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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Friday, December 14, 2018 8:01 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Friday,
December 14, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=001-3ed&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Friday, December 14, 2018 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• Biden Addresses “Enthusiastic” Crowd At University Of Utah. <#S1>

• Biden Atop Kiplinger’s Rankings Of The Top 2020 Democratic Presidential
Contenders. <#S2>

• Potential 2020 Hopefuls Biden, Harris Pose For Photo. <#S3>

• Columnist Skewers Notion Of Biden-Romney “Unity Ticket.” <#S4>

• Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Biden “Has More Than A Little Questionable
Baggage.” <#S5>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Media Analyses: Trump’s Explanation For Hush Payments Has Evolved. <#S6>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Senate Condemns MBS For Khashoggi’s Murder, Withdraws Support For War In
Yemen. <#S7>

• Bolton: Trump Will Not Meet With Putin While Russia Holds Ukrainian Ships
And Crews. <#S8>

• Bolton: US To Counter China, Russia Influence In Africa. <#S9>

• China Resumes US Soybean Purchases. <#S10>

• House Passes Resolution Condemning Genocide In Burma 394-1. <#S11>

• May In Brussels To Seek Brexit Concessions From EU. <#S12>

• Strasbourg Shooting Suspect Killed In Shootout With Police. <#S13>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Trump: Mexico “Paying For The Wall” Through USMCA. <#S14>

• Trump Narrows Down Chief Of Staff Search To Five Candidates. <#S15>

• Trump Criticizes GM’s Barra On Closings, Switch To Electric Vehicle Focus.
<#S16>

• Senate To Vote On Monday To Advance Criminal Justice Reform Bill. <#S17>

• Congress Passes Legislation Requiring Lawmakers To Reimburse Taxpayers
For Harassment Settlements. <#S18>

• Pelosi Says House Democrats Will Seek Trump Tax Returns. <#S19>

• Appellate Court Narrows Administration Birth Control Block To Five States.
<#S20>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Risk Of Breast Cancer May Rise After Childbirth, But Still Is Low. <#S21>

• Immunotherapy Combination Fails To Improve Survival Versus Chemotherapy
As Initial Treatment For Patients With Metastatic NSCLC, Study Indicates.
<#S22>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S23>

• Washington Post. <#S24>
Biden in the News
Biden Addresses “Enthusiastic” Crowd At University Of Utah.

The Deseret (UT) News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=002-00f&t=c>
(12/13, Roche) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden addressed “an
enthusiastic University of Utah audience Thursday, but never mentioned a
possible run for president in 2020. The closest he came was during a
discussion about the theme of his book, ‘Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope,
Hardship, and Purpose,’ that deals with his eldest son, Beau, being
diagnosed with brain cancer and” passing away. Said Biden, “(Beau) really
wanted me to run for president [in 2016] and I had planned on” doing so.
However, Biden “said his son never asked him to promise he would seek the
White House, even though that’s how some have interpreted the story in his
book about an exchange they had shortly before his son’s death in 2015.
‘That wasn’t the case. It was, ‘Promise me you’ll stay engaged,’’ Biden”
said.

The Salt Lake (UT) Tribune
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=003-ad6&t=c>
(12/13, Rodgers) reports that Biden “said the promise was simply about
staying ‘engaged in the things that animate your life.’ Since his son died
of brain cancer, Biden said he’s tried to live up to that goal. ‘For the
first year and a half, there wasn’t a day I woke up and I didn’t ask
myself...’Is he proud of me? Is he proud that I am staying engaged?’’ Biden
said.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=004-782&t=c>
(12/13, Whitehurst) reports that during his appearance, Biden said he
“initially refused to run with then-presidential candidate Barack Obama a
decade ago, but his family ultimately convinced him he had to support an
African-American candidate with a real chance of winning. ... Joining the
ticket ‘turned out to be the best decision my family ever made for me,’ he
said with a smile.”

Salt Lake City Weekly
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=005-700&t=c>
(12/13, Lyons) reports that Biden “spoke highly of Obama, ‘a man of
absolute character and integrity.’ In his only indirect reference to
President Donald Trump, Biden said he was particularly proud that he and
Obama made it through eight years without a major scandal. ‘And by the way,
all those memes are true,’ Biden joked. ‘He made the first friendship
bracelet, not me.’”

In a broadcast, KTVX-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=006-9d0&t=c>
Salt Lake City (12/14) reported that Biden “gave no indication if he will
pursue a 2020 election bid. Instead, he thanked the Huntsman Cancer
Institute for the hard work that those folks do there. He did not accept
his speaking fee, by the way, instead letting the university keep that
money for scholarships.” On its website, KUER-FM
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=007-8af&t=c>
Salt Lake City (12/13, Ritchey) reported that Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO
Mary Beckerle “introduced Biden at the event and praised the vice president
for fundraising and promoting cancer science research. ‘[He is] a person
who turns adversity into opportunity,’ she said.”

In an online article, KTVX-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=008-3c3&t=c>
Salt Lake City (12/13, Reeser) reported that Biden “urged students to
pursue their passions, not just vocations that would pay the most money.”
The Daily Utah Chronicle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=009-ab7&t=c>
(12/14, Collett) reports that Biden “concluded with expressing his
admiration for Utah, the LDS church leaders and John Huntsman. He recalls
the best gift he ever received was from an LDS apostle who gave him a seven
volume book on his genealogy. He enjoys coming to Utah, ‘even though you
vote the other way.’” Among the local TV stations broadcasting reports on
Biden’s visit were KUCW-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=00a-403&t=c>
Salt Lake City (12/13), KSL-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=00b-bc2&t=c>
Salt Lake City (12/13), and KTVX-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=00c-a95&t=c>
Salt Lake City (12/13).
Biden Atop Kiplinger’s Rankings Of The Top 2020 Democratic Presidential
Contenders.

