela...would turn into another Vietnam.”
Palmer added that while Maduro “did offer to sit down and talk,” Guaidó
“didn’t even bother to respond.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=03e-889&t=c>
(1/30, Herrero, Ramzy) reports Maduro, in a video posted on his social
media accounts, warned, “If the United States intends to intervene here,
they will have a Vietnam worse than what they can imagine.” However, in an
interview to Russia’s RIA news agency, Maduro said, “I am ready to sit down
at the negotiating table with the opposition” and named “Mexico, Uruguay,
Bolivia and Russia among possible mediators.” President Trump responded to
the offer by tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=03f-137&t=c>
a suggestion “that the Venezuelan leader had acted in response to American
sanctions.” Meanwhile, Guaidó “took part in protests on Wednesday at the
Central University of Venezuela in Caracas,” one of “a handful” of protests
“in the city on Wednesday, though on a smaller scale than some recent
demonstrations.”

Similarly, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=040-7d3&t=c>
(1/30, Sheridan) reports, “The anti-Maduro protests Wednesday were far
smaller than the massive outpouring over the weekend, and the government
repression in recent days may have discouraged a broader attendance.”
Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s newly appointed envoy for Venezuela,
said that senior Venezuelan military officials “are actually quite nervous
about the mood” in the country.

*Bolton Warns Against Trading In Venezuelan Gold, Other
Commodities. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=041-94b&t=c>
(1/30, Castro, Mason) reports National Security Adviser Bolton tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=042-6c2&t=c>
that traders “should not deal in gold, oil or other commodities ‘being
stolen’ from the Venezuelan people,” Meanwhile, a Russian Boeing 777
arriving in Caracas “on Monday led to speculation that Maduro’s government
was preparing to ship more gold reserves out of the country.” However, a
source with knowledge of the movements “said that despite the rumors, gold
was not due to leave on” it or another Russian planes that landed in the
country.

*Guaidó Calls For Venezuelans To “Recover Our Freedom.” *Guaidó, in
an op-ed in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=043-10a&t=c>
(1/30), compares Maduro to dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, writing, “once
again we face the challenge of restoring our democracy and rebuilding the
country.” Guaidó calls for Venezuelans to “recover our freedom.” He also
acknowledges that dealing with Maduro “will require support from key
military contingents,” Guaidó concludes, “In order to manage his exit with
the minimum of bloodshed, all of Venezuela must unite in pushing for a
definitive end to his regime.”

*Maduro Turning To Special Police Unit As Enforcer Against
Protesters. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=044-55e&t=c>
(1/30, Herrero, Casey) reports that, “Facing the biggest challenge to his
authoritarian rule yet,” Maduro “hit back hard, sending out security forces
to crush dissent in deadly operations that have alarmed even some of the
president’s traditional supporters.” Conducting these raids “in the poor
neighborhoods that once supported him but have turned against him” is a
relatively new national police unit, the Special Actions Force (FAES),
which killed most of the at least 40 people who died in the latest round of
protests. The use of FAES for the crackdown instead of the national guard
is “a potential sign of the strained loyalties inside the military.” Former
military general Cliver Alcalá, who broke ranks with Mr. Maduro, said the
government has, in the Times’ words, “lost trust in many members of the
armed forces.”

*WPost Analysis: Citgo Enmeshed In “Economic Tug Of War” Over
Venezuela. *In analysis, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=045-d00&t=c>
(1/30, Mufson) reports President Trump put Citgo “squarely in the center of
an economic tug of war over the future of Venezuela.” It has remained a
healthy enterprise despite Venezuela’s “disastrous economic policies.” Now
the Administration’s has ordered “the company to divert its payments for
Venezuelan crude into a blocked bank account in the United States” that the
State Department said Guaidó can draw funds from. Previously, “Citgo was
able to make the case that action against the company would hurt U.S.
consumers and Citgo workers,” but the President’s “policy toward Venezuela
has differed from his ‘America First’ posture in most of the world.” Now
Citgo will have to find new suppliers, and “the Venezuelan government will
probably seek out different places” to refine its oil. However, “those
more-remote countries probably cannot buy and refine as much Venezuelan
crude as Citgo does, or they might drive tougher bargains.”

