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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Friday, September 28, 2018 7:55 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Friday,
September 28, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=000-cfd&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=001-6c6&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Friday, September 28, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• GOP Uses Biden Comments From ‘91 Hearings To Defend Kavanaugh From FBI
Probe. <#S1>

• Biden Endorses Rose’s Bid To Oust Donovan In NY11. <#S2>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Lauds Kavanaugh Testimony, Slams Democrats, Says “Senate Must Vote!”
<#S3>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• US Official: Trump Deliberately Avoided Trudeau At UN. <#S4>

• Pompeo Urges UN To Keep North Korea Sanctions; Russia, China Object. <#S5>

• China Rejects Trump’s Claim Of Election Meddling As “Fictional.” <#S6>

• Abbas: Trump’s Directives Have Undermined Potential For Two-State
Solution. <#S7>

• Netanyahu Accuses Iran Of Having “Secret Atomic Warehouse.” <#S8>

• Russia Denies Suspect In UK Spy Poisoning Is Military Colonel. <#S9>

• Wielding Megaphone, Haley Joins Protest Against Maduro. <#S10>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Azar: Trump “Managing” ACA Better Than Obama. <#S11>

• Trump’s Meeting With Rosenstein Rescheduled For Next Week. <#S12>

• EPA To Eliminate Office Of Science Advisor. <#S13>

• Florence Death Toll Increases; 1,500 Remain In North Carolina Shelters.
<#S14>

• Watt’s Accuser Says She Felt “Uncomfortable And Unsafe.” <#S15>

• Google CEO To Meet With Lawmakers, Kudlow. <#S16>

• New York Airport Workers To Receive $19 Per Hour Minimum Wage. <#S17>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• NCI Immunotherapy Researcher Honored With Albany Medical Center Prize.
<#S18>

• FDA Approves Dacomitinib For Lung Cancer. <#S19>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S20>

• Washington Post. <#S21>
Biden in the News
GOP Uses Biden Comments From ‘91 Hearings To Defend Kavanaugh From FBI
Probe.

In continuing coverage, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=002-5e2&t=c>
(9/27, King) reports Republicans are “invoking the words of Joe Biden from
nearly three decades ago to swat down” Democrats’ call for an FBI probe of
Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
posted a video of Biden from Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmations
in 1991, encouraging his “Democrat friends” to “consider this from then
Judiciary Committee Chairman JOE BIDEN (D-DE).” Biden says in the video,
“The next person that refers to an FBI report as being worth anything
obviously doesn’t understand anything.” He later says, “FBI explicitly does
not – in this or any other case – reach a conclusion. Period.” Biden’s
words were again repeated “at Thursday’s hearing by Republicans during the
Senate Judiciary Committee trying to shoot down requests by Democrats,
including Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that a confirmation vote be delayed
until the FBI investigates charges sexual assault allegations against
Kavanaugh.”

BuzzFeed News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=003-cf3&t=c>
(9/27, Brooks) reports Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley
brought up Biden’s words prior to Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony
Thursday morning: “Contrary to what the public has been led to believe, the
FBI doesn’t perform any credibility assessment or verify the truth of any
event in these background investigations.” BuzzFeed says that “Anita Hill’s
hearing, and Biden’s role in it, has cast a shadow over the Kavanaugh
hearing and has been a point of criticism of Biden as he’s floated as a
potential presidential prospect.” Also covering the GOP use of Biden’s
comments are the Wilmington (DE) News Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=004-b79&t=c>
(9/27) and the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=005-18d&t=c>
(9/27).

*Biden Spokesperson Decries Grassley’s Attempts To “Create A Smoke
Screen.” *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=006-aef&t=c>
(9/27, McCaskill) reports an unnamed spokesperson for Biden on Thursday
accused Grassley of mischaracterizing the former vice president’s remarks
on FBI background investigations into Supreme Court nominees. The
spokesperson said, “There is clearly an effort on the part of the White
House and Senate Republicans to take out of context then-Senator Biden’s
statements about the role of the FBI in the judicial nomination process to
create a smoke screen for their unprecedented refusal to have the FBI
conduct an investigation into credible charges.” The Biden spokesperson
explained that Biden’s comments in 1991 were a response to Utah Republican
Sen. Orrin Hatch’s “attempts to frame the FBI’s 1991 report on Clarence
Thomas as exculpatory.”
Biden Endorses Rose’s Bid To Oust Donovan In NY11.

The Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=007-0f8&t=c>
(9/27, Katinas) reports former Vice President Joe Biden has endorsed Max
Rose (D), who is trying to unseat NY11 Rep. Dan Donovan in the 11th
Congressional District in the November election. Biden said in a statement,
“Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites deserve a representative who works
as hard as them and that is Max Rose.” Referring to Rose’s past job as
chief of staff at Brightpoint Health, an organization that provides
treatment to opioid-addicted patients, Biden said, “After serving our
country in Afghanistan, Max came home to help provide health care for those
who needed it most, including those struggling with opioid addiction.”
Biden also praised Rose, a current member of the National Guard, for taking
two weeks off during campaign season to train with his unit. Biden said,
“That is the kind of dedication to country and integrity that we need right
now in Washington, D.C.”
Leading the News
Trump Lauds Kavanaugh Testimony, Slams Democrats, Says “Senate Must Vote!”

Coverage of the lengthy Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which both
Supreme Court Justice-designate Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford
testified is wide-ranging, with reports focused on their statements and the
hearing’s political ramifications. Reports also look at the view from the
White House, where early concern about the strength of Ford’s account is
said to have given way to relief as Kavanaugh offered an impassioned
defense. On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=008-387&t=c>
(9/27, story 4, 2:50), David Muir reported that the hearing played out “to
many audiences and one in particular, the President.” ABC’s Jonathan Karl:
“Like the rest of the country, the White House was riveted by today’s
hearing. The word from those close to the President: He heard from
Kavanaugh exactly what he wanted to hear: a passionate defense that hit
back at Democrats.”

