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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Friday, January 18, 2019 8:02 AM
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*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Friday,
January 18, 2019


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=001-2ce&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Friday, January 18, 2019 8:00 AM EST*

*Holiday Message*

In observance of the U.S. federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, we
will not publish on Monday, January 21, 2019. Service will resume on
Tuesday, January 22, 2019. We wish our readers a safe holiday.


Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• Politico/Morning Consult Poll: Biden Leads Hypothetical 2020 Democratic
Field. <#S1>

• Howard Dean Wants To See A “Younger, Newer” Democratic Nominee In 2020.
<#S2>

• Ex-Bush Administration Official: Biden, Other Moderate Democrats Can’t
Win 2020 Nomination. <#S3>

• Yahoo News’ Ward: Warren Would Likely Target Biden Over Support For
Financial Industry. <#S4>

• Pitched Battle Among Democrats For 2020 Campaign Staff Less Of A Concern
For Biden. <#S5>

• MLK Day Emerges As Key Moment For Biden, Other Potential 2020 Democrats.
<#S6>

• Continetti Pans Democratic Field. <#S7>

• Harris May Benefit From Early Vote Opposing Funding For Trump Border Wall.
<#S8>

• Gillibrand Heading To Iowa This Weekend. <#S9>

• Some In Media Critical Of O’Rourke As He Weighs 2020 Run. <#S10>

• Presidential Hopeful Gabbard Offers Apology For Past Anti-LGBT Remarks.
<#S11>

• Inslee: Climate Change Must Be Next President’s Priority. <#S12>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Citing Shutdown, Trump Pulls Plug On Pelosi’s Trip Overseas. <#S13>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Trump, At Pentagon, Vows US Will Develop Space-Based Missile Defense
System. <#S14>

• Sources: Mnuchin Proposed Easing China Tariffs. <#S15>

• Pompeo Expected To Meet With North Korean Envoy Friday. <#S16>

• House Votes Overwhelmingly Against Easing Sanctions On Firms Tied To
Russian Oligarch. <#S17>

• Trump Offers Condolences For Americans Killed In Syria Bombing. <#S18>

• US Envoy Meets With Pakistani Officials About Taliban Peace Talks. <#S19>

• May Meets With Lawmakers Opposed To Her Brexit Deal. <#S20>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Sources: Trump Directed Cohen To Lie To Congress About Moscow Tower
Project. <#S21>

• Media Analyses: Giuliani Walks Back Collusion Comments. <#S22>

• Leaked Ohr Testimony: Key DOJ Officials, Including Mueller Deputy, Knew
About Steele Dossier. <#S23>

• Trump Makes Case For Wall, Says Democrats “Hijacked By The Open Borders
Fringe.” <#S24>

• TSA Says “Sick-Out” Rate Has Stabilized. <#S25>

• HHS IG: Thousands Of Migrant Children Separated From Adults Ahead Of
“Zero Tolerance.” <#S26>

• Impact Of Tariffs On US Auto Parts Suppliers Assessed. <#S27>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Research Suggests Years-Long Menopause Symptoms May Lead To Elevated
Breast Cancer Risk. <#S28>

• Hereditary Hemochromatosis Causing Higher Levels Of Cancer And Chronic
Health Conditions Than Previously Believed, Study Indicates. <#S29>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S30>

• Washington Post. <#S31>
Biden in the News
Politico/Morning Consult Poll: Biden Leads Hypothetical 2020 Democratic
Field.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=002-a20&t=c>
(1/17, Andrade) reported that a Politico/Morning Consult poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=003-c96&t=c>
of 1,984 US voters, taken Jan. 11-14, shows former Vice President Joe Biden
leading a hypothetical 2020 Democratic presidential field with 19%,
followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at 12%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
at 5%, ex-Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) at 4%, and a raft other potential and
announced contenders lagging further behind. Politico added, “A plurality
of voters (47%), say they will ‘definitely’ vote for someone other than
President Trump, compared to 23% who say they will ‘definitely’ vote for
him.”

*Reports Highlight Poll Showing Biden With Highest Favorable Rating
Among 2020 Democrats. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=004-e0f&t=c>
(1/17, White) reported on the results of a new PBS/NPR/Marist poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=005-920&t=c>
– covered in yesterday’s briefing – saying it shows Biden “is holding a
comfortable lead among a slate of potential Democratic candidates ahead of
the presidential election.” According to the poll, said the DC, Biden
“holds a high favorability rating among black people (70 percent), white
people without a college education (71 percent), and white people with a
college education (83 percent).” The DC added, “Some Republicans worry that
Biden poses the biggest threat to President Donald Trump.”

Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=006-09a&t=c>
(1/17, Starr) also reported on the poll results, saying that Biden “is way
ahead of the rest of the presidential hopefuls with a 76 percent favorable
rating. Following Biden are, in order of favorability: Bernie Sanders, 57
percent; Elizabeth Warren, 53 percent; Cory Booker, 40 percent; Beto
O’Rourke, 39 percent; Kamala Harris, 36 percent; Michael Bloomberg, 27
percent; Kirsten Gillibrand, 22 percent; Amy Klobuchar, 21 percent; and
Julian Castro, 20 percent.”
Howard Dean Wants To See A “Younger, Newer” Democratic Nominee In 2020.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=007-29e&t=c>
(1/17, Birnbaum) reported that during a Thursday appearance on CNN, ex-DNC
chief Howard Dean “said that he is interested in a ‘younger, newer’ nominee
in the upcoming presidential election.” Said Dean, “The people that I am
most interested in are the young ones. I think it’s time that the young
people took over the party.”

The Daily Mail (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=008-569&t=c>
(1/17, Goodin) reports that Dean “said it was time to ‘turn the page on my
generation’ when it comes to candidates like former Vice President Joe
Biden, 76. ‘That’s his personal choice,’ he said of talk Biden may run
again. ‘I already said what I had to say about turning the page on my
generation. But, you know, Joe Biden is a good guy, people like Joe Biden a
lot. He’s run before and hasn’t been able to win. Maybe he will this time,
I don’t know. I mean, I’m really not going to take sides in this. There are
no candidates with one exception that I really don’t think should be
president,’ he said.”