Kiplinger
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=00d-a6f&t=c>
(12/13, Duran) offers its updated rankings of “the top contenders for the
[2020] Democratic presidential nomination.” Topping the list is former Vice
President Joe Biden, who’d “be the clear front-runner,” should he run. Next
is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), followed by Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), and
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) rounds out the top
five.
Potential 2020 Hopefuls Biden, Harris Pose For Photo.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=00e-3df&t=c>
(12/13, Anapol) reported that former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen.
Kamala Harris (D-CA) “posed for a photo together in Washington, DC, amid
speculation that both politicians will launch White House bids. Harris’s
communications director, Lily Adams, tweeted the photo Wednesday afternoon,
writing: ‘You just never know who you might run into in DC.’” The two “are
both considered potential candidates to challenge President Trump in 2020,
with Biden repeatedly topping polls – something that in part reflects his
high name recognition among the public.”
Columnist Skewers Notion Of Biden-Romney “Unity Ticket.”

In his Boston Herald
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=00f-b94&t=c>
(12/14) column, Joe Battenfeld skewers what he describes as “the latest
media creation to hit Washington – the newly-christened ‘unity ticket,’
starring Joe Biden and his sidekick, Mitt Romney. The theory is that Biden
runs as a third-party candidate in 2020, with Mitt as his running mate,
attracting centrist voters looking for an alternative to liberal Democrats
and President Trump.” Battenfeld adds, “Liberals already hate the idea. So
do Trumpers. ... The only thing this Biden-Romney ticket would accomplish
is putting Trump back in the White House. It’s a dream ticket for the
president, but a nightmare for Democrats.”
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Biden “Has More Than A Little Questionable Baggage.”

In a negative op-ed that appears on the website of Pasadena (CA) Weekly
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=010-ed1&t=c>
(12/13), author and MSNBC contributor Earl Ofari Hutchinson pans a
potential 2020 presidential bid by former Vice President Joe Biden, writing
that Biden “has more than a little questionable baggage. First, he is too
strongly identified with former President Barack Obama. [President] Trump
would Obama-bait him to death.” Hutchinson calls Biden’s two previous runs
for president “utter disasters,” and cites the former Vice President’s age
and handling of the Anita Hill hearings as drawbacks. Hutchinson says,
“There’s little evidence that Biden, if he chooses to run, could deflect
assaults from the GOP over his gaffes, his close relationship with Obama,
and his abysmal failures to mount any kind of credible campaign during the
times he was an actual candidate.”
Leading the News
Media Analyses: Trump’s Explanation For Hush Payments Has Evolved.

In a series of tweets and in an interview with Fox News Thursday, President
Trump denied directing Michael Cohen to violate the law by making hush
payments to women who alleged they had affairs with him. Trump argued that
as a lawyer, Cohen should have known campaign finance law and that the
payments did not violate campaign finance law and that prosecutors added
those charges against Cohen to “embarrass” him. Media coverage of Trump’s
comments is extensive, with many reports casting them as the latest in a
string of changing explanations from the President about the payments.

Jonathan Karl said on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=011-f8a&t=c>
(12/13, story 6, 2:25, Muir) that Trump “is pushing back” against Cohen,
while Jeff Glor said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=012-3b7&t=c>
(12/13, story 6, 1:45) that Trump had “sharp words” for Cohen as he “put
the responsibility for hush payments” on him “in a new series of attacks,”
and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=013-454&t=c>
(12/13, Ballhaus) casts Trump’s comments as an attempt to distance himself
from his former attorney.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=014-cc7&t=c>
(12/13, Sullivan, Haberman) says Trump “reacted angrily...to the relatively
short prison sentence handed down to his longtime personal attorney and
fixer...and said Mr. Cohen failed him as his lawyer because he should have
known about campaign finance law.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=015-507&t=c>
(12/13, Boyer) reports Trump told Fox News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=016-21c&t=c>
(12/13) that federal prosecutors added the campaign finance violations to
the charges against Cohen to embarrass him. Trump said, “They put those two
charges on to embarrass me. They’re not criminal charges. I did nothing
wrong.” The Times adds that Trump also “forcefully” rejected Cohen’s claim
“that Mr. Trump directed him to make the illegal payments.” Trump said, “I
never directed him to do anything wrong. Whatever he did, he did on his
own. He’s a lawyer. He did some bad things unrelated to me. In order to
embarrass me, he cut a deal.”

However, the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=017-150&t=c>
(12/13, Megerian) says that in a series of tweets (1
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=018-a1e&t=c>,
2
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=019-57e&t=c>,
3
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=01a-88f&t=c>)
Thursday morning, Trump “did not dispute that he directed Cohen to make the
payments.” Trump “claimed that Cohen bore responsibility for any violations
of criminal law” but added that Cohen “probably was not guilty” of even
civil violations. The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=01b-a52&t=c>
(12/13, Wagner) also says Trump “did not dispute that he had directed Cohen
to make the payments, as Cohen and federal prosecutors have alleged –
actions that could imperil Trump.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=01c-a57&t=c>
(12/13, Jackson) also says Trump “has frequently changed his story about
the payments,” and a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=01d-eb0&t=c>
(12/13, Rucker, Wagner) analysis says the “evolving strategy on the
hush-money allegations is textbook Trump: Tell one version of events until
it falls apart, then tell a new version, and so on – until the danger
passes.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=01e-02d&t=c>
(12/13, Heavey, Wolfe) says Trump “offered up a handful of legal arguments”
in the tweets, while Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=01f-3f2&t=c>
(12/13, Oprysko, Gerstein, Samuelsohn) reports on Trump’s tweets and his
comments to Fox News under the headline “Trump Ducks For Legal Cover After
Cohen Sentencing,” and the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=020-d16&t=c>
(12/13) covers what it describes as Trump’s “shifting explanations about
hush payments made by” Cohen under the headline “Trump Statements Evolve
From Denial To ‘I Did Nothing Wrong.’” A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=021-cfb&t=c>
(12/13) editorial says “no matter how Mr. Trump may try to minimize it,”
Cohen’s “criminal violations of campaign finance law” are “not trivial
wrongdoing.”

