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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Monday, December 17, 2018 7:58 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
December 17, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=001-779&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, December 17, 2018 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• 2020 Iowa Poll: Biden Up Big In Hypothetical Democratic Race. <#S1>

• National 2020 Democratic Poll: Biden Leads Second-Place Sanders By 16
Points. <#S2>

• AP: Age A Consideration For As Biden Weighs A Possible 2020 Run. <#S3>

• Columnist: In Choosing A 2020 Nominee, Democrats Must “Move Forward, Not
Reach Back.” <#S4>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Media Analyses: Trump, Giuliani Go On Offensive Against Cohen, Mueller
Probe. <#S5>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• North Korea Condemns US Over Sanctions For Human Rights Abuses. <#S6>

• Turkish FM Says Trump Working On Exiled Cleric’s Extradition. <#S7>

• Fighting Continues In Yemen Despite Ceasefire. <#S8>

• Israel Signals Displeasure At Australia’s “Mistake” In Recognizing West
Jerusalem. <#S9>

• Experts Suggest UN Climate Change Deal May Encourage US To Rejoin. <#S10>

• NYTimes Analysis: Evidence Of Forced Labor Emerges From China’s Muslim
Detention Camps. <#S11>

• Hungarians Protest Against PM For Fourth Consecutive Day. <#S12>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Media Analysis: White House Digs In On Border Wall Ahead Of Possible
Shutdown. <#S13>

• Democrats Condemn Court Ruling On ACA. <#S14>

• Trump: Child Separation “Far Worse” Under Obama. <#S15>

• Trump To Review Case Of Former Green Beret Charged With Killing Afghan.
<#S16>

• NYTimes: Trump Has “Stretched The Facts” On Drug Pricing Solutions. <#S17>

• Collins Feels Vindicated By Kavanaugh’s Planned Parenthood Decision.
<#S18>

• Trump Tweet About Interview With Blagojevich’s Wife Renews Clemency
Questions. <#S19>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Ohio Woman Claims She Is Cancer Free After Clinical Trial. <#S20>

• J&J Hid Evidence Of Asbestos In Talc Products, Analysis Finds. <#S21>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S22>

• Washington Post. <#S23>
Biden in the News
2020 Iowa Poll: Biden Up Big In Hypothetical Democratic Race.

The Des Moines (IA) Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=002-030&t=c>
(12/16, Pfannenstiel) reported that a Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll
of 445 likely Democratic Iowa caucus-goers, taken Dec. 10-13, shows former
Vice President Joe Biden leading a field of potential 2020 Democratic
presidential candidates with 32%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at
19%, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) at 11%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at 8%,
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) at 5%, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) at 4%, and Sen.
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) each
at 3%. The Register added that 49% of those polled “say the right person to
defeat [President] Trump should be a ‘seasoned political hand’ rather than
a ‘newcomer.’”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=003-121&t=c>
(12/15, Shepard) reported, “Most Democratic voters in Iowa, the poll shows,
are prioritizing electability. A majority, 54 percent, say it’s more
important for the caucus winner to have a strong chance to defeat...Trump
in November 2020 – more than the 40 percent who say it’s more important to
have a candidate who shares their positions on key issues.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=004-6ed&t=c>
(12/15, Rodrigo) reported that Biden and Sanders “also had the highest name
recognition among those included in the survey, with only 4 percent of
respondents having no opinion” of them. Warren had “the next highest share
of people with a position on her with 84 percent, followed by Bloomberg at
71, O’Rourke at 64, Booker at 61 and Harris at 59 percent.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=005-2ce&t=c>
(12/16, Gabriel), pointing to the top three finishers in the poll, says,
“The results reflect the debate among Democrats over whether to run against
the chaos-causing Mr. Trump with a solid resume built on experience in
Washington, or by nominating a fresh face who stirs passions.” In an online
article, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=006-b67&t=c>
(12/16, Smith) reported, “Polls at this stage of the presidential cycle
should be taken with a grain of salt, it should be noted. At this time in
2014, 14 months out from the Iowa contest, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush led
a crowded GOP primary field in a CNN/ORC poll, garnering support from 23
percent of Republican primary voters. In second place was then-New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie with 13 percent of respondents selecting him as their
preferred choice. President Donald Trump was not even included in the
survey.”
National 2020 Democratic Poll: Biden Leads Second-Place Sanders By 16
Points.

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=007-252&t=c>
(12/14, Agiesta, Director) reported that a CNN national poll of 463
self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, taken Dec.
6-9, shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading a hypothetical field of
2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls with 30%, followed by Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-VT) at 14%, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) at 9%, Sen. Cory Booker
(D-NJ) at 5%, and several other possible contenders lagging further behind.
CNN said, “Support for” Biden and Sanders “is about the same as in
October,” while O’Rourke’s support is “up 5 points since October.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=008-d87&t=c>
(12/14, Rodrigo) reported that Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth
Warren (D-MA) each “lost 5 percent support” since October, “with Harris
falling from 9 percent to 4 percent, and Warren falling from 8 percent to 3
percent.”

