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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Friday, August 24, 2018 7:50 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Friday,
August 24, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=001-fe8&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Friday, August 24, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Biden Backs Carper In Contested Senate Primary. <#S1>

• In Op-Ed, Biden Honors Boswell As “Beacon Of What Politics Should Be.”
<#S2>

• New Hampshire 2020 Poll: Sanders Leads Democrats With 30%; Biden Second
With 17%. <#S3>

• Media Outlets Highlight Report On Biden Lauding McRaven After Rebuke Of
Trump. <#S4>

• Ex-Obama National Security Officials Reject Allegations In Memo By Trump
Aides. <#S5>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Amid Trump-Sessions Spat, Graham, Grassley Leave Door Open To Appointment
Of New AG. <#S6>

• Trump Says His Impeachment Would Decimate Stock Market. <#S7>

• Trump: “Flippers” Make Up “Lies,” Practice “Almost Ought To Be Outlawed.”
<#S8>

• Trump Doesn’t Rule Out Manafort Pardon. <#S9>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump South Africa Tweet Cast As Inaccurate, Draws Country’s Ire. <#S10>

• Bolton Meets With Russian Counterpart. <#S11>

• Iranian People Feeling Effects Of Sanctions. <#S12>

• Pompeo To Return To North Korea, Names Biegun As Special Representative.
<#S13>

• WSJournal A1: Iraq Facing Challenges In Mending Social Fabric After IS.
<#S14>

• Silver Star Recommended For Green Beret Team Leader Criticized In Niger
Ambush. <#S15>

• As Tariffs Are Implemented, US-China Talks End With “No Sign Of Progress.”
<#S16>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• EPA Estimates Less Economic Damage From Carbon Emissions Than Obama.
<#S17>

• Fox News Poll: ACA More Popular Than GOP Tax Cuts. <#S18>

• WPost, NYTimes: GOP Highlighting Illegal Immigration Through Tibbetts
Murder. <#S19>

• Report On Leaks From Starr’s Office Does Not Mention Kavanaugh. <#S20>

• McConnell: Senate Will Stay In Session Until 12 Judicial Nominees Are
Confirmed. <#S21>

• Reality Winner Receives Longest-Ever Sentence For Leaking To Media. <#S22>

• DNC: Attempted Hack Was False Alarm. <#S23>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• CDC Finds HPV-Related Cancers, HPV Vaccinations Both Growing. <#S24>

• Rural Cancer Patients Disproportionately Lack Access To Quality Care.
<#S25>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S26>

• Washington Post. <#S27>
Biden in the News
Biden Backs Carper In Contested Senate Primary.

In an online article, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=002-76e&t=c>
(8/23, Memoli) reported that former Vice President Joe Biden “is endorsing”
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) “as he faces his toughest primary battle in decades,
a rare move by the former vice president to take sides in a primary in his
home state. Biden has agreed to record a robocall on behalf of Carper,” who
said in a statement, “If there’s someone who knows me and knows Delaware,
it’s Joe. Together we’ve served the First State and fought to improve the
lives of countless Delawareans. I’m grateful for his friendship and his
encouragement to keep standing up to Donald Trump and fighting for
Delaware’s families.” The endorsement “pits Biden against the ascendant
progressive wing of the Democratic Party, in his own backyard.” Carper is
being challenged by Air Force veteran Kerri Harris (D), “who is seeking to
marshal the same forces” that aided Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) “in her
upset” primary defeat of Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY).
In Op-Ed, Biden Honors Boswell As “Beacon Of What Politics Should Be.”

In a Des Moines (IA) Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=003-1a8&t=c>
(8/23) op-ed, former Vice President Joe Biden fondly recalls ex-Rep.
Leonard Boswell (D-IA), who died last week, writing that the former
Congressman “drew strength from the soil and the soul of his state, and
those simple, American values he lived on his farm in Lamoni were reflected
in everything he did in Washington.” Biden writes that Boswell, “in his
dealings with colleagues of either party, was a beacon of what politics
should be – of what service to others can render and what we are capable of
achieving by working together. Leonard never sought to villainize those who
opposed him. We need that reminder today more than ever.”
New Hampshire 2020 Poll: Sanders Leads Democrats With 30%; Biden Second
With 17%.

In an online article, WMUR-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=004-262&t=c>
Manchester, NH (8/23, DiStaso) reported that a University of New Hampshire
Survey Center poll of 198 New Hampshire likely 2020 Democratic presidential
primary voters, taken Aug. 2-19, shows Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) leading a
hypothetical field of Democratic White House hopefuls with 30%, followed by
former Vice President Joe Biden at 19%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at
17%, and a raft of other Democrats lagging further behind in the single
digits. WMUR-TV added, “Among likely Republican primary voters, 56 percent
chose Trump, while 20 percent said they planned to vote for another
candidate and 24 percent were unsure.”
Media Outlets Highlight Report On Biden Lauding McRaven After Rebuke Of
Trump.

Several media outlets highlighted a Thursday morning report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=005-f8f&t=c>
from Axios’ Mike Allen – which was covered in yesterday’s briefing – who
said that former Vice President Joe Biden recently praised retired Adm.
William McRaven after he challenged President Trump to revoke his security
clearance. For example, citing Allen’s report, the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=006-493&t=c>
(8/23, Correll) said that Biden “lauded” McRaven “after he claimed it would
be an ‘honor’ for...Trump to revoke his security clearance as was done to
former CIA Director John Brennan last week.” Biden “called McRaven on
Sunday to say how ‘proud’ he was of him,” according to Allen’s report. The
Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=007-38d&t=c>
(8/23, Folley), drawing from Allen’s story, offered a similar report.
Ex-Obama National Security Officials Reject Allegations In Memo By Trump
Aides.