In another article, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=009-34d&t=c>
(1/17, Concha) reported that Dean said on CNN “that he believes all the
party’s candidates are qualified to be the president, except for Rep. Tulsi
Gabbard (D-Hawaii).” After commenting on a possible bid by Biden, Dean
later said that Gabbard is the only Democrat “not qualified” to be
president, citing “her dalliances with [Syrian President Bashar Assad], her
statements about gay people.”
Ex-Bush Administration Official: Biden, Other Moderate Democrats Can’t Win
2020 Nomination.

In an op-ed on the website of The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=00a-ea2&t=c>
(1/17), J.T. Young, a former official in President George W. Bush’s
Administration, said, “Party demographics argue strongly against
establishment Democrats’ hopes for a moderate 2020 nominee.” Young said
that while former Vice President Joe Biden is the favorite of the
Democratic establishment “and is frequently listed as Democrats’ top 2020
presidential pick,” he “is stronger in theory than in primary, because
Democrats’ establishment is as well: Liberals are the party’s majority.
According to the latest Gallup poll, liberals now make up 51 percent of
Democrats.” Young went on to argue that because of the leftward shift of
the Democratic Party, Biden and any other centrist Democrat has no real
shot at capturing the presidential nomination.
Yahoo News’ Ward: Warren Would Likely Target Biden Over Support For
Financial Industry.

Writing for Yahoo! News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=00b-953&t=c>
(1/18), Jon Ward says that in 2015, he “interviewed Vice President Joe
Biden...about his recollections of the 1980 presidential election. I went
back through that interview recently, and discovered comments by Biden
about Sen. Elizabeth Warren that have fresh resonance.” Ward says Warren
“had been an antagonist of Biden’s in 2002, when she criticized him in a
New York Times op-ed for his support of a bill that made it harder for
consumers to declare bankruptcy.” That “critique was clearly still on
Biden’s mind in 2015, when he talked to me about reforms to the credit card
industry enacted by President Obama’s administration. ‘The credit card
change we made, that alone has saved consumers over $20 billion a year,’ he
said. ‘If you look at Elizabeth Warren’s argument on this: ‘You should have
just shut the suckers down.’” Ward says if Biden enter the 2020 race, “this
debate will likely resurface.”
Pitched Battle Among Democrats For 2020 Campaign Staff Less Of A Concern
For Biden.

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=00c-267&t=c>
(1/17, Buck) reported that in the battle for the 2020 Democratic
presidential nomination, “an important preliminary contest is already
underway and heating up in the key early states: the staff primary. In New
Hampshire, South Carolina and particularly Iowa,” candidates and potential
contenders are vying “for top talent to lead their efforts on the ground –
a courting process that quietly began for some last year, but has kicked
into high gear within the past two weeks.” But while time is of the essence
for some contenders, “a candidate like former Vice President Joe Biden
might be able to wait longer to launch a campaign without concerns about
hiring, given his unique networks in the key primary states. Biden ‘could
staff up and have on the ground support overnight’ in Iowa, said one state
Democratic operative.”
MLK Day Emerges As Key Moment For Biden, Other Potential 2020 Democrats.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=00d-49d&t=c>
(1/17, Whack) reports, “Monday’s observance of what would have been Martin
Luther King Jr.’s 90th birthday is emerging as an important moment for
Democrats eyeing the White House to talk about one of the most divisive
issues in American politics: race. At least a half dozen declared or
potential presidential candidates will attend events and talk about what
King’s legacy means,” including former Vice President Joe Biden, “who, amid
intense speculation over whether he’ll seek the presidency, will make his
first public appearance of the year at the National Action Network’s annual
King breakfast in Washington with its founder, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and
Martin Luther King III.” The report highlights other announced and
potential Democratic hopefuls who’ll be speaking at various events on MLK
Day.
Continetti Pans Democratic Field.

In his Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=00e-8ec&t=c>
(1/18) column, Matthew Continetti offers a critical assessment of the field
of announced and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, saying
of former Vice President Joe Biden, for instance, saying he “faces
significant hurdles before he reaches the general election. As much as
Democrats like him, they’d also like to see ‘someone new.’ Biden’s age
(76), record of bipartisanship, insider status, and white hetero-normative
cisgendered male identity might hinder his chances in the primary. It’s
noteworthy that former Obama advisers haven’t swung behind him.” Continetti
adds that while “Democrats go into 2020 with the” edge, “the perception of
[President] Trump’s vulnerability is contributing to an unpredictable,
grueling, and possibly self-defeating primary among up to two-dozen
liberals of middling accomplishments.”
Harris May Benefit From Early Vote Opposing Funding For Trump Border Wall.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=00f-4b4&t=c>
(1/18, Kapur) reports, “A little-noticed vote” made by Sen. Kamala Harris
(D-CA) in 2018 “angered her fellow Democrats, but it also gave her a way to
stand out from the crowd on the key issue of immigration if, as expected,
she seeks the party’s presidential nomination in 2020.” While opposing
President Trump’s “demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding is a unifying
message for Democrats with the 2020 campaign already under way,” early last
year, “Democrats were willing to grant Trump $25 billion to build a barrier
on the US-Mexico border in exchange for giving young undocumented
‘Dreamers’ a path to citizenship. Harris was one of just three Senate
Democrats to reject that deal, provoking the anger of Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer, colleagues and some immigration activists, according
to two” sources.
Gillibrand Heading To Iowa This Weekend.

