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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Monday, August 20, 2018 7:54 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
August 20, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=001-a62&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, August 20, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Biden Cancels Fundraiser Appearance On Doctor’s Orders, Organizer Says.
<#S1>

• Biden Backs Contreras’ Bid For Arizona Attorney General. <#S2>

• Washington Examiner: Biden 10 For 10 In Primary Endorsements This Year.
<#S3>

• Avenatti Says His Youth Compared To Other 2020 Hopefuls Would Be
Advantage. <#S4>

• Hoover Institute Fellow Sees Parallels Between Biden 2020, Muskie In 1972.
<#S5>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Slams NYTimes’ McGahn Story, Calls Russia Probe “McCarthyism At Its
Worst.” <#S6>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Bolton: North Korea Needs To “Demonstrate” Denuclearization Seriousness.
<#S7>

• Bolton To Meet With Russian Counterpart In Geneva. <#S8>

• Bolton, Netanyahu Discuss Iran, Syria. <#S9>

• Iranian Officials Vow To Bypass Re-Imposed US Sanctions. <#S10>

• US Welcomes Afghan Government’s Ceasefire Offer To Taliban. <#S11>

• Gunshots Fired At US Embassy In Ankara. <#S12>

• WPost: Effort To Silence ISIS On Web Falls Short. <#S13>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Clapper, Mullen Express Concerns About Brennan’s Rhetoric. <#S14>

• Trump To Announce Plan To Reduce Regulations For Coal-Burning Power
Plants. <#S15>

• ICE: Man Detained Taking Pregnant Wife To Hospital Wanted For Homicide In
Mexico. <#S16>

• Mulvaney Dismisses Possibility Of Government Shutdown. <#S17>

• Mulvaney Says Military Parade Not Canceled “Purely For Fiscal Reasons.”
<#S18>

• Trump Expected To Nominate Clarke, McKenzie, Wolters To Top Military
Posts. <#S19>

• Omarosa Says Trump “Wants To Start A Race War.” <#S20>

• CBS/YouGov Poll: Democrats Hold “Slight Edge” In Fight For House Majority.
<#S21>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• FDA Approves Lenvatinib For Liver Cancer Treatment. <#S22>

• FDA Approves Nivolumab For Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment. <#S23>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S24>

• Washington Post. <#S25>
Biden in the News
Biden Cancels Fundraiser Appearance On Doctor’s Orders, Organizer Says.

The Boston Globe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=002-c8b&t=c>
(8/17, Andersen) reported that former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday
“canceled a scheduled appearance at a...fund-raiser on Martha’s Vineyard
for a political action committee working to boost African-American turnout
at the polls, because his doctor told him not to travel, an official with”
the PAC, Protecting Our Vote, said. The official added that Biden “plans to
reschedule his appearance and looks ‘forward to getting back on the trail
and talking about the importance of the African-American vote in the
upcoming general election.’” The Globe added, “Any health issues for Biden,
75, would be significant, since his name has been floated as potential
candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.”
Biden Backs Contreras’ Bid For Arizona Attorney General.

The Arizona Republic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=003-1fd&t=c>
(8/20, Polletta) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden endorsed
ex-Obama Administration official January Contreras’ (D) bid to oust state
Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) in November’s election, In a statement,
Biden said of Contreras, who is bidding to become Arizona’s “first Latina”
state AG, “January worked alongside my team and I when she served on the
White House Council on Women and Girls, and led efforts to combat violence
against women in the Obama-Biden Administration. I support January because
she’s exactly the type of tough and dedicated public servant who will put
Arizona’s families first.”
Washington Examiner: Biden 10 For 10 In Primary Endorsements This Year.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=004-19b&t=c>
(8/18, Jashinsky) reported, “The power struggle between progressive
insurgents and the Democratic Party’s establishment rages on, but the
establishment seems to be holding its ground in 2018, according to a new
analysis” from FiveThirtyEight, which said, “Candidates who are on the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue list or endorsed
by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had a win rate of 95
percent (37 wins out of 39 endorsements). In races where a party-endorsed
candidate ran against a progressive-group-endorsed candidate (excluding any
races where a candidate was endorsed by both sides), the party-endorsed
candidate won 89 percent of the time.” The Examiner added, “The individual
endorser with the highest success rate was Joe Biden – 10 of the 10
candidates he endorsed won their primaries.”
Avenatti Says His Youth Compared To Other 2020 Hopefuls Would Be Advantage.

Writing for the Tampa Bay (FL) Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=005-65e&t=c>
(8/19), Adam Smith said that Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti on
Saturday spoke at “the Hillsborough Democrats’ King-Kennedy gala dinner” in
Tampa as he considers a 2020 run for president. With a raft of high-profile
Democrats weighing 2020 bids, including former vice President Joe Biden,
Smith asked Avenatti how he could “compete with someone with the stature of
Biden?” Avenatti replied, “Whoever the nominee is is going to have to speak
to that younger generation. When I look at the landscape of the various
candidates that might enter the race, I would be the youngest or certainly
one of the youngest. I might also note that since 1960 there have been five
Democrats elected to the office of the presidency – three of whom were
under the age of 50 by the time they were elected.”
Hoover Institute Fellow Sees Parallels Between Biden 2020, Muskie In 1972.

In a piece for Forbes
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=006-761&t=c>
(8/19), Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen said that the late
Maine Sen. Edmund Muskie’s 1972 White House run could serve as a cautionary
tale for former Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a 2020
presidential bid. Whalen said Muskie, like Biden, was seen as the early
frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, and “like Muskie, he could be”
done in by a pair of “concern[s]: a looming big field (15 Democrats ran in
1972) and a restless hard-left segment of the Democratic Party that may
want to hijack the nomination as the ultimate protest vote.” Whalen added,
“There is such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time (just
ask any of the 16 Republicans who competed against Donald Trump in 2016).
And that might the biggest takeaway for Biden.”
Leading the News
Trump Slams NYTimes’ McGahn Story, Calls Russia Probe “McCarthyism At Its
Worst.”