The New Yorker
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=008-25f&t=c>
(8/23, Entous; Farrow) reported that in early 2017, some of President
Trump’s advisers circulated within the NSC and other parts of the White
House a memo alleging that the “communications infrastructure” the Obama
White House used to “sell Obamacare and the Iran Deal to the public” had
been moved to the private sector. “These are the Obama loyalists who are
probably among those coordinating the daily/weekly battle rhythm,” the memo
said, adding they likely operated a “virtual war room.” The operation, the
memo claimed, was to “to undermine President Trump’s foreign policy”
through organized attacks in the press against Trump and his advisers.
According to The New Yorker, “Some of the same conspiracy theories
expressed in the memo appear in internal documents from an Israeli
private-intelligence firm that mounted a covert effort to collect damaging
information about” Obama officials “who had advocated for the Iran deal.”

Newsmax
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=009-64a&t=c>
(8/23) reported that the memo claims former Deputy National Security
Adviser Ben Rhodes was “likely the brain behind this operation,” while
Colin Kahl, a former National Security Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden,
was its “likely ops chief.” Rhodes and Kahl “both said in interviews the
allegations are false and no such organization exists.” Ned Price, who had
been a spokesman for the NSC under Obama, tweeted that the memo “chilling”
because “it’s written as if it were a study of an overseas terrorist cell
targeted by the US govt.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=00a-578&t=c>
(8/23, Bowden) reported, “Other former members of the Obama administration
who were named as possible members of the alleged group attacked the report
publicly on Twitter, describing it as a sinister and paranoid conspiracy
theory. ‘Wow @jonfavs @TVietor08 @danpfeiffer: who knew that building one
of the fastest growing media companies in America was just an elaborate
cover for a conspiracy to undermine Trump’s foreign policy?’ wrote Ronald
Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff who helmed the Obama administration’s
response to the Ebola crisis in 2014.”
Leading the News
Amid Trump-Sessions Spat, Graham, Grassley Leave Door Open To Appointment
Of New AG.

Media reports this morning highlight the prediction by Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R-SC) that President Trump will fire Attorney General Sessions after the
midterm elections. To a lesser degree, coverage also reports on Senate
Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley’s assurance that his committee would
make time for hearings for an eventual nominee. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=00b-18e&t=c>
(8/23, Chiacu) describes Graham as both “close to Trump” and “a fierce
defender of...Sessions against criticism from the president,” while Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=00c-cab&t=c>
(8/23, Pavlich) notes he said “it’s only a matter of time before Sessions
loses his job” and the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=00d-9d9&t=c>
(8/23, Enjeti) that he “predicted that...Trump will fire” him. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=00e-44c&t=c>
(8/23, Morin) reports “the comments from Graham...amount to something of a
turf war in the Senate,” as “Grassley has the option of becoming Finance
Chairman after the election, which would put Graham in charge of Judiciary
– and any confirmation of Sessions’ replacement.”

To Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=00f-f4b&t=c>
(8/23, Dennis), the two “key Republican senators signaled to...Trump that
he could replace...Sessions after the midterm elections in November, a move
that would open the way for firing Robert Mueller or constraining his probe
into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.” Said Bloomberg News, “The
president’s entitled to an attorney general he has faith in...and I think
there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to
have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice.” Grassley,
meanwhile, “changed his position on Thursday, saying in an interview that
he’d be able to make time for hearings for a new attorney general after
saying in the past that the panel was too busy to tackle that explosive
possibility.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=010-f00&t=c>
(8/23, story 3, 2:05, Jiang) reported “Trump often criticizes Sessions as
‘weak’ and ‘beleaguered’, but has stopped short of saying he plans to fire
Sessions.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=011-f5b&t=c>
(8/23, story 2, 2:20, Welker) indicated that “many Republicans on Capitol
Hill” are “warning the President.” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) was shown saying,
“It would be a very, very, very bad idea to fire the Attorney General
because he’s not executing his job as a political hack.” NBC added that
“even so, some of the Senate’s leading Republicans who once stood firmly
behind Sessions are signaling a willingness to consider a successor, but
not until after the midterms.” Under the headline “Senate Wall Of Support
For Sessions Splinters,” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=012-c8e&t=c>
(8/23, Johnson, Everett) reports that Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said in an
interview, “Do we really want to go through that kind of confirmation
fight? Is there anybody we can confirm? Our conference supports Jeff.”
However, “by day’s end, some senators said the writing was on the wall.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=013-112&t=c>
(8/23, Kim) also points out that “other senior Republicans strongly
cautioned that Trump would have a hard time winning Senate confirmation for
another nominee.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=014-b85&t=c>
(8/23, Ferrechio) quotes Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as saying, “I don’t see
the President being able to get someone else confirmed as attorney general
were he to fire...Sessions.” Senate Majority Whip Cornyn, meanwhile, “said
outright that Trump should not oust Sessions.” Said Cornyn, “I think it
would be bad for the country, it would be bad for the President, it would
be bad for the Department of Justice.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=015-3c4&t=c>
(8/23, Cohen) reports Trump declined in his “Fox News interview to say if
he would fire Sessions or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who
oversees Mueller.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=016-f15&t=c>
(8/23, Boyer, Mordock) notes that “asked if he might fire Mr. Sessions
after the mid-term elections,” Trump “didn’t answer directly,” saying[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=017-4aa&t=c>,
“There’s such corruption. ... It’s from before I got here. It’s the Obama
administration. They surveilled my campaign.”