The Des Moines (IA) Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=010-cde&t=c>
(1/17, Pfannenstiel) reports that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) “will make
stops across Iowa this weekend, announcing details of the trip just two
days after launching a presidential exploratory committee. It will be
Gillibrand’s first visit to the first-in-the-nation caucus state as part of
the 2020 primary process.” The Register adds, however, that Gillibrand’s
“campaign hit an early snag as some took issue with her planned Saturday
appearance at the Iowa Women’s March, which is an extension of the national
group. That group faces growing scrutiny over its leaders’ association with
Louis Farrakhan, an anti-Semitic religious leader.” In another report, the Des
Moines (IA) Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=011-f42&t=c>
(1/17, Ta) says that Gillibrand on Thursday “condemned anti-Semitism as she
prepared to speak at the Women’s March in Iowa.” In a statement, a
Gillibrand spokesperson said, “Senator Gillibrand strongly condemns
anti-Semitism from anyone, in all forms, and believes it has no place in a
movement for women’s empowerment or anywhere else.”

*WSJournal: Gillibrand Remade Self To Be Akin To Hillary Clinton. *In
an editorial, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=012-e53&t=c>
(1/17) says that Gillibrand is, as Hillary Clinton did, running for
president primarily as a woman representing women’s interests, focusing
more on her gender than her ideas. The Journal casts it as the newest in a
line of political personas and declares Gillibrand will never have
authenticity as a strength.
Some In Media Critical Of O’Rourke As He Weighs 2020 Run.

As ex-Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) mulls a 2020 bid for president, he is
drawing critical scrutiny from some in the media and beyond. For example,
in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=013-a3d&t=c>
(1/17) column, Carter Eskew says, “As a potential top-tier presidential
candidate,” the former Texas Senate candidate “has arrived at a much
tougher level of competition, and he had better raise his game quickly.”
With O’Rourke “under a whole new burden of proof, he is going to have a
more thoughtful positions on national issues than” he “gave The Post’s
Jenna Johnson, published in an article on Tuesday.” Eskew describes
O’Rourke as having responded with “babble” when asked by Johnson about
immigration. Eskew adds that “preseason is over. Beto, time to get your
head into a whole new game.”

In an “analysis” on the website of CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=014-5cc&t=c>
(1/17), “reporter” Nia-Malika Henderson criticized O’Rourke over his
current road trip as he mulls a White House run, saying that “Jack
Kerouac-style, he roams around, jobless (does he not need a job?) to find
himself and figure out if he wants to lead the free world. This is a luxury
no woman or even minority in politics could ever have. But O’Rourke, tall,
handsome, white and male, has this latitude, to be and do anything. His
privilege even allows him to turn a loss to the most despised candidate of
the cycle into a launching pad for a White House run.” Henderson added that
“the fact that he knows he has the freedom to cast about as a
campaign-in-waiting forms, shows how much of his political identity is
predicated on being white and male.”

*“Draft Beto” Group Out With Web Video Touting O’Rourke. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=015-102&t=c>
(1/17, Hagen) reported, “Draft Beto, a group of Democratic activists”
seeking to draft O’Rourke into the 2020 presidential race, “on Thursday
launched its first web video to rev up support for the” former congressman.
The Hill said, “The 90-second spot is set to The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley,’
which is a reference to the viral video of O’Rourke air-drumming to that
song while waiting at the drive-thru at a Whataburger” during his failed
2018 challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). The Hill added, “Draft Beto is
aiming to raise enough money off the video to potentially air it on social
media and in TV markets in early primary states.”
Presidential Hopeful Gabbard Offers Apology For Past Anti-LGBT Remarks.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=016-610&t=c>
(1/17, Choi) reported that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who last week
announced a 2020 White House run, on Thursday apologized “for ‘wrong’ and
‘hurtful’ statements she made years ago touting her work for an anti-gay
group, saying in a series of posts to Twitter that ‘my views have changed
significantly since then.’” Politico added that in a series of tweets
“accompanied by a video apology,” Gabbard said, “I grew up knowing that
every person is a child of God, and equally loved by God. I have always
believed in the fundamental rights and equality of all people. But I also
grew up in a socially conservative household, where I was raised to believe
that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. For a period of my
life I didn’t see the contradiction in those beliefs.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=017-7bf&t=c>
(1/17, Wagner) reports that in her video, Gabbard said, “I’m so grateful to
my friends, my loved ones, both gay and straight, who have patiently helped
me see how my past positions on these issues were at odds with my values,
my aloha, and that they were causing people harm.” The Post adds that in
her nascent presidential bid, Gabbard “has been viewed suspiciously by many
on the left because of her opposition to civil unions for same-sex couples
while a state legislator in the early 2000s.”
Inslee: Climate Change Must Be Next President’s Priority.

Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), in an op-ed in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=018-078&t=c>
(1/17), writes, “I’m seriously considering running for president” because
“the Democratic Party must nominate a candidate who will put fighting
climate change at the top of the agenda.” There is “a short period of time
to act,” and “whether we shrink from this challenge, or rise to it, is the
biggest question we face, as a nation and as a people,” as well as “the
greatest economic opportunity of this century.” Inslee warns, “The oil
companies, the big polluters and the climate deniers are incredibly
powerful” and “will do everything they can to protect their profits.”
However, “this is an issue of the basic, fundamental character of the
American people,” and he is confident they can rise to the task. Inslee
concludes, “Confronting climate change will require a full-scale
mobilization – a national mission that must be led from the White House.”
Leading the News
Citing Shutdown, Trump Pulls Plug On Pelosi’s Trip Overseas.

In what media reports are casting as a response to Speaker Pelosi’s move to
postpone his State of the Union address, the President yesterday sent her a
letter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=019-eb9&t=c>
canceling her trip overseas less than an hour before she and other
Democrats were scheduled to take off for Brussels. If most of yesterday’s
coverage had seen Pelosi’s move as a bold assertion of power and a message
to the White House, Trump’s apparent response raised alarms through much of
the media about partisan animosity spiraling out of control. NBC Nightly
News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=01a-6cc&t=c>
(1/17, lead story, 1:40, Holt), for example, opened its broadcast deriding
the fact that “as hundreds of thousands struggle to get by on no pay, the
people who could put them back to work seem more focused on power plays and
retaliation.” NBC further called Trump’s letter “an apparent move to
humiliate” Pelosi. ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=01b-a99&t=c>
(1/17, story 4, 2:20, Bruce) likewise lamented that the two sides “are
spending a lot of time and energy on political drama, but they are not
spending any time together talking to actually try to come up with a
solution to this shutdown.”

