Subject: FW: Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Tuesday, July 3, 2018
From: "Kathy Chung" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ashley Blazer Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Jill Tracy Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Jimmy Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Valerie Biden Owens" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2018 09:30:55 -0400

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing

*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email-masked]>
*Sent:* Tuesday, July 3, 2018 7:55 AM
*To:* [email-masked]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Tuesday, July 3, 2018

*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=000-a5b&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=001-4c7&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Tuesday, July 3, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*

*Holiday Message*

In observance of the U.S. federal Independence Day holiday, we will not
publish on Wednesday, July 4, 2018. Service will resume on Thursday, July
5, 2018. We wish our readers a safe and happy holiday.

Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Brower: Biden Advises Foreign Leaders To Talk With Pence, Not Trump. <#S1>

• Writer: Biden’s Post-Primary Endorsement Of Malinowski “A Little Late.”
<#S2>

• Commission: US, European Governments Not Prepared For Election Meddling.
<#S3>

• Librarian Lists Biden’s Memoir Among “Great Books For All Ages About” US
History. <#S4>

• Actor Recounts Humorous Story Of Biden Calling His Father. <#S5>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• In Tweet This Morning, Trump Says He Will Announce SCOTUS Pick On Monday.
<#S6>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Speaks To Mexican President-Elect About Border Security, Trade.
<#S7>

• Trump: WTO Needs To Change Ways Or US Will Do “Something.” <#S8>

• Trump Demands NATO Allies Increase Their Financial Contributions. <#S9>

• State Department: Some Countries Could Continue To Import Oil From Iran.
<#S10>

• US Envoy Met With North Korean Official In Border Village. <#S11>

• Israel Bolstering Border Troops As Thousands Of Syrian Refugees Approach.
<#S12>

• Trudeau Responds To Groping Allegations. <#S13>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Media Analyses: Cohen Signals Willingness To Cooperate With Mueller.
<#S14>

• White House Accuses Harris, Warren Of Siding With MS-13 Over ICE. <#S15>

• WPost: “Resistance” Making Its Voice Heard Around Washington. <#S16>

• Trump Declines To Lower Flags To Honor Newspaper Shooting Victims. <#S17>

• FBI Arrests Radicalized Man Planning July 4th Bombing In Cleveland. <#S18>

• Dhillon Named Acting DEA Administrator. <#S19>

• Senate Panel To Hold Hearing On Ivanka Trump’s Paid Family Leave Policy.
<#S20>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Novel Drug From Brigham And Women’s Researchers Combats Cancer Cell
Proliferation. <#S21>

• Massachusetts Breast Research Registry Gathers More Than 1,000
Participants. <#S22>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S23>

• Washington Post. <#S24>
Biden in the News
Brower: Biden Advises Foreign Leaders To Talk With Pence, Not Trump.

“First in Line” author Kate Andersen Brower said during a Monday appearance
on PBS’ NewsHour
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=002-18b&t=c>
(7/2) , “When I talked to Biden, I was really struck, first of all, that he
talks to Mike Pence, he said, at least once a month. And that when foreign
leaders like the King of Jordan, like the Greek Prime Minister come to the
US, and when he travels he meets with them, and he says, ‘If you have an
issue talk to Mike Pence – don’t talk to President Trump.’ He says Mike
Pence is someone you can deal with in the way that Bill Clinton dealt with
Newt Gingrich, someone you can work with.”
Writer: Biden’s Post-Primary Endorsement Of Malinowski “A Little Late.”

Writing for the New Jersey Globe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=003-16f&t=c>
(7/2), David Wildstein said that former Vice President Joe Biden’s Monday
endorsement of ex-Obama Administration official Tom Malinowski’s (D) bid to
unseat New Jersey Rep. Leonard Lance (R) “raises an interesting point: is
it news when a politician endorses a candidate of their own party after the
primary election?” Wildstein says that Biden earlier this year endorsed two
other New Jersey Democrats in different congressional primary contests, but
nearly “a month has passed since Malinowski” won his contested primary
race. Wildstein adds, “In a way, the news here was that Biden didn’t
endorse Malinowski...before now,” although “his endorsement will be more
helpful to Malinowski than not. It was worth releasing it, even if it is a
little late.”
Commission: US, European Governments Not Prepared For Election Meddling.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=004-0a5&t=c>
(7/2, Boylan) reports, “With more than 20 major elections scheduled in the
next two years, governments on both sides of the Atlantic are still not
prepared to fend off outside attacks to meddle in campaigns and election
counts,” according to a Monday statement from the Transatlantic Commission
on Election Integrity, a group that was “formed in May in the wake of
reports that Russia had meddled in the 2016 US presidential election and
worked with favored parties in votes across Europe in recent years.” The
commission said, “Governments are scrambling to prepare for the last
disinformation campaign, rather than the next.” The Times adds, “The
commission’s 14 members include former heads of state and top officials,
among them...former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.”
Librarian Lists Biden’s Memoir Among “Great Books For All Ages About” US
History.

In a “guest column” for the International Falls (MN) Daily Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=005-55a&t=c>
(7/2), librarian Diane Adams offers a list of “some great books for all
ages about our country’s history” ahead of Independence Day. Among the
books mentioned by Adams is former Vice President Joe Biden’s “Promise Me,
Dad,” which she says “is a memoir of ‘a year of hope, hardship and
purpose.’ Spend a year traveling with the vice president over more than a
hundred thousand miles and yet also time with his family as their oldest
son fought for and then lost his life.”
Actor Recounts Humorous Story Of Biden Calling His Father.

Actor Adam Devine, said on CBS The Late Late Show With James Corden[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=006-446&t=c>
(7/3) that he once made a video with former Vice President Joe Biden
“called ‘This Is Us,’ and it’s about stopping campus assaults.” Devine
said, “I tell my parents that I’m going to go to the White House and film
this thing with Joe Biden. ... The day I’m doing it, I call them with Joe
Biden. ... My dad answers, and” Biden is “like, ‘Mr. an Mrs. Devine, this
is Vice President Joe Biden. I’m standing here with your son.’ And my dad
goes, ‘Bull(bleep)! And then hangs up on the vice president.” Biden’s
“like, ‘He just screamed bull(bleep) at me and hung up.’ And then he walked
away.” Devine added, “I called my dad back, and...he goes, ‘I know what you
did. You got one of your comedy, Hollywood friends to call me and do their
Joe Biden impression.’”
Leading the News
In Tweet This Morning, Trump Says He Will Announce SCOTUS Pick On Monday.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=007-f27&t=c>
this morning, “I interviewed 4 very impressive people yesterday. On Monday
I will be announcing my decision for Justice of the United States Supreme
Court!”

        *Media Analyses: Barrett, Kavanaugh Top Trump Candidates For High
Court. *As Trump said Monday that he has begun interviewing candidates to
replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, media reports
indicate that two candidates have emerged as front-runners: federal appeals
court judges Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Trump, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=008-c50&t=c>
(7/2, Lucey, Thomas) reports, told reporters at the White House he had met
with “four potential justices of our great Supreme Court. They are
outstanding people and they are really incredible people in so many
different ways, academically and in every other way.” He added that he
would meet with “two or three more” in advance of an announcement July 9.
The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=009-743&t=c>
(7/2, Nicholas) says the rapid pace of the interview process is a sign of
the urgency felt by the White House in filling the post.

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=00a-336&t=c>
(7/2, Mason) says Kavanaugh and Barrett “have gained the most interest.” On CBS
This Morning
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=00b-aa5&t=c>
(7/2), Nancy Cordes called Barrett and Kavanaugh “the leading contenders,”
and CBS News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=00c-3ca&t=c>
(7/2, Guild) similarly reports on its website that the two judges “are
currently Mr. Trump’s leading contenders.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=00d-6c9&t=c>
(7/2, Daley, Enjeti) reports that “multiple sources involved in the
selection process inside and outside the administration” said “the most
serious consideration is being given to Kavanaugh and Barrett. ...
Administration officials acknowledged that Kavanaugh and Barrett are in
strong contention for the nomination, but that three others are also being
considered.” According to the National Law Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=00e-133&t=c>
(7/2, Lovelace), Washington-based supporters of Kavanaugh’s “have begun
building a coalition of lawyers, including former law clerks and law
students, to support his confirmation effort” if Trump taps him next week
as his Supreme Court nominee.

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=00f-a07&t=c>
(7/2, Boyer) likewise says Barrett and Kavanaugh “are at the top of the
president’s list of 25 possible nominees,” while the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=010-0ed&t=c>
(7/2, Wagner) says Trump’s shortlist includes Barrett and Kavanaugh, as
well as US Appeals Court Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania; US Circuit
Judge Raymond Kethledge of Michigan; and US Appeals Court Judge Amul Thapar
of Kentucky. According to CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=011-fd8&t=c>
(7/2, Bennett), Trump “appears to have a short list of six or seven.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=012-e09&t=c>
(7/2, A1, Shear) reports “White House officials declined to say which
potential judicial nominees Mr. Trump talked with Monday morning, but the
short list of candidates is believed to include six federal appeals court
judges: Thomas M. Hardiman, William H. Pryor Jr., Amul R. Thapar, Brett M.
Kavanaugh, Joan L. Larsen and Amy Coney Barrett.”

        NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=013-6b8&t=c>
(7/2, News) reports that the “short list...includes two women,” Barrett and
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=014-3e7&t=c>
(7/2, Johnson) reports that if nominated, Barrett “may have Sen. Dianne
Feinstein to thank.” According to Politico, a “confrontation with the
California senator during her confirmation hearing to the 7th Circuit Court
of Appeals last October vaulted Barrett, 46, onto the national stage” where
she has become “a hero to religious conservatives who believe liberal
Democrats target them for their faith.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=015-b9e&t=c>
(7/2, Fabian) says Trump himself “gave little indication about whom he
might select,” and the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=016-a2f&t=c>
(7/2, Moore) reports he said only that “the person chosen will be
outstanding.” On NBC’s Today Show
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=017-4d5&t=c>
(7/2), Hallie Jackson said “higher education is on [Trump’s] mind. People
familiar with President Trump’s process say he’s indicated he would like a
justice who went to Harvard or Yale.”

        Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News’
Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=018-1ee&t=c>
(7/2) that Trump “understands the gravity. As he has said, nominating to
the Supreme Court is one of the most important things that any President
does, and all of the nominees, all of the justices on the Supreme Court,
outlast anyone’s presidency of eight years. But in many ways, some of these
jurists outlast the Presidents who actually nominated them. He understands
that you’re talking about 30, 40, 45 years of jurisprudence and he takes
the decision with great gravity and responsibility. Now, other people are
advising, but it’s his decision to make and he’s respectful to the senators
on the right and the left who are advising and consenting as well.”

        Meanwhile, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=019-f98&t=c>
(7/2, Wagner) says Democrats “have begun taking aim at those on Trump’s
Supreme Court shortlist by name.” On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Schumer
“criticized Barrett’s record,” tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=01a-01a&t=c>:
“The bottom line: Judge Barrett has given every indication that she will be
an activist judge on the Court. If chosen as the nominee, she will be the
deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and to strike down pre-existing
conditions protections in the ACA.” Schumer writes in a New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=01b-de9&t=c>
(7/2) op-ed that “perhaps the most consequential issues at stake in this
Supreme Court vacancy are affordable health care and a woman’s freedom to
make the most sensitive medical decisions about her body. The views of
President Trump’s next court nominee on these issues could well determine
whether the Senate approves or rejects them.” Schumer urges, “If you do not
want a Supreme Court Justice who will overturn Roe v. Wade and undo the
Affordable Care Act, tell your senators they should not vote for a
candidate from Mr. Trump’s preordained list. Democrat, Republican,
independent, liberal or conservative – we should all want a more
representative process for choosing the next Supreme Court justice.”

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=01c-853&t=c>
(7/2, story 6, 1:55, Llamas) said the debate over abortion is “now at the
center of the fight. During the campaign, the President promised to appoint
justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. He’s not saying that now. Today,
the White House refusing to say whether the President wants Roe v. Wade
overturned.” NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=01d-e0b&t=c>
(7/2, story 5, 2:15, Jackson) also said abortion rights will be a key issue
in the nominee’s confirmation, and “a new poll out today shows most
Americans agree” with Roe v. Wade. Asked on CNN’s Out Front[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=01e-848&t=c>
(7/2) whether Trump considers Roe v. Wade to be settled law, Leonard Leo,
adviser to the President, said, “He’s never asked me about abortion or Roe
v. Wade. When the list was being put together, no candidate was talked to,
no question was ever asked of them. He’s never asked the question of any
Supreme Court candidate during the interviews.”

        According to the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=01f-e1d&t=c>
(7/2, story 4, 2:20, Glor), sources says Sen. Susan Collins, who said over
the weekend that she won’t vote to confirm a nominee who shows “hostility”
towards Roe v. Wade, “opposes federal appeals court Judge William Pryor,
who once called Roe an abomination. A top finalist to replace Justice
Scalia, sources say Pryor has been eliminated this time.”

        Additionally, the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=020-85a&t=c>
(7/2, Howell) reports that ACA “defenders are using the 2010 program to
stir up opposition” to Trump’s nominee, “saying the same kind of urgency
that blocked GOP repeal efforts last year will be needed to tank any
nominee who appears hostile” to the law. A “progressive coalition” on
Monday released an ad, dubbed “Emergency,” that argues Trump “cannot be
trusted to pick someone who will uphold protections” for Americans.
According to the Times, “one version will air on TV nationwide, while
separate versions will target Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan
Collins of Maine – centrist Republicans...who hold key votes” in the
confirmation process. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=021-2f2&t=c>
(7/2, Everett) reports Demand Justice plans to spend $5 million opposing
Trump’s pick, including “radio, TV, digital and voter mobilization.” The
campaign will focus on Maine and Alaska, “as well as Indiana, North Dakota
and West Virginia, where vulnerable Senate Democrats are facing
re-election.”

        Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said on Fox News’
Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=022-574&t=c>
(7/2), “Here’s the beauty of our system. This is why I sleep so well at
night. The reason Donald Trump can put whoever he wants on the Supreme
Court within reason, and the Senate will confirm it, is because the
American people elected Donald Trump and the Republican Senate. If the
American people had elected a Democratic President and Democratic Senate,
the Democrat could have done that. These decisions are fundamentally made
by the people.” Sebastian Gorka said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=023-c26&t=c>
(7/2) that the left “disagree[s] with democracy when it doesn’t go their
way. They understand the stakes involved here. If we have a conservative
justice appointed and then voted in by the Senate, we will inoculate the
republic for at least a generation from the lunacy of the left.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=024-8e4&t=c>
(7/2) editorializes that the future of the court will be decided by “the
votes of a handful of centrist senators. In vetting the next Supreme Court
justice, those powerful centrists will want to avoid further politicizing
the judiciary by opposing an accomplished nominee. Yet they should also
seek to prevent a rightward lurch on the court that would usher in a new
era of conservative judicial activism. Now is the time for them to apply
their leverage.”

        Joe Scarborough writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=025-6c5&t=c>
(7/2) column that “the American left is in a panic and for good reason” in
the wake of Kennedy’s retirement. Scarborough argues that “instead of
viewing this accidental president...as the apocalypse du jour, Trump
skeptics should treat him more like those flashes of light in dark skies.”
American democracy, he says, “will survive Trump. And if Democrats want to
stem the recent Republican tide of victories...they should stop mourning
Trumpism’s rise and instead fervently take Hill’s advice to heart.”

        *Nelson Indicates He’s Unlikely To Support Trump’s SCOTUS Pick. *The
Tampa Bay (FL) Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=026-41b&t=c>
(7/2, Smith) reports that Sen. Bill Nelson (D), facing a tough reelection
race this fall against term-limited Gov. Rick Scott (R), on Monday “shed
his hyper-cautious reputation,” saying “that he expects to vote against
President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Anthony Kennedy on the US
Supreme Court.” Nelson told reporters, “Obviously I have to wait and see
who the nominee is, but if, as President Trump has suggested, he’s going to
have a litmus test – and he said this over and over – on Roe v. Wade, then
I’m not going to be voting for some justice who’s going to overturn Roe v.
Wade.” The Times adds that Nelson “is among the most vulnerable Democratic
senators” on the ballot this fall, “and he faces intense pressure from both
the left and right on what is probably the most consequential decision made
so far by” Trump.

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=027-dfc&t=c>
(7/2, King) reported that Nelson “wants the confirmation process to take
place after the election, presumably with the hope Democrats can retake the
Senate and force Trump to pick a moderate nominee closer to Kennedy’s
philosophy.” Scott, meanwhile, “is urging the Senate follow [Majority
Leader Mitch] McConnell’s lead and move quickly on the confirmation of a
new justice even though it would mean he wouldn’t get a chance to vote on
the choice.”

        *Trump Temporarily Reorganizes Staff To Focus On Confirmation. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=028-f24&t=c>
(7/2, A1, Shear) reports White House officials said Monday that Trump “will
temporarily reorganize his White House staff to focus on confirming a new
justice by the time the court’s new term opens in October.” Deputy Press
Secretary Raj Shah “will take a leave from his responsibilities in the
press office to focus exclusively on coordinating the president’s message
on behalf of the pick.” The “job of working with conservative organizations
outside the White House will fall to Justin Clark, the director of the
Office of Public Liaison.” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said “others in
the White House, including Marc Short, the director of legislative affairs,
and John F. Kelly, the chief of staff, will also be involved in the
process.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=029-a0b&t=c>
(7/2, Wagner) says the move “is part of a broader push by the White House
to rapidly confirm a replacement for Kennedy before the court’s new term
begins in October.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=02a-819&t=c>
(7/2, Nussbaum) reports that “some of the staff shifts have already taken
place, reflecting how quickly the White House is looking to move,
especially with the threat of midterm elections that could diminish
Republicans’ power in Congress.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=02b-d67&t=c>
(7/2, Fabian) likewise says the moves are “designed to swiftly confirm a
new justice on the high court by the fall.”

        *Three Democrats Who Voted To For Gorsuch Dodge Questions On Latest
Nomination. *Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=02c-5f8&t=c>
(7/2, Leahy) reports that the three Democratic senators who voted to
confirm Neil Gorsuch – Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Donnelly and Joe Manchin –
are “dodging definitive responses on where they stand regarding President
Trump’s pending nomination” to replace Kennedy.

        Molly Hemingway of The Federalist said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=02d-5f0&t=c>
(7/2), “It will be very contentious. It’s also true that it’s a very tough
time for Democrats to be fighting this pick. A lot of people are focusing
on how Republicans might peel away, but you have a bunch of senators in red
states, in states that were carried by Donald Trump, who are Democrats
fighting for their political lives, and if they throw up a lot of
obstruction here, that could be very tough for them in what are already
some tougher races that they are facing.”

        *Politico: Trump’s List Of Candidates A “Liability.” *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=02e-8be&t=c>
(7/2, Woellert, Cadelago) reports Trump’s “widely publicized list of
potential Supreme Court nominees brought conservative doubters” to his side
during the election. Shortly after Kennedy announced his retirement, “Trump
told reporters he’d be picking his replacement from the list, sending a
clear signal that the often-rogue president understands how he can’t risk
alienating the conservative base heading first into midterms and then his
own reelection bid. But this time around, the list has become a liability,
too, as swing-vote Republicans urge Trump to think bigger and Democrats use
it to get a running start in their campaign against Trump’s forthcoming
pick.”

        *Feinstein: Confirmation Should Be Delayed Until After Election. *Sen.
Dianne Feinstein writes in USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=02f-8df&t=c>
(7/2) that Republicans “want to overturn their own standard, set in 2016,
that a nominee shouldn’t be considered during an election year. While the
decision to block Merrick Garland is the most egregious example,
Republicans have delayed or denied Democratic presidents their nominees to
fill federal judgeships for decades.” She argues that “with so much at
stake, action on any Supreme Court nominee should wait until after the
American people vote in November. It’s the right thing to do.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Speaks To Mexican President-Elect About Border Security, Trade.

ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=030-44d&t=c>
(7/2, story 7, 0:25, Llamas) reported President Trump on Monday spoke with
Mexico’s President-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, “the leftist leader
and Trump critic.” According to Trump, the two leaders spoke for about 30
minutes, “discussing border security, NAFTA and a possible new trade deal.”
The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=031-9c6&t=c>
(7/2, Miller) reports that after the call, Trump told reporters outside the
White House that he believes López Obrador is “going to try and help us
with the border. We have unbelievably bad border laws, immigration laws,
the weakest in the world, laughed at by everybody in the world.” Trump
suggested that under López Obrador’s leadership, Mexico “can help us until
we straighten out our immigration laws, which have been bad for many, many
years – decades, and we’re going to have them taken care of.”

        “I think the relationship will be a very good one,” Trump stated,
“qualifying the comment as he often does by saying, ‘We’ll see what
happens,’” according to Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=032-51d&t=c>
(7/2, Moons). The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=033-9bf&t=c>
(7/2, Stevenson, Orsi, Sherman) reports that in a late-Sunday tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=034-4ec&t=c>,
Trump similarly wrote, “I look very much forward to working with him. There
is much to be done that will benefit both the United States and Mexico!”
López Obrador told the Televisa news network in an interview Monday “that
Trump’s Tweet Sunday night ‘was very respectful. That is what we always
want to maintain with the U.S. government, that there be mutual respect.’”
López Obrador continued, “We are never going to disrespect the U.S.
government, because we want them to respect us.” He added, “At the
appropriate moment, we are going to get in touch, to reach an
understanding” with the Administration. The AP notes “López Obrador had
been compared to Trump for his populist, nationalist rhetoric and sometimes
touchy personality – as well as his past skepticism about the trade deal.”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=035-d32&t=c>
(7/2, Eschenbacher) reports that in the Monday phone call, neither leader
offered “further details on a possible trade pact,” although “López
Obrador, a onetime NAFTA skeptic who moderated his views in his third run
at the presidency, said in a Mexican TV interview on Monday that he wanted
a NAFTA deal that was good for Mexico.” He told Milenio TV, “We’re going to
accompany the current government in this negotiation, we’re going to be
very respectful, and we’re going to support the signing of the agreement.”
Reuters says relations between the two leaders “will be closely watched”
because “Trump has been antagonistic to Mexico over trade and immigration.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=036-fb8&t=c>
(7/2, Shear, Swanson) describes Trump’s outreach to López Obrador “an
early, but potentially short-lived, show of détente,” as the US and Mexico
“remain locked in a heated dispute over the fraught issues of immigration
and trade, areas that may face difficult complications from the election of
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a leader known for being as strong-headed and
nationalist-minded as Mr. Trump – and just as willing to engage in a public
clash of ideas.” The Times says despite López Obrador’s pledge “never to
‘disrespect’ the United States government,” any “period of gracious talk
may be short lived, however, with Mr. Trump almost certain to continue his
tirade about the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, and Mr. López Obrador
virtually guaranteed to fire back in ways that his predecessors did not.”

        The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=037-ebc&t=c>
(7/2, A1, De Córdoba, Luhnow) says on its front page that even though Trump
and López Obrador are both economic nationalists, they differ in many ways
and will likely butt heads over NAFTA renegotiations and immigration.
Furthermore, the Journal says, the Mexican government under López Obrador
will not likely support the Administration’s foreign policy goals on areas
like Venezuela, and will not readily cooperate with the US on security or
immigration issues.

        *López Obrador Pledges To Combat Corruption, Crime. *Calling López
Obrador’s win a “landslide victory,” the [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=038-a96&t=c>
(7/2, story 5, 0:20, Glor) reported the Mexican President-elect has vowed
“to wipe out corruption” and has “proposed a jobs and security program as
an alternative to a border wall.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=039-cb5&t=c>
(7/2, Oré) reports the Mexican president-elect also “wants to rewrite the
rules of the drug war, aides said, suggesting negotiated peace and
amnesties for some of the very people currently being targeted by security
forces.” So far, however, “his proposals remain vague. And any move toward
amnesty, while aimed at lesser and non-violent offenders, is sure to face
opposition from the general public, rivals in Congress and U.S. allies who
helped Mexico orchestrate its force-based approach.”

        William La Jeunesse reported on [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=03a-f80&t=c>
(7/2) that if López Obrador stands by his pledges, that commitment could
“inflame relations with the US, especially his plan to end the drug war in
three years.” Former Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda says López
Obrador may disappoint Trump on drugs and immigration. Fox showed Castaneda
saying, “There is very little support for any Mexican government to
maintain levels of cooperation on Central American immigration with Trump
when every other day he insults us.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=03b-10c&t=c>
(7/2) editorializes that “the prospects of a populist who makes as many
promises as AMLO, as the president-elect is commonly known,” are hard to
predict, but what is certain is that “Mexico’s relations with the United
States will not improve.” The Times posits, “If there is a danger for the
United States in Mr. López Obrador’s election, it is not that he will move
his country radically leftward, but that he will fail to meet the high
expectations he has raised.” If the Administration “chooses to make life
difficult for him,” the Times cautions, “it will only deepen Mexico’s
problems and increase the power of the drug cartels and the despair driving
people to head north.”

        In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=03c-540&t=c>
(7/2) says López Obrador “is a product of the political left, but his
victory is part of the global story of rising populist leaders.” The Post
explains that like many populist leaders, including Trump, “López Obrador
promises to overturn the reigning political establishment, says he alone is
capable of delivering on his far-fetched promises, and assails the media,
courts, civil society groups and all others who might check his personal
power.” He “also has been vague and occasionally contradictory about the
specific policies he may pursue, even while insisting he will bring about a
‘transformation’ comparable to Mexico’s achievement of independence.” The
Post says in that, López Obrador “is sure to fail; the question is how much
damage he may do to the democratic system that enabled him to gain power.”

        *Bolton Raises Possibility Of Trump Visit To Mexico. *Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=03d-65c&t=c>
(7/2, Lajeunesse) reports that unlike his predecessors, Trump didn’t visit
Mexico in his first year in office. National Security Adviser Bolton
“raised that possibility” on “Fox News Sunday,” saying, “I think in this
kind of context, having the two leaders get together, may produce some
surprising results.”

        *NYTimes: Mexico’s Election Outcome Constitutes Latest Latin
American Political Shift. *A New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=03e-6d4&t=c>
(7/2, Ahmed, Londoño) analysis calls Sunday’s election “the latest in a
string of blistering defeats for incumbent parties across Latin America”
and “of all political stripes.” According to analysts, voters “are simply
looking for new options.” Some nations, “like Mexico, have tacked left;
others, like Colombia and Chile, right. Often the move is in the opposite
direction of the governing party, but not always, as was the case in Costa
Rica and Ecuador.” While “corruption, violence and inequality have been
major issues in each country, no single ideology or issue explains the
rejection of establishment politics.”
Trump: WTO Needs To Change Ways Or US Will Do “Something.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=03f-e44&t=c>
(7/2, Thomas) reports President Trump on Monday warned the WTO that if the
US isn’t treated “properly, we will be doing something.” He again denied
plans to withdraw the US from the world trade body, but told reporters in
the Oval Office that it needs to change its ways. Trump said the WTO has
treated the US “very badly and I hope they change their ways.” He said he’s
not “planning anything now,” but if the WTO doesn’t treat the US properly,
“we will be doing something.” He did not elaborate. Eamon Javers reported
on CNBC’s Closing Bell
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=040-efa&t=c>
(7/2) that Trump said “we’re not planning anything now, but if they don’t
treat us properly we will be doing something. When you talk to people
behind the scenes here at the White House they do say the President has
mentioned again and again privately he would like to withdraw from the WTO.
And that would probably be a complicated and political maneuver.”

        *In Tweet Today, Trump Touts Economy, Says “Most Countries Agree”
Trade Deals Should Change. *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=041-518&t=c>
this morning, “The economy is doing perhaps better than ever before, and
that’s prior to fixing some of the worst and most unfair Trade Deals ever
made by any country. In any event, they are coming along very well. Most
countries agree that they must be changed, but nobody ever asked!”

        *Ross: “It’s A Little Premature” To Discuss Potential US Exit From
WTO. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=042-24b&t=c>
(7/2, Klimasinska) reports that in an appearance on CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=043-0d8&t=c>
today, Commerce Secretary Ross “said it’s a ‘little premature’ to discuss
the US withdrawing from the World Trade Organization as the Trump
administration continues to look at ways to improve the global trade body.”
Said Ross, “The WTO knows some reforms are needed. So I think there really
is a need to update and synchronize its activities and we’ll see where that
leads, but I think it’s a little premature to talk about simply withdrawing
from it.” Bloomberg notes that Axios reported
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=044-154&t=c>
Sunday that the White House “drafted a bill that would allow” Trump “to
ignore fundamental WTO rules and let him adjust tariff rates for different
countries.”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=045-50b&t=c>
(7/2) reports that on Friday, Axios reported
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=046-122&t=c>
that Trump “wanted to leave the WTO, a story dismissed” by Treasury
Secretary Mnuchin as “wrong” and “an exaggeration.” On Sunday, Axios
“followed up...by publishing what it said was a draft bill, the ‘United
States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act,’ immediately drawing ridicule for
legislation that would be known by its acronym, the FART Act.” Reuters
notes that “the draft bill published by Axios did not mention the WTO, but
its report said the law would allow the United States to disregard tariff
limits agreed at the WTO since 1995.”

        *Russia Becomes Seventh WTO Member To Challenge Trump’s Metal
Tariffs. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=047-a26&t=c>
(7/2, Palmer) reports Russia on Monday requested talks with the US on
Trump’s decision to impose new duties on steel and aluminum, “the first
step in formally challenging the action at the World Trade Organization.”
According to Politico, the complaint filed Monday “is the seventh initiated
by a WTO member against Trump’s steel and aluminum duties,” which
“collectively...put the administration on a potential collision course”
with the world trade body.