The reporting paints the picture of a frustrated Trump lashing out
at Sessions after finding himself under increasing legal pressure stemming
from Michael Cohen’s plea deal. USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=018-ac0&t=c>
(8/23, Johnson, Hayes) refers to “a blistering critique” and to
“threatening criticism” from Trump that follows “months of withering
attacks,” and the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=019-e32&t=c>
(8/23, Miller, Lucey, Lemire) refers to a “newly incensed” Trump, who is
quoted as telling Fox News’ Fox & Friends, “You know the only reason I gave
him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter.” The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=01a-4af&t=c>
(8/23, Moore) says Trump “continued to air his frustration with...Sessions”
and “reiterated that had he known” his AG “was going to recuse himself, he
wouldn’t have appointed him attorney general.” Said[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=01b-9d2&t=c>
the President, “It’s a very, very sad day. Jeff Sessions recused himself,
which he shouldn’t have done or he should have told me.” In a separate
report, the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=01c-5ee&t=c>
(8/23, Moore) quotes Trump as saying, “He took my job, and then he said,
‘I’m going to recuse myself.’ I said, ‘What kind of man is this?’”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=01d-977&t=c>
(8/23, Boyer, Mordock) notes Trump accused Sessions of allowing DOJ “to
undermine his administration,” saying, “I put in an attorney general that
never took control of the Justice Department, Jeff Sessions. ... It’s sort
of an incredible thing.” The Times adds that Trump, among other things,
“pointed to the several examples of misapplied justice, including the case
of Imran Awan,” the former IT administrator for Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz (D-FL), “who received no jail time from a judge this week for bank
fraud after federal prosecutors didn’t pursue more serious charges of
running a spy ring inside Congress and stealing congressional computer
equipment.” To Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=01e-c9f&t=c>
(8/23, Chiacu), Trump “reprised a litany of complaints about the Justice
Department and the FBI, attacking both without providing evidence they had
treated him and his supporters unfairly.” Reuters says that “drew a sharp
rebuttal from” the Attorney General, and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=01f-8db&t=c>
(8/23, Morin) says that Sessions “took the unusual step of appearing to
publicly push back against...Trump.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=020-532&t=c>
(8/23, story 2, 2:05, Moran) said “Trump finally went too far
for...Sessions,” the “long-suffering loyalist”; the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=021-15d&t=c>
(8/23, Enjeti) reports that Sessions issued his statement after “Trump
trashed him”; and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=022-afa&t=c>
(8/23, Kim) that he “pushed back forcefully” in an “extraordinary
statement.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=023-460&t=c>
(8/23, Sullivan) quotes Sessions as saying, “While I am attorney general,
the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced
by political considerations.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=024-88e&t=c>
(8/23, Chalfant) terms Sessions’ words “one of his toughest statements
following criticism from...Trump,” and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=025-a62&t=c>
(8/23, Nicholas, Gurman), among other news outlets, runs a similar analysis
this morning.

Sean Hannity said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=026-ec0&t=c>
(8/23), “Less than one month after being sworn in,” Sessions “abandoned his
post, completely recused himself from all things Russia and Hillary. This
has been a tremendous disservice to the President and the country that he
serves. Knowing he would do this, he did have an obligation to tell the
President of the United States. Now here we are, a year and a half later.
Look at what the Russia investigation has become.”

*In Tweets Today, Trump Mocks Sessions, Urges Him To Probe
“Corruption On The ‘Other Side’.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=027-99d&t=c>
this morning, ““Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by
political considerations.” Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so
look into all of the corruption on the ‘other side’ including deleted
Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page,
Ohr......[continuing tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=028-46a&t=c>]....FISA
abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton
Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by
Dems – and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction?
Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!”
Trump Says His Impeachment Would Decimate Stock Market.

Some media analyses point to President Trump’s hypothetical comments about
impeachment in an interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” as giving
credence to that possibility. CBS This Morning[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=029-ab4&t=c>
(8/23), for example, reported on Trump’s comments with a banner reading “IF
I EVER GOT IMPEACHED” running beneath Norah O’Donnell, and after a report
on Trump’s comments about Michael Cohen’s plea deal and its potential
effect, a smiling Bianna Golodryga said, “It is fascinating to hear the
President even talking about the possibility of impeachment. ... How far
we’ve come.” At the opening of ABC’s Good Morning America[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=02a-724&t=c>
(8/23), George Stephanopoulos said Trump’s comments in the Fox News
interview “are going to charge up this impeachment debate as we head into
the midterms.”

Asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=02b-89a&t=c>
(8/23) whether he would advise Democratic candidates to discuss impeachment
on the campaign trail, Senate Minority Whip Durbin replied, “Absolutely
not. Absolutely not. Let me tell you, I don’t think we should not be
testing the waters one way or the other at this point. ... What both
parties can do to serve the cause of justice is to make sure that Bob
Mueller completes his investigation. If at the end of the investigation he
says there’s no culpability on the part of the President, so be it.
However, if he reaches an opposite conclusion, we have to take it to the
next step.”

Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=02c-be8&t=c>
(8/23), the Washington Times’ Charles Hurt was asked by Brian Kilmeade
about the likelihood that Democrats will try to impeach Trump. Hurt said,
“I think they are very serious about it...and you have a lot of people in
the party who really do want to see this happen, but I think the truth of
the matter is it’s a good political tactic for them. It’s a good way to gin
up their base. A lot of people in their base get excited by this.” However,
Hurt added that the impeachment talk “turns independents off.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=02d-7e5&t=c>
(8/23, McLaughlin) reports “liberal activists are increasingly agitating
for...Trump to be impeached after this week’s successful prosecutions of
his personal lawyer and former campaign chairman, putting Democratic
leaders in a tough spot.” The Times adds “Tom Steyer’s ‘Need to Impeach’
campaign announced a new round of ads, and Hollywood types took to Twitter
to wonder why the latest developments...aren’t enough evidence for leaders
to get on the impeachment train.” Another Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=02e-f1c&t=c>
(8/23, Muñoz) story reports that during his interview with Fox News’ Fox &
Friends
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=02f-082&t=c>
(8/23, Singman), Trump said “that the economy would be worse off if he
wasn’t in office.” Said Trump, “If I ever got impeached, I think the market
would crash. ... I think everybody would be very poor.” At any rate, “Trump
brushed off concerns about impeachment proceedings,” saying, “I don’t know
how you can impeach somebody who’s done a great job.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=030-199&t=c>
(8/23, Murray) says Trump “sat for the interview as impeachment talk
swirled around him in the wake of two nearly simultaneous legal punches:
former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s conviction on eight charges
brought by special counsel Robert Mueller and a guilty plea by former Trump
attorney Michael Cohen, who told a Manhattan federal court that he broke
campaign-finance laws ‘in coordination and at the direction of a candidate
for federal office.’”