*Gillibrand Says She’s Concerned That Top Three In CNN Poll Are
White Men. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=009-fac&t=c>
(12/15, Axelrod) reported that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on Friday
“was asked by CNN’s Van Jones about a poll from the network” showing “that
the top three candidates for the Democratic nomination were white men”:
Biden, Sanders, and O’Rourke. Jones asked Gillibrand, “In a party as
diverse as ours, does it worry you to see the top three being white guys?”
Gillibrand, a potential presidential candidate, replied, “Yes.” Asked to
elaborate, Gillibrand said, “I aspire for our country to recognize the
beauty of our diversity at some point in the future and I hope someday we
have a woman president. I love the fact that Barack Obama was our president
for eight years, I hope more people of color not only aspire [but] win the
presidency, because that’s what makes America so extraordinary, that we are
all of that, we are everything, and I think a more inclusive America is a
stronger America.” Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=00a-0a5&t=c>
(12/16, Silva) also reported on Gillibrand’s remarks.
AP: Age A Consideration For As Biden Weighs A Possible 2020 Run.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=00b-02a&t=c>
(12/14, Beaumont, Kinnard, Barrow) reported that former Vice President Joe
Biden has been “talking with friends and longtime supporters about whether,
at 76, he’s too old to seek the White House, according to several sources
who have spoken with the former Democratic vice president.” Those
“discussions suggest Biden is aware that his age may be the biggest hurdle
to launching another bid for the Democratic presidential nomination,
especially in an era when many in the party yearn for a new generation of
leadership. He would be the oldest person to ever be elected president.
Past and current advisers to Biden have held frequent conversations about
options to alleviate concerns about age, including teaming him with a
younger running mate. One option that has been floated, according to a
source with knowledge of the talks, is outgoing Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke,
who at 46 has become the subject of intense 2020 speculation after nearly
beating GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.”

*Media Outlets Highlight AP Report That Biden Advisers Have Floated
O’Rourke As Running Mate. *Several media outlets seized on the above AP
dispatch, highlighting the detail regarding Team Biden and O’Rourke. For
instance, under the headline “Joe Biden Advisers Float Beto O’Rourke As
Running Mate For 2020 Election,” Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=00c-af6&t=c>
(12/14, Phifer) said that the AP “reports that current and past advisers
to...Biden have discussed the possibility of...O’Rourke joining Biden for
the 2020 presidential campaign.” Newsweek added, “The hope is, sources
said, that Biden would be bolstered by a younger running mate as many have
expressed concerns about his age.” Similarly, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=00d-59e&t=c>
(12/14, Axelrod) said that the AP “reported the scenario Friday while
noting that current and past advisers have discussed having Biden team up
with a younger running mate to alleviate concerns about his age.” Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=00e-546&t=c>
(12/15, Shaw) reported, “Age could therefore prove to be a vulnerability
for Biden, and is why he is reportedly considering O’Rourke as a running
mate.” Bustle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=00f-73b&t=c>
(12/16, Brinlee) also reported on the story.

*Stoddard: Biden-O’Rourke Would Be Democrats’ “Strongest” 2020
Ticket. *In her column for Real Clear Politics
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=010-1be&t=c>
(12/14), A.B. Stoddard wrote, “With far too many Democrats dreaming of
running against President Trump in 2020 and their unthinkable outcome – a
second loss to him – still very thinkable, the party should accept that its
strongest chance at victory lies with the nomination of [Biden and
O’Rourke].” Stoddard added, “Implicit in the choice of Biden, who will turn
78 in 2020, would be that he is unlikely to serve a second term and will
train Junior and get him up to speed. Biden’s appeal as a quasi-incumbent
is his ability to slide into office with an experienced staff.” And Biden
“also remains, as most Republicans will admit privately, the biggest threat
to Trump.”

*Kilgore Wonders Whether Age Gap On A Biden-O’Rourke Ticket Would
Be Problematic. *Writing for the Daily Intelligencer (NY)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=011-b88&t=c>
(12/15), Ed Kilgore asked whether in a Biden-O’Rourke pairing “would the
age difference be so large that it’s more disconcerting than charming or
intriguing? That’s hard to say. The 30-year age difference between Biden
and O’Rourke would match the all-time record set in 1856 when 65-year-old
James Buchanan ran on a ticket with 35-year-old John C. Breckenridge — and
won.” Kilgore added that “in the end, it’s the geezer running for president
who will get the bulk of attention, and having a relative youngster at the
bottom of the ticket might just draw further attention to the age of the
oldster at the top.”

*Writer Says A Biden-Romney Independent Ticket Would Have Little
Chance Of Winning. *In a piece for Forbes
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=012-5a3&t=c>
(12/16), Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen discussed an “idea
drifting around the Internet (floated by a longtime Republican operative,
no less): a bipartisan fusion ticket pairing Biden with Utah Sen.-elect
Mitt Romney.” Whalen pans such a notion, saying that running as an
independent ticket, as the plan was presented, Biden and Romney would have
little chance of winning.
Columnist: In Choosing A 2020 Nominee, Democrats Must “Move Forward, Not
Reach Back.”

In his Atlanta Journal-Constitution
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=013-d5f&t=c>
(12/14) column, Jay Bookman wrote that former Vice President Joe Biden,
ex-Secretary of State John Kerry, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “should
not run for president in 2020. ... The same is probably true of Sen.
Elizabeth Warren.” Bookman added that “in part because of their age and
their long resumes, they will inevitably be identified with an era that
seems increasingly irrelevant.” Bookman added, “Today’s challenges –
climate change, unsustainable economic disparity, technological disruption,
the rationalization of a dysfunctional health-care system, the restraint
and redirection of nationalist passions, the growing despair and addiction
in those parts of America left behind by change – these are the troubles
that must now be addressed. Voters will want and deserve fresh voices and
insight into tackling them. ... It’s time to move forward, not reach back.”
Leading the News
Media Analyses: Trump, Giuliani Go On Offensive Against Cohen, Mueller
Probe.