*WSJournal A1: Administration Targeting Venezuela, Cuba In Bid For
More Influence In Latin America. *In a front-page article, the Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=046-adc&t=c>
(1/30, Donati, Salama, Talley) reports that Administration officials say
the US moves against Maduro are part of a new strategy to increase US
influence over Latin America and counter recent inroads in the region by
Russia, China, and Iran. The Administration is seeking to change the
regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and then target Nicaragua. New measures against
Cuba are expected in coming weeks with a goal of prevent Havana from
bolstering Maduro. Steps may include restoring Cuba’s designation as a
state sponsor of terrorism, new sanctions, and ending a waiver that
prevents US citizens from suing individuals and companies in US courts for
property seized by the Cuban government. However, the strategy has
significant risks. The US could be tied to any negative outcomes in
Venezuela, and failure would give Cuba and Venezuela a victory against the
more powerful US, as well as possibly benefit China, Russian, and Iran.

*NYTimes Analysis: Russia Won’t Intervene In Venezuela. *In an
analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=047-19e&t=c>
(1/30, Macfarquhar) reports that while Russian President Vladimir Putin
“has long made the buttressing of beleaguered despots a pillar of his
foreign policy...to drive home the point that outside powers should not
dabble in other countries’ internal affairs,” with Syria the most
successful example, such intervention is unlikely in Venezuela. Unlike
Syria, the country is an ocean away from Russia, “there is no allied
regional power like Iran that Moscow can rely on to do the dirty work on
the ground,” and – due to its poor economy – Russia lacks both the means
and democratic support for “another costly overseas adventure.” Instead,
the Kremlin’s course “seems to be that it will mostly fulminate from the
sidelines and as in every other foreign or domestic crisis, splatter blame
on the United States.”

*Trump Venezuela Policy May Help GOP Gains Among Florida Hispanics.
*Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=048-11d&t=c>
(1/30, Caputo) reports that with Vice President Pence and top Florida
Republicans holding a rally Friday in Miami to support Guaidó “and
highlight the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to the ongoing
political crisis” in Venezuela, the GOP has “an opportunity to open a door
with Hispanic voters in a state that’s critical to the president’s
reelection.” Between the situation in Venezuela and the “ongoing strife in
Nicaragua,” the GOP sees “a window to send a hardcore anti-socialist
message” that some believe gained enough Hispanic support to hand it
victories in Florida’s gubernatorial and US Senate races during the midterm
elections. Additionally, “some Florida Democrats fret that Trump could
politically benefit both from the policy and from the critical reaction to
it by a few national members of their party.”
White House Downplays Trump’s Meeting With Putin Without Translator,
Note-Taker.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=049-794&t=c>
(1/30, story 5, 2:20, Muir) said the Financial Times is reporting on
private conversation between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir
Putin. On CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=04a-146&t=c>
(1/30), Kaitlan Collins said the Financial Times “claims Trump came
face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the
G20 summit in November, chatting privately for 15 minutes with no US
translator or note-taker present.” The White House says “Trump merely
reiterated to Putin why he canceled their formal meeting at the summit due
to tensions between Russia and Ukraine.” Likewise, Fox News Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=04b-8e6&t=c>
(1/30) reported White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders “downplayed that
meeting, saying it is typical at multilateral events to have informal
conversations with world leaders.”

On CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=04c-69a&t=c>
(1/30), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said, “There’s no good answer for why the
President of the United States would seek a private meeting and conceal it
from his own intelligence leaders, from his own national security leaders
by not having a note taker or translator.”

Former National Security Agency attorney Susan Hennessey said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=04d-2e7&t=c>
(1/30), “It is incredibly suspicious. It is hard to describe it any other
way. Ordinarily in these meetings, you have American staff there not just
to take notes and brief other people and ensure that the Administration is
coordinated and cohesive but actually to protect the President himself to
ensure that a foreign adversary isn’t going to manipulate that meeting, get
him to make commitments that he doesn’t understand that he is making, or
frankly lie about it after the fact. All of those concerns are especially
heightened whenever it comes to Vladimir Putin.”