Several media analyses took issue with Trump’s prediction about the
markets. In a story titled “No, Impeachment Will Not Crash The Stock
Market,” for example, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=031-350&t=c>
(8/23, White) says “Wall Street pros often talk about a potential relief
rally if Trump departs the White House early.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=032-724&t=c>
(8/23, Shell) also reports “Wall Street begs to differ” with Trump’s
assessment, “arguing that the forces driving the nearly $30 trillion U.S.
stock market are far bigger and stronger than the influence of one person,
even one as powerful as the nation’s commander-in-chief.” Under the
headline “Trump’s Impeachment Will Cause A Market Crash? Don’t Bet On It,”
The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=033-21c&t=c>
(8/23, Langford) reports that “it’s true that his forced exit would
probably cause short-term swings in both the broad S&P 500 and the
blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, which have climbed 34 percent and
40 percent, respectively, since Trump’s November 2016 election,” but “those
would probably even out with Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office,”
particularly “if Republicans maintained control of Congress.” In fact,
“history shows Wall Street weathering impeachment proceedings against two
of Trump’s predecessors in the past 50 years, Richard Nixon and Bill
Clinton.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=034-cf3&t=c>
(8/23, Wang, Ponczek) reports that one must “acknowledge that stocks have
enjoyed unusually strong gains since Election Day,” and that “changes in
earnings forecasts under Trump have been stark, compared with history.”
Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco Ltd., told
Bloomberg News, “First of all, it is very unlikely that...Trump would be
impeached. If an impeachment did happen, we’d experience volatility and
perhaps a significant sell-off, but I believe any such market moves would
be short-term in nature.” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp.
in London, said “The markets have largely rallied on tax reform and we’ve
seen that reflected in company earnings. But if there’s political
instability and the US economic growth slowed significantly, that would
have global implications.” Greg Valliere, chief global strategist at
Horizon Investments LLC, pointed out that “while the House might indict
Trump, Senate conviction still looks unlikely, unless there’s a major
change in the second point.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=035-cd1&t=c>
(8/23, Dopp, Sink) also says “Trump’s remarks built on his history of
defying presidential traditions by commenting extensively on the stock
market.” Bloomberg adds “US equities are in the middle of the longest bull
market ever, buoyed in part by his tax cut but predating him by years and
undergirded by corporate earnings and low interest rates.”

*In Tweet Today, Trump Says Economy “Setting Records On Virtually
Every Front.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=036-36d&t=c>
this morning, “Our Economy is setting records on virtually every front –
Probably the best our country has ever done. Tremendous value created since
the Election. The World is respecting us again! Companies are moving back
to the U.S.A.”

*Cavuto: “Tax Cuts And Soaring Markets” Do Not Justify Trump’s
Behavior. *The Week
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=037-c37&t=c>
(8/24) reports, “Fox News host Neil Cavuto once again asked Trump on
Thursday evening to stop saying things that are patently untrue. He listed
about a dozen of them, then explained why the favorite White House
counterpoint is a flawed one.” He continued, “I like tax cuts and soaring
markets as much as anybody, but what good is it to fatten your wallet if
you’ve lost your soul? If you forget your friends and you embolden your
enemies? ... You are so darned focused on promoting a financial boom that
you’ve failed to see that you are the one creating this moral bust.”

*Giuliani: Americans Would “Revolt” If Trump Were Impeached.
*The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=038-0d3&t=c>
(8/23, Lim) reports, “Rudy Giuliani believes Americans would ‘revolt’
if...Trump were impeached.” Giuliani told Sky News, “I think impeachment
would be totally horrible. ... I mean, there’s no reason. He didn’t collude
with the Russians, he didn’t obstruct justice, everything Cohen says has
been disproved. You’d only impeach him for political reasons and the
American people would revolt against that.”

*USA Today: Anxiety Among “Many” Trump “Aides And People Close To
The White House.” *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=039-2c3&t=c>
(8/23, Jackson) reports that “in interviews with a half-dozen Trump aides
and people close to the White House, many described rising concerns about
federal inquiries underway.” USA Today adds that “one official” said, “I
think people are genuinely shaken. ... They’re still trying to digest it –
process it.” Meanwhile, “some aides predicted that Trump will be
increasingly aggressive as the investigations roll on into the fall, along
with high-stakes political campaigns for control of Congress.”

*Conway: “Where Exactly Is This Fictitious Russian Collusion?” *In
a heated segment on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=03a-6e7&t=c>
(8/23) – during which host Chris Cuomo and Kellyanne Conway talked over and
interrupted one another throughout – Conway said, “The President has said
that he has not lied and the President has said that no charges were filed
against him in either the Manafort or the Cohen matters, as you know. And
that’s important here. The other thing that’s really important to note,
especially for the CNN viewers, is that despite a year and a half of
searching high and low, where exactly is this fictitious Russian
collusion?”