Jim Acosta, on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=01c-770&t=c>
(1/17), similarly stated that “with hundreds of thousands of federal
employees working without being paid, the government shutdown has become a
schoolyard brawl,” and Gloria Borger said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=01d-353&t=c>
(1/17), “Get out of the sandbox, all of you...and reopen the government.”
Along those lines, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=01e-eb3&t=c>
(1/17, Landler) says “Washington these days resembles nothing so much as an
unruly sandbox” where “septuagenarian politicians are squabbling like
7-year-olds.”

Not all media assessments were quite so dire. Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=01f-df3&t=c>
(1/17, Vespa), for example, said that “Trump is a fighter, and he’s taken
the government shutdown to new entertaining heights.” Under the headline,
“Trump Strikes Back At Pelosi After A Day Of Silence,” meanwhile, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=020-d07&t=c>
(1/17, Restuccia) says Trump’s move “is likely to dramatically increase
tensions with congressional Democrats,” and “signaled that the president is
no longer willing to hold his fire when it comes to the House speaker.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=021-706&t=c>
(1/17, lead story, 3:00, Garrett) reported “the White House published the
letter” to Pelosi “less than an hour before” she “and several lawmakers
were to depart,” and after “some had boarded buses outside the Capitol.” NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=022-8a4&t=c>
(1/17, lead story, 1:40, Holt) noted Trump wrote Pelosi, “I’m sorry to
inform you that your trip has been postponed,” and the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=023-61f&t=c>
(1/17, Karni, Fandos) that he added, “We will reschedule this seven-day
excursion when the shutdown is over.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=024-819&t=c>
(1/17, Dinan, Boyer) reports Trump also wrote, “In light of the 800,000
great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that
postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.” According
to the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=025-d49&t=c>
(1/17, Athey), Trump continued, “I also feel that, during this period, it
would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining
the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown. ... Obviously, if
you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would
certainly be your prerogative.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=026-057&t=c>
(1/17, Werner) says “Trump didn’t explain what authority he has to cancel
Pelosi’s trip, but it probably would require the use of military aircraft
controlled by his administration.” At any rate, the Federalist
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=027-35d&t=c>
(1/17, Osburn) reports, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders “told
reporters that Trump just wants to keep lawmakers in Washington until they
can work out a deal to secure the US border and fund ongoing government
operations.” Said Sanders, “If she leaves, she guarantees that the second
round of paychecks to workers won’t go out.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=028-0e2&t=c>
(1/17, Lee, Lucey, Colvin, Mascaro) also reports that Sanders said the
President “wanted Pelosi to stay in Washington before Tuesday, a deadline
to prepare the next round of paychecks for federal workers,” while CQ Roll
Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=029-fa7&t=c>
(1/17, Bennett) quotes an unnamed “White House official” who said “all
other codels are also being pulled down during the shutdown.”

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=02a-dc3&t=c>
(1/17, Fredericks) calls Trump’s letter “an apparent tit-for-tat move,” and
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=02b-c0a&t=c>
(1/17, Brice, Chiacu) “a tit for tat after the Democratic leader’s
suggestion he postpone the State of the Union address during the partial
government shutdown.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=02c-a14&t=c>
(1/17, Karni, Fandos) reports Trump “retaliated...against...Pelosi for
threatening to cancel his planned State of the Union address,” and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=02d-1c0&t=c>
(1/17, Collins, Jackson) that he “threw the latest punch...in his ongoing
battle with” the Speaker. Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=02e-689&t=c>
(1/17, Spiering) and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=02f-5ba&t=c>
(1/17, Ballhaus, Leary, Nicholas), among other news outlets, run similar
analyses.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=030-ebc&t=c>
(1/17, Quinn) reports the “escalation of a fight between Trump and
Pelosi...left her and other lawmakers who were slated to travel overseas
stuck in the Capitol, as a bus that was scheduled to take them to their
flight remained stalled outside a House office building.” According to
the Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=031-2a0&t=c>
(1/17, Johnson), in fact, “Pelosi and a select group of congressional
Democrats” were already “boarded” on the “military charter bus” and “were
forced to turn around when...Trump officially postponed the trip.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=032-d79&t=c>
(1/17, Caplan) also says the “confused Democrat lawmakers were left sitting
idle” on the post, and adds that “photos shared to social media purport to
show Democrats...traveling to the airport when they received word that
their access to a military plane had been blocked.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=033-837&t=c>
(1/17, lead story, 3:00, Garrett) reported that “Democrat Adam Schiff was
part of the delegation,” and showed him saying, “Certainly sounds like it
was another impetuous act by the President.” ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=034-f50&t=c>
(1/17, story 4, 2:20, Bruce) showed him also saying, “Well – look, none of
this has to be related to the shutdown. Whether this kind of fifth grade
conduct is going to contribute, it’s hard to see how it’s very
constructive.” ABC also ran footage of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
calling Trump’s move “petty,” “small” and “vindictive.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=035-efa&t=c>
(1/17), “I agree with Adam Schiff that the President is acting like a fifth
grader, although that insults fifth graders. We clearly do not have an
adult in the White House.” Hirono told CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=036-a68&t=c>
(1/17), “It’s never a surprise when Donald Trump does something very
childish, but let’s not forget who began this train wreck of an unnecessary
and harmful shutdown. It’s Donald Trump.”

Chris Cillizza said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=037-ff9&t=c>
(1/17), “I’m sure [Trump] reveled in, that they were already – I guarantee
you Donald Trump is seeing the image we just rolled of the bus coming back
and parking and absolutely loving it, because this is what he does. In
every circumstance where there’s a high road option and low road option,
good for the country option and good for Donald Trump and the immediate
satisfaction option, he takes the low road and immediate satisfaction
option. ... He literally can’t help himself. It’s who he is, what he does.”