Media reports describe the President and his attorney Rudy Giuliani as
going on the offensive Sunday against Trump’s former personal lawyer
Michael Cohen and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Reports
highlight Trump’s series of tweets calling Cohen a “rat” and criticizing
Mueller’s probe and the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation, as well
as comments by Giuliani in a pair of Sunday show appearances.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=014-963&t=c>
(12/16, lead story, 2:50, Llamas) reported in its lead story that Trump and
his team are “playing defense by going on offense, counter-punching”
against Cohen, and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=015-8db&t=c>
(12/16, Samuels) says Trump “went on offense after a week that saw
potential legal woes piling up against him.” Errol Barnett said on the CBS
Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=016-557&t=c>
(12/16, story 2, 1:25, Quijano) Trump called Cohen “a rat for cooperating
with federals prosecutors in New York, and sending his current personal
lawyer Rudy Giuliani out on TV to discredit him.” Similarly, Kelly
O’Donnell said in the lead story for NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=017-d47&t=c>
(12/16, lead story, 2:30, Snow) that Trump labeled Cohen “‘a rat’, with a
capital ‘R,” as Giuliani “hit the airwaves trying to discredit Cohen.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=018-1fe&t=c>
(12/16, Yilek) says Trump “raged” “over his former longtime lawyer Michael
Cohen and treatment by the FBI in a range of probes into his activities
before and during his White House tenure.” Trump called
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=019-ea4&t=c>
Cohen a “rat” and said the FBI raiding Cohen’s office “was absolutely
unthinkable” and “unheard of,” before the investigation into Russian
interference in the 2016 election. Trump also questioned why the Bureau did
not “break into the DNC to get the Server, or Crooked’s [Hillary Clinton]
office?” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=01a-560&t=c>
(12/16, Yilek) says Trump’s use of the term “rat” to describe Cohen “was
not original and appeared to be borrowed from conservative internet
entrepreneur and highly influential news aggregator Matt Drudge,” who “has
used the ‘rat’ moniker on his eponymous website to refer to Cohen since at
least July.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=01b-db5&t=c>
(12/16, Swoyer) reports Trump also blasted former FBI agents Peter Strzok
and Lisa Page, calling their erased text messages an “outrage.” Trump’s
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=01c-984&t=c>
came in the wake of a report from the Justice Department’s inspector
general which “detailed how subsequent messages had been cleared from their
phones.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=01d-d79&t=c>
(12/16, Enjeti) says Trump “criticized the lack of media attention” on the
revelations about Strzok’s and Page’s text messages.

In another pair (1
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=01e-5ca&t=c>,
2
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=01f-d06&t=c>)
of tweets, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=020-401&t=c>
(12/16, Samuels) reports President Trump said former Attorney General
Sessions “should be ashamed of himself” for allowing the special counsel’s
investigation, which he called a “total HOAX,” to get started, Trump also
highlighted comments on Fox News’ The Journal Editorial Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=021-b04&t=c>
the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger, who said the investigation is
looking like a “persecution” of the President. Trump also called the
investigation a “Democrat Scam” that is “very bad for our Country.” Trump
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=022-65d&t=c>,
“The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax, started as the ‘insurance policy’ long before
I even got elected, is very bad for our Country. They are Entrapping people
for misstatements, lies or unrelated things that took place many years ago.
Nothing to do with Collusion. A Democrat Scam!”

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=023-45f&t=c>
(12/16, Feis) reports that as part of his “Sunday morning tweetstorm,”
Trump also thanked Ken Starr, who served as Independent Counsel during the
investigation of former President Clinton, for his comments on Fox News’
Fox & Friends Sunday[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=024-fe8&t=c>.
Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=025-613&t=c>,
“Judge Ken Starr, former Solicitor Generel [sic] & Independent Counsel,
just stated that, after two years, ‘there is no evidence or proof of
collusion’ & further that ‘there is no evidence that there was a campaign
financing violation involving the President.’ Thank you Judge.”

Meanwhile, Giuliani blasted Cohen and the Mueller probe in a pair
of television interviews Sunday morning. The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=026-af3&t=c>
(12/16, Schwab) says Giuliani “tore into” Cohen and the Mueller
investigation, while USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=027-a50&t=c>
(12/16, Cummings), under a headline describing the Giuliani as going “on
offensive” against Cohen and prosecutors, says Giuliani “attempt[ed] to
cast doubt on the testimony of those trying to implicate Trump in a
campaign finance violation.” On ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=028-a1d&t=c>
(12/16), Giuliani said of Cohen, “The man is pathetic.” Reacting to clip
from an ABC interview in which Cohen “said the president directed him to
make hush money payments to two women, knowing that those payments would
break campaign finance law,” Giuliani said, “That’s a lawyer you were
interviewing. ... He’s a lawyer. He’s a guy you depend on to determine
whether or not you should do it this way or that way. Whether you’re Donald
Trump or whether you’re me or you.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=029-8d9&t=c>
(12/16, Yilek) reports Giuliani told ABC, “I can produce an enormous number
of witnesses that say the president was very concerned about how this was
going to affect his children, his marriage. ... I know what he was
concerned about. I can produce 20 witnesses to tell you what he was
concerned about.” Giuliani added, “The amount of money is consistent with
harassment, not truth. I’ve been involved in cases like this. When it’s
true and you have the kind of money the president has, it’s a $1 million
settlement. When it’s not true, when it’s a harassment settlement and it’s
not true, you give them $130,000, $150,000.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=02a-aaa&t=c>
(12/16, Forgey) says Giuliani’s comments “echoed other defenses from the
president’s allies, who contend that the payments were not illegal because
they were, at least in part, a private matter meant to shield Trump’s
family from emotional distress.” Emily Jashinsky of The Federalist said on Fox
News MediaBuzz[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=02b-372&t=c>
(12/16) , “There is a serious conversation about whether this is a
legitimate campaign violation I only saw in conservative outlets this week.
But the conversation should be more widespread and the mainstream media
should be asking questions about that as well.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=02c-145&t=c>
(12/16, Samuels) reports Giuliani “indicated” that Cohen “may have pursued
discussions about a possible Trump Tower Moscow development up to November
2016.” Giuliani told ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=02d-22c&t=c>,
“According to the answer that he gave, it would have covered all the way up
to November of 2016.” The Hill says Giuliani was “apparently referring to
President Trump’s written answers to special counsel Robert Mueller
regarding the deal.”

On Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=02e-317&t=c>,
the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=02f-11b&t=c>
(12/16, Sullivan) reports, Giuliani “rejected the prospect of Trump sitting
down for an interview” with Mueller. Giuliani said, “Over my dead body. .
But you know, I could be dead.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=030-01f&t=c>
(12/16, Lemire) says Giuliani “sarcastically” said that the only thing left
to ask Trump about was “several unpaid parking tickets that night, back in
1986, ‘87 that haven’t been explained.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=031-bb7&t=c>
(12/16, O'Brien) also highlights Giuliani’s comment about a possible Trump
interview with Mueller.

White House correspondent Abby Phillip said on CNN’s Inside
Politics[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=032-3ba&t=c>
(12/16), “What is striking about this whole situation is that the White
House, the President and people around him don’t seem to grasp the
seriousness of this. I think they’ve been resigned for many, many months
now to letting the President take these investigations on via Twitter, by
simply just...trying to talk his way out of them.” The White House “doesn’t
appear to grasp that these are real legal challenges, not just fake ones,
not just ones that you can talk your way out of and there is no plan to
deal with that.”

John King said on CNN’s Inside Politics[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=033-9fa&t=c>
(12/16), “The fake news argument gets much more difficult to make when you
start reading these court filings. They have corroborating documents,
corroborating witnesses. It’s not just Michael Cohen turning on the
President.”

*Davis: Cohen Has “Corroborating Evidence For Everything.” *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=034-3a2&t=c>
(12/16, Schwab) reports Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, told CBS’ Face the
Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=035-358&t=c>
that Cohen has “corroborating evidence for everything” he has told
investigators. Davis also criticized the President’s characterization of
his client as a “rat,” saying, “This is the top law enforcement office in
our system of government calling somebody who decides to tell the
government the truth a ‘rat.’ ... That’s the language of a mobster not of
the president.”

*Schiff Intends To Expand Investigation To Include Trump’s Business
Dealings. *In the lead story for NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=036-c5a&t=c>
(12/16, lead story, 2:30, Snow), Kelly O’Donnell reported incoming House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that “he intends to
widen the probe to the President’s business dealings.” Schiff said on NBC’s
Meet the Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=037-db3&t=c>,
“What we saw in the Michael Cohen revelation, some of the Michael Cohen
revelations that the President, while he was denying dealings with Russia,
his business actually was pursuing a multi-multi-million dollar deal in
Moscow, hiding it from the country, seeking the Kremlin’s help with it.
That is deeply compromising. The President has wanted to draw a red line
and say you can’t look at my business. But, if the President’s business is
trying to curry favor with the Kremlin, we can’t ignore that.”

*Nunes: Flynn Was “Just Out Of Money.” *Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
discussed Michael Flynn’s sentencing on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=038-222&t=c>
(12/16). Nunes said, “I think what was likely is that General Flynn was
just out of money. If you look at some of the documentation that came out
in the last week, I think most notable is the one line that says that
General Flynn actually knew that the agents must have had the transcripts.
So look, General Flynn is a former head of the DIA. Thirty years in
military service. He has to know when the agents start to talk about his
conversations with the Russian ambassador that they have the transcript.
... I think the more likely scenario is that General Flynn was out of
money” and “this was just a way for General Flynn to just end the
investigation against him.”

*Issa Predicts Flynn’s Conviction Will Be Overturned. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=039-2e8&t=c>
(12/16, Lim) reports Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) predicted Sunday that former
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s conviction will be overturned by
a court. Issa told Fox News Sunday Morning Futures[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=03a-f21&t=c>,
“I would not be surprised a bit if the conviction of Flynn is overturned
because of the Justice Department and the FBI’s misconduct.”

*FBI Email Says Comey Briefing Triggered CNN’s Dossier Story. *
Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=03b-848&t=c>
(12/16, Klein) cites an FBI email which says that “the ‘trigger’ for CNN to
first break the story revealing salacious and unsubstantiated claims made
inside the infamous anti-Trump dossier was the leaking of ex-FBI Director
James Comey’s official briefing on the dossier claims to President Donald
Trump.” On Jan. 10, 2017, CNN “was first to report leaked information that
the contents of the dossier were presented during classified briefings” to
Trump and then-President Obama. The “contents of the dossier had been
circulating among news media outlets, but the sensational claims were
largely considered too risky to publish.” The FBI email, which was read
aloud during Comey’s recent House testimony, “evidences FBI awareness of
CNN’s plans to release the story, and suggests an FBI official may have
attempted to shape the coverage.”

*WPost Reporter Says FBI, CIA Doubt Dossier Allegation About Cohen.
*The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=03c-d6c&t=c>
(12/16, Ross) reports one of the dossier’s “most prominent allegations” is
that Cohen “visited Prague during the 2016 campaign to pay off
Russia-linked hackers who stole emails from Democrats – the claim fueled
speculation ever since the dossier was published that the Trump campaign
actively colluded with Russians to influence the election.” However,
according to Washington Post reporter Greg Miller, FBI and CIA sources said
they doubt the allegations. Miller said at an event in October, “We’ve
talked to sources at the FBI and the CIA and elsewhere – they don’t believe
that ever happened.”