*Fox News Poll: Approval Of Mueller Probe At 59%. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=03b-42e&t=c>
(8/23, Muñoz) reports “a majority of voters approve of Robert Mueller’s
probe into obstruction of justice and potential ties between Trump campaign
and Russian actors, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday
evening.” The Times adds that “according to the new data, 59 percent of
registered voters approved of the special counsel’s investigation in
August. That number jumped up 11 points from the same poll in July.” There
was also “a slight increase in voters who said they believed the Russia
probe will find Mr. Trump guilty of impeachable crimes. In August a 40
percent plurality saw a guilty conclusion was either extremely or very
likely, while 36 percent gave the same answer a month prior.” At the
opening of MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=03c-adf&t=c>
(8/23), Mika Brzezinski pointed to the new Fox News poll and said, “How
stupid are Republicans, at this point, to still stand by this President? To
stand by all of this and say nothing?”

*GOP Urges “Most Imperiled Incumbents” To “Speak Out On Trump.” *Under
the headline “Republicans Urge Embattled Incumbents To Speak Out On Trump,”
the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=03d-ac0&t=c>
(8/23, Martin, Fandos) reports “senior Republican Party leaders began
urging their most imperiled incumbents on Wednesday to speak out about the
wrongdoing surrounding” Trump, with Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) “warning, ‘Where
there’s smoke, and there’s a lot of smoke, there may well be fire.’” The
Times adds that “by urging some candidates to speak out or at least stay
silent, Republican leaders...risked opening the first significant rift
between the Trump White House and the Republican-controlled Capitol.”

David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=03e-d9e&t=c>
(8/23) that “many Americans will probably remember how they heard the news
Tuesday that 12 of our fellow citizens had voted to convict Trump’s former
campaign chairman...and that Trump’s former personal lawyer...had pleaded
guilty to eight counts of his own.” Now “it seems more likely that America
is heading toward a gradual recovery from the trauma of the Trump
presidency,” and “for Republicans, there is a last chance over these next
two months to finally show some guts and principle by separating themselves
from Trump.”

*Trump Tower Meeting Translator Had Interpreted For Clinton, Kerry,
Obama. *Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=03f-8e6&t=c>
(8/23, Klein) reports “Anatoli Samochornov, a Russian translator who was
present at the infamous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with campaign
officials, testified that he was previously an interpreter for Hillary
Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama.” Samochornov also “said that he held
a ‘public trust’ clearance from the US government,” which “provides a level
of screening for individuals who do government work described as sensitive,
but whose positions do not require a security clearance.” A Breitbart
report previously “noted” last year that “Samochornov’s LinkedIn profile
further describes his work on behalf of the State Department.”

*Coulter: Russia Probe “Crackpot Idea” Came From Mind That Conjured
Up “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.” *In a column published by the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=040-9a9&t=c>
(8/23) titled “The Pantsuit That Cried Wolf,” Ann Coulter writes, “If
you’ve ever wondered how Russia became America’s most fearsome enemy, long
after that country gave up communism, gulags, forced starvations and mass
murder (all of which liberals were cool with), the answer is: This crackpot
idea came from the same woman who blamed a ‘vast right-wing conspiracy’ for
Monica Lewinsky.” It is “classic Hillary,” and “the entire Russian
collusion gag was invented to assuage the potty pantsuit’s embarrassment at
having lost a second election that was fixed for her to win.”
Trump: “Flippers” Make Up “Lies,” Practice “Almost Ought To Be Outlawed.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=041-c9b&t=c>
(8/23, Murray) reports that in his interview which aired yesterday on Fox
News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=042-c5a&t=c>
(8/23), President Trump said that “cutting a deal with prosecutors by
offering information on a former boss or superior ‘almost ought to be
illegal.’” Said Trump, “This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I
know all about flipping. Thirty, 40 years, I have been watching flippers.
Everything is wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on
whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go. It almost ought
to be outlawed. ... It’s not fair.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=043-b4d&t=c>
(8/23, Samuels) notes “Trump suggested that individuals who flip aren’t
being truthful,” saying that “they ‘make up stories’ and ‘just make up
lies.’” Added Trump, “They make up things and now they go from 10 years to
they’re a national hero.” Anderson Cooper said on CNN’s Anderson
Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=044-edd&t=c>
(8/23), “Somewhere former mob boss, John Gotti, rotting in his grave, must
be smiling because the President of the United States is now on record
attacking a former close associate for cooperating with law enforcement and
praising a convicted felon for staying silent, perhaps even thinking about
rewarding that silence him with a pardon.”

Along similar lines, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=045-fea&t=c>
(8/23, Landler) reports that “for much of the 1980s and 1990s, ‘the Dapper
Don’ and ‘the Donald’ vied for supremacy on the front pages of New York’s
tabloids,” but Gotti “died in a federal prison...while...Trump went on to
be president of the United States.” But Trump, who “faces his own
mushrooming legal troubles,” has taken” to using a vocabulary that sounds
uncannily like that of Mr. Gotti and his fellow mobsters in the waning days
of organized crime, when ambitious prosecutors like Rudolph W. Giuliani
tried to turn witnesses against their bosses to win racketeering
convictions.”