Jeff Glor said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=009-68a&t=c>
(9/27, story 3, 1:30), “President Trump said [Wednesday] he would be
watching the hearings, and he held open the possibility he might pull the
Kavanaugh nomination yesterday, depending on what he saw today. Well, he
did watch, and, apparently from what we’re hearing, he liked what he saw.”
CBS’ Weijia Jiang: “I want to get right to President Trump’s tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=00a-b5c&t=c>
that he posted minutes ago. It is the first and only time he has chimed in
about this hearing today, saying, ‘Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly
why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting.
Democrats’ search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has
been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate
must vote!’ And you’re right, all day, White House officials say they were
pleased with Kavanaugh’s performance because he used such a defiant and
strong tone.” It was Trump’s only tweet of the day on Thursday.

Lester Holt said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=00b-814&t=c>
(9/27, story 4, 0:50), “At the White House they were riveted by the
testimony. President Trump glued to the TV like people across the country.”
NBC’s Hallie Jackson, also citing the President’s tweet, said, “President
Trump right now stands by his man. ... I’m told by sources familiar that
the President was particularly pleased with what he viewed as a strong
opening statement by Kavanaugh and that came at a critical moment because
allies of the President had been feeling grim after what many viewed as
compelling testimony” from Ford. During coverage of the proceedings,
Cecilia Vega said on ABC[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=00c-587&t=c>
(9/27), “This is being very well-received by the White House, which is
watching very closely.” Glor said on CBS[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=00d-534&t=c>
(9/27), “An official at the White House now tells us that they are pleased
with Kavanaugh’s strong, full-throated response, a tone they say they’ve
been waiting for from him.” John Roberts said on Fox News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=00e-961&t=c>
(9/27), “The President [is] very happy with the way Kavanaugh is comporting
himself at this point.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=00f-751&t=c>
(9/27, Lemire, Miller, Lucey) reports that Trump “missed hardly a moment of
the proceedings, relying on DVRs to keep up on the Senate Judiciary
Committee hearing Thursday from his private office on Air Force One as he
traveled from New York to Washington, and continued monitoring back at the
White House. ... After seeing Ford’s powerful testimony, White House aides
and allies expressed concern that Kavanaugh, whose nomination already
seemed to be teetering, would have an uphill climb to deliver a strong
enough showing to match hers.” But they “believe Kavanaugh’s passionate
denials of Ford’s claims, including the judge’s tearful description of the
impact the accusations had on his family, met the challenge.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=010-59c&t=c>
(9/27, Karni, Restuccia) says “Trump and his aides were ebullient” as
Kavanaugh “defiantly rejected charges of sexual misconduct – a mood that
reflected some relief after Trump officials conceded” that Ford “offered a
compelling performance in the first half of the day.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=011-af2&t=c>
(9/27, Leary) reports that one White House official said of the President,
“He was very impressed.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=012-63f&t=c>
(9/27, Viebeck) reports that Trump “gave Kavanaugh a strong vote of
confidence” with his tweet. Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=013-4ad&t=c>
(9/27, Jacobs, Litvan, Dennis) also reports on Trump’s tweet.

*Ford Calls Kavanaugh “The Boy Who Assaulted Me.” *On ABC World
News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=014-b62&t=c>
(9/27, lead story, 6:50, Muir), Terry Moran reported, “Before a packed
hearing room, in an extraordinary time, she raised her right hand and swore
to tell the truth. After days of partisan wrangling and fierce debate, the
floor was now hers.” Ford: “I am here today not because I want to be. I am
terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what
happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.” Moran: “In
her own voice, Dr. Ford telling the senators that Judge Brett Kavanaugh and
his friend, Mark Judge, sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers at
a small gathering of high school students.” ABC aired a long clip of Ford’s
testimony.

On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=015-e46&t=c>
(9/27, lead story, 7:05), Jeff Glor called Thursday “a dramatic, emotional,
historic day on Capitol Hill.” Ford accused Kavanaugh “of drunkenly
sexually assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh
denied it, accusing the Democrats and the panel of turning ‘advise and
consent’ into ‘search and destroy.’ Both swore under oath they were telling
the truth.” CBS’ Nancy Cordes: “The 11 [committee] Republicans, all of them
men, most of them lawyers themselves, ceded their time to an Arizona
prosecutor and sex crime expert. ... She probed, gently, for gaps in Ford’s
story,” with “Democrats repeatedly pointing out...” Sen. Kamala Harris
(D-CA): “You know you are not on trial.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA):
“This is not a trial of Dr. Ford. It’s a job interview for Judge
Kavanaugh.”

On NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=016-8e0&t=c>
(9/27, lead story, 8:20), Lester Holt called it “a day that will go down in
the history books, destined to become a ‘where were you when it happened’
moment. A marathon day of testimony as we heard for the first time
publicly” from Ford, “unwavering in her certainty that Brett Kavanaugh
sexual assaulted her in the 1980s. And Judge Kavanaugh appearing shortly
after, at times angrily, even tearfully denying it happened.” NBC ran a
long clip of Ford’s testimony, followed by an excerpt of Kavanaugh’s
response. NBC’s Peter Alexander: “Kavanaugh on multiple occasions fighting
back tears, proclaiming his innocence.” Kavanaugh: “I’m not questioning
that Dr. Ford may have been sexual assaulted by some person in someplace at
some time, but I have never done this to her or to anyone. That’s not who I
am. It is not who I was. I am innocent of this charge.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=017-beb&t=c>
(9/27, Groppe) reports under the headline “An Unwavering Christine Ford:
I’m ‘100 Percent’ Sure That Brett Kavanaugh Assaulted Me” that Ford “was
emotional, but definitive. ... Her voice broke at times. But the
51-year-old psychology professor tapped her professional knowledge of
trauma and its impact as she recounted her personal experience at a house
party in 1982 with Kavanaugh – ‘the boy who sexually assaulted me.’”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=018-824&t=c>
(9/27, Dinan) reports that Ford “said Mark Judge, a friend of Judge
Kavanaugh’s, should remember the night. She has accused him of being in the
room when she says Judge Kavanaugh groped her, attempted to strip her
clothes off and used his hand to stifle her cries for help.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=019-38f&t=c>
(9/27, Stolberg, Fandos) reports that as Ford testified, “Republican
senators sat in mute witness, forgoing questioning and giving over their
time to an outside lawyer, Rachel Mitchell, whose clipped questioning gave
the hearing a prosecutorial tone. She seemed to have little success
rattling the witness or undermining her story.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=01a-8e9&t=c>
(9/27, Gershman) reports that Mitchell kept a measured tone throughout the
sensitive questioning.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=01b-77e&t=c>
(9/27, Baker) reports that Ford “went largely unrebutted. While Judge
Kavanaugh has denied her account and will have a chance to testify later in
the day, the Republicans in the early hours of the extraordinary hearing
did not challenge her story in any meaningful way.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=01c-481&t=c>
(9/27, Kellman) says the hearing “crystallized the national debate over
gender, power and whom to believe in the #Metoo era under President Donald
Trump. Thursday’s hearing in many ways turned on Ford’s credibility as a
victim of and a witness to an event that Kavanaugh staunchly denies.”
Cynthia McFadden said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=01d-8ea&t=c>
(9/27, story 7, 2:10, Holt), “Anita Hill’s legacy vibrated in today’s
hearing. Senators [were] careful not to attack Dr. Ford personally in the
#MeToo world where in the past year women’s stories of sexual misconduct
have brought down many powerful men.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=01e-864&t=c>
(9/27, Wheeler, Bolton) headlines its report “Kavanaugh Accuser Gives
Gripping Testimony Before Senate Committee.”

Frank Bruni writes in his New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=01f-847&t=c>
(9/27) column, “She was impressive. She was persuasive. I sensed no outsize
anger. I detected no guile. If she was pushing an agenda, I didn’t catch a
whiff of it. If she was relishing the spotlight, I didn’t spot a sign of
it.” Ruth Marcus writes in her Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=020-c6a&t=c>
(9/27) column, “She came off as both unshakable in her conviction that it
was Kavanaugh who assaulted her...and anything but eager to thrust herself
into the political maelstrom that has ensued. While President Trump railed
against Democrats for orchestrating a ‘big fat con job’ against Kavanaugh,
Ford did not seem either conner or conned. To listen to her account of that
summer night in Bethesda was nothing short of heartbreaking.”

*Kavanaugh Calls Allegations “Calculated And Coordinated Political
Hit.” *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=021-27b&t=c>
(9/27, Mascaro, Fram, Kellman) reports that later in the day, Kavanaugh
“fought back,” telling senators that the allegations “have ‘totally and
permanently destroyed’ his family and his reputation.” Kavanaugh said “his
confirmation process had become ‘a national disgrace.’ ... Behind him in
the audience, his wife, Ashley, sat looking stricken.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=022-7d6&t=c>
(9/27, Barnes, Kim) reports that Kavanaugh offered “a tearful and angry
denial, saying he had never sexually assaulted [Ford] or anyone else. He
blamed a ‘calculated and coordinated political hit’ to deny him a seat on
the high court.” Addressing committee Democrats, Kavanaugh said, “You may
defeat me in the final vote, but you’ll never get me to quit – never.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=023-26e&t=c>
(9/27, Wolf) says Kavanaugh was “angry, defiant and openly emotional.” His
“opening statement was much longer and more dramatic and detailed than what
he had submitted to the committee in advance because, he said, he wrote it
himself the day before. He delivered it in at times angry and at times
weepy tones, drinking water frequently to avoid breaking down into tears.”
The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=024-27c&t=c>
(9/27) says Kavanaugh offered “a scorched-earth defense” and “pointed back
at deep-seated liberal grudges, going back to the presidency of Bill
Clinton and the victory of Mr. Trump as evidence of the animus.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=025-ace&t=c>
(9/27, Wheeler, Bolton) reports, “Several Democratic senators looked at
Kavanaugh skeptically, and some leaned on their hands as they listened to
his statement.”

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=026-726&t=c>
(9/27) writes that Kavanaugh took “an unusually fiery, partisan posture
against Democrats seeking to thwart his nomination. While judicial nominees
almost always strive to appear above the political fray and not to favor
one party or another, Kavanaugh made clear he was furious – and he was
furious at Democrats.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=027-323&t=c>
(9/27, Dinan, Swoyer) reports that Kavanaugh “said he’s sailed through six
FBI background investigations, several American Bar Association probes and
three decades of public service and there’d never been ‘a whiff’ of the
allegations that he now faces.” CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=028-8f9&t=c>
(9/27, Bennett) reports that Kavanaugh said that his “entire life has been
vetted during his background checks for his time in the George W. Bush
White House and his time as a federal appellate judge.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=029-cef&t=c>
(9/27, Hayes) reports that Kavanaugh “was urged repeatedly” by Senate
Minority Whip Durbin “to turn to White House counsel Don McGahn, who was
sitting in the front row, and request the FBI investigate these claims and
clear his name. ... Kavanaugh said the FBI does not reach conclusions, only
offers a report on their investigation to the committee.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=02a-f24&t=c>
(9/27), “The Republicans and the President do not want to reopen the FBI
investigation. We’re all calling for that and that’s not happening. So then
Judge Kavanaugh was asked time and again today, he could break this
impasse. He kept saying I’ll do whatever the committee wants. He knows full
well that the committee, led by the Republicans, have no intention of
asking for an FBI report.”