*WPost: Report Shows Russian Agents Sought To Help Elect Trump. *The
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=03d-db0&t=c>
(12/16, Timberg, Romm) cites a draft of a report prepared by Oxford
University’s Computational Propaganda Project and the network analysis form
Graphika for the Senate Intelligence Committee which “provides the most
sweeping analysis yet of Russia’s disinformation campaign around the 2016
election.” The report “found the operation used every major social media
platform to deliver words, images and videos tailored to voters’ interests
to help elect President Trump – and worked even harder to support him while
in office.” According to the report, “What is clear is that all of the
messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party – and specifically
Donald Trump.” the report, which the Post says the panel plans to release
this week, “offers the latest evidence that Russian agents sought to help
Trump win the White House.”

*Schumer, Collins Say Mueller Should Be Able To Complete
Investigation “Unimpeded.” *Senate Minority Leader Schumer said on NBC’s
Meet the Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=03e-8cd&t=c>
(12/16), “We should make sure that Mr. Mueller is unimpeded, that he
finishes his investigation and we should make sure that that report is
public and then make a decision on the totality.” On the possibility of
impeachment, Schumer said, “As you know, impeachment has a lot of different
ramifications. We certainly think no President is above the law, but I
think it’s wise to wait for the report, more and more people are believing
in Mueller. Fewer and fewer people...believe the President. Let’s get the
report and let’s read it. Let it go public and then let us decide.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said on CNN’s State of the Union[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=03f-00d&t=c>
(12/16), “Let me point out that there are a lot of unanswered ethical,
legal and factual questions but clearly this was not a good week for
President Trump, nor for his campaign organization and these allegations
are concerning. But we need to wait until we have the entire picture. And
that’s why it’s so critical that the special counsel be allowed to complete
his investigation unimpeded so that we can have the full picture.” On ABC’s
This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=040-9e1&t=c>
(12/16), Collins said, “The special counsel must be allowed to complete his
work unimpeded with no interference.”

*WPost Analysis: Silence Has Come To Define Mueller. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=041-39e&t=c>
(12/14, Roberts) says Mueller, who was just ranked No.3 on Time Magazine’s
Person of the Year list, “will go down in history, for better or worse, as
one of the pivotal figures of the Trump era.” Yet Mueller “seldom speaks
and is rarely seen. He is omnipresent and absent, inescapable but elusive,
the invisible yang to Trump’s gold-plated yin.” Mueller, the Post reports,
“is content to be known and respected within a very small circle of close
friends and colleagues.” The Post adds that “silence has come to define
Mueller. He’s become a meme, a cartoon superhero or supervillain, more
powerful with every word he does not say.”

*Rutenberg: National Enquirer Could Be Nation’s Most Powerful Print
Publication. *Jim Rutenberg writes in the “Mediator” column for the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=042-c28&t=c>
(12/16) that the National Enquirer may be “the most powerful print
publication in America.” The Enquirer “functioned as a dirty-tricks shop”
for Trump in 2016. Its “racks, under the current chief, David J. Pecker,
were given over to the Trump campaign,” which was “a political gift even
more valuable than the $150,000 that The Enquirer paid in a
‘catch-and-kill’ deal with the former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her
story of an affair with Mr. Trump.”

*NBC News/WSJournal Poll: 62 Percent Don’t Believe Trump’s Claims
About Russia Probe. *The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=043-ff0&t=c>
(12/16, Schwab) reports a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll “shows that
62 percent of Americans don’t believe President Trump when he talks about
the Russia probe.” According to the poll, 34 percent said they thought
Trump “had been honest and truthful” concerning the Russia investigation
while 51 percent “strongly disagreed” and “11 percent said they somewhat
disagreed.” In addition, the survey found that “the percentage who believe
Trump is implicated in his associates’ crimes has grown.” Last December,
“36 percent of Americans pointed a finger at Trump when asked if he had
done wrongdoing related to his associates’ crimes.” The new poll found that
“46 percent of Americans said they thought Trump had done something wrong,
while 23 percent said only Trump’s associates were responsible.” In the
lead story for NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=044-f3f&t=c>
(12/16, lead story, 2:30, Snow), O’Donnell cited the poll as evidence that
Trump’s “credibility is eroding.”
Foreign Policy
North Korea Condemns US Over Sanctions For Human Rights Abuses.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=045-0e6&t=c>
(12/16, Jin, Smith) reports the North Korean Foreign Ministry “on Sunday
condemned the US administration for stepping up sanctions and pressure on
the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to ‘exchanges of fire’ and
that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever.” According to Reuters,
Pyongyang’s “stinging response came after the United States said on Monday
it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean officials, including a
top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for alleged human rights
abuses.” While crediting President Trump “for his ‘willingness’ to improve
relations with the North, also known as DPRK, Pyongyang accused the US
State Department of being ‘bent on bringing the DPRK-US relations back to
the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire.’”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=046-752&t=c>
(12/16, Choe) reports the North Korean Foreign ministry also “said in a
statement on Sunday that if senior State Department and other American
officials believed they could force North Korea to give up its nuclear
weapons by increasing sanctions and their ‘human rights racket to an
unprecedented level,’ it would be the ‘greatest miscalculation.’” Instead,
the ministry added, “it will block the path to denuclearization on the
Korean Peninsula forever – a result desired by no one.” According to the
Times, “the North has become increasingly angry at American negotiators, as
working-level talks have bogged down over who should do what first in
putting the broadly worded Singapore agreement into action.”