Media analyses largely discounted the assessments of the Sunday New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=007-285&t=c>
on White House Counsel Don McGahn story coming from President Trump and his
team, and instead treated it as potentially portending trouble ahead for
Trump. Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=008-8cf&t=c>
yesterday, “The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that
because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the
Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type ‘RAT.’ But I allowed him and
all others to testify – I didn’t have to. I have nothing to hide...[continuing
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=009-849&t=c>]...and
have demanded transparency so that this Rigged and Disgusting Witch Hunt
can come to a close. So many lives have been ruined over nothing –
McCarthyism at its WORST! Yet Mueller & his gang of Dems refuse to look at
the real crimes on the other side – Media is even worse! [continuing tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=00a-776&t=c>]
No Collusion and No Obstruction, except by Crooked Hillary and the
Democrats. All of the resignations and corruption, yet heavily conflicted
Bob Mueller refuses to even look in that direction. What about the Brennan,
Comey, McCabe, Strzok lies to Congress, or Crooked’s Emails!”

Trump also tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=00b-b95&t=c>,
“The Failing New York Times wrote a story that made it seem like the White
House Councel had TURNED on the President, when in fact it is just the
opposite – & the two Fake reporters knew this. This is why the Fake News
Media has become the Enemy of the People. So bad for America!” The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=00c-f63&t=c>
(8/19, Richardson) notes that on Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=00d-403&t=c>
Saturday night, Rudy Giuliani also dismissed the significance of the New
York Times story, saying, “I think the best analysis would be that the
Mueller team is panicking, they know they don’t have a case, there was no
collusion, there was no obstruction, they can’t prove it, and they are
trying to get the president to testify.”

Likewise, says the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=00e-28f&t=c>
(8/19, Scarborough) in a separate story, “Trump’s former attorney
says...McGahn didn’t implicate the president in any wrongdoing when he sat
down for extensive interviews with the special counsel Robert Mueller’s
team.” Said John Dowd, “McGahn was a terrific witness for the president.”
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=00f-679&t=c>
(8/18, Staff) reports that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders “also
played down the idea that there was any tension between Trump and McGahn.”
Said Sanders, “The President and Don have a great relationship. ... He
appreciates all the hard work he’s done, particularly his help and
expertise with the judges, and the Supreme Court nominees.”

All three major network newscasts led with the story, and sounded a
decidedly skeptical note on Trump’s explanations. To the CBS Weekend
News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=010-781&t=c>
(8/19, lead story, 2:20), for example, “Trump appeared on the defensive all
morning,” and ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=011-e5d&t=c>
(8/19, lead story, 3:20, Llamas) referred to a “bombshell report” that
“confirms...McGahn has cooperated extensively with the special counsel,”
though “the President insists he allowed McGahn to do so.” NBC Nightly
News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=012-856&t=c>
(8/19, lead story, 2:40, O'Donnell), meanwhile, said “the reality is, they
do not know what...McGahn told investigators and cannot know if his
cooperation helps or hurts the President.”

Along those lines, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=013-6e2&t=c>
(8/19, Haberman, Schmidt) reports that “Trump’s lawyers do not know just
how much” McGahn “told the special counsel’s investigators during months of
interviews, a lapse that has contributed to a growing recognition that an
early strategy of full cooperation with the inquiry was a potentially
damaging mistake.” The Times goes on to refer to “concern among Mr. Trump’s
advisers that Mr. McGahn’s statements could help serve as a key component
for a damning report by” Mueller, “which the Justice Department could send
to Congress, according to two people familiar with the discussions.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=014-786&t=c>
(8/19, Cornwell, Wolfe) similarly says McGahn’s “lengthy testimony...could
be crucial in determining whether the president acted with an improper, or
‘corrupt,’ intent,” and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=015-6e1&t=c>
(8/18, Johnson, Hayes) that “McGahn, who had incredible access to...Trump
and some of his most controversial dealings, opened up” to Mueller “in a
series of extensive interviews.” USA Today adds that “McGahn’s cooperation
with Mueller was extraordinary and curious as the investigation includes
possible obstruction of justice by the president and could have been
protected in part by executive privilege.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=016-cc3&t=c>
(8/19, Karni, Samuelsohn) reports, meanwhile, that “former administration
officials said it’s unlikely that McGahn would still be serving in his top
position in the administration if he had actually shared incriminating
information,” but the “revelation that McGahn has spoken to Mueller’s team
for more than 30 hours over the past nine months has lawyers baffled.”

Julie Pace of the AP said on CNN’s Inside Politics[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=017-d67&t=c>
(8/19), “I think it’s true the original team of White House lawyers told
everyone to cooperate. There is a lot of second guessing with his new team
that Trump has about that strategy, in part because we don’t know what
happened in a lot of these conversations. It’s a small group of people that
was in the room; in some cases it was just Trump and James Comey. It is
Trump’s word against one other person, and we know his pattern of trying to
change the facts, trying to tell different versions of the story, so I
think you can tell from these tweets this morning and the statements
yesterday there is a lot of concern about the fact McGahn is cooperating so
extensively.”

Toluse Olorunnipa of Bloomberg News said on CNN’s Inside
Politics[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=018-930&t=c>
(8/19), “If the President committed obstruction of justice, the person who
might know better than anyone else would be his White House counsel, who
was a party to all the major decisions that the President made when he was
considering to fire James Comey, when he was considering whether he was
going to fire Jeff Sessions or the fire the special counsel himself. So the
fact that Don McGahn is spending 30 hours speaking to Bob Mueller, it means
Mueller knows exactly what’s happening inside the Oval Office. He has a
better view what has happened and what the President was thinking when he
made those decisions than anyone. And if there is an obstruction case, Don
McGahn may have handed it to the special counsel on a silver platter.”

Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro said on Fox News’
MediaBuzz[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=019-68b&t=c>
(8/19), “We don’t know, obviously, what McGahn actually had to say. The
truth is that any charges of obstruction would have to be so narrowly
drawn. It’s very difficult to prove obstruction against the President of
the United States when he hasn’t actually fired Robert Mueller, when there
has actually been no allegation that he has actually stopped the
investigation from moving forward in any particular direction. ... If Trump
were to then go around and fire McGahn or if he were to fire Mueller then
that changes the story dramatically. Otherwise, it just looks like another
member of the Trump Administration who has spoken with investigators.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=01a-74d&t=c>
(8/19, Nakamura) says “Trump reacted angrily” the NYTimes story, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=01b-ba7&t=c>
(8/19, Colvin) refers to “a series of angry tweets,” and the Los Angeles
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=01c-a52&t=c>
(8/19, King) to a “new outburst” by Trump. The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=01d-1fc&t=c>
(8/19, Cochrane) says, meanwhile, that “it was the first time the president
has equated the investigation to McCarthyism on Twitter,” but “he had drawn
an analogy to the communist witch hunt once before – when he falsely
claimed that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower.”
The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=01e-f51&t=c>
(8/19, Moore), Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=01f-907&t=c>
(8/19, Hook, Ballhaus) and Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=020-451&t=c>
(8/18, Riley), among other news outlets, run similar stories this morning.

On CNN’s State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=021-1d8&t=c>
(8/19, Tapper), former CIA Director Michael Hayden was asked about Trump’s
tweet comparing Mueller to former Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Hayden said, “Joe
McCarthy was a demagogue, and we haven’t heard a public syllable from Bob
Mueller in more than a year. And I’ve got to add that McCarthy’s lawyer,
Roy Cohn, became Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and mentor for decades. I
mean the irony here, just amazing.”

On ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=022-6b9&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Trump
made a mistake by not initially invoking executive or attorney-client
privilege at the beginning of Mueller’s investigation. Christie said, “This
shows what a c-level legal team the President had at the beginning in Ty
Cobb and John Dowd. You never waive that, absolutely not, and it put Don
McGahn in an impossible situation. Once you waive that privilege and turn
over those documents, Don McGahn has no choice but to go in and answer
everything, every question they can ask him. This is not in the President’s
interest. It wasn’t in the President’s interest. If he had gotten good
legal advice at the time he would have done something a little less. It’s
bad legal advice, bad lawyering and this is the result of it.”

On CNN’s State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=023-bc2&t=c>
(8/19, Tapper), former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco said it was no
surprise that McGahn would be cooperating with Mueller. Monaco said, “As a
current government employee, he doesn’t have a whole lot of choice about
talking and sitting for an interview with Bob Mueller and his team. What
was remarkable about that report is just how extensive the discussions
seemed to be and how little limits were placed on the questions he asked
and answered. And the other thing I think was very remarkable was how
little the President seems to understand that the White House counsel is
the lawyer for the office of the presidency, the institution of the
presidency, not his personal lawyer.”

*In Tweets Today, Trump Continues To Rail Against Mueller, “Angry
Democrat Thugs.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=024-048&t=c>
this morning, “Disgraced and discredited Bob Mueller and his whole group of
Angry Democrat Thugs spent over 30 hours with the White House Councel, only
with my approval, for purposes of transparency. Anybody needing that much
time when they know there is no Russian Collusion is just
someone....[continuing
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=025-583&t=c>]....looking
for trouble. They are enjoying ruining people’s lives and REFUSE to look at
the real corruption on the Democrat side – the lies, the firings, the
deleted Emails and soooo much more! Mueller’s Angry Dems are looking to
impact the election. They are a National Disgrace!” Trump added in a third
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=026-5d1&t=c>,
“Where’s the Collusion? They made up a phony crime called Collusion, and
when there was no Collusion they say there was Obstruction (of a phony
crime that never existed). If you FIGHT BACK or say anything bad about the
Rigged Witch Hunt, they scream Obstruction!”

*Trump Says Members Of Media Called To “Apologize” For “Fake Story”
In NYTimes. *In another tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=027-29f&t=c>,
Trump wrote, “Some members of the media are very Angry at the Fake Story in
the New York Times. They actually called to complain and apologize – a big
step forward. From the day I announced, the Times has been Fake News, and
with their disgusting new Board Member, it will only get worse!”

*Giuliani: “Desperate” Mueller Illegally Leaked McGahn Story. *On NBC’s
Meet The Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=028-497&t=c>
(8/19, Todd), Giuliani discussed the Times report on McGahn’s cooperation
with Mueller’s investigation. Giuliani said, “I believe this is a desperate
special counsel who leaked this to the New York Times, illegally I might
add. … The only other one that could have done it was McGahn. I didn’t leak
it to the Times. Jay Sekulow didn’t leak it to the Times. The President
sure as heck didn’t. Who could it be? … They are down to desperation time.
They have to write a report, and they don’t have a single bit of evidence.”