In his opening monologue on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=038-cbd&t=c>
(1/17), Sean Hannity said, “She was perfectly happy to take a
government-funded plane and a government funded intercontinental trip
instead of staying in Washington, DC and actually doing her job. ... So she
obviously doesn’t care about furloughed workers. She only feigns moral
outrage because she had no intention of being there to solve the problem.
... Pelosi is obviously paying politics with the safety, the security, of
all Americans, all because she just hates Donald Trump.”

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=039-261&t=c>
(1/17), “I think the troops in Afghanistan would rather hear that Nancy
Pelosi is in her office behind me working to end this stalemate, close our
border, end the open border policy she’s been pursuing.”

*Trump Praises Kremer Interview. *In a tweet, Trump praised Women
for Trump Co-Founder Amy Kremer “for doing such a great interview with
Martha MacCallum.” Kremer said on Fox News The Story[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=03a-c1e&t=c>
(1/17), “I think they need to feel it at the top. President Trump stayed at
the White House, Nancy Pelosi jetted off to Hawaii. ... It sounds like
Nancy wants to jet around the world when she needs to get back to the
capital and do her job.” She added that Trump is “putting America first and
that’s exactly what he was hired to do.”

*Graham To Trump: “One Sophomoric Response Does Not Deserve
Another.” *Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=03b-f54&t=c>
(1/17, Basu) quotes Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as saying, “One sophomoric
response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi’s threat to cancel the
State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political. President
Trump denying Speaker Pelosi military travel to visit our troops in
Afghanistan, our allies in Egypt and NATO is also inappropriate.”

*Earlier Thursday, Pelosi Firm On Postponing State Of The Union. *Ahead
of the President’s letter, CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=03c-253&t=c>
(1/17, McPherson) reports, “Pelosi on Thursday held firm in her position
that the partial government shutdown be ended before business as usual is
resumed, including the State of the Union. ... As to how she would react if
Trump insisted on delivering the address to Congress on Jan. 29, Pelosi
said, ‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=03d-600&t=c>
(1/17, Davis) quotes Pelosi as saying, “The date of the State of the Union
is not a special date. ... It’s not constitutionally required, it’s not the
president’s birthday, it’s not anything. It is a date that we agreed to.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=03e-b2d&t=c>
(1/17, Dinan) also reports Pelosi “renewed her call to postpone the State
of the Union address but changed her reasons Thursday, saying her worry
isn’t that the Secret Service can’t do its job but rather that they
shouldn’t be asked to do it while they’re not getting paid.” The Speaker
“shifted her argument Thursday, saying she believes the Secret Service can
protect the event successfully – but they shouldn’t have to as long as
they’re not getting paid for the work.” Said Pelosi, “Maybe he thinks it’s
okay not to pay people who do work. I don’t.”

*First Lady Reportedly Flew To Mar-a-Lago On Government Jet. *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=03f-215&t=c>
(1/17, Fredericks) reports that “hours after President Trump grounded House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned trip to visit the troops in Afghanistan,
first lady Melania Trump was winging her way to Mar-a-Lago — on a
government jet.” Politico writer Jake Sherman “made the discovery while
listening to air traffic control and noted that EXEC1F was headed to Palm
Beach airport.”

*White House Announces Pompeo, Mnuchin Will Not Attend World
Economic Forum. *The White House on Thursday announced that Secretary of
State Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin will not travel to Davos,
Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. The CBS Evening News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=040-498&t=c>
(1/17, lead story, 3:00, Garrett) said the move will “leav[e] the US
unrepresented at the World Economic Forum.” Fox News’ Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=041-0ae&t=c>
(1/17, 6:20 p.m. EST) reported the White House said Trump canceled the trip
“out of consideration for the 800,000 great American workers not receiving
pay, and to ensure his team can assist as needed.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=042-c4a&t=c>
(1/17, Dawsey) notes that Trump himself canceled plans to attend the
conference earlier this month, “but had planned to send top officials
including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo.”

*Paul, Other Republicans Urge Trump To Deliver State Of The Union
In Senate Chamber. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=043-b60&t=c>
(1/17, Kruta) reports “Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul offered a
potential solution to the State of the Union problem that has been front
and center for the past few days,” proposing that Trump bypass “the House
of Representatives entirely and delivers the speech from the Senate floor.”
Tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=044-bf8&t=c>
Paul, “Senator McConnell is in charge of the Senate. If Mrs. Pelosi refuses
to allow the president to deliver the State of the Union in the House, I
propose we move it to the Senate and make it happen!”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=045-2cc&t=c>
(1/17, Dinan, Muñoz) points out that “George Washington delivered his first
State of the Union address in the Senate chamber,” and “now a group of
Republicans says President Trump should do the same thing, going around
House Democrats who a day earlier had told the president to postpone or
cancel the annual address, currently slated for Jan. 29.” Said Rep. Mo
Brooks, “Speaker Pelosi’s attempt to muffle President Trump and appease her
radical, socialist, open borders base using the false claim of security
concerns is shameful. ... While traditionally these addresses have been
held in the House chamber due to its larger size, inasmuch as House
Democrats apparently do not want to hear from the president anyway,
overcrowding of the Senate chamber should not be an issue.”

*Trump Fundraising Off Pelosi State Of The Union Move. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=046-c99&t=c>
(1/17, Wegmann) reports “Trump’s joint fundraising committee blasted out an
email blasting” Pelosi “for ‘illegitimately disinviting’ the president from
making his State of the Union address. Then Trump asked his supporters for
some money.” Said the fundraising email, “Americans DEMAND the truth, so we
need to make a CLEAR STATEMENT and raise $1, OOO, OOO by Midnight TONIGHT
to show your support for Border Security (the REAL security concern).”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=047-f94&t=c>
(1/17, Boyer) notes Trump is also quoted as saying, “THE STATE OF THE UNION
IS NOT FOR LIBERAL OBSTRUCTIONISTS, IT IS FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!” The
email also “asserts that Democrats ‘are PANICKING at the thought of me
speaking to you and your family in two short weeks.’”