        *EU: US Auto Tariffs Will Spark Retaliation Against $300 Billion In
US Goods. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=048-bbd&t=c>
(7/2, Cook) reports European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas on
Monday “slammed the Trump administration for considering tariffs on auto
imports, saying they could lead to global retaliation against some $300
billion in US goods amid signs of a brewing trade war.” Schinas “said the
US investigation into the possibility of auto tariffs ‘lacks legitimacy,
factual basis and violates international trade rules,’ just like last
month’s US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,” according to the AP.
Schinas also claimed that “European carmakers create over half a million
jobs in the US.”

        *Bloomberg: Trump Likely To Overcome Senate Opposition On Tariffs,
ZTE. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=049-00d&t=c>
(7/2, Wasson, Leonard) reports that although “US exporters want Congress to
rein in” the Administration “on tariffs, and national security hawks want
Congress to force” the Administration “to put Chinese telecom gear-maker
ZTE Corp. out of business,” some “trade experts and lobbyists
say...Congress is unlikely to stop deferring to Trump anytime soon.”
Bloomberg says Sens. Bob Corker (R) and Pat Toomey (R) “proposed requiring
Trump to get congressional approval for tariffs based on national security
– but they never got a vote on attaching the measure to defense and farm
policy bills.” Bloomberg adds that “the Senate’s attempt to steer Trump’s
approach to ZTE...also faces an uphill battle” because although “the
defense policy bill would reimpose a ban on US exports to the company
unless Trump certifies it hasn’t violated the law for a year,” that “is
likely to be removed from the bill or watered down to the point of being
toothless.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=04a-792&t=c>
(7/2, Wiseman) reports that “barring a last-minute breakthrough, the Trump
administration on Friday will start imposing tariffs on $34 billion in
Chinese imports. And China will promptly strike back with tariffs on an
equal amount of US exports.” The AP adds, “And just like that, a high-risk
trade war between the world’s two biggest economies will begin — one that
could quickly escalate.”

        *US Chamber Launches Campaign Critical Of Trump’s Trade Policies. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=04b-9da&t=c>
(7/2, Gibson) reports the US Chamber of Commerce “is launching a campaign
on Monday to oppose Trump’s trade tariff policies.” According to Reuters,
“The new campaign...will provide an analysis of the financial hit each US
state stands take from potential retaliation to Trump’s tariffs,” and
“argues that Trump is risking a global trade war that will hit the wallets
of US consumers.” Said Chamber President Tom Donohue, “The administration
is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to
achieve. We should seek free and fair trade, but this is just not the way
to do it.”

        *WSJournal Analysis: Trade Tensions Worry US Farmers. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=04c-384&t=c>
(7/2, Newman) reports many US farmers, already expecting bumper harvests
and contending with surpluses, are nervous about the impact of the
Administration’s trade policies on agricultural exports. The Journal also
notes that farmers are likely to be a key voting block in upcoming midterm
elections.
Trump Demands NATO Allies Increase Their Financial Contributions.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=04d-cc7&t=c>
(7/2, Davis) reports that in the “latest sign of acrimony” between
President Trump and American allies, the President last month wrote
“sharply worded letters to the leaders of several NATO allies, including
Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, taking them to task for spending too
little on their own defense and warning that the United States is losing
patience with what he said is their failure to meet security obligations
shared by the alliance.”

        *Merkel Preserves Coalition With Reversal On Border Camps For
Migrants. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=04e-edc&t=c>
(7/2, Bennhold, Eddy) reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel “agreed
on Monday to build border camps for asylum seekers and to tighten the
border with Austria in a political deal to save her government.” The Times
calls it a “stunning turnabout” for Merkel, “who staked her legacy on
welcoming hundreds of thousands of migrants into Germany.” Merkel “has come
under intense pressure at home from the far right and from conservatives in
her governing coalition over her migration policy.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=04f-bfc&t=c>
(7/2, McAuley, Beck) says that with the move, Merkel “emerg[ed] from an
immigration fight with her coalition intact but fragile.” However, “the
problems within her government are unlikely to go away: Relations between
Merkel’s CDU and its Bavarian sister have been badly strained, and the CSU
is riven by competing factions. That will make it difficult for her to
return Germany to the relatively stable state for which it had long been
known during her nearly 13-year tenure.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=050-6da&t=c>
(7/2, Thomas) similarly says that while the deal appeared to hold together
the alliance between the CDU and CSU, the controversy has raised concerns
about whether the coalition can be sustained.
State Department: Some Countries Could Continue To Import Oil From Iran.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=051-73a&t=c>
(7/2, George) reports the State Department said on Monday that “some
countries continuing to import Iranian oil could avoid sanctions after
restrictions are re-imposed in November.” State Department Director of
Policy Planning Brian Hook said the US is “not looking to grant licenses or
waivers,” but Washington is “prepared to work with countries that are
reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis.” Hook said the US sanctions
“on Iranian trade in automobiles, gold and other key metals will be
re-imposed on Aug. 6 while sanctions targeting energy and banking will be
reinforced Nov. 4.” Hook said that so far, “more than 50 international
firms have announced their intent to leave the Iranian market.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=052-99b&t=c>
(7/2, Hudson) reports Hook said the Administration is “standing by its plan
to reduce Iran’s oil revenue to zero in a bid to isolate the country and
force its leaders to change their behavior.” The Post notes that Hook said
the US “would work with countries that import Iranian crude on a
‘case-by-case’ basis, signaling that the Trump administration might not
immediately sanction those that continue importing from Iran beyond a Nov.
4 deadline.”

        Hook asserted, “Our policy is to get to zero as soon as possible” –
a statement that the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=053-e8b&t=c>
(7/2, Harris) calls “a subtle shift” from the message the Administration
sent last week, when “a different senior State Department official told
reporters that the United States expected global imports of Iranian oil to
go to zero by Nov. 4, when Washington will reimpose sanctions against
Tehran’s energy sector.” The Times says Hook’s softening of the demand “is
likely to reassure markets,” but European diplomats are “still angry about
Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal” and “have responded
to such demands with caution.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=054-8ed&t=c>
(7/2, Nelson) says the State Department’s “proclamation – and looming
penalties – could further escalate tensions with America’s longtime allies
in Europe that have expressed a desire to continue doing business with
Iran.” European nations that signed on to the 2015 nuclear deal “have vowed
to try” and work “with Iran to keep the deal in place,” but their “pledge
has been complicated by the Trump administration’s uncompromising approach
to the reimposition of American sanctions on Iran.” Politico says countries
outside the deal, “too, could be affected,” as Turkey and India have
already “said they do not intend to stop buying Iranian oil.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=055-e87&t=c>
(7/2) runs a video report of Hook’s remarks, and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=056-931&t=c>
(7/2, Donati) notes his comments followed questions about Turkish and
Indian plans to continue to purchase Iranian oil.

        *CNN Exclusive: Administration Debating “Terrorist” Label For
Iran’s IRGC. *CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=057-b26&t=c>
(7/2, McLaughlin, Labott) reports online that as “part of an effort to use
every possible tool in the box to pressure Tehran,” the White House is
considering designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a
foreign terrorist organization, several current and former official say.
Making the designation would allow the Administration to “freeze IRGC
assets, impose travel bans and levy criminal penalties on top of
pre-existing economic sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump.” Sources
familiar with Secretary Pompeo’s thinking say he’s in favor of the
designation. However, CNN notes that “labeling an official state military
as a terror group, particularly a group with the reach and force of the
IRGC, would be unprecedented and could expose US diplomatic and military
officials to additional hazards, some warn.”

        *Rouhani Visits Switzerland For Talks In Nuclear Deal. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=058-338&t=c>
(7/2) reports Iranian President Hassan Rouhani “has arrived in Switzerland
for talks expected to focus on salvaging progress from the Iran nuclear
deal after the Trump administration’s walkout.” Rouhani is in Zurich and
later will visit Bern “for deal-signings, talks and a news conference on
Tuesday.”

        *Iranian Diplomat Arrested In Connection With Bomb Plot Against
Exiled Opposition Group. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=059-6b6&t=c>
(7/2, Bartunek) reports Belgian authorities say an Iranian diplomat has
been “arrested along with two people suspected of plotting a bomb attack on
a meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group in France attended by
Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.” In addition, three suspects were
arrested in France. The meeting of the Paris-based National Council of
Resistance of Iran (NCRI), “an umbrella bloc of opposition groups in exile
that seek an end to Shi’ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran,” was also
attended by “several former European and Arab ministers.”

        Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=05a-190&t=c>
(7/2) mentioned that Belgian authorities said two of the people arrested
were married, and a search of their car “turned up more than a pound of
explosives and a detonator, enough to cause a sizeable explosion.”

        *Protests Turn Deadly In Iran As Opposition Figures Rally In
France. *Benjamin Hall reported on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=05b-c2e&t=c>
(7/2) that tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a
“faltering economy and high levels of corruption.” Police responded by
“opening fire, killing at least four.” The protests come as opposition
figures gathered in Paris over the weekend for an annual rally that was
attended by a “large US delegation” that included President Trump’s
attorney Rudy Giuliani. Speaking to Fox, Giuliani urged Iranian leaders “to
consider their future.” Giuliani was shown saying, “Step aside before
there’s more bloodshed. They are killing their own people. Once a regime
turns on its own people it’s only inevitable that it comes to an end. Their
fate is sealed.”
US Envoy Met With North Korean Official In Border Village.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=05c-744&t=c>
(7/1) reports US envoy Sung Kim “held talks with North Korean officials on
Sunday in the border village of Panmunjom within the demilitarized zone
between the North and South Korea, South Korean media reported on Sunday.”
The reports say Kim, the US ambassador to the Philippines, “met with North
Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui for working talks that were
believed to be focused on setting the agenda for” Secretary of State
Pompeo’s upcoming visit. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=05d-30f&t=c>
(7/2) reports the State Department says Ambassador Kim “held talks with
North Korea in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas over the
weekend.” Kim led the US delegation to the talks “to discuss next steps on
implementation of the joint declaration signed at the June 12 summit
between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.” In a
statement, the department said, “Our goal remains the final, fully verified
denuclearization of the DPRK, as agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=05e-8bc&t=c>
(7/2, Taylor) reports the meeting “appears to be the first face-to-face
contact between US officials and their North Korean counterparts since
President Trump met with leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore.” The
meeting comes “amid growing scrutiny of Pyongyang’s commitment to
denuclearization and as joint efforts to repatriate the remains of US
troops from North Korea take longer than many anticipated.”