*Vanity Fair: National Enquirer Publisher Given Immunity By
Prosecutors. *Writing in Vanity Fair
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=046-6bc&t=c>
(8/23), Gabriel Sherman reports, “Trump’s most powerful media ally next to
Fox News has broken with him.” Citing “two sources briefed on the Cohen
investigation,” prosecutors “granted immunity to David Pecker, chairman of
The National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., and A.M.I.’s chief
content officer, Dylan Howard, so they would describe Trump’s involvement
in Cohen’s payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen
McDougal during the 2016 campaign.” Vanity Fair adds that “Pecker’s
apparent decision to corroborate Cohen’s account, and implicate Trump in a
federal crime, is another vivid example of how isolated Trump is becoming
as the walls close in and his former friends look for ways out.” A “Trump
friend” is quoted as saying, “Holy s[**]t, I thought Pecker would be the
last one to turn.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=047-49d&t=c>
(8/23) notes “court papers connected to...Cohen’s guilty plea Tuesday say
Pecker offered to help Trump squash negative stories during the 2016
campaign.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=048-09a&t=c>
(8/23, lead story, 3:35, Llamas) reported that “one of his closest
long-time friends” is “turning on the President,” and added that “a source
tell[s] ABC News he helped prosecutors investigating Cohen and hush money
payments for two women during the campaign.” Reporting on the Pecker story, NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=049-2f1&t=c>
(8/23, lead story, 3:20, Jackson) noted that the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=04a-ca6&t=c>
(8/23, Horwitz), “citing people familiar with the arrangement, is reporting
on the existence of a safe that was used to keep documents related to hush
money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of the cozy
relationship with...Trump.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=04b-0d1&t=c>
(8/23, story 4, 0:45, Glor) also noted the AP story. The story was first
broken Wednesday night by the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=04c-c9f&t=c>
(8/23, Hong, Alpert), and the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=04d-67a&t=c>
(8/23, Rutenberg, Ruiz) reports “the agreement adds another unusual aspect
to a case never seen before in the annals of presidential campaign finance
history.” It “means that a company that operates as a news organization is
cooperating with federal authorities on an investigation that involves its
work with a campaign.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=04e-8c1&t=c>
(8/23, Miller) and New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=04f-2da&t=c>
(8/23, Fredericks), among other news outlets, also report the story.

*Media Analyses Weigh In On Trump Claim That Cohen Campaign
Violations Are Not Crimes. *In his interview on Fox News’ Fox & Friends
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=050-f15&t=c>
(8/23, Singman), Trump was shown saying, “You can say something bad about
Donald Trump, and you’ll go down to two years or three years, which is the
deal [Cohen] made. In all fairness to him, most people are going to do that
and I’ve seen it many times. ... And, by the way, he pled to two counts
that aren’t a crime, which nobody understands. ... Those two counts aren’t
even a crime.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=051-42d&t=c>
(8/23, Schouten) reports that both “on television and on Twitter,” Trump
argued that “the two campaign-finance crimes his former lawyer Michael
Cohen admitted to aren’t actually crimes,” though “campaign-finance experts
say his arguments don’t make much sense.” These “experts” say “Trump would
be better off arguing the payments were not related to the campaign at
all,” a “defense that worked for another politician, former Democratic
presidential contender John Edwards, who was put on trial for $1 million in
secret payments his campaign donors made to hide his pregnant mistress from
view ahead of the 2008 election.”

Neal Katyal, an acting solicitor general in the Obama
Administration, writes in a New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=052-838&t=c>
(8/23) op-ed that “when two or more people join together to break the law,
as...Cohen says he and the president did, the penalties can be harsh.”
Trump “needs a new defense” after “claiming that what he did wasn’t a crime
and so it can’t be prosecuted. That argument has no basis, either, and is
inconsistent with centuries of Anglo-American law.” On the other hand, Dan
Backer, founding attorney of political.law, writes in a USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=053-29d&t=c>
(8/23) op-ed that “at the very worst, even if re-characterized to be
campaign-related, the ‘violation’ amounts to underreporting relatively
insignificant contributions from a candidate to his own campaign.” Yet “the
liberal mob never misses an opportunity to undermine the Trump presidency,
lobbying for an endless investigation into President Trump. All this after
the Mueller investigation has already cost roughly $20 million – and no
Russian collusion found.”

*Avenatti Says He’s Been Retained By Three Other Women Regarding
“Hush Payments.” *Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=054-252&t=c>
(8/23), “We have been retained and accepted the retention on behalf of
three other women relating to other hush payments. I made that known a
number of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I don’t have client approval yet to
come forward with details relating to their circumstances, their situation.
But, I know for a fact there are multiple women beyond Miss McDougal and my
client.”
Trump Doesn’t Rule Out Manafort Pardon.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=055-a83&t=c>
(8/23, Murray) reports President Trump “refused to rule out pardoning his
former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.” During yesterday’s “Fox &
Friends” interview, Trump “praised Manafort for going through with a trial
rather than taking a plea deal that could potentially have involved him
turning against Trump.” Said[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=056-be6&t=c>
Trump, “One of the reasons I respect Paul Manafort so much is he went
through that trial. You know, they make up stories. People make up
stories.” Politico adds that “asked directly whether he would grant a
pardon to his former campaign chairman, the president did not deny the
possibility,” but “said he has ‘great respect’ for the legal morass
Manafort has been through.” Added[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=057-860&t=c>
Trump, “I would say what he did, some of the charges they threw against
him, every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does.”