Peter Alexander said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=022-abc&t=c>
(12/13, story 5, 2:05, Holt) that the President “argu[ed] his mistake was
ever hiring” Cohen. The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=023-c50&t=c>
(12/13, Fabian, Samuels) describes Trump’s Fox News interview as
“combative” and says the President “vented frustration” when “asked why he
hired somebody like Cohen.” Trump said, “Well, it happens. Look it happens.
I hire usually good people,” and added that Cohen did “very low-level work”
that was more public relations than law. Trump said, “In retrospect, I made
a mistake.”

Kellyanne Conway said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=024-a01&t=c>
(12/13), “The most important thing that the President just said that goes
to the essential case here, is that he never directed Michael Cohen to
break the law. Why is that not important or credible to you? It’s important
and credible to the rest of the country, and it ought to be, except for the
people so blinded by their hatred toward him or their wishful thinking that
he won’t be President – if they just close their eyes and click their heels
three times, he really won’t be President and someone else will be, or she
will be. We’ll just go back two years. Get over it.”

*NBC, CNN: Trump Was In Room When Cohen, Pecker Agreed To Quash
Stories. *NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=025-ac0&t=c>
(12/13) reports on its website that Trump “was the third person in the room
in August 2015 when his lawyer Michael Cohen and National Enquirer
publisher David Pecker discussed ways Pecker could help counter negative
stories about Trump’s relationships with women.” On NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=026-7dc&t=c>
(12/13, story 5, 2:05, Holt), Alexander said that “a person familiar with
the matter says in August 2015, candidate Trump was in the room when Cohen
and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker discussed ways AMI could help
quash negative stories about Mr. Trump’s relationships with women.”
Similarly, Wolf Blitzer said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=027-cca&t=c>
(12/13), “CNN has confirmed that Donald Trump was in the room when his
former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen discussed illegal hush money payments
with the publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker.” The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=028-d9c&t=c>
(12/13, Correll) also reports on the meeting, citing the NBC report.

Jeffrey Toobin said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=029-c55&t=c>
(12/13), “What makes this significant, that is, if Donald Trump and David
Pecker and Michael Cohen got together and said, look, the National Enquirer
is going to write editorials and cover you and do great things for your
campaign, that would be totally appropriate. That’s protected by the First
Amendment. What makes this potentially criminal that they all apparently
agreed that pecker, American Media, the ‘national enquirer,’ would go out
and spend money on behalf of the campaign to keep women quiet. That,
according to prosecutors is a contribution to the campaign, hand that’s
unlawful it’s done that way. It’s not recorded and that’s what Michael
Cohen plead guilty to and it is what Donald Trump is clearly implicated
in.”

Gloria Borger said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=02a-230&t=c>
(12/13), “It’s a far cry from ‘I didn’t know anything about it.’ Now you
are placing the President in the room with David Pecker and Michael Cohen
coming up with some kind of a scheme to pay off these women. We know that
the President has said he didn’t know about it. His story has shifted
dramatically over the days and weeks. But now this puts him right in the
middle of something he said he knew nothing about.”

*NBC Misquotes Cassidy, Suggesting He Is Turning On Trump. *The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=02b-cf1&t=c>
(12/13, Athey) reports NBC News “published and aired a misquote” of Sen.
Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Thursday “to suggest that the Republican was turning
on President Donald Trump over alleged hush money payments.” On Tuesday,
Cassidy told[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=02c-4fe&t=c>
CNN reporter Manu Raju, “If you phrase it, ‘Am I concerned that the
President might be involved in a crime?’ Of course.” However, “NBC’s
auto-transcription has Cassidy” telling Raju, “If you phrase it, ‘I am
concerned that the President might be involved in a crime, of course.’” NBC
and MSNBC “ran with the misquote in several stories and TV packages
throughout the day. ... NBC’s first version of an article on Cassidy’s
quote omitted ‘If you phrase it,’ and included the misquote of ‘I am’
instead of ‘Am I.’” The misquote was later corrected.

*Trump: Prosecutors Gave Flynn A “Great Deal” Because They Are
“Embarrassed.” *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=02d-f92&t=c>
(12/13, Miller) reports Trump “slammed the special counsel investigation
for mistreating former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded
guilty to lying to the FBI.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=02e-94b&t=c>,
“They gave General Flynn a great deal because they were embarrassed by the
way he was treated – the FBI said he didn’t lie and they overrode the FBI.
They want to scare everybody into making up stories that are not true by
catching them in the smallest of misstatements. Sad!” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=02f-c4a&t=c>
(12/13, Oprysko, Gerstein, Samuelsohn) reports Trump “quickly followed up
his tweet about Flynn...with a familiar message
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=030-3d8&t=c>:
‘WITCH HUNT!’”

Trump made the same argument in an interview with Fox News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=031-bed&t=c>
(12/13). Trump said, “They took a man who is a general and a respected
person and a nice man – and I don’t even know what he said about me,
because maybe they scared him enough that he will make up a story. But I
have a feeling that maybe he didn’t. He is a tougher kind of a guy than
Cohen. But they took a general that they say didn’t lie, and they convinced
them he did lie and he made some kind of a deal. Now they are recommending
no time. You know why? Because they are embarrassed that they got caught.”