        *In Tweet Today, Trump Says “If Not For Me, We Would Now Be At War
With North Korea.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=05f-8c7&t=c>
this morning, “Many good conversations with North Korea-it is going well!
In the meantime, no Rocket Launches or Nuclear Testing in 8 months. All of
Asia is thrilled. Only the Opposition Party, which includes the Fake News,
is complaining. If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!”

        *Intelligence Officials Appear To Contradict Trump’s Optimism. *[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=060-336&t=c>
(7/2, story 6, 0:30, Holt) reported that ahead of Pompeo’s trip to North
Korea on Thursday, “NBC news is reporting US intelligence agencies believe
Pyongyang is secretly making more fuel for nuclear weapons. That’s even
after, as you remember, the country pledged to work toward denuclearization
during that Singapore summit.” The White House on Monday “would not confirm
or deny” the reporting, “but said they do believe they’re still making
progress.” Jeff Zeleny similarly reported on [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]CNN’s Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=061-9d4&t=c>
(7/2) that Pompeo is traveling to Pyongyang “amid reports that North Korea
[is] not necessarily holding up to its end of the bargain” regarding
denuclearization.

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=062-e6b&t=c>
(7/2, Tharoor) says these “separate reports citing US officials seemed to
confirm what so many experts have long feared – that despite the overtures
and sunny proclamations made at the Singapore summit between President
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang probably has little
interest in dismantling its nuclear program.” Though North Korea has halted
missile and nuclear tests, “as one US official briefed on the latest
intelligence told NBC, ‘there’s no evidence that they are decreasing
stockpiles, or that they have stopped their production. There is absolutely
unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the US.’” The Post
adds that this “line of thinking is far removed from Trump’s triumphant
declarations.”

        Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=063-0df&t=c>
(7/2, Gertz) reports, “Alaska-based interceptor missiles capable of
knocking out long-range North Korean missiles remain at a high state of
readiness despite the apparent reduction in tensions with Pyongyang
following the recent summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un.” The
Free Beacon notes Defense Secretary Mattis “toured Fort Greely, Alaska,
this week, home of the Pentagon’s ground-based interceptor missile defense
system.”

        *Satellite Images May Show North Korea Finishing Missile
Manufacturing Site. *CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=064-3a5&t=c>
(7/2, Berlinger) reports North Korea “appears to be finalizing the
expansion of a key ballistic missile manufacturing site, according to an
analysis of satellite imagery by researchers” at the Middlebury Institute
for International Studies. The new images “come as leaked reports from US
intelligence officials appear to cast doubt on North Korea’s willingness
abandon its nuclear weapons program,” and they show Pyongyang “finishing
construction at the Chemical Material Institute, which researchers say is
based in the North Korean city of Hamhung.”

        *Former Defense Secretary Perry Balances Hope, Skepticism About
North Korea. *Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry says in a Politico
Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=065-7e5&t=c>
(7/2) op-ed that he has watched developments on the Korean Peninsula “with
a mix of hope and skepticism,” and in light of the reports on North Korea’s
alleged nuclear weapons activities, “that skepticism seems amply
justified.” Still, Perry says, “hope also remains justified,” because these
“recent events have demonstrated something important: The North Koreans are
willing to engage seriously, and diplomacy remains by far the most
promising path in one of the world’s most dangerous places.”
Israel Bolstering Border Troops As Thousands Of Syrian Refugees Approach.

Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=066-78a&t=c>
(7/2) reported that thousands of Syrians fleeing war in their country are
heading toward the border with Israel, “despite knowing they will not be
allowed into the country.” According to Fox’s Jonathan Hunt, the UN says
more than 250,000 refugees have fled fighting in southwestern Syria “just
in the last few days.” While the “majority” are heading towards the
Jordanian border, thousands are heading towards Israel’s border because
they “feel safer” there. They believe they’re “far less likely to be the
targets of Syrian government bombing raids when they are this close to
Israel.” The Israeli government is bolstering its troop numbers at the
border to send “two messages: telling its own people this border will not
be breached, and telling the Syrian government forces, ‘do not get too
close and be very careful.’”

        *Netanyahu Defends Wife Ahead Of Her Trial For Misusing State
Funds. *Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=067-f40&t=c>
(7/2) reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “coming to his
wife’s defense ahead of her trial this month for misusing public funds.”
Netanyahu called his wife Sarah “an amazing woman whose image is being
trampled in the media.” Fox noted that in recent days, transcripts from
leaked investigations show Sarah “complaining about the quality of food
served at the prime minister’s residence and using expletives to describe
the staff.”
Trudeau Responds To Groping Allegations.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=068-8a3&t=c>
(7/2, Tan) reports that during an event for steel and aluminum workers
Sunday, a reporter asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “to address
allegations that he had groped a young woman at a music festival in British
Columbia 18 years ago.” Trudeau, a “self-described feminist, who has said
he has ‘no tolerance’ for sexual harassment, said he did not recall the
event.” Trudeau said, “I remember that day in Creston well. It was an
Avalanche Foundation event to support avalanche safety. I had a good day
that day. I don’t remember any negative interactions that day at all.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=069-af5&t=c>
(7/2, Miller) says the sexual harassment allegation first surfaced in 2000
in an “unsigned newspaper editorial in the Creston Valley Advance.” The
editorial accused Trudeau of “inappropriately ‘handling’ the reporter” and
said the woman was “blatantly disrespected.” The editorial added that
Trudeau “told the woman at the time, ‘I’m sorry. If I had known you were
reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.’” The
Times says the editorial has been getting attention now after “it was
posted last month on Twitter.”
Domestic Policy
Media Analyses: Cohen Signals Willingness To Cooperate With Mueller.

Media reports interpreted Michael Cohen’s remarks to George Stephanopoulos,
in an interview shown on ABC’s Good Morning America[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=06a-e01&t=c>
(7/2), as an indication that he is willing to do what he can to assist
Special Counsel Robert Mueller in order to reduce his own legal jeopardy.
Stephanopoulos said of Cohen yesterday morning, “Remember, he famously said
he would take a bullet for President Trump. That’s what appears to be
changing right now. I’ve spent hours with him over the last several months.
... He’s very much now his own man.” Cohen “said he wanted to respect the
process, didn’t get into specifics, but he added this and he added this
with emphasis: ‘my wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and
always will. I put family and country first.” Stephanopoulos remarked,
“Nothing there about loyalty to President Trump and, in fact, he didn’t
praise President Trump at all.”

        On ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=06b-4de&t=c>
(7/2, story 2, 4:35, Llamas), Stephanopoulos said that “in the Oval
Office...Trump ignored questions. In the past, he predicted Cohen won’t
turn against him, tweeting, ‘Most people will flip in the government lets
them out of trouble. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that.’” However, “now
Cohen is sending a clear signal to the President, prosecutors and the
country. ‘I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense
strategy,’ he told me ‘I am not a villain of this story, and I will not
allow others to try to depict me that way.’” NBC Nightly News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=06c-5a0&t=c>
(7/2, story 5, 2:15, Jackson) similarly reported that “the White House did
not comment on” the interview in which Cohen “seems to be signaling he
might cooperate with federal prosecutors.”

        On the CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=06d-5dd&t=c>
(7/2, story 7, 1:30, Glor), Paula Reid said, “I’m told he wants to defend
his character. He wants to take control of the story where he believes he’s
been cast as a villain. He wants to send a message to the President, the
special counsel and the country about how he wants the proceed. For him,
it’s not about loyalty. It is about his family.” Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile,
“has said that he doesn’t actually expect that Cohen will cooperate, but if
he does, he said it’s fine because Giuliani insists the President has done
nothing wrong.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=06e-b37&t=c>
(7/2, Hays) reports that “after once boasting he would ‘take a bullet’
for...Trump,” Cohen “fired a possible warning shot toward the White House,
saying he now puts ‘family and country first.’” Likewise, Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=06f-dcd&t=c>
(7/2, Talev, Nasiripour) reports that Cohen “supported the special
counsel’s investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign
and Russia and rejected Trump’s description of the probe as a ‘witch
hunt.’” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=070-dd7&t=c>
(7/2, Muñoz) quotes Cohen as saying, “I don’t like the term witch hunt.”

        The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=071-383&t=c>
(7/2, Megerian) describes Cohen as “implying that he wouldn’t hesitate to
cooperate with prosecutors even if that hurt the president,” and the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=072-a30&t=c>
(7/2, Wagner) as signaling “a willingness to cooperate with federal
prosecutors, even if doing so undercuts the interests of the president.”
The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=073-e04&t=c>
(7/2, Feuer) also says that “at first blush, Mr. Cohen seemed to be
suggesting...that he was inclined to strike a deal with the Manhattan
prosecutors who have been investigating him for months.” However, the Times
adds that “while acknowledging that Mr. Cohen certainly sounded like a man
in search of a cooperation deal,” some “legal experts” said prosecutors
“almost always prefer to negotiate such deals in private – not on morning
television shows.” Former DOJ director of public affairs Matthew Miller
tells the Times, “If he really wanted to send a signal that he was looking
to cooperate, he could just pick up the phone and call the prosecutors.”
Miller suggested that Cohen’s remarks in the interview were “likely
directed at the president as a ‘not-so subtle request for a pardon.’”