*NATO, Republican Lawmakers Back US Withdrawal From INF Treaty. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=04e-5bb&t=c>
(1/30, Taylor, Meier) reports that “fears of a renewed nuclear arms race
with Russia have spiked this week as the Trump administration approaches a
Saturday deadline to begin officially pulling America out” of the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. While the treaty’s “impending
collapse has alarmed arms control advocates around the world,” the
Administration’s arguments “have won major support, including from NATO and
from key Republicans on Capitol Hill.” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said,
“The accord is being violated by Russia. There is no reason for the United
States to handcuff ourselves as Russia advances their weapons system at
will.” Senate Armed Forces Chairman James Inhofe said, “It’s been 60 days
since President Trump told Vladimir Putin to stop violating the INF Treaty,
but Russia hasn’t taken any meaningful steps to come into compliance. It’s
time to formally withdraw.”
US, China Revive Trade Talks One Month Ahead Of Tariff Deadline.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=04f-5ea&t=c>
(1/30, Lawder, Mason) reports the US and China on Wednesday “opened a
pivotal round of high-level talks...aimed at bridging deep differences over
China’s intellectual property and technology transfer practices and easing
a months-long tariff war.” With only a month until “a March 2 US deadline
to increase tariffs on Chinese goods,” Cabinet-level officials, “led by
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He” and USTR Lighthizer, “met in the Eisenhower
Executive Office Building next to the White House.” However, Reuters says
“details of the closed-door talks were scant, with official statements seen
as unlikely before they conclude on Thursday.”

While Fox News Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=050-21d&t=c>
(1/30) reported White House officials “were optimistic the meeting would
finally yield progress on making much-needed changes to the trade
relationship,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=051-c84&t=c>
(1/30, Wiseman, Rugaber) says “the odds seem stacked against any
substantive resolution this week to the standoff between the world’s two
biggest economies. Perhaps the best that might be hoped for, analysts say,
is for the two sides to agree to keep talking.”

*China Steps Up Plans For New Foreign Investment Law. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=052-548&t=c>
(1/30, Lynch) reports China has stepped up plans “to introduce a new
foreign investment law that will tackle some of the key sources of friction
with the United States by banning forced technology transfers and better
protecting intellectual property rights.” the move came hours before talks
began in Washington on Wednesday. The Post says “China’s rubber-stamp
parliament will vote on the new foreign investment law, which will replace
three existing laws, during a session scheduled to open on March 5, the
official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. It is sure to be approved.”

*China Seeks To Transform Rural Central Asian Villages Into Core
Parts Of Belt And Road Planning. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=053-d13&t=c>
(1/30, Mauk) published a 7,700-word report on China’s new planning to
develop its impoverished Central Asian border villages into important cogs
for the Belt and Road Initiative. One highlighted area is the village of
Khorgos, a Chinese border village with Kazakhstan, which China plans to
transform into “an international shipping hub and free-trade zone that its
promoters say is poised to become the next Dubai.”
Pompeo: Trump To Make “Significant Announcement” About ISIS During SOTU.

Secretary of State Pompeo said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019013101biden&r=email-6b80&l=054-ce8&t=c>
(1/30), “The President will make a significant announcement...in the State
of the Union...with respect to the status of the caliphate, the real
estate, the grounds from which ISIS had been operating in Syria when this
Administration came in. ... We also know that in spite of the enormous
progress we’ve made and the success that we’ve had, that the threat from
radical Islamic terrorism is real and we need to continue to do all that we
can to make sure that there is not a resurgence of ISIS or that all the
other variants of that terror regime continue to be under pressure. ...
President Trump has made clear it is a priority for him. And as the
Secretary of State, I can promise the American people we will continue to
do all that we can to keep them safe from this threat.”
Taliban Claim They Are Prepared To Share Power.

The AP
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(1/30, Gannon) reports that Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the group
is “not seeking a ‘monopoly on power’ in a future administration in
Afghanistan but are looking for ways to co-exist with Afghan institutions.”
The AP says it was “the most conciliatory statement to date from the
militants,” who “control almost half the country and carry out near-daily
attacks mainly targeting Afghan security forces.” The AP says there are
currently “intensified U.S.-led talks to resolve the long-running
Afghanistan war,” and US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said earlier this week that
there are “‘agreements in principle’ toward a framework for peace with the
Taliban.”

*Ghani Proposes Increased Afghan Financial Support For US Troops. *The
New York Times
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(1/30, Mashal) reports that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani “sent a letter on
Tuesday to President Trump offering him reduced costs for keeping United
States troops in the country” after “the most serious negotiations between
American diplomats and Taliban representatives ended.” Ghani fears the
outcome of the negotiations and the Times warns that the US military
withdrawal “could unravel the fragile Afghan state and lead to a
renaissance in power by the Taliban.”