*Giuliani Says “Truth Isn’t Truth,” Notes Comey, Trump At Odds Over
What Was Said. *Media reports are boiling down Giuliani’s attempt to
explain his concerns about allowing his client to be questioned by Mueller
to a striking statement (“Truth isn’t truth”) – which some media reports
cast as emblematic of the Trump team’s approach to facts. On ABC World News
Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=029-75f&t=c>
(8/19, lead story, 3:20, Llamas), Tara Palmeri prefaced footage of Trump’s
statement reporting that “Trump’s lead attorney” was out “with a new and
stunning reason why he’s advising the President not to testify in the
Russia investigation.” Giuliani’s comments, added ABC, “are taking on a
life of their own.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=02a-278&t=c>
(8/19, lead story, 2:40, O'Donnell) told its viewers, meanwhile, that “in
the Trump universe...cooperation stirred confrontation,” then showed
Giuliani’s remark. On NBC’s Meet The Press[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=02b-9cb&t=c>
(8/19, Todd), Giuliani said he was loath to have Trump meet with Mueller
because of concerns of a perjury trap. Giuliani said, “When you tell me
that, you know, he should testify because he is going to tell the truth and
he shouldn’t worry, that’s silly because it’s somebody’s version of the
truth. Not the ‘truth.’” When host Chuck Todd interjected, “Truth is
truth,” Giuliani responded, “No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=02c-118&t=c>
(8/19, Schouten) notes Todd replied, “Mr. Mayor, do you realize...this is
going to become a bad meme.” But as an example of what he meant, Giuliani
“said the president and former FBI director James Comey have sharply
conflicting accounts about fired White House National Security Adviser Mike
Flynn.” Giuliani “has said the president never had a conversation with
Comey about ending the FBI’s investigation into Flynn,” and “contradicts a
memo Comey wrote at the time, in which he said Trump asked him to let go of
the Flynn matter.” Said Giuliani Sunday, “Donald Trump says, ‘I didn’t talk
about Flynn with Comey.’ ... Comey says, ‘You did talk about it,’ so tell
me what the truth is.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=02d-13c&t=c>
(8/19, Samuels) quotes Giuliani as adding, “We have a credibility gap
between the two of them. ... You’ve got to select one or the other.” The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=02e-b77&t=c>
(8/19, Moore) indicates that Flynn “stepped down the month before when news
reports revealed he had contact with a Russian ambassador during the
campaign but did not inform the White House.” He “pleaded guilty to lying
to the FBI and is cooperating with Mueller’s probe.”

Painting the picture of a Trump team at odds with the truth,
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=02f-641&t=c>
(8/19, Morin, Cohen) reports that “last week on CNN,” Giuliani “rejected
Chris Cuomo’s assertion that ‘facts are not in the eye of the beholder,’”
saying, “Yes, they are. ... Nowadays they are.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=030-a3a&t=c>
(8/19, Viebeck) also reports “the former New York City mayor has previously
questioned the objectivity of the investigators in the Russia probe.” For
example, Giuliani told the Post in May that the “truth is relative.”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=031-2cd&t=c>
(8/19, Press) says, meanwhile, that “Trump and his aides have been
criticized for spreading lies and disinformation,” and that “White House
counselor Kellyanne Conway famously referred to it as ‘alternate facts.’”

*GOP Lawmakers Want To Know If Yates Enabled Ohr. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=032-a49&t=c>
(8/19, Chaitin) reports that former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is
set to be the next Obama Administration DOJ official to be examined by GOP
lawmakers looking into “evidence of a biased campaign by the DOJ and FBI to
undermine President Trump’s 2016 election effort” and “demoted DOJ official
Bruce Ohr” will be “key to reaching that next phase in the inquiry.” Rep.
John Yates said on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=033-878&t=c>,
“The real question that we need to find out from Mr. Ohr: Was he just a
rogue employee acting improperly on his own or did he have some authority
from within the Department of Justice and was Sally Yates aware of what he
was doing?”

*Cohen Investigated For $20M In Loans; His Lawyer In Frequent
Contact With Dean. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=034-16b&t=c>
(8/19, Rashbaum, Protess, Haberman) reports that authorities investigating
former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for bank and tax fraud “have zeroed in
on well over $20 million in loans obtained by taxi businesses that he and
his family own, according to people familiar with the matter.” The loans
being examined “came from two financial institutions in the New York region
that have catered to the taxi industry, Sterling National Bank and the
Melrose Credit Union, according to business records and people with
knowledge of the matter, including a banker who reviewed the transactions.
Federal investigators in New York are seeking to determine whether Mr.
Cohen misrepresented the value of his assets to obtain the loans, which
exceed $20 million.” the Times adds that any criminal charges against Cohen
“would deal a significant blow to the president.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=035-a4f&t=c>
(8/19, Lippman) reports, meanwhile, that Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis “said
he has been reaching out regularly over the past few months to John Dean,
the former White House counsel who helped bring down the presidency of
Richard Nixon.” Politico says Davis’ conversations with Dean add “new hints
that Cohen could be open to being a potential witness in any case against
Trump.”

*After Current One, Manafort Faces New Set Of Charges, DC Trial. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=036-5ae&t=c>
(8/18, Barakat) reports that “as jurors weigh Paul Manafort’s fate in a
sprawling financial fraud case, the former Trump campaign chairman still
has another trial looming in the nation’s capital – and prosecutors there
have a whole new set of charges and a huge volume of evidence.” In
Washington, “Manafort is scheduled to go on trial in September on charges
including conspiracy to defraud the United States, failing to register as a
foreign agent, money laundering, witness tampering and making false
statements.” The AP adds “neither case involves allegations of Russian
election interference or possible coordination by the Trump campaign.” USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=037-c37&t=c>
(8/19, Hayes) also reports that “even if he’s acquitted,” Manafort’s “legal
battle will only be halfway over.”
Foreign Policy
Bolton: North Korea Needs To “Demonstrate” Denuclearization Seriousness.

On ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=038-d9e&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos), National Security Adviser Bolton discussed North
Korea’s uncertain progress toward its stated goal of denuclearization.
Bolton said, “I think it’s important that they demonstrate seriousness.
President Trump has – believes very strongly, he talks about it frequently
that the North Koreans have not tested ballistic missiles or nuclear
weapons recently, that they’ve given back the remains of over 50 American
service members, trying to identify who they are at this point. And I think
Secretary Pompeo will be returning to Pyongyang soon for his fourth visit.”