“While there was no immediate reaction from the White House,”
the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=047-ba9&t=c>
(12/16, Taylor) says that “the statement underscored Pyongyang’s rising
frustration over the Trump administration’s decision in recent days to
raise previously sidelined human rights concerns against a backdrop of
stalled denuclearization talks.” The Times adds, “It remains to be seen how
the development will fully impact the delicate denuclearization diplomacy
between North Korea, the US and South Korea.” Separately, “US Special
Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Biegun is reportedly slated
to visit South Korea over the coming days to strategize with officials
there on ways to salvage the denuclearization negotiations with the
North.”’
Turkish FM Says Trump Working On Exiled Cleric’s Extradition.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=048-094&t=c>
(12/16, Zhdannikov) reports President Trump “has told his Turkish
counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington is working on extraditing a
US-based Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating a failed Turkish coup in
2016, Turkey’s foreign minister,” Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Sunday. Reuters
adds that Ankara “has long sought the extradition of Gulen, who has lived
in self-imposed US exile for nearly two decades” and “denies any
involvement in the failed putsch.” For his part, Trump “said last month he
was not considering extraditing the preacher as part of efforts to ease
Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal
Khashoggi in Istanbul.” Still, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) “said that reports
Trump was considering extraditing Gulen show his ‘affinity for strongmen.’”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=049-b52&t=c>
(12/16, Gall) reports that “Turkish officials have often complained that
the United States government has done little with what Turkey says is 85
boxes of evidence in support of the case against the preacher that it has
handed over.” Meanwhile, US officials “have said in the past that Justice
Department agents have devoted hundreds of hours going through the
evidence, but that it does not meet the standard to secure Mr. Gulen’s
extradition in an American court.”
Fighting Continues In Yemen Despite Ceasefire.

The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=04a-342&t=c>
(12/16, story 6, 2:00, Quijano) reported, “Despite a ceasefire set to begin
Tuesday, there was more fighting” in Yemen over the weekend as
“pro-government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, unleashed airstrikes on
Houthi rebels.” CBS (Palmer) added, “Last week, peace talks in Sweden
showed the warring factions, the Houthis and Yemeni government, shaking
hands.” Asked when Houthi fighters will start to pull out, Houthi Foreign
Minister Hisham Sharaf said, “For now, it is the concept, but such time
that withdrawal should take place.” Pressed further, Sharaf said, “I think
we’re talking about weeks.” Palmer: “Meanwhile, the UN is warning that ten
million Yemenis face hunger, and a quarter of a million are actually in
danger of starving.”
Israel Signals Displeasure At Australia’s “Mistake” In Recognizing West
Jerusalem.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=04b-089&t=c>
(12/16, Williams) reports that after Australian Prime Minister Scott
Morrison on Saturday “said Canberra formally recognises West Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital but reaffirmed his country’s support for a Palestinian
capital in East Jerusalem under a two-state peace deal,” the Israeli
Foreign Ministry “responded tepidly, calling the Australian move ‘a step in
the right direction.’” While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
“stayed silent on Canberra’s move at a weekly Israeli cabinet meeting that
is usually his opportunity to hold forth in public on major diplomatic
developments,” Tzachi Hanegbi, “Israel’s minister for regional cooperation
and a Netanyahu confidant in the right-wing Likud party, was more openly
critical.” Hanegbi told reporters that Australia “made a mistake,” because
there “is no division between the east of the city and west of the city.”
He added that Israel “hope[s] Australia will soon find the way to fix the
mistake it made.”
Experts Suggest UN Climate Change Deal May Encourage US To Rejoin.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=04c-e30&t=c>
(12/16, Bacon) reports negotiators from nearly 200 countries, including a
delegation from the US led by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Oceans, Environment and Science Judith Garber, convened at a UN climate
conference in Poland “to set rules to measure, report and verify efforts to
cut emissions in line with the 2015” Paris Climate Accord. The State
Department “said the US decision to drop out of the accord remains
unchanged but added that the Polish meetings resulted in a ‘significant
step toward holding our economic competitors accountable for reporting
their emissions in a manner consistent’ with long-held US standards.” The
outcome “drew rave reviews Sunday from US experts,” including George Mason
University professor Andrew Light, who “said the deal cut Saturday that
requires developed and developing nations to follow similar guidelines was
a crucial outcome that could encourage the US to return to the accord in
the future.”
NYTimes Analysis: Evidence Of Forced Labor Emerges From China’s Muslim
Detention Camps.

A New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=04d-1e4&t=c>
(12/16, Buckley, Ramzy) analysis says China’s “sweeping internment program
in Xinjiang” aims “to transform scattered Uighurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic
minorities – many of them farmers, shopkeepers and tradespeople – into a
disciplined, Chinese-speaking industrial work force, loyal to the Communist
Party and factory bosses, according to official plans published online.”
The ruling “Communist Party has said in a surge of upbeat propaganda that a
sprawling network of camps in the Xinjiang region is providing job training
and putting detainees on production lines for their own good, offering an
escape from poverty, backwardness and the temptations of radical Islam.”
Yet, the Times says, “mounting evidence suggests a system of forced labor
is emerging from the camps, a development likely to intensify international
condemnation of China’s drastic efforts to control and indoctrinate a
Muslim ethnic minority population of more than 12 million in Xinjiang.”

*China Using Tech Companies To Monitor Communications. *Rep. Devin
Nunes (R-CA) discussed the threat from China on Fox News’ Sunday Morning
Futures[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=04e-c01&t=c>
(12/16). He said the House recently completed a “couple year-long
investigation” into China, who he said are “moving in first with leverage
like loaning money, building infrastructure. Most concerning is when they
get a hold of the electrical grid. They get a hold of the banking system.
Then they go in with companies like Huawei or ZTE, and they offer basically
free infrastructure, free communications. My warning to a lot of our allies
and countries I meet with is: there is nothing for free. What the Chinese
are doing is ensuring that they control the communications infrastructure
so that it can monitor, for economic purposes, those businesses and others
that they may want to get involved in. So they have total control in
manipulation ability over those countries and governments.”
Hungarians Protest Against PM For Fourth Consecutive Day.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=04f-fd1&t=c>
(12/16, Kingsley) reports opponents of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor
Orban “demonstrated on Sunday for the fourth day in the past five, in what
has become one of the most sustained displays of street opposition to Mr.
Orban since he entered office eight years ago.” According to the Times, the
demonstrations “began on Wednesday as a reaction to two new laws: one that
forces employees to work up to 400 hours of overtime a year, and a second
that created a parallel judicial system that will severely undermine
judicial independence.” By Sunday, the rallies evolved into “a catchall
protest against many aspects of Mr. Orban’s increasingly autocratic
governance.” While the demonstrators’ “numbers peaked at an estimated
15,000 on Sunday, held relatively small events,” analysts said they “were
struck by the rare unity of the protesters, which included several parties
from across Hungary’s fragmented political spectrum, and also by their
persistence.”
Domestic Policy
Media Analysis: White House Digs In On Border Wall Ahead Of Possible
Shutdown.