Jeffrey Toobin said on CNN[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=02b-787&t=c>
(9/27), “I was struck by how similar [Kavanaugh’s opening statement] was to
Clarence Thomas.... The level of anger, the degree to which he blamed the
opposition party. A phrase that jumped out on me, that this was revenge on
the part of the Clintons. ... Naively perhaps a lot of people think the
Supreme Court should be at least somewhat divorced from politics. This was
a deeply political statement designed to appeal to Republicans.” Former
federal prosecutor Cynthia Alksne said on MSNBC[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=02c-17e&t=c>
(9/27), “There is no escape from his refusal to allow an FBI investigation,
and you have to wonder why. And the only answer I can come up with is he’s
afraid of what that FBI investigation would reveal.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=02d-305&t=c>
(9/27, Hurley, Chung, Becker) and the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=02e-7fa&t=c>
(9/27, Athey) also report on Kavanaugh’s testimony.

*Fox News Commentators Call Ford “Compelling,” “Extremely
Credible.” *David Bauder of the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=02f-589&t=c>
(9/27) writes, “Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony Thursday on Capitol Hill
made for riveting – and potentially devastating – TV, with Fox News’ Chris
Wallace calling it a ‘disaster’ for Republicans, and some commentators at
other networks echoing that assessment.” Other assessments of the
television commentary also focus on Fox News, with Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=030-d18&t=c>
(9/27, Pettypiece, Olorunnipa, Ruitenberg) writing that the coverage “on
Donald Trump’s favorite network” was not “good for the Republican Party.
Fox News panelists discussing Ford’s testimony during a break in the Senate
hearing called her credible.” Bret Baier said on Fox News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=031-89d&t=c>
(9/27), “Compelling testimony, obviously emotional. You could hear a pin
drop in the committee room.” Chris Wallace said on Fox News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=032-a0c&t=c>
(9/27), “This was extremely emotional, extremely wrong, and extremely
credible. Nobody could have listened to her deliver those words and talk
about the assault and the impact it had on her life and not have your heart
go out to her. ... This is a disaster for the Republicans.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=033-f09&t=c>
(9/27, Schwartz) reports on the Fox News coverage under the headline
“Trump’s Favorite TV Network Deems Christine Blasey Ford Testimony
‘Compelling,’” and the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=034-061&t=c>
(9/27, Ferrechio) reports that many Republicans “declined to comment on
Ford’s emotional testimony, which television analysts and political pundits
are labeling a disaster for the nominee and the GOP.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=035-4ed&t=c>
(9/27, Athey) also reports on the Fox coverage.

*Judiciary Committee Scheduled To Vote This Morning. *CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=036-43f&t=c>
(9/27, Barrett, Mattingly, Wilson) reports on its website that the Senate
Judiciary Committee will vote as scheduled on the nomination on Friday
morning. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) “told reporters
that Republicans meeting behind closed doors said the committee vote would
happen as previously scheduled Friday morning and that the first procedural
vote will take place on the Senate floor Saturday.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=037-eb6&t=c>
(9/27, Andrews, Nicholas, Peterson) reports that Senate Majority Leader
McConnell could keep the Senate in session all weekend to advance the
nomination.

As the vote nears, some key senators’ stances remain unknown,
notably that of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who is on the Judiciary Committee.
The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=038-de4&t=c>
(9/27, Ferrechio) reports that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is also
undecided, met briefly with Flake and two other undecided Republicans,
Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AZ) late Thursday.
Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=039-9f5&t=c>,
“Murkowski, Collins and Flake offered colleagues no signal of where they
would land.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=03a-4ce&t=c>
(9/27, Bolton) reports that Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who had also been
undecided, said following the hearing that he will vote to confirm
Kavanaugh. Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=03b-7e9&t=c>
late Thursday that he “will be voting no.” Roll Call’s Walter Shapiro
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=03c-8a3&t=c>,
“While no surprise, @DougJones opposition to Kavanaugh is a potent reminder
of the importance of a single Senate seat.” On the CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=03d-370&t=c>
(9/27, story 2, 2:20, Glor), Ed O’Keefe said, “In a chamber divided – 51
Republicans, 49 Democrats – if all the Democrats vote no, Republicans can
afford to lose just one vote.”

McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=03e-c75&t=c>
(9/27, Kumar) writes, “Republicans are moving quickly to confirm”
Kavanaugh, “because if they don’t, they worry that disappointed GOP voters
will stay home on election day after watching the party that controls the
White House and Congress fail to accomplish one of its most important
tasks.” However, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=03f-a9b&t=c>
(9/27, Mulvihill) reports, “A handful of Republican governors facing
re-election in left-leaning states” – Govs. Charlie Baker (R-MA), Larry
Hogan (R-MD), and Phil Scott (R-VT) – “called for a delay to allow time for
an investigation,” while several others, including Govs. Brian Sandoval
(R-NV) and Scott Walker (R-WI), “said the Senate needs to look carefully at
the evidence...without specifically calling for a delay in the confirmation
vote.”

Cokie Roberts said on ABC[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=040-e24&t=c>
(9/27), “I think at the end of this, when we see the vote and if Kavanaugh
is confirmed – which is probably going to be the case – you are going to
see women very upset in the same way you saw them in January of 2017.
There’s going to be a tremendous reaction to this because a woman was
brave, came forward, and, in the view of many women who have been coming
forward all day long, she will be ignored and discarded. And that will be
something that will be very, very difficult for people going forward.”

*American Bar Association Calls For Delay, FBI Investigation. *CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=041-314&t=c>
(9/27, Raju) reports on its website that the American Bar Association “is
calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to halt the consideration” of the
Kavanaugh nomination “until an FBI investigation is completed into the
sexual assault allegations that have roiled his nomination. ... In a
strongly worded letter obtained by CNN Thursday, the organization said it
is making the extraordinary request ‘because of the ABA’s respect for the
rule of law and due process under law.’”