*Politico Analysis: Shutdown Could Push US Economy Toward
Recession. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=048-eea&t=c>
(1/17, White) reports the partial government shutdown is “starting to look
like a serious crisis that could nudge the US toward recession and threaten
President Donald Trump’s economic message during his reelection campaign.”
A combination of “missed federal paychecks, dormant government contractors,
and shelved corporate stock offerings” appear increasingly likely to hamper
first-quarter growth, pushing it close to zero. The Council of Economic
Advisers said growth may fall below 2 percent, “a number Trump, who
promised sustained growth over 3 percent, will not like.”

*WPost Analysis: White House, Democrats End “Even The Pretense Of
Negotiations.” *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=049-af5&t=c>
(1/17, Dawsey) reports “the White House and congressional Democrats halted
even the pretense of negotiations” on Thursday as the “political acrimony
between” the two sides “reached new levels, worrying members of both
parties that the chance of a near-term resolution has moved far out of
reach.”

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=04a-95b&t=c>
(1/17), “I think Nancy Pelosi made it clear that she’s not negotiating. I
think that when someone says they’re not negotiating, that’s the one of the
two you need to look at.” When confronted with the President walking out of
negotiations, Turner responded, “I wasn’t in the room. Neither were you. We
know the President has an open invitation to Schumer and Pelosi to
negotiate.”

Real Clear Politics’ AB Stoddard said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=04b-623&t=c>
(1/17) that Democrats “realize that this is a tactic by Donald Trump that
if he is indulged on, it is not a negotiation. He wants the wall and he
hasn’t offered them one thing...that would bear him politically. He walked
out of the table last time they met. Where is the offer that says, ‘For the
wall, I’m going to do this for the Dreamers.’”

*House Rejects GOP Measure To Pay Workers But Not Reopen
Government. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=04c-33d&t=c>
(1/17, Brufke) reports the House on Thursday voted 222-195
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=04d-a04&t=c>
to reject a GOP measure to pay furloughed workers but keep the government
closed. Six Democrats voted for the measure, offered “as an alternative to
a Democratic bill to reopen the government.” The Democratic bill, which
would have funded the government through Feb. 28, is “expected to be
approved but is dead on arrival in the Senate.”

*House Voice Vote To End Government Shutdown Sows Confusion. *CQ
Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=04e-da9&t=c>
(1/17, Dick) reports the House on Thursday passed a continuing resolution
that would reopen nine Cabinet departments through Feb. 28 “on a voice
vote, a result that devolved into partisan sparring on the floor as
Republicans sought to vacate the vote and Democrats said, in effect, too
bad.” But “by the end, both sides hugged it out, vacated the initial vote,
voted by voice again, and postponed a roll call vote until Wednesday.”

*Democratic Group To Launch Ads Targeting Six GOP Senators Over
Shutdown. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=04f-eb6&t=c>
(1/17, Sullivan) reports Majority Forward, a “Democratic nonprofit group
aligned with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer,” plans to launch a
television advertising campaign targeting six Republican senators for the
partial government shutdown. The group has produced 30-second ads targeting
Sens. Martha McSally (AZ), Cory Gardner (CO), David Perdue (GA), Joni Ernst
(IA), Susan Collins (ME) and Thom Tillis (NC), the organization told the
Post.

*Courier-Journal Analysis: McConnell “Keeping His Head Down” During
Shutdown. *The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=050-82f&t=c>
(1/17, Bailey) reports that Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s whereabouts
“became a trending topic on Twitter thanks to US Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, who joined a handful of House Democrats
scouring the halls of Congress with news cameras asking ‘Where’s Mitch?’”
Ocasio-Cortez and “a group hand-delivered a letter to McConnell’s office,
demanding a vote to reopen the government.” She also tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=051-112&t=c>,
“He’s not in the cloak room. He’s not in the Capitol. He’s not in the
Russel building. He’s not on the floor of the Senate. And 800,000 people
still don’t have their paychecks – so #WheresMitch?”

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=052-bdb&t=c>
(1/17) that McConnell “has the power to bring these bills to the floor.
That’s why more and more people are coming and saying, ‘Where are you,
Mitch?’ I know that there are billboards going up in his state asking where
are you, Mitch? And that’s the question.”
Foreign Policy
Trump, At Pentagon, Vows US Will Develop Space-Based Missile Defense System.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=053-4cf&t=c>
(1/17, Riechmann, Baldor) reports that President Trump, “declaring that
space is the new warfighting domain...vowed” yesterday that the US “will
develop an unrivaled missile defense system to protect against advanced
hypersonic and cruise missile threats from competitors and adversaries.”
Trump “did not mention Russia, China or North Korea in [a] roughly
20-minute speech” at the Pentagon. However, according to the AP, “the
Pentagon’s new strategy makes clear that its plan for a more aggressive
space-based missile defense system is aimed at protecting against existing
threats from North Korea and Iran and countering advanced weapon systems
being developed by Russia and China.” In addition, acting Defense Secretary
Pat Shanahan, also speaking at the event, did identify Russia and China as
seeking to develop missiles that are more difficult to detect and destroy.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=054-5d9&t=c>
(1/17, Broad, Karni) says Trump is “adopting a Cold War stance while also
promoting futuristic ambitions with his much-touted Space Force.” According
to the Times, “The missile defenses expansion would make new investments in
technologies, with a goal of countering strides in nuclear arms and
missiles in Iran, North Korea, Russia and China and other potentially
hostile states.” The Times goes on to report that, “currently, the nation’s
antimissile corps relies on a relatively simple approach that uses
ground-based interceptors,” which has “demonstrated fair performance
against short-range threats.”