Media reports cast the Administration on Sunday has sticking to its demand
for $5 billion in funding for a border wall, even if it leads to a
government shutdown later this week. To ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=050-b8c&t=c>
(12/16, story 4, 0:15, Llamas), for example, Trump is “not budging,” and to
the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=051-445&t=c>
(12/16, Yen) the White House “pushed the federal government closer to the
brink of a partial shutdown later this week, digging in on its demand for
$5 billion to build a border wall as congressional Democrats stood firm
against it.” White House senior adviser Stephen Miller told CBS’ Face the
Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=052-d96&t=c>,
“We will do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this
ongoing crisis of immigration.” Asked if that meant having a government
shutdown, Miller replied: “If it comes to it, absolutely.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=053-dcb&t=c>
(12/16, King) also says the Administration “signaled Sunday that it would
not compromise to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of this
week.” Miller, who it calls “the architect of some of the administration’s
most draconian immigration policies,” faulted Democrats “for being
unwilling to take needed steps to secure the southern border.” Said Miller,
“This is a very fundamental issue. At stake is the question of whether or
not the US remains a sovereign country, whether or not we can establish and
enforce rules for entrance into our country.”

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=054-9be&t=c>
(12/16, Schwab) reports Miller argued that a wall is “what the American
people want,” but “wouldn’t say if Trump would settle for less than $5
billion in funding.” Said Miller, “I’m not going to negotiate the details
on air with you right now. If the Democrat Party wants to go down the road
of continuing to preserve a model that enriches smuggling organizations,
that spreads misery on both sides of the border, that kills 300 Americans a
week on heroin overdoses alone.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=055-bcf&t=c>
(12/16, Key) and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=056-964&t=c>
(12/16, O'Brien), among other outlets, also report Miller’s comments.

While some outlets cast the Administration has digging in, others
cast Democrats as also unwavering in their demands. The CBS Weekend News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=057-0a8&t=c>
(12/16, lead story, 1:20, Quijano), for example, said “President Trump
wants a lot more than Democratic leaders want to give,” but “the Democrat
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer refuses to budge.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=058-ea9&t=c>
(12/15, Rein) says “neither side appeared willing to budge from their
negotiating positions” as Schumer “sounded equally dug into the Democrats’
position not to provide $5 billion for the wall.” Said Schumer, “President
Trump should understand – there are not the votes for the wall, in the
House or the Senate. He is not going to get the wall in any form.” To the
Post, the “ratcheting up of the rhetoric from both sides suggests that
finding even a short-term alternative to prevent some of the government
from shutting down on Dec. 22, three days before Christmas, is fading.”
Along similar lines, NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=059-8a8&t=c>
(12/16, story 2, 0:30, Snow) said it is “unclear...what steps, including a
possible short-term extension, could pass before Friday’s midnight deadline
to prevent furloughed workers and closed services right before Christmas.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=05a-23d&t=c>
(12/16, Peterson) likewise says both sides remain at an impasse, the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=05b-cff&t=c>
(12/16, Swoyer) that “two sides showed no sign of compromise Sunday,” and
Rachel Withers of Vox
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=05c-6f0&t=c>
(12/16) that “Schumer held equally firm.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=05d-2ab&t=c>
(12/16, Yen) says Schumer “show[ed] no signs of budging,” saying “that it
was up to Trump to decide whether parts of the federal government shut down
at midnight Friday over his border wall.” Schumer told NBC’s Meet the
Press[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=05e-ce2&t=c>,
“He is not going to get the wall in any form.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=05f-c6c&t=c>
(12/16, King) says that from Democrats “came fresh admonitions that the
White House and congressional Republicans would bear responsibility if a
shutdown” occurs later this week. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) said a
prospective shutdown would be “entirely in the hands” of Trump. Durbin
told ABC’s
This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=060-00c&t=c>,
“He bragged that this was his decision.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=061-a9c&t=c>
(12/16, Burke) reports Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Sunday that Democrats
are “of course” willing to work with Republicans to avoid a government
shutdown. Klobuchar told CBS’ Face the Nation[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=062-98f&t=c>,
“We have suggested so many things, comprehensive immigration reform that
passed the Senate would have brought down the debt by $158 billion and
there was significant funding in there for border security.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said on MSNBC’s Politics Nation[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=063-da6&t=c>
(12/15), “We do not want to build this wall. The country doesn’t want to
build this wall. ... We’re not going to give him anything close to $5
billion to build the wall that most of the country doesn’t want and I dare
say most senators in both parties – the Republicans are not willing to
stand up to him – but I know the overwhelming number of senators don’t want
this wall either.”