*Judge Wants More Information On Flynn Meeting With FBI. *Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=032-608&t=c>
(12/13, Pavlich) reports US District Judge Emmet Sullivan wants special
counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors to explain a January 2017 meeting
between Flynn “and a pair of FBI agents at the White House. One of those
agents was Peter Strzok.” Townhall quotes a report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=033-e94&t=c>
from Fox News’ website, which said “Sullivan ordered Mueller late Wednesday
to turn over all of the government’s documents and ‘memoranda’ related to
Flynn’s questioning. The extraordinary demand puts Mueller under the
microscope, and sets a 3:00 p.m. EST Friday deadline for the special
counsel’s office to produce the sensitive FBI documents.”

*US Attorney Investigating Trump Inaugural Committee. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=034-730&t=c>
(12/13, O'Brien, Ballhaus, Viswanatha) reports that the Manhattan US
Attorney’s office is investigating allegations that President Trump’s
inaugural committee’s spending of the $107 million it raised. In addition,
prosecutors are looking into claims that some of the donations were made as
payment for access to the Trump Administration. The Journal says the probes
are related to the investigation of Cohen. Gloria Borger said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=035-216&t=c>
(12/13), “What we do know is that the inaugural committee has not yet been
asked for records or been contacted by prosecutors. The inaugural committee
says they are not aware of any investigation. But what this does show is
that Michael Cohen is a big deal right now because the tentacles are
everywhere.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Fox News’ The
Story[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=036-f6d&t=c>
(12/13), “This didn’t have anything to do with the President. The President
was focused on the transition and building out a new government and
preparing to take office. The role that he had in the inauguration was to
raise his hand and take the oath. The same thing for the First Lady. She
wasn’t engaged in this process. I think this is a perfect example of
Democrats recognizing that all the accusations that they made in the
information that came out on the Michael Cohen case has nothing to do with
the President so now they are going to Plan, I would say Plan B but this is
more like Plan D or E or F to take this President down.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=037-09b&t=c>
(12/13), “I think what you’re seeing is professional prosecutors who have
evidence suggesting that there may be crimes and they are following that
evidence. Again, it’s another shoe that has dropped. It seems like every
day there’s another revelation of at least alleged improprieties by the
trump administration or his campaign. All of this can’t be just sort of
made up. There seems to be a consistent finding of impropriety related
associated with the Administration.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=038-1d0&t=c>
(12/13), “It’s looking more and more that Donald Trump was a part of a
criminal campaign, a criminal transition, and now presides over a criminal
presidency. ... This also shows that the promise that Donald Trump made as
a candidate that he would drain the swamp has not been fulfilled if indeed
they are investigating that there was a pay to play operation going on for
that inauguration.”

*Welker: Trump Has Told Friends He Is Worried About Impeachment. *On
NBC’s Today[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=039-ebd&t=c>
(12/13), Kristen Welker reported that “sources familiar with the
President’s conversations” say Trump “has privately told some friends and
allies that he is worried about the prospect of impeachment.” Sanders said
on Fox News’ The Story[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=03a-0b8&t=c>
(12/13) that the President “is not worried about it. I am certainly going
to take the President’s word over a bunch of anonymous sources. He has been
very clear. He is not worried about it because he didn’t do anything wrong.
The things that Michael Cohen did and did wrong and is convicted of have
nothing to do with the President.”

*Butina Agrees To Plead To Conspiracy, Cooperate With Prosecutors. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=03b-204&t=c>
(12/13, Balsamo) reports that Maria Butina, the “Russian woman accused of
being a secret agent, admitted” Thursday that she “conspired to infiltrate
the American gun-rights movement to gather intelligence on conservative
political groups as Donald Trump rose to power.” Butina “agreed to plead
guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.”
The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=03c-e6f&t=c>
(12/13, Jackman) says Butina “admitted seeking to establish and use
‘unofficial lines of communication with Americans having influence over
U.S. politics’ for the benefit of the Russian government, through a person
fitting the description of sanctioned Russian central banker Alexander
Torshin, prosecutor Erik Kenerson said.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=03d-f7d&t=c>
(12/13, story 5, 0:20, Glor) said Butina “could face up to five years
behind bars.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=03e-e57&t=c>
(12/13, Jansen) says that under the plea deal, Butina “said she would
cooperate with federal prosecutors.” Pete Williams said on NBC Nightly
News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=03f-512&t=c>
(12/13, story 6, 1:15, Holt) prosecutors hope Butina “can shed more light
on what else Russia was up to.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=040-a8a&t=c>
(12/13, Rosenberg) says Butina’s plea “casts a spotlight on the Americans
she worked with, including prominent members of the N.R.A. and her
boyfriend, Paul Erickson, 56, a longtime Republican operative.” Officials
“have said federal investigators are examining what Mr. Erickson and others
who helped Ms. Butina knew about her links to the Russian government.” Kyra
Phillips said on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=041-011&t=c>
(12/13, story 7, 1:50, Muir) that Erickson could be in legal jeopardy, but
his lawyers say he “has never done anything to hurt our country and never
would.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=042-eaa&t=c>
(12/13, Lynch) reports Butina “represents the first Russian citizen to be
convicted of working to shape U.S. policy in the time period spanning the
2016 election campaign, though others have been charged in a separate
investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.”

*Ukraine Court Rules Manafort Disclosure Violated Law. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=043-d99&t=c>
(12/13, Kramer) reports a Ukraine court has ruled officials in that country
“violated the law by revealing, during the 2016 presidential election in
the United States, details of suspected illegal payments to Paul Manafort.”
While Manafort was chair of President Trump’s campaign in 2016,
“anti-corruption prosecutors in Ukraine disclosed that a pro-Russian
political party had earmarked payments for Mr. Manafort from an illegal
slush fund. Mr. Manafort resigned from the campaign a week later.” The
ruling “comes as the Ukrainian government, which is deeply reliant on the
United States for financial and military aid, has sought to distance itself
from matters related to the special counsel’s investigation of Russia’s
interference in the 2016 presidential race.”