        Under the headline, “Michael Cohen Makes Waves In New Interview But
Still Denies Collusion, Disputes Steele Dossier,” Chuck Ross of The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=074-cc0&t=c>
(7/2, Ross) writes, “Although Cohen said he will put ‘family and country
first’ over Trump – a reversal from his past pledge to ‘take a bullet’ for
the president – Cohen remained consistent in the interview about his
alleged dealings with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
Cohen “reiterated his past denials that he took part in any collusion with
the Russian government to influence the 2016 election,” and “again disputed
the infamous Steele dossier, which was the first document to level
collusion allegations against him.” Ross says Cohen “also told
Stephanopoulos that he believes Special Counsel Robert Mueller will not
find any evidence that he had improper contacts with Russians regarding the
election.”

        Citing “a friend who spoke with Cohen last month,” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=075-847&t=c>
(7/2) reports that Cohen “has expressed worries about the financial burden
of his legal defense and complained that he has not received enough support
from Trump.” According to Reuters, Trump “has alternately defended Cohen,
expressed outrage over a raid by the FBI on the lawyer’s office in April
and distanced himself from the man who previously said he would take a
bullet for” him. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=076-556&t=c>
(7/2, Nelson) and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=077-072&t=c>
(7/2, Anapol), among other news outlets, run similar reports.

        BuzzFeed
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=078-be6&t=c>
(7/2, Leopold, Cormier) reports that “when the Department of Justice
announced this month that investigators had pieced together records found
in a shredder belonging to...Cohen, critics, legal experts, and journalists
feverishly speculated about what they might contain. ... Now, BuzzFeed News
has obtained documents reconstructed by the FBI,” and “a close examination
shows that the records” to be “a combination of documents that prosecutors
already had, handwritten notes about a taxi business, insurance papers, and
correspondence from a woman described in court filings as a ‘vexatious
litigant’ who claims she is under government surveillance.”

        Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti said on CNN’s Situation
Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=079-723&t=c>
(7/2) that Trump “trusted his inner most secrets to Michael Cohen, and I
have serious doubts relating to Michael Cohen’s competency, as well as his
ability to withstand significant pressure. I think that was a critical
error in judgment by Trump. I think he made another critical error in
judgment when he did not keep this guy in the tent over the last 18 months.
He has basically ostracized him and put him on an island which in and of
itself was very stupid from a strategic standpoint to do that. And I think
ultimately, Michael Cohen has a lot of very damaging information about the
President. And I think this has been mishandled by the President for some
time, like so many other things that we’ve seen. And sooner or later, this
stuff catches up to you.”

        Jeffrey Toobin said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=07a-d9e&t=c>
(7/2), “Something goes on. The first time your lawyer goes over the federal
sentencing guidelines with you, and says, ‘You are looking at 30 to 40
months, 60 to 70 months in prison,’ that changes your perspective. And the
only way you can get out of the sentencing guidelines is by cooperating.
That’s why people cooperate. That’s why they start saying nice things about
the FBI.”

        *Daniels’ Attorney Representing Comedian Behind Prank Call To
Trump. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=07b-a9d&t=c>
(7/2, Wagner) reports that Avenatti “has added another celebrity with an
issue involving President Trump to his stable of clients: John Melendez,
the comedian who claimed to prank call Trump last week on Air Force One.”
The Post says Melendez, who “tweeted over the weekend that Secret Service
agents had come knocking on his door in response to the prank,” announced
on Sunday that he “had retained Avenatti to represent him on the matter.”

        *Attorney: Republicans On House Committee Selectively Leaking
Strzok’s Testimony. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=07c-37b&t=c>
(7/2, Wise) reports that FBI Agent Peter Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman,
“is accusing Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee of selectively
leaking portions of his private testimony last week.” Goelman made the
accusation in a letter sent to the Committee on Monday, in which he “also
alleges that the invitation for Strzok to return next week for a public
testimony was a ‘trap.’” Goelman wrote, “Having sharpened their knives
behind closed doors, the committee would now like to drag back Special
Agent Strzok and have him testify in public – a request that we originally
made and the committee denied. ... What’s being asked of Special Agent
Strzok is to participate in what anyone can recognize as a trap.” The
Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=07d-4f3&t=c>
(7/2, Mordock) reports that Goelman “demanded the whole transcript from Mr.
Strzok’s closed testimony be released, but its unclear if that is a
condition for the agent to participate in the public hearing.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=07e-2e2&t=c>
(7/2, Demirjian) says “spokesmen for the majority of the Judiciary and
Oversight committees did not immediately return requests for comment
Monday.”

        *AP: Kilimnik Helped Manafort With “Formulating Pro-Russian
Political Strategy.” *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=07f-8ae&t=c>
(7/2, Horwitz, Danilova) reports that Konstantin Kilimnik “has been
described as a fixer, translator or office manager to...Paul Manafort.”
However, according to the AP, Kilimnik, “an elusive figure now indicted
alongside Manafort on witness tampering charges, was far more involved in
formulating pro-Russia political strategy with Manafort than previously
known.” Citing “internal memos and other business records,” the AP reports
that Kilimnik “-- whom Mueller believes is currently in Russia and has ties
to Russian intelligence – helped formulate Manafort’s pitches to clients in
Russia and Ukraine.”

        *Flynn Ordered To Appear In Court Next Week. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=080-750&t=c>
(7/2, Correll) reports that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
has been ordered to appear at a hearing next week by federal Judge Emmett
Sullivan. Flynn’s appearance “would be to confer about his potential
sentencing in the Russia investigation that is examining whether Trump
campaign officials colluded with the Kremlin during the 2016 presidential
election contest.”

        *Nunes Urges Testimony From 10 State, Obama White House Officials. *The
Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=081-eca&t=c>
(7/2, Ross) reports that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes
is calling on House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy “to hold open
hearings for 10 former State Department and Obama White House officials
regarding alleged surveillance abuses against the Trump campaign.” Nunes
wrote to the chairmen, “During this investigation, the Committee discovered
matters that likely fall within the purview of the joint task force of the
Committees on Oversight & Government Reform and the Judiciary. ... For the
sake of transparency and to keep the American people as fully informed as
possible about these matters, the task force should consider interviewing
these people in an open setting.”

        *Federal Agencies Looking Into Facebook Statements About Cambridge
Analytica. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=082-6a4&t=c>
(7/2, Timberg, Dwoskin, Zapotosky, Barrett)reports that “people familiar
with the official inquiries” say a federal probe into “Facebook’s sharing
of data with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica has broadened to
focus on the actions and statements of the tech giant and involves three
agencies.” The Post cites “five people, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity,” who said that representatives of the FBI, the SEC, and the FTC
“have joined the Justice Department in its inquiries about the two
companies and the sharing of personal information of 71 million Americans.”
According to the sources, “the emphasis has been on what Facebook has
reported publicly about its sharing of information with Cambridge
Analytica, whether those representations square with the underlying facts
and whether Facebook made sufficiently complete and timely disclosures to
the public and investors about the matter.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=083-9ae&t=c>
(7/2, Kang) quotes a Facebook spokesman as saying, “We are cooperating with
officials in the US, U.K. and beyond. ... We’ve provided public testimony,
answered questions, and pledged to continue our assistance as their work
continues.”

        *Months After Suspension Over Flynn Report, Ross Leaving ABC.
*The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=084-e5a&t=c>
(7/2, Chasmar) reports that ABC News investigative correspondent Brian Ross
said in a statement Monday that he and his producer Rhonda Schwartz are
leaving the company. The move comes after Ross “was suspended for a month
without pay in December after reporting that [former national security
adviser Michael] Flynn was preparing to testify that the president had
directed him to make contact with Russian officials during his presidential
campaign.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=085-dfc&t=c>
(7/2, Grynbaum) reports that ABC News president James Goldston “praised Mr.
Ross and Ms. Schwartz in his own memo, writing that ‘their work has led
repeatedly to real changes in policy in the US and around the world. ... We
wish them well in their next chapter.’”
White House Accuses Harris, Warren Of Siding With MS-13 Over ICE.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=086-856&t=c>
(7/2, Dinan) reports the White House “fired an extraordinary shot at Sen.
Kamala Harris on Monday, taking to Twitter to accuse her of siding with”
MS-13 over ICE. The White House tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=087-ef3&t=c>,
“@SenKamalaHarris, why are you supporting the animals of MS-13? You must
not know what ICE really does.” The White House added a link to an ICE
press release “describing deportation of an MS-13 member and other
immigration targets.” In response, Harris “quickly took to the Internet to
fundraise off the attack, asking supporters to pony up to help her battle
the White House.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=088-faf&t=c>
(7/2, Viebeck) reports the White House also called out Sen. Elizabeth
Warren on Twitter Monday, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=089-a5a&t=c>,
“@SenWarren, why are you supporting criminals moving weapons, drugs, and
victims across our nation’s borders? You must not know what ICE really
does.” The White House linked to a webpage for ICE’s Border Enforcement
Security Task Force. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=08a-5e8&t=c>
(7/2, Siders) says the White House “ripped into” the Democratic senators on
Twitter, while the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=08b-df6&t=c>
(7/2, Johnson) mentions that the official White House Twitter account
“usually pushes a lighter political message. Until Monday.”

        President Trump himself took to Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=08c-085&t=c>
on Monday night, writing, “Many Democrats are deeply concerned about the
fact that their ‘leadership’ wants to denounce and abandon the great men
and women of ICE, thereby declaring war on Law & Order. These people will
be voting for Republicans in November and, in many cases, joining the
Republican Party!”

        Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News’
Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=08d-452&t=c>
(7/2), “I think it’s time to tamp down the emotion and go for some of the
information. If you quiz most of those people, including elected officials,
as to why ICE was created in the first place in response to 9/11, and what
it is supposed to be doing and by the way, what it does do. At the White
House, we’re working on that exact document, so that people get
information. ICE provides so many services that are critical to everyone’s
security in this country. ... The President is putting it this way: It is a
binary choice. You are either for open borders and the crime that comes
with that, or you are for a sovereign nation that has physical borders and
less crime.”