In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=042-ba8&t=c>,
NBC’s Kasie Hunt called the request “remarkable,” while Jose Del Real of
the New York Times tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=043-30b&t=c>,
“Wow.” Rebecca Wallhaus of the Wall Street Journal tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=044-d5d&t=c>,
“Kavanaugh cited his vetting by the American Bar Association three times in
today’s testimony,” a fact also cited by Bloomberg News’ Sahil Kapur in a
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=045-6f2&t=c>.


Alan Dershowitz writes on the Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=046-4d5&t=c>
(9/27) website that the Senate “needs to slow down and postpone its vote on
the nomination...until the FBI can investigate accusations of sexual
misconduct leveled against him by three women,” and George W. Bush
Administration ethics counsel Richard Painter tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=047-acc&t=c>,
“Confirming a nominee to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court
without a complete FBI investigation is just plain nuts.”

*Editorial, Columnist Commentary On Hearing. *In an editorial, the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=048-3cc&t=c>
(9/27) says Ford’s testimony “was devastating,” while Kavanaugh “spent more
than half an hour raging against Senate Democrats and the ‘Left’ for
‘totally and permanently’ destroying his name, his career, his family, his
life. ... Kavanaugh’s defiant fury might be understandable coming from
someone who believes himself innocent of the grotesque charges he’s facing.
Yet it was also evidence of an unsettling temperament in a man trying to
persuade the nation of his judicial demeanor.” The Times writes, “There is
no reason the committee needs to hold this vote before the F.B.I. can do a
proper investigation, and Mr. Judge and possibly other witnesses can be
called to testify under oath.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=049-31c&t=c>
(9/27) says in an editorial, “Any deadline has been artificially imposed by
the Republican majority for purely partisan reasons, a majority that was
happy to leave a Supreme Court chair vacant for most of 2016.” The Senate
“still has not been given access to all relevant documents, let alone fully
checked out Ms. Ford’s allegation. It would be irresponsible for
Republicans to insist on an immediate vote. If they do, the responsible
vote must be no.”

In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=04a-bb3&t=c>
(9/27) column, Eugene Robinson writes that Kavanaugh “sounded like a man
fighting for his life,” and “his tone was unexpected. He shouted. He wept.
He flatly accused Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee of
timing Ford’s allegation as a last-ditch effort to prevent his confirmation
– a startling allegation from a sitting federal appellate judge, let alone
a nominee for the Supreme Court.” Robinson writes that Trump will now “have
to gauge not just whether his nominee has the votes in committee but also
whether he can prevail on the floor.”

Bret Stephens writes in his New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=04b-e71&t=c>
(9/27) column, “To some, all this will be worth it if Kavanaugh is exposed
as a sexual predator and stone-faced liar. ... We need to get, as best as
we can under imperfect circumstances, the truth of what happened” between
Kavanaugh and Ford, “two credible witnesses with stories to tell. But this
is not what the Kavanaugh nomination seems to be about anymore. To half the
country, it’s about the future of a Supreme Court nominee, pure and simple.
To the other half, it’s about that – as well as a paradigm shift in the
culture, belated reparation for unequal treatment, and a battle in the
service of a moral revolution.”

*Jesuit Publication Calls On Trump To Withdraw Nomination. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=04c-f20&t=c>
(9/27, Axelrod) reports, “The editors of America Magazine, a Jesuit
publication, called on President Trump to withdraw” Brett Kavanaugh’s
Supreme Court nomination following Thursday’s Senate Judicary Committee
hearing. The publication wrote, “Even if the credibility of the allegation
has not been established beyond a reasonable doubt and even if further
investigation is warranted to determine its validity or clear Judge
Kavanaugh’s name, we recognize that this nomination is no longer in the
best interests of the country. While we previously endorsed the nomination
of Judge Kavanaugh on the basis of his legal credentials and his reputation
as a committed textualist, it is now clear that the nomination should be
withdrawn.”

*Graham Rages Against Democratic Colleagues. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=04d-159&t=c>
(9/27, Shear) reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “vented to reporters
on Thursday outside the hearing room where the Senate Judiciary Committee
was hearing explosive testimony about sexual assault allegations” against
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, “then he went back inside and really
let loose.” The Times writes that Graham, “red-faced and dropping all
pretenses of legislative comity, yelled at his Democratic colleagues” and
“all but cemented a slow-motion public political transformation over the
past two years – from an anti-Trump, maverick Republican senator who often
sought legislative compromise” to the President’s “closest ally and most
ardent defender.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=04e-a6d&t=c>
(9/27, Swoyer) reports that Graham accused Democrats of “putting on an
‘unethical sham,’” and “suggested Democrats delayed the timeline in hopes
to hold the Supreme Court seat open ahead of the midterms.”

On Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=04f-51f&t=c>
(9/27), Graham said, “I just told the truth. This is not about finding the
truth between Dr. [Christine Blasey] Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. It is about
delaying the hearing to get past the midterms, hope they pick up the
Senate, and denying the seat to be filled by Donald Trump. ... The one
thing I learned beyond any doubt today, any doubt, is they never intended
to protect Dr. Ford.”

*Hatch Criticized For Calling Ford “An Attractive Person.” *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=050-b93&t=c>
(9/27, Cummings) reports that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) “is taking heat for
telling reporters that he thought Christine Blasey Ford was an ‘attractive
witness’ during a break from her testimony before the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Thursday.” Hatch said, “It’s too early to make those kinds of
determinations, but she’s a good witness. Articulate. She’s an attractive
person.” USA Today writes that “many observers expressed outrage that Hatch
would choose to comment on the appearance of a woman who had just delivered
emotional testimony about an alleged sexual assault, which she says has
traumatized her and impacted much of her life.” McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=051-360&t=c>
(9/27, Magness, Irby) reports that Hatch Communications Director Matt
Whitlock “argued that the senator was talking about Ford’s personality, and
not her physical appearance,” saying that Hatch has used the word
“attractive” repeatedly in the past in that way.