*WPost Analysis: Treatment Of Cooperating Witnesses Suggests
Mueller Probe Is Nearing Its End. *In an analysis, Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=044-fb1&t=c>
(12/13, Barrett) says Mueller “is setting a curious pattern as he squeezes
cooperation and guilty pleas out of suspects in his investigation, one that
suggests he may be nearing the end of his work.” In the Cohen, Flynn,
Manafort, and George Papadopoulos cases, Mueller “has proceeded to the
sentencing of each without first making him testify at trial against
others,” which is “at odds with the common practice of prosecutors.” This
“has led to speculation that prosecutors are narrowing in on the president
in anticipation of more criminal charges,” but the “sentencing timeline
suggests a different outcome to some legal experts – that the accounts of
those cooperating witnesses will appear in a written report, not in court.”
Foreign Policy
Senate Condemns MBS For Khashoggi’s Murder, Withdraws Support For War In
Yemen.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=045-78d&t=c>
(12/13, story 4, 1:30, Holt) reported the Senate has “voted unanimously to
hold Saudi Arabia’s crown prince responsible for the murder of journalist
Jamal Khashoggi, a historic rebuke to the Saudi regime and the Trump
Administration.” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell added “despite that stunning Senate
condemnation of the Saudi crown prince for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,
Mohammed bin Salman is still embraced by President Trump and his son-in-law
Jared Kushner.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=046-192&t=c>
(12/13, Jalonick, Mascaro) calls the Senate vote “a direct challenge to
both the longtime Middle East ally and President Donald Trump’s handling of
the relationship.” While Trump has “persistently equivocated over who was
responsible” for Khashoggi’s murder and “repeatedly praised the kingdom,”
senators “made clear where they put the blame. The resolution, passed by
unanimous agreement, says the Senate believes the crown prince is
‘responsible for the murder.’” In addition, “Senators voted 56-41
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=047-411&t=c>
to recommend that the US stop supporting the war in Yemen, a direct affront
to the administration’s war powers abilities.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=048-7ae&t=c>
(12/13, Levine) calls the vote “a rare bipartisan rebuke to...Trump,” as
does USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=049-6eb&t=c>
(12/13, Shesgreen), while Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=04a-6b6&t=c>
(12/13, Flatley) says “Senate Republicans and Democrats were unable to
agree on a stronger proposal to ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia and impose
sanctions on those involved in Khashoggi’s killing.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=04b-071&t=c>
(12/13, Zengerle) reports that “despite...Trump’s desire to maintain close
relations with Saudi Arabia, the joint resolution is backed by at least 10
of his fellow Republicans in the Senate”: Senate Foreign Relations Chairman
Bob Corker “and nine original co-sponsors” including Senate Majority Leader
McConnell.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=04c-2d7&t=c>
(12/13, Demirjian) says the Senate vote “puts significant pressure on
leaders in the House – where the president’s Saudi policy is a much more
partisan issue – to allow members to cast a similar vote condemning the
crown prince before the end of the year.” The Post also points out that the
Senate votes “came just hours after” Secretary of State Pompeo and Defense
Secretary Mattis “briefed House lawmakers behind closed doors – a meeting
from which Republicans and Democrats emerged urging very different
responses to Saudi Arabia and its crown prince.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=04d-52a&t=c>
(12/13, Demirjian) reports that earlier Thursday, House lawmakers emerged
from the closed-door briefing with Pompeo and Mattis, “urging very
different responses to Saudi Arabia and Salman.” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY)
said, “They have to be held responsible,” referring to Mohammed and Saudi
King Salman. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), meanwhile, said, “We recognize
killing journalists is absolutely evil and despicable, but to completely
realign our interests in the Middle East as a result of this, when for
instance the Russians kill journalists. ... Turkey imprisons journalists.
... It’s not a sinless world out there.”

According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=04e-c51&t=c>
(12/13, Davis, Schmitt), the Senate, on the other hand, “signaled a growing
sense of urgency among lawmakers...to question a decades-old bipartisan
tradition of Washington averting its gaze from human rights abuses and
other wrongdoing by the kingdom in the interest of preserving a
strategically important relationship in the Middle East.” The Times adds,
“With the moves, senators were breaking forcefully with Mr. Trump, who has
maintained steadfast support for Saudi Arabia and Prince Mohammed, even
though the C.I.A. has concluded that he directed the grisly assassination
of Mr. Khashoggi inside its consulate in Istanbul in October.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=04f-a8a&t=c>
(12/13, Andrews, Nissenbaum), among other outlets, has a similar report
while a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=050-c32&t=c>
(12/13) editorial calls the vote “a powerful repudiation of President
Trump’s refusal to accept, or act upon, the truth about the crown prince –
and it should cause the president to reconsider.” The Senate’s vote, it
adds, “shows that Mr. Trump cannot protect the kingdom from the
consequences of the crown prince’s criminal acts.” On its editorial page,
the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=051-c44&t=c>
(12/13) notes that the Senate measure passed unanimously, which it says
should serve as a warning to the White House and Saudis that America’s
values and interests will be defended.

Eli Lake of Bloomberg Opinion said on Fox News’ Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=052-679&t=c>
(12/13), “When you have a situation like we have with Saudi Arabia where
you have an extra-judicial killing in a foreign country in the embassy,
that is so out-of-bounds that I think it did require an extraordinary
response. I don’t think it requires blowing up the US-Saudi alliance and
that is a question that really wasn’t debated in the Senate. I think it was
dodged in the Senate. I think that has been largely what the President and
his Cabinet have been arguing.”