        *In Tweet Today, Trump Slams Democrats Over ICE, Border
Enforcement. *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=08e-586&t=c>
this morning,”When we have an ‘infestation’ of MS-13 GANGS in certain parts
of our country, who do we send to get them out? ICE! They are tougher and
smarter than these rough criminal elelments (sic) that bad immigration laws
allow into our country. Dems do not appreciate the great job they do! Nov.”
Trump said in a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=08f-d59&t=c>,
“How can the Democrats, who are weak on the Border and weak on Crime, do
well in November. The people of our Country want and demand Safety and
Security, while the Democrats are more interested in ripping apart and
demeaning (and not properly funding) our great Law Enforcement!”

        *In Tweet Today, Trump Again Blasts Waters, Pelosi As “FACE Of The
Democrat Party.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=090-b7d&t=c>
this morning, “Crazy Maxine Waters, said by some to be one of the most
corrupt people in politics, is rapidly becoming, together with Nancy
Pelosi, the FACE of the Democrat Party. Her ranting and raving, even
referring to herself as a wounded animal, will make people flee the
Democrats!”

        *BuzzFeed: Calls To Abolish ICE Dividing Democratic Party. *BuzzFeed
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=091-3c2&t=c>
(7/2, Villa) reports the Democratic Party is “suddenly dealing with an
internal conflict over how to handle one of the agencies responsible for
enforcing the country’s immigration laws: leave it be, seriously reform it,
or shutter it entirely.” The debate over abolishing ICE, it says, is
“pitting potential future party leaders against the Democratic old guard
and against one another, as the party tries to find a winning message and
platform” against President Trump.

        Rep. Ruben Gallego said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=092-e55&t=c>
(7/2), “We don’t want to abolish ICE. We want to make sure that ICE is
actually doing its job properly and not being abused by this White House.
Instead of actually screening for a criminal element that does exist within
the illegal alien community, ICE over the last year to two years has been
going after mothers and fathers, people that are otherwise innocent except
for crossing the border. ... So us asking for restructuring I think is
perfectly fine.”

        Rep. Joaquin Castro said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=093-3c0&t=c>
(7/2), “I think what you see is a lot of frustration and a lot of anger
about years of abuse and corruption and secrecy by ICE. Now, ICE is a
fairly large organization. so I basically stand with the agents who wrote
in to Secretary Nielsen and asked that the Homeland Security Investigations
piece of ICE be separated out and left to itself. And I think that we
should extract – in other words, we should take away any kind of
enforcement and removal authority from ICE and put it somewhere else. Put
it in a place where you’ll have folks that are doing it in a more
responsible way.”

        *ProPublica’s Dreier: MS-13 Members Are Just “Mighty Munchkins.” *
Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=094-8dd&t=c>
(7/2, Starr) reports MS-13 members are “mighty munchkins,” ProPublica’s
Hannah Dreier told NPR. Said Dreier, “So to hear Trump tell it, MS-13 is
this shadowy gang that’s organized across continents with major plans to
disrupt the security of the United States border, and what I’m actually
seeing is that this gang is settling, basically, high school beefs. One
detective told me that he called them ‘Mighty Munchkins’ because these are
kids who haven’t yet finished their growth spurts.”

        *Illegal Immigration Down In Wake Of “Zero Tolerance” Policy.
*The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=095-ab6&t=c>
(7/2, Dinan) reports that according to numbers reported Monday by the AP,
illegal immigration on the southwest border declined in June, “suggesting
President Trump’s zero tolerance policy may have been successful in
changing the calculations for would-be migrants.” The AP reported “that the
Border Patrol arrested 34,057 illegal immigrants last month, down from
40,344 people in May.” The numbers “are still preliminary,” but “if they
hold, it would be the biggest drop since the first couple months of Mr.
Trump’s tenure, when analysts say the mere fact of his election forced
immigrants to change their minds about coming to the U.S.” Trump’s zero
tolerance policy was “announced in May and began to take effect in the
following weeks. Given that migrants’ journeys often take a month or
longer, analysts said the effects of the policy on would-be migrants would
show in June’s numbers.”

        *Undocumented Immigrant Warns Of Difficulties Entering US Under
“Zero Tolerance.” *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=096-c06&t=c>
(7/2, Brest) reports undocumented immigrant Buena Ventura Martin Godinez
“proved that President Trump’s zero-tolerance policy is working when she
tried to warn others about the difficulties of entering the United States
in a tweet earlier Monday morning.” In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=097-aee&t=c>
from CBS News, Godinez is quoted as saying, “I would advise people to find
another country to seek refuge. Because here the law is very tough. People
don’t have a heart.” According to CBS, “Godinez was temporarily separated
from her 7-year-old daughter Janne for the last two months.”

        *Under Trump, Number Of Permanent Resident Visas Issued Down 12%. *The
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=098-47e&t=c>
(7/2, Hauslohner, Tran) reports that the “number of people receiving visas
to move permanently to the United States is on pace to drop 12 percent in
President Trump’s first two years in office, according to a Washington Post
analysis of State Department data.” Among the most affected “are the
Muslim-majority countries on the president’s travel ban list – Yemen,
Syria, Iran, Libya and Somalia – where the number of new arrivals to the
United States is heading toward an 81 percent drop by Sept. 30, the end of
the second fiscal year under Trump.”

        *Democrats Urge Administration To Boost USCIS Resources Amid
Backlog. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=099-df9&t=c>
(7/2, Dinan) reports that congressional Democrats are urging the
Administration to “pour resources into approving new citizenship
applications, saying a massive backlog has built up and people applying now
may have to wait as long as 16 months before getting approved.” In a letter
sent Friday, 52 Democrats said the backlog “undermines public trust” and
must be cut. USCIS “clearly needs to invest further resources and increase
staff to expand capacity and return processing times to the agency’s stated
goal of six months or less,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Reps. Zoe Lofgren
and Luis V. Gutierrez.

        *Court Blocks Administration From Blanket Detention Of Asylum
Seekers. *In what the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=09a-4f8&t=c>
(7/2, Jordan) calls “another blow” to the Administration’s immigration
policies, a federal court on Monday “blocked the systematic detention of
migrants who have shown credible evidence that they were fleeing
persecution in their home countries.” In “a sharply worded ruling,” Judge
James Boasberg of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia
“found that the government’s own directive calling for asylum applicants to
be freed when appropriate while their cases are pending ‘has been honored
more in the breach than the observance.’” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=09b-c81&t=c>
(7/2, Hsu) reports that Judge Boasberg ordered the government “to
immediately release or grant hearings to more than 1,000 asylum seekers who
have been jailed for months or years without individualized case reviews,
dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants.”

        *Antifa Says Democratic Socialists Abandoned ICE Dallas Protests
When Police Came. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=09c-a46&t=c>
(7/2, Cohen) reports on a “feud” among far left groups in Dallas “after the
Democratic Socialists of America abandoned a protest against Immigration
and Customs Enforcement after cops showed up on Saturday, according to
Monday tweets from Antifa Dallas-Fort Worth.” Five people were arrested at
the June 20 protest, “outside of an ICE facility in Dallas...according to
an NBC DFW report from Saturday. ... The report does not say if those
arrested were members of either Antifa or DSA.”

        *Immigration Judges At Center Of Controversy Over Trump’s
Immigration Policies. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=09d-ceb&t=c>
(7/2, Taxin) reports that the nation’s 335 immigration judges “have been
thrust into the center of the political controversy over President Donald
Trump’s immigration policy that separated more than 2,000 immigrant
children from their parents.” Last week, the President “questioned on
Twitter the need for judges for these cases at all by posting: ‘When
somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases,
bring them back from where they came.’” The National Association of
Immigration Judges “issued a statement stressing the importance of their
jobs, especially when considering asylum cases that can be life-or-death
decisions for immigrants facing persecution in their homeland.” the AP Adds
that the judges “have long wished to be removed from the Department of
Justice to achieve greater independence from the immigration politics of
each administration, and now, even more so.”

        *Migrant Families Reunited In Wake Of Judge’s Order. *NBC Nightly
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=09e-bc5&t=c>
(7/2, story 10, 0:25, Holt) reported that “days after a federal judge
ordered that migrant families separated at the border be reunited,” some
“highly emotional reunions are taking place.” NBC added, “It’s not known
how many of the more than 2,000 children separated are now back with their
parents.”

        *ACLU Has Taken 170 “Trump-Related Legal Actions.” *In a nearly
8,000-word story in the New York Times Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=09f-3af&t=c>
(7/2), Joel Lovell highlights the ACLU’s lawsuit on behalf of immigrant
families separated at the border as an example f the ACLU’s efforts to
challenge the Trump Administration. Lovell writes that since the President
took office, the ACLU “has taken 170 ‘Trump-related legal actions.”
including “formal calls for investigation, administrative and ethics
complaints and requests for documents under the Freedom of Information
Act.” In addition, there have been “83 lawsuits, more than at any other
equivalent time in its history – in defense of immigrants and transgender
people and abortion rights and free speech and voting rights and access to
birth control.”
WPost: “Resistance” Making Its Voice Heard Around Washington.

A piece in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a0-813&t=c>
(7/2, Zak) “Style” section says the “resistance [is] girding for war, or
curdling into hysteria, depending on your view.” The Post highlights recent
protests including “activists heckl[ing] Homeland Security Secretary
Kirstjen Nielsen at the posh Mexican restaurant, a demonstration “outside
the D.C. condo building of Stephen Miller, “the Trump adviser behind the
hard-line immigration policies,” Senate Majority Leader McConnell being
confronted by protesters at Georgetown University, and a protest on the
Hart Senate Office Building to show “solidarity with detained immigrant
children.”