*Return Of US Service Members’ Remains Re-Energizes Families’
Quests For Answers. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=039-f22&t=c>
(8/19, Malas) reports North Korea’s recent return of 55 boxes containing
the remains of US service members killed in the Korean War has triggered
both elation and anguish among relatives of the deceased. Dorothy
Antonelli, for example, has attended eight government briefings over the
last two decades seeking answers about the circumstances surrounding the
death of her uncle, Peter Patete, who went missing during the war; for
Antonelli, the return of the remains energized her quest for answers.

*South Koreans Prepare To Meet North Korean Relatives. *In
what the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=03a-8cc&t=c>
(8/19, Denyer) calls “a reminder of the deep bonds between” North and South
Korea, and “an illustration of just how far they have grown apart in the
decades since their painful division,” 172 South Koreans “will travel into
North Korea to meet relatives this week.” It will be “the first reunion of
divided families to take place for three years, as relations thaw between
the neighbors.” South Korean participants on Sunday “gathered in the city
of Sokcho, for a briefing on how to behave and what they can and cannot
say, before traveling by bus across the border to the North Korean resort
of Mount Kumgang on Monday.” They were “discouraged from bringing cash” and
“advised not to criticize the North Korean leadership or ask about the
country’s economic situation in case it causes problems for their
relatives.”
Bolton To Meet With Russian Counterpart In Geneva.

On ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=03b-b0f&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos), National Security Adviser Bolton discussed his
Geneva meeting with his Russian counterpart. Bolton said, “The meeting came
about, really, as a result of the meeting of President Trump and President
Putin in Helsinki. They decided that the two national security councils
should get together, reviving an idea of having working groups that was set
up by my predecessor, H.R. McMaster. I think I’ve spoken with Jim Mattis
and Mike Pompeo about that.” Bolton continued, “We’ve agreed that what we
can do at the meeting on Thursday is look at the broad range of issues that
might be open for discussion between Washington and Moscow and try and plan
it out in a systematic way. So I’ll go back and report to the president and
my colleagues in the National Security Council and – and we’ll see what
comes of the meeting and what the best way ahead is.”

Bolton also told [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC’s This
Week
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=03c-f0f&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos) that he would discuss Moscow’s interference with the
US election process with his Russian counterpart. Asked if he has seen
evidence of Chinese interference in US elections, Bolton said, “I can say
definitively that it’s a sufficient national security concern about Chinese
meddling, Iranian meddling and North Korean meddling that we’re taking
steps to try and prevent it. So all four of those countries, really.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=03d-bb8&t=c>
(8/19, Morello) reports that US officials are concerned “that not only
Russia but also China, Iran and North Korea will try to interfere in this
fall’s midterm elections.” According to the Post, Bolton “said elections
are not the only potential targets for hostile international hackers,” as a
“whole range of vulnerable systems” in both the government and the private
sector are vulnerable.

*US Military Hires “World’s Best” Hackers To Find Cyber
Vulnerabilities. *NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=03e-832&t=c>
(8/19, story 6, 2:00, Snow) reported that the US military recruited and
paid “the world’s top 100 hackers to try to find vulnerabilities before
America’s adversaries, like Russia and China.” NBC (Leitner) added, “It is
called a bug bounty – cash paid out for exposing gaps in the Marines’
public websites. ... Through the night, it happened over and over, 75
times. ... More than $80,000 paid out. Every dollar paid, an invaluable
investment in making America’s military stronger in cyber space.”
Bolton, Netanyahu Discuss Iran, Syria.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=03f-6d2&t=c>
(8/19, Press) reports National Security Adviser Bolton met with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday to discuss Iran.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement “saying the premier looked forward
to discussing ways to roll back what he described as ‘Iran’s aggression in
the region.’” Israeli media quoted Bolton “as having told Netanyahu that
Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs were ‘right at the
top of the list’ of issues to discuss.”

Bolton told [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC’s This Week
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=040-8f7&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos), that he would also discuss Iran’s role in the Syria
conflict with Netanyahu and, in a later meeting in Geneva, with his Russian
counterpart. Bolton said it was “certainly the objective of the United
States, of Israel, President Putin said it was Russia’s objective is to get
Iran – Iranian forces, Iranian militias, Iranian surrogates out of the
offensive operations they’re in in both Syria and Iraq and frankly, to end
Iran’s support for Hezbollah. … So that’s certainly on the agenda here in
Israel.” Asked if it was an “acceptable outcome” for Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad to remain in power, Bolton said that “the interest that
we’re pursuing in Syria and in Iraq is the final destruction of the ISIS
territorial caliphate, dealing with the ISIS territorial threat and – and
getting Iran back into – getting its forces back into its own territory.
That’s what we’re focused on.”

*Axios: Trump Said One-State Solution Would Lead To Israeli PM
Named Mohammed. *Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=041-e6e&t=c>
(8/19, News) reports “President Trump told King Abdullah of Jordan that a
one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might lead in a few
years to someone named Mohammed becoming prime minister of Israel,
according to several sources briefed on the meeting.” Axios says the “White
House ‘peace team’ is still discussing when and how to launch the Trump
administration’s peace plan,” but it remains “unclear whether the plan is
based on a two-state solution or on a different paradigm.” According to
Axios, Trump’s “remarks to the King of Jordan, made in their White House
meeting on June 25, might suggest he thinks a one-state solution is a
threat to the future of Israel as a Jewish state.”
Iranian Officials Vow To Bypass Re-Imposed US Sanctions.