After playing a lengthy clip of her interview with Trump on Fox
News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=058-def&t=c>
(8/23), Ainsley Earhardt said Trump “never said he was going to pardon
Manafort, but it sounded like, to me, that he might be considering it. He
didn’t say ‘yes,’ but he didn’t say ‘no.’” Steve Doocy added, “He sounded
like he was sympathetic toward Paul Manafort.” Later[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=059-ec2&t=c>
(8/23), Brian Kilmeade said, “The problem with Paul Manafort is those
charges are real and have nothing to do with Trump. He’d be pardoned for
something that...there is overwhelming evidence that he did, especially the
next trial coming up, so that’s pretty much the issue. ... That might be
where the rubber hits the road For Republicans. You don’t want to alienate
Republicans.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=05a-38d&t=c>
(8/23, lead story, 3:20, Jackson) reported that “given Manafort has another
trial next month, could the President’s refusal to rule out a pardon amount
to witness tampering?” NBC contributor Chuck Rosenberg was shown saying,
“That is at least evidence of witness tampering. It may not be the crime of
witness tampering. Buying a ski mask isn’t a crime, but if I use it in a
crime, it’s evidence of the crime.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=05b-5cb&t=c>
(8/23, Dawsey) reports, meanwhile, that Rudy Giuliani said in an interview
that “Trump asked his lawyers several weeks ago for their advice on the
possibility of pardoning...Manafort and other aides accused of crimes.” His
lawyers “counseled the president against the idea of pardoning anyone
linked to the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016
election, according to Giuliani, saying Trump should at least wait until
special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has concluded his probe.” Giuliani
“said the president agreed and did not push the issue further.” Giuliani is
quoted as saying, “He said yes. ... He agreed with us.” Jim Acosta
said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=05c-37b&t=c>
(8/23), “It seems the White House was caught in another false statement
after...[White House Press Secretary Sarah] Sanders told reporters there
hadn’t been any discussions pardoning...Manafort. Now the Washington Post
is reporting yes, the President did bring it up with his legal team.”
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=05d-a91&t=c>
(8/23, Cheney) similarly points out that “the acknowledgment that Trump
seriously explored such a move contradicts...Sanders’ assertion on
Wednesday that a pardon for Manafort was ‘not something that has been up
for discussion.’”

*Lone Manafort Jury Holdout Is Trump Supporter. *Other news
stories, meanwhile, point out one Manafort juror was the lone holdout
against conviction on all counts. The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=05e-ebc&t=c>
(8/23, Zapotosky) reports “all but one of the jurors wanted to
convict...Trump’s former campaign chairman on every charge he faced –
though she criticized special counsel prosecutors as seeming ‘bored’
throughout the trial and said she believed their true motive was to ‘get
the dirt on Trump.’” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=05f-9a9&t=c>
(8/23, Haag, Lafraniere) notes that “that juror, Paula Duncan, who
described herself as a strong supporter of...Trump, said[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=060-d14&t=c>
on Fox News that even though she believed the prosecutors had targeted Mr.
Manafort in hopes of gaining information against Mr. Trump, the evidence
against him ‘was overwhelming.’” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=061-e3d&t=c>
(8/23, Gerstein), the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=062-eef&t=c>
(8/23, Tucker, Day), Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=063-f4c&t=c>
(8/23, Layne), USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=064-b89&t=c>
(8/23, Johnson, Heath) and Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=065-3ce&t=c>
(8/23, Viswanatha), among other news outlets, also report the story.
Foreign Policy
Trump South Africa Tweet Cast As Inaccurate, Draws Country’s Ire.

Under the headline “Trump Speaks Out About Africa Again, And Many Cringe,”
the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=066-1a3&t=c>
(8/23, Anna) reports President Trump tweeted Wednesday night that he has
asked Secretary of State Pompeo “to ‘closely study’ alleged land seizures
from white farmers in South Africa.” In response, “many South Africans were
stunned.” According to the AP, “Trump rarely turns his attention to Africa
– the tweet was his first since he became president to mention the
continent by name – but when he does it often backfires.” Meanwhile, some
observers suggests “Trump is using his latest Africa comments to try to
deflect attention from his sprawling legal troubles at home.” The Los
Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018082401biden&r=email-85f8&l=067-1ae&t=c>
(8/23, Pearce) reports Trump “embraced a longtime white-nationalist talking
point” and “drew applause from white nationalists in the U.S.” Meanwhile,
the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Twitter, “This is a white
supremacist talking point.” South Africa’s land distribution issue “has
been closely followed in the U.S. by white nationalists and far-right
figures, who have hyped stories of black-on-white violence in South Africa,
as they often do in the U.S., to help push their political messages about
the need for white power.”

Under the headline “Trump Cites False Claims Of Widespread Attacks
On White Farmers In South Africa,” the New York Times
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(8/23, De Greef, Karasz) reports Trump’s tweet “gives prominence to a false
narrative pushed by some right-wing groups in South Africa that there have
been numerous seizures of white-owned land and widespread killings of white
farmers.” Such claims are “disputed by official figures and the country’s
biggest farmer’s group.” As South Africa continues to struggle “with the
effects of apartheid and widespread economic inequality...Mr. Trump’s tweet
was likely to inflame the divisive landownership debate.” South African
Minister of International Relations Lindiwe Sisulu “described the tweet as
‘regrettable’ and ‘based on false information.’” The country’s government
argues that “expropriating farms is necessary to deal with longstanding
inequities and that only unused land would be subject to seizure,
suggesting that land that is being actively farmed would be safe.”

The Wall Street Journal
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(8/23, Steinhauser) reports that South Africa’s government pushed back
against Trump’s tweet with its own, writing, “South Africa totally rejects
this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us
of our colonial past.” Reuters
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(8/23) reports South Africa’s presidency “summoned U.S. charge d’affaires
Jessye Lapenn to protest” Trump’s tweet. USA Today
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(8/23, Shesgreen) reports, “The South African government on Thursday
slammed President Donald Trump’s tweet.”

In an analysis, the Washington Post
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(8/23, Nakamura, Hudson, Stanley-Becker) reports Trump’s tweet “prompted
fierce backlash” in South Africa “and fresh criticism in the United States
that he is compromising American foreign policy to stoke his far-right
political base.” Patrick Gaspard, who served as US ambassador to South
Africa under President Obama, said Trump “uses the occasion to lift a
white-supremacist meme from the darkest place he can find.” Sens.
Christopher Coons (D-DE) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said in a joint statement,
“President Trump’s unfortunate tweet in response to a Fox News broadcast
should not distract the United States from improving relations with South
Africa.” Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert “confirmed
that Trump and Pompeo discussed South Africa and added that Pompeo promised
the president he would review the matter of land being taken from white
farmers.”