*Dobbins: Afghan Peace Talks Must Not Be Rushed. *In a Wall Street
Journal
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(1/30) op-ed, Senior Rand Fellow James Dobbins criticizes the Trump
Administration’s proposal to support US military withdrawal if the Taliban
acknowledges the Ghani Administration as a legitimate negotiating partner
because peace negotiations do not guarantee peace. Dobbins writes that the
post-Cold War period led to many peace negotiations, but there are few
instances of actual peace settlements. Dobbins calls on the President to
ensure that the negotiations are fruitful before authorizing the
withdrawal.
Pompeo Says Team Heading To Asia To Prepare For Trump-Kim Summit.

The AP
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(1/31) reports Secretary of State Pompeo said Wednesday that he is sending
a team “someplace in Asia” to prepare for a second summit between President
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by the end of February. Pompeo
told Fox News that his team is “headed that way now to lay the foundations”
for steps toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as well as “a
brighter future for the North Korean people.”

Pompeo said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
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(1/30), “I think we’ll have a summit at the end of the month. ... We’ll do
it some place in Asia. ... I am dispatching a team there. They are headed
that way now to lay the foundations for what I hope will be a substantial
additional step toward the path for not only denuclearization of the
peninsula, but a brighter future for the North Korean people and security
on the peninsula in a way no previous Administration has been able to
achieve. I think it took President Trump to convince Chairman Kim. After
all the commitments he made this past June in Singapore, now it’s time for
my team and all of the United States government to work with the North
Koreans to execute that and to deliver on our commitment to denuclearize
that peninsula.”

*CNN Analysis: Putin Seeking To Insert Himself Into Talks. *Brian
Todd reported for CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
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(1/30) that there have been reports “of meetings in Moscow between North
Korean and Russian diplomats, and a possible summit between Vladimir Putin
and Kim.” Todd reported, “It seems tonight the former KGB colonel in the
Kremlin is trying to muscle his way into the diplomatic process between Kim
and President Trump.” Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported
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Putin’s government secretly offered to build a nuclear power plant for
North Korea if Kim’s regime agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons and
ballistic missiles. However, Todd added that “neither the White House, the
State Department, nor the CIA are commenting on the Post report.”

*Reports: Former North Korean Diplomat Sent To “Re-Education” Camp.
*The Washington Times
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(1/30, Taylor) reports that a former top North Korean diplomat “has been
fired and sent away to a remote ‘re-education camp,’ according to South
Korean media reports.” Former Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol “has been
absent from North Korean state media announcements since a trip he made to
Sweden in February last year, the reports on Wednesday said.” South Korea’s
Yonhap News Agency “reported that it is believed Mr. Han was replaced by
current Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who has taken a lead, albeit
behind-the-scenes role in diplomacy” between Kim and the Trump
Administration. A “source close to the administration said this week that
Mr. Kim appears to have purged several former high-level officials who have
accused him of ‘being played’ by Washington during denuclearization talks.”
Rouhani: Iran Faces Worst Economic Challenge In 40 Years.

The New York Times
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(1/30, Erdbrink) reports Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday
that the nation, “squeezed by punishing American sanctions, is confronting
its most severe economic challenge in 40 years.” Rouhani, however, said the
Iranian government “should not be blamed” for the crisis, citing renewed US
sanctions. In an nationally televised address, Rouhani said, “Today our
problems are primarily because of pressure from America and its followers.
And the dutiful government and Islamic system should not be blamed.” On
Twitter
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Wednesday, President Trump said Iran’s “economy is now crashing,” arguing
that the hardship “is the only thing holding” the country back from
expanding its meddling in the region.
Domestic Policy
Trump Says Border Security Proposal Without “Wall Or Physical Barrier”
Would Be Waste Of Time.

President Trump tweeted
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at 6:49 a.m. Wednesday, “If the committee of Republicans and Democrats now
meeting on Border Security is not discussing or contemplating a Wall or
Physical Barrier, they are Wasting their time!” The Los Angeles Times
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(1/30, Wagner) reports the President’s message “came hours before a
bipartisan, bicameral committee was set to meet for the first time in an
attempt to broker a compromise over border security funding and avert
another shutdown.”

Politico
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(1/30, Oprysko) reports Trump “has signaled that he is prepared to shut
down the government again if the bipartisan committee fails to craft a deal
that satisfies his border security demands.” CQ Roll Call
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