“With tones of defiance, senior Iranian officials have vowed that Tehran
aims to bypass financial sanctions soon to be re-imposed on the Islamic
Republic’s oil and banking sectors by the Trump administration,” the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=042-743&t=c>
(8/19, Boylan) reports. In a Sunday interview with the state-run IRNA news
agency, Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said Tehran is “seeking
solutions to sell our oil and transfer its revenues.” He added “that Tehran
was ‘hopeful that the European countries can meet their commitments’ in
terms of oil and business deals currently underway.” Also on Sunday, Iran’s
OPEC envoy, Kazem Gharibabadi, lashed “out against the U.S. pressure and a
Saudi proposal to increase its production to take over Tehran’s OPEC export
share.” During a meeting with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo,
Gharibabadi asserted, “No country is allowed to take over the share of
other members for production and exports of oil under any circumstance, and
the OPEC Ministerial Conference has not issued any license for such
actions.”
US Welcomes Afghan Government’s Ceasefire Offer To Taliban.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=043-d8b&t=c>
(8/19, Nordland, Abed) reports Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday
“proposed a conditional cease-fire with the Taliban, extending a
trust-building measure to the insurgents before the Muslim holiday Eid
al-Adha this starts this week.” The insurgents “have escalated their
attacks against government forces across the country,” but at the same time
have “been actively seeking for weeks to court Afghan civilians, promising
last month to halt suicide bombings in civilian areas, and announcing on
Twitter and other social networks that those who surrendered would not be
harmed.” Such moves have “left many in the country expressing hope the
Taliban and the government would join a cease-fire and hold peace talks.”
While the Taliban did not immediately comment on Ghani’s proposal,
“Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said on Sunday that the group
had identified hundreds of prisoners that it wants the government to
release on Monday, so that ‘they can share the happiness of Eid with their
families and friends.’”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=044-d49&t=c>
(8/19, Wroughton) reports Secretary of State Pompeo welcomed the move in a
statement Sunday, saying that the “plan responds to the clear and continued
call of the Afghan people for peace.” Pompeo said the US is ready to back
direct negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban, adding,
“There is no obstacles to talks. It is time for peace.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=045-6cc&t=c>
(8/19, Constable) says US officials “reportedly had urged Ghani to go ahead
with his truce offer.” After a similar ceasefire in June, “a senior State
Department official held the first-ever U.S. talks with Taliban officials
in Qatar, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this year that
the United States would be willing to participate in peace talks.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s government “immediately issued a statement welcoming
Ghani’s announcement and said it ‘fully supports all such efforts.’” The
Pakistani government also “called on all parties in the conflict to ‘make a
commitment to a cease-fire’ similar to the one in June and urged that this
time it be extended.”

*Bolton Says Decision On Using Private Contractors In Afghanistan
Up To Trump. *On [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC’s This Week
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=046-631&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos), National Security Adviser Bolton said President
Trump remained “determined to find a way to get a peaceful resolution in
Afghanistan.” Asked if he was open to using private contractors in
Afghanistan instead of the US military, Bolton said, “There are always a
lot of discussions. I find it helpful, I’m always open to new ideas. But
I’m not going to comment on what the thinking is. That’ll ultimately be the
President’s decision.”
Gunshots Fired At US Embassy In Ankara.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=047-1fd&t=c>
(8/20) briefly reports that “gunshots were fired from a vehicle at the U.S.
embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Monday, hitting a window in a
security post but causing no casualties, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.”
According to CNN Turk, “police teams were searching for the assailants who
fled in a white car after the attack,” which Reuters says “coincided with a
deepening row between Ankara and Washington over the trial of a U.S. pastor
in Turkey.”

*WSJournal A1: US Rejects Turkish Attempt To Link Pastor’s Release
To Bank Fines. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=048-88c&t=c>
(8/19, A1, Bender) in a front-page article reports that the US dismissed an
effort to tie the release of US pastor Andrew Brunson from house arrest in
Turkey to relief for Halkbank, facing fines for violating US sanctions
against Iran. The US rejected the proposal, with a senior White House
official saying, “A real NATO ally wouldn’t have arrested Brunson in the
first place.”

*WPost: Erdogan Appears To Be Weathering Crisis With US Well.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=049-5b7&t=c>
(8/19) says in an analysis of US policy toward Turkey that despite the
President’s attempt “to strong-arm Turkey into releasing a detained
American pastor this month,” Andrew Brunson remains under house arrest, and
Turkish President Erdogan “appears unbowed.” The Post adds that Erdogan
“has focused domestic anger instead against the United States and portrayed
his country as the victim of intentional sabotage.” The Post also reports
that “Turkey has also received timely displays of support” from the Russian
foreign minister, from French President Emmanuel Macron, and from German
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Still, the Post adds that experts wonder how long
Erdogan can succeed if “the White House and Congress take additional steps
to punish Turkey,” as “a sustained crisis could harm Erdogan’s carefully
cultivated legacy, with the economic gains of Turks at its centerpiece.”

*Samuelson Warns That Turkish Economic Crisis Could Spread. *Robert
Samuelson writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=04a-24a&t=c>
(8/19) column, “The pertinent and unanswerable question about Turkey is
whether the country’s present economic turmoil is an isolated event...or
whether it portends a larger economic convulsion that shakes markets around
the world.” The Turkish lira “has collapsed” since January, and debt
repayments of more than $300 billion – more than one-third the Turkish
gross domestic product – loom by the end of 2019. Samuelson writes than an
investor “panic” is possible, pushing the crisis beyond Turkey, and that
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may resist going to the IMF for help out of
fears that it will weaken him politically.
WPost: Effort To Silence ISIS On Web Falls Short.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=04b-027&t=c>
(8/19) reports, “more than four months after the European police agency
Europol began the initiative, the struggle to silence the Islamic State’s
communications” continues as Amaq “finds new ways to put its messages and
videos on the Internet, and counterterrorism teams try again to knock them
down.” The Post adds, “The Europol operation, which received scant
attention in the United States, was among the most aggressive attempts in
recent years to target the Islamic State’s communication networks.” The
effort included seizing servers to “gain insight into the consumers of the
Islamic State’s propaganda.” As a result, it has moved more “content to
Telegram, an encrypted messaging service popular with Islamist groups.” The
Post also reports that “the ‘Virtual Caliphate’ survives because it is
highly dispersed.”
Domestic Policy
Clapper, Mullen Express Concerns About Brennan’s Rhetoric.