According to Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=055-67c&t=c>
(1/17, Stewart), “The open acknowledgment in the Missile Defense Review of
US plans to counter Russian and Chinese technological advances likely will
alarm those nations,” and “marked a departure from the approach taken
by...Barack Obama to tamp down concerns by major nuclear powers about
expanding US missile defenses.” Reuters says that while Trump “did not
mention the North Korean missile threat ... acting US Defense Secretary
Patrick Shanahan called North Korea’s missiles a ‘significant concern.’”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=056-ea2&t=c>
(1/17, Cloud) said the President was advocating “a costly and
scientifically unproven plan,” adding that it “goes well beyond the
Pentagon’s technical and scientific capacity,” and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=057-e0c&t=c>
(1/17, Sonne) said that Trump “channeled President Ronald Reagan’s dream
from the ‘Star Wars’ era of the Cold War,” in announcing a “vast vision”
that the Post said “went far beyond the more modest plans the Pentagon set
out in a new missile defense strategy.”

The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=058-c9c&t=c>
(1/17, Gertz) called it “a major shift in US defense strategy,” and
the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=059-8aa&t=c>
(1/17, Boyer) reports the President “outlined six major changes to US
missile defense, including prioritizing the defense of Americans ‘above all
else.’”

*Trump Pledges 100% Support For NATO. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=05a-961&t=c>
(1/17, Jackson) reports the President “again warned Iran against seeking to
develop offensive missiles.” He also said “we’re going to be with NATO 100
percent,” though he also said that other NATO members must “step up” and
meet their obligations. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=05b-5b8&t=c>
(1/17, Morin) devoted a small article to the President’s remarks about
NATO, adding that “the president has long criticized NATO allies, saying
that they have not contributed enough military spending.”

*Trump Welcome By Standing Ovation; Someone At Event Waved MAGA
Hat. *Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=05c-12a&t=c>
(1/17, Wong) reports someone at the Pentagon event “began waving what
looked like a red Make America Great Again hat when the president walked
onstage,” and several reporters tweeted on the matter, while “Defense
Department video, posted on DVIDs, also caught the moment.” Breitbart adds,
“Trump was welcomed with a standing ovation” which he responded by saying,
“You’re only doing that because I gave you the greatest and biggest budget
in our history.”
Sources: Mnuchin Proposed Easing China Tariffs.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=05d-102&t=c>
(1/17, Davis, Wei) reports people close to internal deliberations say that
in a series of strategy meetings Treasury Secretary Mnuchin proposed
lifting some or all the tariffs on Chinese imports in an effort to calm
markets and offer China an incentive for additional concessions in its
trade battle with the US. However, the people said that US Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer opposes such a move, concerned it could be
interpreted as weakness. The idea has not yet reached the President. While
Trump previously has sided with Lighthizer over Mnuchin on tariffs, people
familiar with the discussions say Trump is pressing Lighthizer to deliver a
deal. The Journal says that merely considering eliminating tariffs is a
significant change for an Administration that has maintained steel and
aluminum tariffs on its closest allies.

*Bloomberg Analysis: US Firms And Consumers Are Paying Tariffs
Imposed On Chinese Imports. *Under the headline, “Trump’s Tariffs Are
Producing Billions, But China Isn’t Paying,” Mark Niquette of Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=05e-109&t=c>
(1/17) says President Trump “is right to say that his tariffs are
generating billions of dollars for the U.S.” However, according to
Niquette, “China and other countries aren’t paying them as he’s suggested.”
Bloomberg News says that according to US Customs and Border Protection,
“more than $13 billion in duties imposed by the Trump administration were
assessed on imported goods as of Dec. 18,” but Niquette says “US importers
of record are responsible for the duties, and ultimately U.S. businesses
and consumers could pay through higher costs.”

*Bloomberg’s Schuman: China Was Already In Economic Crisis Before
Trump Tariffs. *Michael Schuman of Bloomberg BusinessWeek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=05f-ae0&t=c>
(1/17) writes, “Even after a recent uptick, the stock market in Shanghai
has still plunged by more than a quarter from its 2018 high,” and,
according to Schuman, “the outlook isn’t any rosier” because “tariffs on
Chinese exports to the U.S. imposed by” President Trump are “starting to
pinch the country’s factories.” Schuman says “a steep and unexpected plunge
in imports in December signaled just how sharply the economy is
decelerating,” and “led Beijing to turn the volume down on its bravado and
negotiate with Washington to defuse the conflict.” However, Schuman goes on
to say that “while tariffs are a nuisance, the real problems run deeper,
embedded in China’s financial structure.” According to Schuman, “China is
already in crisis” that is “complete with gutted banks, bankrupt companies,
and state bailouts.”
Pompeo Expected To Meet With North Korean Envoy Friday.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=060-47a&t=c>
(1/17, Lee, Riechmann) reports that “high-level talks aimed at finalizing a
second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un are planned for this week in Washington.” According to the AP,
Secretary of State Pompeo is “expected to meet former North Korean spy
chief Kim Yong Chol at a Washington hotel on Friday,” which “will likely be
followed by a Kim visit to the White House, where he could meet with
Trump.” The AP notes that in November, “a planned meeting between Pompeo
and Kim Yong Chol in New York last November was called off abruptly,” and
“US officials said at the time that North Korea had canceled the session.”
The AP also states, “Neither the US nor North Korea has announced any
meetings.”
House Votes Overwhelmingly Against Easing Sanctions On Firms Tied To
Russian Oligarch.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=061-bae&t=c>
(1/17, Jalonick) reports that the House voted 362-53 today “to maintain
sanctions on three companies connected to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska,
protesting the Treasury Department’s decision to lift the financial
penalties.” The AP describes the vote as “symbolic,” and adds that the
Senate “already had defeated a resolution to overrule the Treasury
Department and keep the sanctions in place.” The AP says that in the House,
“136 Republicans voted with Democrats, sending a strong bipartisan message
of disapproval to President Donald Trump’s administration on Russia.”
According to the AP, “At issue is a December announcement from the Treasury
Department that the US would lift sanctions on the companies linked to
Deripaska.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=062-772&t=c>
(1/17, Demirjian) calls the House vote “a rebuke to the Trump
administration,” and describes Deripaska as an “ally of Russian President
Vladimir Putin.” The Post says the vote shows that “a majority of
Republicans on Capitol Hill oppose President Trump’s efforts to soften
punitive measures on a Russian oligarch – a rejection with potential
implications for the administration’s continued stance on Russia, and for
the GOP lawmakers who backed the plan to ease the sanctions.” The Post
reports that in December, the Treasury Department “said it intended to lift
sanctions the US imposed last year against Deripaska’s companies, including
a major aluminum producer, while keeping sanctions intact against Deripaska
himself.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=063-966&t=c>
(1/17, Zengerle) says “lawmakers from both parties have said it is
inappropriate to ease sanctions on companies tied to Deripaska, a Putin
ally, while Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump’s
2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=064-574&t=c>
(1/17, Vogel) says the action “was most likely a largely symbolic vote,”
and “an overwhelming show of disapproval of the Trump administration’s
policy toward three Kremlin-aligned companies.” The Treasury, adds the
Times, “announced last month that it had negotiated a deal...to lift the
sanctions in exchange for [Deripaska] reducing his control and ownership.”