*Before Hearing, Conway Said Kavanaugh, Ford “May Both Be
Right.” *Kellyanne
Conway, appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=052-a65&t=c>
(9/27) before the hearing, said that Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey
Ford “may both be right – that she had something very awful happen to her
when she was 15 and that Judge Kavanaugh was not there and was not involved
whatsoever. That really does go to credibility. They could both be
correct.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=053-be3&t=c>
(9/27, Kasperowicz) reports that Conway, referring to Senate Democrats,
went on to say, “I want everybody to see what this is about today. This is
hyperpartisanship, haughty, hypocritical, hapless Democrats on the Senate
Judiciary Committee, who the President is absolutely right, [are] here to
destroy a man.”

*Trump Jr. Praises Kavanaugh, Criticizes Ford. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=054-edc&t=c>
(9/27, Morton) reports that Donald Trump Jr. took to Twitter Thursday to
praise Kavanaugh’s “combative performance.” Trump Jr. tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=055-95a&t=c>,
“I love Kavanaugh’s tone. It’s nice to see a conservative man fight for his
honor and his family against a 35 year old claim with ZERO evidence and
lots of holes that amounts to nothing more than a political hit job by the
Dems. Others in the GOP should take notice!” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=056-7e6&t=c>
(9/27, Axelrod) also reports on Trump Jr.’s tweet. In another tweet,
the Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=057-77d&t=c>
(9/27, Lim) reports, Trump Jr. accused Ford of having a “selective” fear of
flying. After Ford testified “that she often flies around the country,
though she resisted an earlier hearing because of her fear of flying,”
Trump Jr. tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=058-e3b&t=c>,
“I’m no psychology professor but it does seem weird to me that someone
could have a selective fear of flying. Can’t do it to testify but for
vacation, well it’s not a problem at all.”

*Feinstein Denies Leaking Ford’s Story. *Mediaite
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=059-91f&t=c>
(9/27, Auber) reports that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said Thursday “that
she did not leak the letter accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
of sexual misconduct.” Feinstein’s comment came in response to Sen. Ted
Cruz (R-TX), who said, “Some of the most significant testimony we heard
this morning is Dr. Ford told this committee that the only people to whom
she gave her letter were her attorneys, the ranking member, and her Member
of Congress. And she stated that she and her attorneys did not release the
letter, which means the only people that could have released that letter
were either the Ranking Member and her staff or the Democratic Member of
Congress because Dr. Ford told this committee those are the only people who
had it.” Feinstein said, “I did not hide Dr. Ford’s allegations. I did not
leak her story. She asked me to hold it confidential and I kept it
confidential as she asked.” Feinstein also “said her staff did not leak
it.”

*Tapper: No Corroborating Evidence For Charges Against Kavanaugh. *
Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=05a-488&t=c>
(9/27, Vespa) reports that ahead of Thursday’s hearing, CNN’s Jake Tapper
“aptly noted...that there’s no evidence to back any of Ford’s accusations.”
Tapper said[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=05b-885&t=c>,
“They’re brutal accusations, and his denial is so unequivocal, that there’s
nothing that happened that he can even understand why these charges would
be brought forward. ... At the same time, there is, as of now, no
contemporaneous, corroborating evidence for any of the charges, as far as
we know. We haven’t seen anybody emerge and say, ‘Yes, I remember that.’”

*Former Kavanaugh Girlfriend Denies Anonymous Claim He Assaulted
Her. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=05c-600&t=c>
(9/27, Scarborough) reports that a woman who dated Kavanaugh in 1998 has
denied allegations in an anonymous letter sent to Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
that the Supreme Court nominee mistreated her. The woman told the Senate
Judiciary Committee that the charge is “offensive and absurd.” The
anonymous letter writer “said her daughter claimed that when Mr. Kavanaugh
and a group of cohorts left a bar one night,” they “were all shocked when
Brett Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and
sexually.”

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=05d-f3b&t=c>
(9/27, Daley) reports that Federal Judge Dabney Friedrich, “who says she
may be the woman described in [the] cryptic, anonymous letter,” wrote to
the Senate Judiciary Committee, “To the extent the attached letter is
referring to me as the ‘friend who was dating him,’ the allegations it
makes are both offensive and absurd. ... At no time did Brett ever shove me
against a wall, including in an ‘aggressive and sexual’ manner. When we
dated, Brett always treated me with the utmost respect and we remain
friends to this day. I have never observed (nor am I aware of) Brett acting
in a physically inappropriate or aggressive manner toward anyone.”

*Fifty-Nine Arrested In Protest Near Supreme Court. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=05e-a7e&t=c>
(9/27, Simon, Bacon) reports that 59 people were arrested near the Supreme
Court Thursday when “police descended on a crowd of protesters blocking a
street and hoping to make a statement against the nomination of Brett
Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.” According to US Capitol police, “57 of the
protesters were arrested for ‘unlawful demonstration activities’ and
another two in the same location were arrested and charged with crossing a
police line.”

*NBC: Americans “Glued” To Televisions During Hearing. *Catie Beck
reported on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=05f-588&t=c>
(9/27, story 5, 1:35, Holt) “routines in America stood still today” as
“people of all ages stopped, watched and listened, glued to the nearest
screen.” Beck added that the nation is “united by a hearing, but still
politically divided.”

*Sexual Assault Hotline Sees 147% Increase In Calls. *ABC World
News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=060-07a&t=c>
(9/27, story 5, 0:25, Muir) reported that as “a direct effect” of the
Kavanaugh hearings, the National Sexual Assault Hotline “is reporting
tonight a 147% increase in its normal volume of calls. As this nation now
debates this nomination, one thing is clear, many were inspired by Dr.
Ford’s words today to pick up the phone and to try to get help themselves.”