Former high-ranking intelligence and military officials took to the Sunday
shows to defend former CIA Director John Brennan in the wake of President
Trump’s decision to revoke his security clearance. At the same time, some
officials were critical of Brennan over his vocal criticism of Trump.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=04c-468&t=c>
(8/19, Lim) says the former officials “are simultaneously chastising
Brennan for his overtly anti-Trump rhetoric” as they “rally” to his defense
in the wake of Trump’s decision to revoke his security clearance. The
Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=04d-2f8&t=c>
(8/19, Richardson) reports that former Director of National Intelligence
James Clapper was critical of former Brennan’s rhetoric on Sunday,
telling CNN’s
State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=04e-c4f&t=c>
(8/19, Tapper), “John and his rhetoric have become I think an issue in and
of itself. ... John is sort of like a freight train, and he’s going to say
what’s on his mind.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=04f-7f4&t=c>
(8/19, Keller) reports that Clapper “said he empathized with Brennan, but
voiced concerns for Brennan’s fiery rhetoric toward Trump and his
administration.” Clapper said, “I think that the common denominator among
all of us [in the intelligence community] that have been speaking up … is
genuine concern about the jeopardy and threats to our institutions.” The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=050-b12&t=c>
(8/19, Ross) says Clapper “was among 12 former intelligence community
officials who issued a letter on Thursday in support of Brennan.” They
wrote, “You don’t have to agree with what John Brennan says (and, again,
not all of us do) to agree with his right to say it, subject to his
obligation to protect classified information.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=051-10b&t=c>
(8/19, Samuels) says intelligence officials on Sunday “expressed concern”
that Brennan “has waded too far into politics with his vehement criticism”
of Trump. In addition to Clapper, former JCS Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen
voiced concern “that Brennan has made himself the story in what has
traditionally been an apolitical arm of government.” However, he “still
took issue with Trump pulling Brennan’s clearance.” Mullen told Fox News
Sunday[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=052-16d&t=c>
(8/19), “I do worry about the fact that that, one, John is now in the
political arena and, two, at the same time, I don’t agree with the
president pulling it. ... I think I am concerned about the whole issue of
free speech. And as long as John is not revealing classified information
that he shouldn’t, then I certainly think he has a right to speak.”

*Bolton, Johnson, Noem Defend Trump For Revoking Brennan’s Security
Clearance. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=053-785&t=c>
(8/19, Samuels) says National Security Adviser Bolton “defended” Trump’s
decision to revoke Brennan’s security clearance, arguing on ABC’s This
Week[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=054-7b2&t=c>
(8/19, Stephanopoulos) that “political disagreement alone” is not enough to
warrant the move, but that Brennan did not separate “intelligence and
policy.” While Bolton “was unable to provide evidence that Brennan
disseminated or abused his access to classified information,” he said, “In
terms of what he said since he left, I think a number of people have
commented that he couldn’t be in the position he’s in of criticizing
President Trump and his so-called collusion with Russia unless he did use
classified information. But I don’t know the specifics. What I do know is
when he was director of CIA, I was very troubled by his conduct, by
statements he made in public, and by what I thought was his politicization
of the intelligence community.” Errol Barnett said in the lead story for
the CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=055-6d9&t=c>
(8/19, lead story, 2:20) that Bolton “said that Senator Rand Paul suggested
that Brennan’s clearance be revoked, and the President agreed.”

On Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=056-79c&t=c>
(8/19, Wallace), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that Brennan “abused his
privilege. When you are an ex-CIA director and you are going on all the
cable news shows and acting as partisan as he is and accusing the President
of the United States of treasonous behavior, high crimes and misdemeanors,
last time I checked treason was punishable by death. You just crossed the
line. … I have no problem that the President pulled his clearance.”
However, Johnson added, “I don’t want to see this become routine.”

On CBS’ Face The Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=057-a01&t=c>
(8/19, Brennan), Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) said, “Obviously in this instance
there was national security concerns. It appears that at times Brennan has
put political purposes above national security. … I think it’s important to
know that the number one priority needs to continue to be national security
and when we’re looking at these types of situations that if someone appears
to have put political purposes above national security then that’s grounds
for review.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=058-c29&t=c>
(8/19, Richardson) reports that Noem said the fact that “5 million people
who enjoy similar access” is “astounding.” Noem said, “You know, obviously
in this instance there was national security concerns. ... It appears that
at times Brennan has put political purposes above national security. And I
think what’s astounding to me is realizing that there’s over 5 million
people in this country that have security clearances, so there’s a lot of
folks out there with important information.”

*Mullen: Trump Would Be “Off Base” To Revoke Former Officials
Security Clearances. *Asked on Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=059-a81&t=c>
(8/19, Wallace) about reports Trump has already drafted documents to revoke
the security clearances of 14 former intelligence officials, Mullen said,
“One of the things for somebody of my age immediately brings back the whole
concept of the enemies list under President Nixon, and even before that in
the early ‘50s, the McCarthy era where the Administration starts putting
together lists of individuals that don’t agree with them. And that
historically obviously has proven incredibly problematic for the country.
So it’s creating a list of political enemies, in particular those who have
worked in a government and some very specifically who spent their life in
government. And I think hearing from Bill Webster and Bob Gates is a pretty
strong signal that doing this would really be off-base.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=05a-e22&t=c>
(8/19, Morton) reports that Hayden is “among those top former U.S.
intelligence officials who’d be happy to have President Trump revoke their
security clearances.” Hayden was asked on CNN’s State of the Union[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=05b-125&t=c>
about last week’s column by retired Adm. William McRaven criticizing Trump
for revoking Brennan’s clearance and saying he “would consider it an honor”
to lose his own clearance alongside “so I can add my name to the list of
men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.” Asked if he
would be “similarly honored,” Hayden said, “Well, to be included in that
group? Sure. ... Frankly, if his not revoking my clearance gave the
impression that I somehow moved my commentary in a direction more
acceptable to the White House, I would find that very disappointing and
frankly unacceptable.”