Tom Bevan of Real Clear Politics said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=053-e68&t=c>
(12/13), “It is a bit of a black eye for the President to have the Senate
break with him in this way given how this has played out and the Trump
Administration has sort of left the door open that the Crown Prince might
not have been involved. But, this doesn’t change anything. Trump is still
driving foreign policy. It is still his belief that this is an important
relationship, one that must be preserved.”

*Pentagon Bills Saudis, Emiratis $331M For Refueling Warplanes In
Yemen. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=054-8a7&t=c>
(12/13, Schmitt) reports that “for nearly four years, American taxpayers
have been footing the bill” for part of the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen
– “the gas for many of the Saudi warplanes flying combat missions and the
jets that provide the midair refueling. Now the Pentagon is correcting this
accounting error, and has sent Saudi Arabia and its main partner, the
United Arab Emirates, a bill for those overdue charges: about $331
million.”

*Saudis And Houthis Agree To Withdraw Forces From Yemeni Port City.
*Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=055-198&t=c>
(12/13, El-Sherif) reports Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed al-Jabir said
Thursday that “enforcement procedures of the Hodeidah agreement made
earlier between Yemen’s warring parties will start tomorrow.” According to
Reuters, “Yemen’s warring parties agreed earlier on Thursday to cease
fighting for the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah and withdraw their
troops, the first significant breakthrough for UN-led peace efforts in five
years of conflict.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=056-cc0&t=c>
(12/13, Walsh) reports that “the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels have
agreed to withdraw their forces from Hudaydah, the main conduit for
humanitarian aid entering Yemen, and to implement a cease-fire in the
surrounding province.” UN Secretary General António Guterres “made the
announcement in Rimbo, Sweden, at the end of a week of negotiations
intended to pave the way for full peace talks. Amid smiles and handshakes,
representatives from the two sides also agreed to a prisoner exchange
involving as many as 15,000 people, and to allow a humanitarian corridor
into the city of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=057-b00&t=c>
(12/13, Fahim) reports “the agreement comes amid growing international
pressure to end the war, a conflict that has sparked what the United
Nations deems the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and has become a proxy
battle between US-backed Arab nations and Iran, which supports the
Houthis.” The Post says that while “previous cease-fire agreements have
collapsed quickly...there has been greater international pressure on the
warring sides in recent months to de-escalate the fighting, in part because
of warnings by relief agencies that more than 16 million people in Yemen –
more than half of the country’s population – are facing famine-like
conditions.”

However, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=058-d8c&t=c>
(12/13, Keyton, Rohan) says “the deal might not mean an immediate or
significant difference in easing the suffering of Yemenis. Ships bringing
supplies into Hodeida must still undergo strict searches by UN monitors to
ensure no weapons are aboard, a process that has delayed deliveries.”

*Saudis Plan To Substantially Cut Oil Exports To US. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=059-a21&t=c>
(12/13, Blas, Davis) reports that “after flooding the U.S. market in recent
months, Saudi Arabia plans to slash exports to the world’s largest oil
market in the coming weeks in an effort to dampen visible build-ups in
crude inventories.” According to Bloomberg News, “American-based oil
refiners have been told to expect much lower shipments from the kingdom in
January than in recent months following the OPEC agreement to reduce
production, according to people briefed on the plans of state oil company
Saudi Aramco.”
Bolton: Trump Will Not Meet With Putin While Russia Holds Ukrainian Ships
And Crews.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=05a-a7f&t=c>
(12/13, Holland, Chiacu) reports that National Security Adviser Bolton said
Thursday there will be no meeting between President Trump and Russian
President Vladimir Putin “while Russia still holds Ukrainian ships and
sailors seized near Crimea.” Said Bolton, “I don’t see circumstances in the
foreseeable future where such a meeting could take place until the ships
and the crews are released.”

*EU Declines To Impose Additional Sanctions. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=05b-b43&t=c>
(12/12, Baczynska, De Carbonnel) reports the EU “will offer Ukraine more
aid at a summit on Thursday after Russia’s seized its ships off Crimea but
calls to punish Moscow with more sanctions lacked support.” The bloc’s 28
leaders, however, agreed “to roll over the existing economic sanctions over
Crimea’s 2014 annexation by Moscow and Russia’s subsequent backing for
rebels in east Ukraine. But there is no consensus to step up punitive
measures as sought by more hawkish governments, diplomats said.”

*NATO Steps Up Aid To Ukraine. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=05c-a07&t=c>
(12/13, Taylor) reports NATO said Thursday it will “soon supply the
Ukrainian military with high-tech, secure communications equipment, a key
tactical move roughly a week after the Trump administration pushed on the
alliance to take more of a ‘leadership’ role in confronting Russian
aggression in Ukraine.” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told
reporters after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, “We
are also supporting Ukraine to improve its naval capabilities.” He also
praised the Poroshenko government’s “calm” and “restraint” following the
Russian military’s Nov. 25 seizure of three Ukrainian vessels.
Bolton: US To Counter China, Russia Influence In Africa.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=05d-5d7&t=c>
(12/13, Holland, Wroughton) reports National Security Adviser Bolton on
Thursday announced plans to “counter the rapidly expanding Chinese and
Russian economic and political influence in Africa,” calling business
practices of the two nations “corrupt” and “predatory.” The
Administration’s “No 1. priority will be developing economic ties with the
region to create opportunities for American businesses and protecting the
independence of African countries along with US national security
interests, he said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation.” Said Bolton,
“Great-power competitors, namely China and Russia, are rapidly expanding
their financial and political influence across Africa. They are
deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to
gain a competitive advantage over the United States.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=05e-e59&t=c>
(12/13, Wilkinson) reports Bolton accused China of luring African
governments “into expensive infrastructure projects that hide the true
costs those countries are eventually saddled with.” Russia, he said,
expands its political and economic influence “with little regard for rule
of law” or transparent governance. The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=05f-e1e&t=c>
(12/13, Gearan) reports Bolton “said a full review of US foreign aid is
near completion, and will evaluate aid on factors including whether
recipients oppose or work against US policies and interests.” He “likened
the forthcoming rubric to the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World
War II.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=060-dfd&t=c>
(12/13, Landler, Wong) says Bolton “conceded that the United States had
limited resources to compete with the tens of billions of dollars China is
pouring into Africa,” and “threatened to withdraw American aid for some
United Nations peacekeeping missions, which he labeled ineffective.”