*GoFundMe Account For Ford Sees Increase In Donations After Her
Testimony. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=061-489&t=c>
(9/27, Astor) reports that in the wake of Kavanaugh’s testimony, during
which she mentioned a GoFundMe account set up on her behalf, the account
“drew more than $200,000 in donations...more money than it had gained in
the past eight days.” As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the campaign “Help Christine
Blasey Ford,” had raised “more than $378,000 total — up from $175,000 when
the hearing began at 10 a.m., according to a spokeswoman for the
crowdfunding website.”
Foreign Policy
US Official: Trump Deliberately Avoided Trudeau At UN.

Citing a “US official,” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=062-961&t=c>
(9/27, Jacobs, Wingrove) reports Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
“tried more than once to speak with” President Trump “on the sidelines of
UN meetings...but Trump avoided the Canadian leader because of a standoff
in trade talks.” According to the official, “it was those attempted
discussions that Trump was referring when he said he refused to meet
Trudeau...rather than a request for a formal bilateral sit-down meeting,
which the Canadians said they did not make.” Meanwhile, Trudeau said
Thursday, “The Americans are finding that the negotiations are tough
because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be. A good and fair
deal is still very possible. But we won’t sign a bad deal for Canada or for
Canadians.”

According to the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=063-e68&t=c>
(9/27, Higgins), the Administration is “holding out for a last-minute
breakthrough in its talks with Canada” ahead of Monday’s deadline. A deal,
the Examiner says, is “seemingly a major long shot, though, following
Trump’s comments indicating that talks have broken down.” Canada, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=064-75b&t=c>
(9/27, Ljunggren) reports, has “shrugged off...Trump’s criticism that talks
to modernize NAFTA were moving too slowly and made clear it had to keep
negotiating as long as there was a chance of success.” However,
“insiders...say there is no alternative for Canada but to keep trying to
settle the differences between the two nations and ignore mounting pressure
from the US administration.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=065-4ee&t=c>
(9/27, Rappeport, Tankersley) reports that the Administration and Congress
are “on a collision course over the fate of the North American Free Trade
Agreement as the White House prepares to release text of a trade deal with
Mexico that does not include Canada.” Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said
Thursday that while the Administration hopes to strike a deal with Canada,
“he is confident that lawmakers would greenlight a revised Nafta that
includes only Mexico.” Said Mnuchin, “If for whatever reason we don’t reach
an agreement with Canada, we’ll have an agreement with Mexico, a great
agreement. I’m confident that Congress will pass that.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=066-82b&t=c>
(9/27, Mauldin), however, reports that several Democratic lawmakers briefed
by USTR Lighthizer on Thursday expressed discontent with Administration
plans to advance a Mexico-only deal. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) said after
the meeting, “This is an abject failure. I don’t think there’s going to be
any Democratic votes for this.”

*Concern Over Potential Auto Tariffs Said To Have Pushed Japan To
Agree To Talks. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=067-626&t=c>
(9/27, Rich) reports that “when Japan agreed to enter into bilateral trade
talks with the United States during meetings at the United Nations General
Assembly on Wednesday, the country’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, appeared
to have finally said ‘yes’ after two years of saying ‘no.’” According to
the Times, the Japanese government “has consistently insisted it was not
interested in entering into bilateral trade negotiations with the United
States. Instead, it has repeatedly invited the United States to re-enter a
broad trade pact among 11 countries from which President Trump withdrew
during his first week in office.” The Times says that “at first blush”
Japan “appeared...to have acquiesced to American pressure and the threat of
tariffs on imported cars by agreeing to start two-way negotiations to
‘promote Japan-US trade.’”

*Poll Shows Weak Support For Tariffs In Midwest. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=068-3c7&t=c>
(9/27, Davies) reports that a Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics Poll
has “found that a plurality of voters in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – states in America’s industrial heartland that
backed Trump in the 2016 presidential election – thought tariffs were not
good for themselves or their families.” According to Reuters, “Support for
tariffs among likely voters – people who have been identified as most
likely to take part in the upcoming election – varied from 33 percent in
Pennsylvania to 38 percent in Michigan. In all states, more were negative
on tariffs, varying from 44 percent in Indiana to 50 percent in Wisconsin.”