Asked on MSNBC’s Politics Nation[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=064-603&t=c>
(12/16) if he sees any reason to spend money on building a wall, Sen. Jeff
Merkley (D-OR) said, “Not a dollar on a wall. The Border Patrol tells us
that [walls] are counterproductive, that they’re easily bypassed. In
addition, it makes it impossible for them to see what is happening on the
other side of the wall. And therefore, they really dislike this. So, this
is a very dumb idea. It is a very expensive idea and it just has to do with
some kind of temper tantrum the President’s throwing.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=065-326&t=c>
(12/16, Davis, Cochrane) reports that “in the final moments of complete
Republican control of government...Republicans find themselves once again
trapped between Mr. Trump’s messaging and their own political reality.” The
Times says the President’s declaration “last week that he would be happy to
take sole responsibility for a shutdown undercut Republican leaders who had
hoped to blame Democrats for any unresolved spending impasse.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=066-1da&t=c>
(12/16), said, “There’s no excuse to shut down government on this issue or
any other issue. I suggested we revisit a compromise proposal we brought
forth earlier this year. I helped craft it and it provided $2.5 billion
this year and over the next ten years to fully fund border security. That
includes physical barriers, like fences and walls, also technology, more
Border Patrol agents, more roads to get into these remote areas. ... I
think that’s a possible avenue for a compromise.”

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said on CBS’ Face the Nation[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=067-f37&t=c>
(12/16), “I’m working to keep the government open. I think that is what the
American people expect of the people they elect. Keep the government open.
If there’s any short of shutdown, it would only be partial shutdown.
Remember, through the appropriations process we already have approved 75
percent of the funding for the government for the next year. But I still
think it’s better to not have a partial shutdown whether it’s over
Christmas or any time. I don’t think people benefit.”
Democrats Condemn Court Ruling On ACA.

Erielle Reshef reported on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=068-465&t=c>
(12/16, story 5, 2:35, Llamas) that “healthcare for millions could be in
jeopardy after” US District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling that the ACA
is unconstitutional put “Obamacare in limbo.” Reshef added that Democrats
“swiftly condemn[ed] the move.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=069-80f&t=c>
(12/16, Key) reports Senate Minority Leader Schumer said Sunday that it was
an “awful ruling” and Democrats will fight it “tooth and nail.” Schumer
said on NBC’s Meet the Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=06a-965&t=c>
(12/16), “It’s an awful, awful ruling. We’re going to fight this, tooth and
nail. And the first thing we’re going to do, when we get back there in the
Senate, is urge — put a vote on the floor urging an intervention in the
case.” Schumer said of Republicans, “On the one hand, they said they want
to preserve pre-existing conditions and preserve health care. On the other
hand, Donald Trump and a large number of Republicans brought this court
suit. ... So there are going to be a good number of Republicans who are
going to really have to make a decision whether to join us in this
intervention or face very severe consequences.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said on ABC’s This Week[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=06b-84f&t=c>
(12/16), “I think the judge, the Republican attorneys general who brought
this lawsuit didn’t do the Republican Party any favor. The largest issue in
the last election...that moved 40 seats from the Republican column to the
Democratic column, the biggest single issue was the Affordable Care Act and
whether it would cover people with pre-existing conditions. These
Republican attorneys general have set out to abolish this law and to end
protection for people with a medical history. Now the issue is alive and
well again. The Republicans have no alternative to the Affordable Care
Act.” On CBS’ Face the Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=06c-015&t=c>
(12/16), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) called the ruling “absurd.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) predicted on CNN’s State of the Union[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=06d-bd0&t=c>
(12/16) that the ruling “will be over turned on appeal.” On ABC’s This
Week[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=06e-f82&t=c>
(12/16), Collins said the ruling “was far too sweeping. He could have taken
a much more surgical approach and just struck down the individual mandate
and kept the rest of the law intact. I believe that it will be overturned.”
Similarly, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=06f-03e&t=c>
(12/16) says in an editorial that while it opposes the law, the judge’s
ruling will likely be overturned on appeal and could backfire on
Republicans.

Meanwhile, on NBC’s Meet the Press[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=070-6e6&t=c>
(12/16), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) downplayed the significance of the ruling.
Blunt said, “I think the thing to remember about the judge’s ruling is it
has no immediate impact. Nothing changes yesterday. Nothing changes
tomorrow. This will have to go through a circuit court process. Who knows
if the circuit court would uphold it or not. That will either be quickly
dismissed, which is one option, or a long period of time, in my view,
before the circuit court deals with it. This will be another area where
this healthcare will be used as a political issue way beyond the
ramifications of one district judge making a ruling that has no immediate
impact.”

In an analysis, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=071-f4f&t=c>
(12/16, Alonso-Zaldivar) says the ruling “landed like a stink bomb among
Republicans,” who are “still stinging from their loss of the House in the
midterm elections,” and now find themselves “facing a fresh political
quandary.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=072-cba&t=c>
(12/16, A1, Goldstein) says if the ruling is upheld on appeal, it would
“upend the health insurance industry, the way doctors and hospitals
function, and the ability of millions of Americans to access treatments
they need to combat serious diseases.” The Post adds that the ruling “sets
up an awkward juggling act for the Republican Party, balancing President
Trump’s gleeful tweets over the court’s decision against a perception that
the GOP is threatening insurance that covers nearly 20 million Americans
through new private health plans and an expansion of Medicaid.”

*Miller: Democrats Should Work With Republicans To Craft An ACA
Replacement. *Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, on CBS’ Face the
Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121701biden&r=email-8080&l=073-927&t=c>
(12/16), said, “Obviously there’s no change immediately in Obamacare, there
hasn’t been a nationwide injunction, Obamacare was ruled to be
unconstitutional. We’ve known that it was unconstitutional. More important
question is whether Democrats are going to work with Republicans once
Obamacare is ultimately struck down to come up with replacement plan that
protects preexisting conditions, helps the 28 million Americans who still
don’t have access to health insurance and keeps prices low.”

John King said on CNN’s Inside Politi