In a “Fact Check” analysis, the AP
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(8/23, Meldrum) reports that while in South Africa “the killings of farmers
have been taking place for more than 20 years and are widely seen as part
of South Africa’s high crime rate, experts say white farmers have not been
the target” and there are no “signs of widespread killings.” Additionally,
“no land seizures have taken place in South Africa,” but President Cyril
Ramaphosa and his party state they plan “to expropriate land without
compensation.” CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
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(8/23) reported that “there’s not large-scale killing of farmers. Research
from one of South Africa’s largest farmer organizations shows it’s reached
a 20-year low.” The South African government is “hitting back against the
President,” tweeting, “South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception
which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.”

In an editorial, the New York Times
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(8/23) criticizes Trump for repeating “the false narratives of right-wing
white South African groups claiming widespread seizures of white-owned land
and a continuing ‘white genocide.’” While the Times questions the wisdom of
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s proposed method to address his
country’s gross inequality, it blasts Trump’s “clueless grasp at a racially
tinged political diversion” that was “bereft of any context, sympathy or
understanding.” The Times casts the move as part of a “familiar tactic of
deflecting attention from yet another scandal by issuing some outrageous
tweet, to come down hard on the wrong side of an issue he knows nothing
about, based on no more than a slanted Fox News program.”
Bolton Meets With Russian Counterpart.

The Washington Post
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(8/23, Deyoung) reports that following a meeting with his Russian
counterpart, National Security Adviser Bolton said that the Administration
is “very, very early in the process of considering” what it plans to do
about the New Start agreement, “the main existing arms control treaty
between the United States and Russia,” which expires in 2021. Bolton listed
possibilities including extending the agreement, renegotiating it, or
returning to 2002 Moscow Treaty which New Start replaced. Bolton said, “All
of these are things the United States is going to consider.” Bolton said he
and Putin adviser Nikolai Patrushev made “a lot of progress” in discussing
“how to restore in certain respects diplomatic and other exchanges and ways
in which we could cooperate and expand our common efforts” but did not
provide details.

*Bolton Says He Warned Russian Counterpart Against Meddling In US
Elections. *Reuters
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(8/23, Nebehay, Dehghanpisheh) reports from Geneva that Bolton said that he
“warned Moscow against meddling in the U.S. midterm elections in November
during talks with the head of Russia’s National Security Council.” Bolton
is quoted as saying, “I made it clear we wouldn’t tolerate [election]
meddling in 2018 and that we were prepared to take necessary steps to
prevent it from happening.” According to Reuters, Bolton also said he
“raised with Nikolai Patrushev the issue of tightening economic sanctions
against Iran and said they had discussed a phased withdrawal of Iran’s
presence in Syria, but gave no details.”

*Bolton: Syria Was Main Topic In Trump-Putin Helsinki Meeting. *
Breitbart
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(8/23, Glick) reports Bolton said in an interview, “Syria was the main
topic of discussion during President Trump’s meeting with President Putin
in Helsinki.” He added that during the meeting between Putin and Trump and
with their advisers, Bolton raised the issue of Golan Heights with Putin
“and he basically said that he isn’t challenging the legitimacy of Israeli
control over the Golan Heights.” Bolton also said, “Hezbollah forces in
Syria have to go back to Lebanon,” adding, “They are functionally part of
the [Iranian Revolutionary Guards] Qods Force.”
Iranian People Feeling Effects Of Sanctions.

The Washington Post
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(8/23, Sabbagh) reports, “With the Trump administration reimposing
sanctions aimed at cutting off Iran economically from the world, it’s the
Iranian people who are feeling isolated. ... The currency is collapsing,
food prices have soared, some imported medicines are out of stock and even
newsprint has become so hard to come by that some newspapers are scaling
back or folding.” Airfares have risen to such an extent that many
middle-class Iranians are unable to travel, while “economic stagnation,
high inflation, and anger over government corruption have fueled low-level
but consistent protests in many of Iran’s working-class precincts.”

*Google Removes YouTube Accounts Linked To Iranian State
Broadcaster. *USA Today
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(8/23, Guynn) reports, “Google has removed dozens of YouTube channels it
says are linked to an influence operation run by Iran’s state broadcaster.”
Google has shut down 39 accounts that “had ties to the Islamic Republic of
Iran Broadcasting, or IRIB.” The Wall Street Journal
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(8/23, A1, Volz, McMillan) reports that Google also terminated six Blogger
accounts and 13 Google+ social network accounts. The New York Times
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(8/23, Wakabayashi) reports the accounts were terminated “for running an
influence campaign starting as early as January 2017 while disguising its
connection to Iran, said Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president of
global affairs.”

*GOP Senators Urge Treasury To Expel Iran From SWIFT Network. *The
AP
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(8/23, Lee) reports Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is leading a group of 16 GOP
senators “calling for Iran to be expelled from the main financial system
that oversees international bank transfers.” In a letter, the GOP senators
urged Treasury Secretary Mnuchin “on Thursday to take ‘all necessary steps’
to disconnect Iran from the SWIFT network, which allows financial
institutions to send and receive information about banking transactions.”
The letter said, “Quick robust enforcement will be critical for the
administration’s maximum pressure strategy to succeed, both immediately to
drain the Iranian regime’s resources for malign behavior and as a signal of
America’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of our sanctions
architecture.”

*EU Announces Financial Support Package For Iranian Economy. *The AP
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(8/23, Press) reports the European Union is “announcing its first financial
support package to help bolster Iran’s flagging economy, part of the bloc’s
commitment to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive.” The European Commission on