*Brennan Considering Legal Action To Prevent Revocation Of Security
Clearances. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=05c-cb6&t=c>
(8/19, Colvin, Baldor) reports that Brennan said on NBC’s Meet the Press[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=05d-ac0&t=c>
“that he is considering taking legal action to try to prevent President
Donald Trump from stripping other current and former officials’ security
clearances.” Brennan, who said he has been contacted by attorneys about
trying to prevent Trump from taking that step in the future, said, “If my
clearances and my reputation as I’m being pulled through the mud now, if
that’s the price we’re going to pay to prevent Donald Trump from doing this
against other people, to me it’s a small price to pay. So I am going to do
whatever I can personally to try to prevent these abuses in the future. And
if it means going to court, I will do that.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=05e-38f&t=c>
(8/19, Sonmez) says Brennan “did not immediately elaborate on what such a
legal move would look like.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=05f-8dd&t=c>
(8/19, Morin) also reports on Brennan’s comments.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=060-f2b&t=c>
(8/19, Richardson) reports that on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=061-ba5&t=c>,
Rudy Giuliani responded to Brennan’s claim that he considering legal action
against the Administration, saying, “Then we take his deposition right
away. As the plaintiff he’d have to go first. I’d volunteer to do that case
for the president. I’d love to have Brennan under oath for I don’t know,
how many days — two, three days? We’ll find out about Brennan” Giuliani
“cited Mr. Brennan’s role as CIA station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
when the Khobar Towers were bombed in 1996, killing 19 U.S. Air Force
personnel, and his support for Communist Party presidential candidate Gus
Hall in 1980.” Giuliani said, “How do you become CIA director if in the
midst of the Cold War, you voted for a Communist? Only [President] Obama
would pick you.”

*WPost Likens Trump Security Clearance Move To Nixon’s Enemies
List. *In an analysis, the Washington Post
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(8/17, Miller) likens the group of people whose security clearances Trump
is considering revoking to former President Richard Nixon’s enemies list
and says that “like Nixon, Trump’s list could backfire on him.” Nixon White
House aide John Dean said of Nixon’s list, “It became a badge of honor
after I revealed it.”

*Hayden: Trump’s Relationship With Intelligence Community
“Dangerously Close” To Breaking. *On CNN’s State of the Union[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
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(8/19, Tapper), former CIA Director Michael Hayden said Trump’s
relationship with the intelligence community is “dangerously close to being
permanently broken, it is badly injured right now. Look, if we’re back in
our old agencies, we’re trying to say to our workforce: ‘We have nothing to
do with what John Brennan says on TV and we have nothing to do with what
the President has done in response,’ We’ve got our basic lane, we’ve got to
be blocking and tackling. But that has to be harder and harder each day as
the Administration takes these kinds of actions.”

*Commentators See Political Motive Behind Trump Decision. *Julie
Pace of the AP said on CNN Inside Politics[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
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(8/19), “It really does show the level of frustration that the President
has. This is not because he believes John Brennan is violating some type of
norm for intelligence officials. This is directly related to the fact
Brennan was there giving reports to President Obama what he was seeing on
Russian interference and what he believed was some type of connection
between that interference and the Trump campaign.”

Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro said on Fox News
MediaBuzz[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=065-deb&t=c>
(8/19), “This is a political thing. To pretend that it’s not is silly. It
also just shows how inept the Administration is at handling political
things. If it had been a prior Administration they would have said we have
a new policy now where we just give affirmative security clearances to
people we are going to talk to, as opposed to, we are going to pick these
particular people we don’t like and remove their security clearances.”

*Breitbart: Brennan Gives “Fake News” Date For Trump-Russia
Collusion. *In a piece for Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=066-8f7&t=c>
(8/19, Pollak) Senior Editor at Large Joel Pollak writes that in his NBC
appearance, Brennan said “that he learned since retiring that Russians
began hacking Hillary Clinton’s emails on the day Donald Trump joked about
it in July 2016.” However, “that widely-cited claim is untrue – a piece of
‘fake news’ evidence, drawn from one of the indictments by Special Counsel
Robert Mueller, that has fueled unfounded theories that Trump colluded with
the Russians during the presidential election.” The “first attempts to hack
Hillary Clinton’s emails actually occurred in March 2016, not July 2016,
according to the Associated Press – though those initial attempts may not
yet have been directly linked to any criminal indictments.” Pollak adds
that Brennan continuing to “cite mainstream media mistakes...suggests that
he has also swallowed the media’s pronounced anti-Trump bias.”
Trump To Announce Plan To Reduce Regulations For Coal-Burning Power Plants.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=067-36e&t=c>
(8/18, Eilperin) reports President Trump is planning a new proposal to
“empower states to establish emission standards for coal-fired power plants
rather than speeding their retirement” which the Post calls “a major
overhaul of the Obama administration’s signature climate policy.” The Post
also says that if the change is adopted, power plants would “release at
least 12 times the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere compared to
the Obama rule over the next decade.” Trump is expected to make the
announcement while in West Virginia. According to the EPA, the Post adds,
“the measure will affect more than 300 U.S. plants.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082001biden&r=email-53c8&l=068-c9a&t=c>
(8/18