*Romney Criticized For Not Voting Against Treasury Action. *Eli
Lake of Bloomberg Opinion
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=065-b28&t=c>
(1/17) says “one might think” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) “would have joined
the 11 other Republican senators who voted this week to stop the Trump
administration from lifting sanctions meant to squeeze...Putin’s allies.”
Lake continues, “The senator declined to join the 11 other members of his
party, a party whose 2012 presidential nominee memorably warned that Russia
was America’s ‘No. 1 geopolitical foe.’ That guy was on to something. I
wonder what happened to him.”

*Intelligence Sources Say US Agencies Know What Trump And Putin
Spoke About In Private. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=066-9c1&t=c>
(1/17, Taylor) cites “intelligence community sources,” in reporting that
the intelligence agencies “may already have access to what President Trump
discussed during his private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin
in Helsinki last year.” The Times adds that if the intelligence agencies do
indeed know what was discussed in those meetings, it could undermine
“Democratic demands that Mr. Trump’s interpreter should be forced to
disclose what the two leaders talked about.” One source said Finnish
intelligence probably recorded the conversation and “likely would have
shared a transcript of what was said either directly with the CIA or with
people accessible to US intelligence officers.” The Times also cites former
CIA Moscow station chief Daniel Hoffman saying that if House Democrats want
to know, they should ask Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and
CIA Director Gina Haspel before seeking testimony from a translator.
Trump Offers Condolences For Americans Killed In Syria Bombing.

As President Trump offered his condolences on the deaths of four Americans
killed by a suicide bomber in Syria, media analyses cast the attack as
proof that ISIS has not yet been defeated. The CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=067-bf0&t=c>
(1/17, story 8, 1:45, Glor) reported President Trump on Thursday “offered
his condolences to the four Americans killed in a suicide bombing yesterday
in northern Syria.” CBS (D’Agata) reported “US intelligence has confirmed
that ISIS was responsible for the restaurant attack in Manbij,” adding that
the attack “is underlined how ISIS remains a lethal force with widespread
reach.” D’Agata said that a political adviser to the Kurdish government
said “the decision to withdraw 2,000 US forces from Syria has only
emboldened the terror group.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=068-605&t=c>
(1/17, story 9, 2:10, Muir) reported, “ISIS is now taking responsibility”
for the attack, “even as President Trump just weeks ago said ISIS had been
defeated.” ABC (Pannell) added, “On the ground, we’ve seen the battle
against ISIS up close, and Syrians in that same town told us only last year
how they feared a US pullout.” Additionally, “experts say that ISIS today,
not just in Syria, but here in Iraq, representing a graver threat than
Al-Qaeda ever did here, even in its hay day.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=069-de3&t=c>
(1/17, Sonne) reports that the attack “came less than a month after [Trump]
declared the militants defeated and ordered 2,000 US troops in the country
to be withdrawn.” The Post goes on to report that “since Trump’s Dec. 19
announcement of the troop withdrawal, the administration’s strategy has
been thrown into confusion,” and “new conditions have been set for the US
departure, even as the president has said he is determined that the troops
leave sooner rather than later.”

In an online video, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=06a-94c&t=c>
(1/17, Marcolini) reports Manbij, Syria, “seemed to be a good example of a
US safe haven.” A number of “photo ops were designed to show that the
Americans and their Kurdish allies had the city under control.” However,
“that safety turned out to be much more elusive than it appeared.” In a
column in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=06b-45a&t=c>
(1/17), reporter Charlie Savage describes visiting a crowded marketplace in
Manbij with Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, then the commander of coalition
forces fighting in Iraq and Syria, as well Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

David Ignatius, in a column in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=06c-59e&t=c>
(1/17) that after the death of four Americans in Manbij, Syria, “Terrorists
will be emboldened...and hoping to foster a panicked departure.” It shows
that ISIS “is far from dead” and that Turkey and the US need to “stay
focused on the mission of destroying the Islamic State until that job is
closer to being finished.” Because “coalition forces in Manbij were
distracted from the Islamic State because the more immediate danger there
came from Turkish-backed opposition groups,” the Turkish “obsession with
the supposed Kurdish terrorist menace may have helped put US forces at
risk.” Ignatius concludes by calling for the President to “give US
commanders what they need in Syria: a small military force to sustain a
clear, consistent US policy of destroying what’s left of the Islamic State
– and protecting our partners.”

Rick Noack, in a column in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011801biden&r=email-da4e&l=06d-445&t=c>
(1/17), writes that while President Trump has declared the defeat of ISIS,
the al-Shabaab attack is a reminder that “when political leaders have
announced the defeat of terrorist groups in the past” such groups have
changed “i