In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=061-d1d&t=c>
(12/13) welcomes the announcement, but says the policy’s success will
depend on the details of America’s economic relationship with Africa.
China Resumes US Soybean Purchases.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=062-267&t=c>
(12/13, Cassella) reports, “China purchased 1.13 million metric tons of
U.S. soybeans this week, offering a sign that the two countries are
beginning to make progress in alleviating trade tensions.” The move came
less than two weeks after President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
“agreed to a 90-day detente in their trade war as they worked out larger
issues. As part of that truce, China said it would begin immediately buying
U.S. agricultural products.”

Trump told Fox News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=063-4ec&t=c>
(12/13), “I have great respect for President Xi. He’s not a capitulator. I
will tell you this: China’s economy, it’s only in trouble because of me.
That’s the only reason it’s in trouble.”

*Ross: China Has Made Some “Very Welcome Moves” In Response To US
Demands. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=064-0e7&t=c>
(12/13, Lambert) reports that in an appearance on Bloomberg Television
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=065-bb0&t=c>
(12/13, Mayeda, Westin) on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Ross said China
“will need to do more than what it has promised so far to ease trade
tensions.” According to Reuters, Ross said the US “does not expect China to
deliver on all 142 of the demands put forward by” the Trump Administration,
but “said the success of the current negotiations will depend on how many
requests are met and whether China agrees to enforceable actions.”
However, Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=066-c97&t=c>
(12/13, Mayeda, Westin) quotes Ross as saying, “They’ve started to make
some very early stage, very preliminary, but very welcome moves.”

*Navarro Says China’s Positive Signals Not Enough. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=067-c49&t=c>
(12/13, Miller) reports, “White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on
Thursday downplayed China’s positive signals, saying the only acceptable
outcome was an ironclad deal for Beijing to end trade abuses.” However, he
“confirmed that China bought at least 500,000 tons of U.S. soybeans” in
“the first major agriculture purchase” since Trump and Xi “called a truce
in the trade war.”

Navarro said on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=068-a5a&t=c>
(12/13), “Prior to our tariffs going on, China began not buying our
soybeans as a way of retaliating against us. ... They need those soybeans.
China is the hog capital of the world. They eat 50 percent of the world’s
pork. That pork is fed by soybeans. If they don’t buy the soybeans, they
get inflation.”

*Perdue Expects More Aid To Farmers Despite Soybean Sales. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=069-1f7&t=c>
(12/13, Pamuk) reports Agriculture Secretary Perdue said Thursday that “he
expects the White House to approve a second tranche of aid payments to
farmers hurt by ongoing trade disputes, despite new Chinese purchases of
soybeans.”

*NYTimes Analysis: Canada Gets Caught Up In US-China Trade War. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=06a-6e6&t=c>
(12/13, Porter, Bilefsky, Gladstone) reports that though the US and China
“are embroiled in a tense trade war,” Beijing has instead “lashed out at”
Canada over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. China “has seized
at least two Canadians,” and “Chinese social media users are clamoring for
a boycott of Canada’s products.” The Times says Canada “is in a tricky
spot, boxed in the middle between its two largest trading partners, and
worried about having to choose sides.”