*Indiana Judge Orders Release Of Trump, Pence Emails On Carrier
Jobs. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=069-f3e&t=c>
(9/27, Ryckaert) reports that a judge in Marion County, Indiana has ordered
the governor’s office “to turn over emails between then-Gov. Mike Pence and
President-elect Donald Trump about jobs at Carrier Corp.” In a ruling this
week, Superior Court Judge Heather Welch gave Gov. Eric Holcomb, who
succeeded Pence, “30 days to deliver the documents, dating from Nov. 14 to
29, 2016, to Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana.” Trump “slammed” Carrier
during his 2016 campaign after the company announced that it was cutting
2,100 jobs in Indiana. He and Pence “ironed out a deal to keep about half
of the jobs from going to Mexico” in exchange for “up to $7 million in tax
incentives and training grants as long as it stayed open in Indianapolis
for 10 years.” Despite the deal, more than 600 workers still lost their
jobs.
Pompeo Urges UN To Keep North Korea Sanctions; Russia, China Object.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=06a-b3d&t=c>
(9/27, Lee) reports Secretary of State Pompeo said Thursday that
international sanctions on North Korea “must remain in place and vigorously
enforced if diplomatic efforts to get the country to denuclearize are to
succeed – a position that faced resistance from China and Russia.” Chairing
a special session of the UN Security Council, Pompeo said President Trump’s
“diplomatic breakthrough with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has led to a
point where the nuclear threat from the country can be resolved.” But
Pompeo cautioned that the “unprecedented diplomatic opening” would close
unless the pressure from sanctions is kept up. Pompeo, the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=06b-d43&t=c>
(9/27, Muñoz) reports, argued that current UN sanctions against Pyongyang
“must continue vigorously and without fail until we realize the fully,
final, verified denuclearization.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=06c-938&t=c>
(9/27, Harris) reports Pompeo told the Council, “We must not forget what’s
brought us this far: the historic international pressure campaign that this
council has made possible through the sanctions that it imposed.” Seeking
to “end his remarks on a positive note,” Pompeo added, “We do not yet know
what that day will bring, but we are hopeful that the current breakthrough
in diplomacy will yield a brighter future for North Korea and a safer world
for all of us.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=06d-5cc&t=c>
(9/27, Wroughton, Brunnstrom) reports that China and Russia, however,
“suggested the council consider easing the tough measures” to reward
Pyongyang for the “positive developments” this year toward
denuclearization. The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=06e-f94&t=c>
(9/27, A1, McBride) reports on its front page that Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov introduced a proposal that would permit joint economic
projects in North Korea, such as investments in rail and road
infrastructure. Lavrov argued that allowing such projects would send a
positive signal to North Korea as it takes steps to give up its nuclear
weapons.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=06f-c8a&t=c>
(9/27, Wadhams, Lee) reports that citing progress in talks between the US
and North Korea, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the Security Council
should consider invoking provisions that would lift some restrictions in
order to encourage Pyongyang “to move denuclearization further ahead.”
China Rejects Trump’s Claim Of Election Meddling As “Fictional.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=070-f87&t=c>
(9/27, Fifield) reports China “is flatly denying President Trump’s
accusation that it is interfering in November’s midterm elections, implying
that it is the United States that has a track record of meddling in other
countries’ business.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters
Thursday, “I believe the international community knows very well who is
most used to meddling in the internal affairs of others.” He “did not name
the United States directly,” but was responding to a question about Trump’s
allegation Wednesday that Beijing was attempting to influence the midterms.
The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=071-fae&t=c>
(9/27, Taylor) says Geng “lashed out” that the US should “stop its
unwarranted accusations and slandering.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=072-c55&t=c>
(9/27, Perlez) reports China also “stoutly defended...its right to publish
in an American newspaper a supplement that President Trump attacked as
interfering in the United States elections, saying the publication was
lawful and commonplace..” Some “liberal Chinese analysts,” however, said
the four-page supplement “showed a lack of judgment, and left China exposed
to the president’s criticism.” A Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=073-543&t=c>
(9/27, Chin) analysis says Trump’s allegations escalated tensions, but also
provided ammunition to senior Communist Party officials who argue that his
real intention is to stop China’s ascent as a global power.

*Rogin Urges US To Counter Chinese Influence In Djibouti. *Josh
Rogin, in his column in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=074-90a&t=c>
(9/27, Rogin), writes, “China has dramatically escalated its involvement”
in the Horn of Africa – “a strategic linchpin for the United States” –
posing “a daunting challenge for US policymakers.” Unlike before, Beijing
“has the power, influence and intention to combine its economic, diplomatic
and military interference in Africa to wide-ranging effect.” China’s
“steady encroachment into Djibouti...threatens the diplomatic and national
security interests of the United States and its allies.” Rogin calls for
the Administration to put “pressure on China to behave better in Djibouti”
and encourage that country’s “government to reject Beijing’s scheme to turn
that country into a Chinese vassal – before that instability further harms
US and African interests.”
Abbas: Trump’s Directives Have Undermined Potential For Two-State Solution.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=075-091&t=c>
(9/27, Bayoumy, Mohammed) reports that, in an address to the UN General
Assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “called on the United States
to reverse its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and cuts in aid
to the Palestinians,” saying, “With all of these decisions, this
administration has reneged on all previous US commitments, and has
undermined the two-state solution.” Abbas also said, “Now we view the US
with new eyes. The US cannot be a mediator single-handedly.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=076-bbe&t=c>
(9/27, Wainer, Ferziger) reports Abbas called for “the UN, Russia and the
European Union as well as the US” to take the lead in the peace process.

*NYTimes: UN Speeches Show Differences In Israeli, Palestinian
Views Of Their Conflict. *In an analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=077-4ca&t=c>
(9/27, Gladstone) reports that in their speeches at the General Assembly,
“the Israeli and Palestinian leaders gave diametrically different
appraisals of their protracted conflict,” which the Times interpreted as
“suggest[ing] the dispute is more intractable than ever.” While Abbas said
the new Israeli law making the right of national self-determination “unique
to the Jewish people,” reminded him of laws in “the apartheid state that
existed in South Africa,” Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu
“angrily rejected the analogy” and “denounced critics who assert Israel
cannot be Jewish and democratic.” Netanyahu also “thanked President Trump
and Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, for
their support.”
Netanyahu Accuses Iran Of Having “Secret Atomic Warehouse.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=078-b2d&t=c>
(9/27, Peltz, Charlton) reports that, in what “he presented as a big reveal
on the international community’s biggest stage,” at the UN General Assembly
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of having a “secret
atomic warehouse.” Displaying a poster-board map, Netanyahu “said Iranian
officials were keeping tons of nuclear equipment and material in a
warehouse near a rug-cleaning operation” in an area near Tehran. In
response, “Iranian state media called the announcement ‘ridiculous’ and an
‘illusion.’” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=079-42a&t=c>
(9/27, Sanger, Specia) reports Netanyahu’s speech “escalating a growing
confrontation with Iran.” The accusation also “poses a delicate political
challenge for the International Atomic Energy Agency.” If it doesn’t demand
access to the facility, “perhaps declaring that the evidence is too vague,
it may strengthen Mr. Netanyahu’s argument that the inspections have been
far too lax.” However, if it does seek access, “Iran may well resist,
claiming that they are tools of Israel, Iran’s chief adversary.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018092801biden&r=email-1eb9&l=07a-4cf&t=c>
(9/27