*Former Canadian Diplomat Detained In China Visited Region Where
Uighurs Are Persecuted. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=06b-044&t=c>
(12/13, Saminather, Ljunggren) reports that Michael Kovrig, the former
Canadian diplomat “who was detained in Beijing earlier this week, is a
fluent Mandarin speaker...who has traveled to some of the most sensitive
parts of the Asian country.” Former ambassador Guy Saint-Jacques says
Kovrig “has visited the western Xinjiang region, site of mass detentions
and strict surveillance of the ethnic Uighur minority and other Muslim
groups, and dealt with other sensitive issues. ... ‘When you meet with
dissidents, you get the attention of the Chinese security establishment,’
he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.”
House Passes Resolution Condemning Genocide In Burma 394-1.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=06c-b5e&t=c>
(12/13, Nakamura) reports the House on Wednesday “overwhelmingly approved a
resolution...to label the deadly persecution of a Muslim minority group” in
Burma by the country’s military a “genocide.” To the Post, the resolution
is “in sharp contrast to President Trump’s public silence on the matter.”
The Post says the bill, approved by a vote of 394-1
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=06d-efc&t=c>,
also calls on Burma’s leaders, including state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi,
“to pardon two Reuters journalists who have been jailed for over a year for
their coverage of the violence, which resulted in more than 700,000
Rohingya Muslims fleeing the country last year.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=06e-dc3&t=c>
(12/13, Zengerle) reports journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were found
guilty in September of violating Burma’s Official Secrets Act and
“sentenced to seven years in prison.” According to Reuters, the reporters,
“who pleaded not guilty, said they were handed papers by police shortly
before they were detained, and a police witness testified that they had
been set up. They had been investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya men and
boys as part of a military response to insurgent attacks.”
May In Brussels To Seek Brexit Concessions From EU.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=06f-ca5&t=c>
(12/13, Baczynska, Piper) reports British Prime Minister Theresa May said
Thursday that she “did not expect to secure a quick breakthrough in Brexit
talks that would give her fractured party the reassurances needed to get
her deal through parliament.” May, arriving in Brussels “just a day after a
failed attempt to topple her at home...was met largely by readiness to help
from European Union leaders but also by a warning: we will not reopen the
divorce agreement struck last month.” EU leaders “all said they needed to
know exactly what May wanted to secure in Brussels but also warned that
Britain could not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=070-26b&t=c>
(12/13, Castle, Erlanger) says that after “winning a confidence vote and
saving her job for now...May...faced the even tougher task of extracting
concessions from European Union leaders.” The Times cautions that “it may
prove impossible, given the divisions in the British Parliament.” The
Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=071-62c&t=c>
(12/13, Ariès) reports the European leaders “said they were willing to give
ground on everything except exactly what May was seeking: reassurances,
with legal weight, that Britain would not be locked permanently into a sort
of junior-class EU membership, subject to many of its rules but unable to
sway its decision-making.” According to the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=072-5d1&t=c>
(12/13, Keyton, Rohan), “Underscoring the sense of stagnation, May’s office
confirmed that the Brexit deal – which she had hoped would be approved by
Britain’s Parliament this week – would not be put to a vote until 2019.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=073-22b&t=c>
(12/13) editorializes that May “bought time, this week by putting off a
vote on her deal and then surviving the Conservative challenge,” but the
“three fundamental options have not substantially changed: a negotiated
deal, no deal, no Brexit.”
Strasbourg Shooting Suspect Killed In Shootout With Police.

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=074-904&t=c>
(12/13, lead story, 1:45, Glor) reported French police on Thursday “shot
and killed the suspect in the terror attack near a Christmas market in
Strasbourg, France, where three people were killed and 13 wounded this
week. ISIS has claimed responsibility.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=075-fee&t=c>
(12/13, lead story, 1:45, Holt) correspondent Richard Engel said Cherif
Chekatt was “killed in a shootout with police, not far from the Christmas
market where he launched his deadly rampage.” According to authorities,
“Chekatt, a lifelong criminal turned ISIS supporter, was hiding out in a
warehouse, that they spotted him by helicopter with thermal imaging.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=076-c69&t=c>
(12/14, Corbet, Chernov) reports Interior Minister Christophe Castaner
“said police had spotted a man matching the suspect’s description in the
city’s Neudorf neighborhood.”

On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=077-8f2&t=c>
(12/13, lead story, 2:00, Muir), senior foreign correspondent Ian Pannell
said French officials “don’t believe there were any accomplices, however,
they are keeping an open mind.” Also on Thursday, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=078-350&t=c>
(12/13, Irish, Hartmann) reports the “death toll from Tuesday’s attack rose
to three.”
Domestic Policy
Trump: Mexico “Paying For The Wall” Through USMCA.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=079-3aa&t=c>
Thursday morning, “I often stated, ‘One way or the other, Mexico is going
to pay for the Wall.’ This has never changed. Our new deal with Mexico (and
Canada), the USMCA, is so much better than the old, very costly & anti-USA
NAFTA deal, that just by the money we save, MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!”
The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=07a-00d&t=c>
(12/13, Enjeti) reports the President “claimed Mexico will still pay for
his proposed wall...due to the newly signed trade agreement.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=07b-590&t=c>
(12/13, Paletta) says Trump’s “highly questionable assertion...comes as he
is lobbying Congress for $5 billion to help fund construction of the wall
and threatening a partial government shutdown if he does not get his way.”
The Post adds, “In recent days, as the debate over the wall has come to the
fore, Trump has faced renewed criticism for appearing to have abandoned his
campaign pledge to make Mexico pay for it.”

*House Departs Without Plan To Avert Shutdown. *On Thursday
afternoon, the President tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=07c-d0d&t=c>
a video message calling on Democrats to work with him on border wall
funding rather than forcing a government shutdown. Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=07d-64e&t=c>
(12/13, Wasson, Litvan, Edgerton) reports that the Republican House
leadership “sent their members home for a six-day break Thursday without
revealing any plan to avoid a looming government shutdown.”

Kellyanne Conway said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=07e-a08&t=c>
(12/13), “This is about border security. The President has made clear, his
first and solemn duty in this country is to keep us all safe. That includes
border security. He’s asking for a little bit more money.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Fox News’ The
Story[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=07f-1d6&t=c>
(12/13), “The President has been committed to making sure we protect our
borders. ... If you look back, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary
Clinton, Biden, Obama – all of these individuals in the past have supported
border security. ... Yet now that this President is championing the fight
and trying to do what is right, you have Democrats that simply won’t join
in that effort.”

*USA Today Analysis: DHS Release “Makes Dubious Claims” About Wall
Progress. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=080-891&t=c>
(12/13, Cummings) writes that a news release from DHS Wednesday “makes
dubious claims about the progress of construction” for Trump’s “promised
wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.” The release
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=081-897&t=c>
read in part, “DHS is committed to building wall and building wall quickly.
We are not replacing short, outdated and ineffective wall with similar
wall. Instead, under this President we are building a wall that is 30-feet
high.”
Trump Narrows Down Chief Of Staff Search To Five Candidates.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121401biden&r=email-e7f9&l=082-272&t=c>
(12/13, Morin) reports President Trump “said on Thursday that he’s narrowed
his chief of staff search down to five candidates, but he refused to reveal
who’s now on the short-list.” Trump “teased out vague details of the search
in reality-show style” and