        *Woman Confronts Pruitt In DC Restaurant. *The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a1-553&t=c>
(7/2, Schwab) reports EPA Administrator Pruitt “became the most recent
Trump administration figure to get an earful while trying to get a mouthful
at a DC restaurant, according to a Facebook posting Monday.” In the post,
teacher Kristin Mink “was shown approaching Pruitt as he chowed down with a
pal at the Teaism restaurant Monday.” Mink said, “I just wanted to urge you
to resign, because of what you’re doing to the environment in our country.”
Mink, who was holding her two-year-old son, continued, “This is my son, he
loves animals, he loves clean air, he loves clean water,” she said to
Pruitt. “So I would urge you to resign before your scandals push you out.”
The Post says Pruitt “gawked at her throughout the encounter” and he and
his “lunch partner left after the confrontation.” A spokesman for Pruitt
“claimed he didn’t leave because of Mink, and he also thanked her after she
was done.”

        *Hatch Act Investigators Open File On DOJ Employee Who Accosted
Nielsen. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a2-d8d&t=c>
(7/2, Dinan) reports that federal Hatch Act investigators have opened a
complaint file on Allison Hrabar, the DOJ employee “who was part of a mob
that chased Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen from a restaurant
earlier last month.” Hrabar, a paralegal at the Justice Department, “told
The Washington Examiner that her protest was done on her own time and
didn’t reflect on her government work,” but “The Daily Caller reported that
her Twitter account showed she had tweeted political messages during normal
work hours.”

        *Gallup: 47% Of Adults Overall, 32% Of Democrats “Extremely Proud”
To Be American. *NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a3-6d4&t=c>
(7/2, Dann) reports that at 47 percent, the number of US adults who say
they are “extremely proud” to be American is at its lowest point “since
polling organization Gallup first started asking that question nearly two
decades ago.” The number is “down ten points in just the last five years,
from 57 percent in 2013.” NBC adds that much of the decline has been “among
Democrats. Only 32 percent of Democrats told pollsters they are “extremely
proud” to be American — down from 56 percent in 2013.” Meanwhile, “nearly
three-quarters of Republicans (74 percent) say they’re extremely proud to
be Americans, up slightly from 71 percent in 2013.”

        *Albright: Trump Is Most Un-Democratic President In History.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a4-f38&t=c>
(7/2, Wagner) reports that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
told the BBC Sunday that President Trump is “the most undemocratic
president in modern American history.” Appearing on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr
Show,” Albright was asked if she considers Trump to be a fascist. Albright
said, “I do not think he is a fascist. ... I do think he is the most
undemocratic president in modern American history, and that troubles me.
... And by the way, it’s not easy as a former diplomat to be in a foreign
country and criticize one’s own president. ... But I am concerned.”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a5-188&t=c>
(7/2, Muñoz) says Albright “criticized Mr. Trump’s stance on immigration.”
Albright said of family separations, “I thought it was un-American. I’ve
never seen anything like that...and it does remind one of things that
happen in fascist countries.”
Trump Declines To Lower Flags To Honor Newspaper Shooting Victims.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a6-f71&t=c>
(7/2, Moyer) reports the Capital Gazette has reported that President Trump
“has declined to lower flags to honor five victims” of the shooting at the
newspaper. Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, who “requested that the flags be
lowered to honor five Gazette employees who were gunned down Thursday,”
told the Gazette, “Obviously, I’m disappointed, you know? … Is there a
cutoff for tragedy? ... This was an attack on the press. It was an attack
on freedom of speech. It’s just as important as any other tragedy.” USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a7-fda&t=c>
(7/2, Korte) says Trump’s decision “drew criticism from those who saw a
lost opportunity to unite the nation.”

        On NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a8-b2c&t=c>
(7/2, story 7, 1:50, Holt), Katie Beck reported on “the woman who says she
was terrorized by suspected gunman Jarrod Ramos.” The woman said that Ramos
“reached out by e-mail, but messages turned dark when she was slow to
respond.” Ultimately, Ramos “pleaded guilty to criminally harassing her in
2011. The paper covered the ordeal. Ramos sued for defamation and lost.
Police say a likely motive for his rampage.” The NBC story also included
from a Capital Gazette photographer, who described the shooting.

        *Man Arrested For Threatening To Attack Paul And His Family With
Ax. *The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0a9-b3c&t=c>
(7/2, Novelly) reports that a man has been arrested after he allegedly
called Sen. Rand Paul’s office and threatened to chop up Paul and his
family with an ax. Paul mentioned the threat at an event in Litchfield,
Kentucky, on Monday. Paul said, “Capitol Police have issued an arrest
warrant for a man who threatened to kill me and chop up my family with an
ax. ... It’s just horrendous that we have to deal with things like this.”
FBI Arrests Radicalized Man Planning July 4th Bombing In Cleveland.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0aa-e54&t=c>
(7/2, Zapotosky) reports that FBI agents in Cleveland have arrested
Demetrius Pitts, “who also used the names Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq and
Salahadeen Osama Waleed,” and alleged that he “was planning a July 4 attack
in the city’s downtown, authorities said.” Pitts “was taken into custody
Sunday and charged with attempted material support of a foreign terrorist
organization.” The Post reports that, according to the FBI, Pitts “had
extensive discussions with someone he believed to be working for the
al-Qaeda terrorist network about attacking the city – possibly with a
remote control car equipped with a bomb or a van laced with explosives.”

        The Cleveland Plain Dealer
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0ab-265&t=c>
(7/2, Ferrise, McDonald) notes “Pitts is charged with one count of
attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda,” and “faces a maximum
of 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted.” The Plain Dealer adds
“Pitts is a US citizen and Philadelphia native, but he became radicalized.”
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0ac-25e&t=c>
(7/2, Palmer) also reports that “Pitts, who had expressed allegiance to the
al Qaeda militant group, intended to target other locations in Cleveland
and Philadelphia.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0ad-75e&t=c>
(7/2, Seewer) reports “FBI special agent Stephen Anthony said it was
unclear how close Pitts was to carrying out his threats, but he said
authorities couldn’t sit back and wait to find out.” Said Anthony, “We
don’t have the luxury of hoping an individual decides not to harm someone
or get others to act.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0ae-fec&t=c>
(7/2, Mordock) quotes Anthony as also stating, “His Facebook posts were,
quite frankly, disturbing. ... They included words to the effect that ‘we
as Muslims need to start training like this every day. We need to know how
to shoot guns throw hand grenades and hand-to-hand combat.’”

        In fact, says the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0af-794&t=c>
(7/2, Haag), the FBI “first became aware of Mr. Pitts in December 2015
when, the authorities said, he sent a message on Facebook using the name
Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq to an obscure California talk show, saying, ‘The USA
will be destroy. Allahu Akbar.’”

        All three network newscasts covered the story. NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b0-19c&t=c>
(7/2, story 4, 1:35, Holt) showed US Attorney Justin Herdman saying of the
suspect, “Just yesterday, he discussed giving remote control cars packed
with explosives and shrapnel to the children of our military uniformed
members.” ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b1-044&t=c>
(7/2, story 10, 0:20, Llamas) briefly noted it and said “security is
stepped up across the country for the Fourth,” and the CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b2-f1e&t=c>
(7/2, story 6, 1:55, Pegues) that DHS said “it treats Fourth of July
festivities as potentially vulnerable targets that deserve a higher level
of attention.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b3-fb8&t=c>
(7/2, Miller) and Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b4-69c&t=c>
(7/2, Quinn), among other news outlets, run similar stories.
Dhillon Named Acting DEA Administrator.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b5-f20&t=c>
(7/2, Editorial) reports that the Administration has named deputy White
House counsel Uttam Dhillon “as the new head of the US Drug Enforcement
Administration.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b6-fcf&t=c>
(7/2, Muñoz) says Dhillon “took up the role of acting administrator after
Robert Patterson retired after 30 years with the agency.” Attorney General
Sessions said in a statement, “Uttam is a dedicated public servant who has
served with distinction in the White House, the Department of Justice, the
Department of Homeland Security, Congress, and as a career federal
prosecutor taking on drug traffickers at the highest levels.”

        *White House Names Two To National Economic Council. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b7-c99&t=c>
(7/2, Morin) reports that the White House on Monday named two new members
of the National Economic Council “amid the imminent departure of two senior
members.” Andrew Olmem will be “acting deputy director for domestic policy
for the council,” and Clete Willems will serve as “acting deputy director
of the NEC for international policy.” The announcement comes as “Shahira
Knight and Everett Eissenstat prepare to depart their posts.”

        *Former EPA Employee Says Pruitt Asked He To Find Work For His
Wife. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b8-2c3&t=c>
(7/2, Friedman) reports that former EPA policy chief Samantha Dravis “told
a congressional committee that Scott Pruitt, the administrator, asked her
to help find his wife a job as a fund-raiser at the Republican Attorneys
General Association, according to two people familiar with the interview.”
Dravis “told congressional investigators that Mr. Pruitt hoped for his wife
to earn a six-figure salary and asked her help in finding a political
fund-raising job with the attorneys’ network.” The allegation “comes on top
of reports that he asked an aide to seek a business opportunity for his
wife from the fast-food franchise Chick-fil-A, and that she received $2,000
from Concordia, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that had asked Mr. Pruitt to
speak at an event last year.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0b9-bb4&t=c>
(7/2, Eilperin, Dawsey, Dennis) reports that Dravis and Pruitt’s chief of
staff Ryan Jackson “provided fresh details to congressional investigators
in recent days about some of his most controversial spending and management
decisions.” The interviews with aides to the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee “shed new light on the EPA administrator’s willingness to
leverage his position for his personal benefit and to ignore warnings even
from allies about potential ethical issues, according to three individuals
familiar with the sessions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because
of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.” Dravis and Jackson
“described instances in which their boss pressed to travel first-class or
via private jet, while Dravis acknowledged that Pruitt asked his
subordinates to do nonofficial work for him, multiple individuals said.”
Senate Panel To Hold Hearing On Ivanka Trump’s Paid Family Leave Policy.

Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0ba-530&t=c>
(7/2, Swan, Treene) reports the Senate Finance Committee will hold a
hearing July 11 “on Ivanka Trump’s paid family leave policy – an issue
she’s been advocating for both publicly and behind the scenes since joining
the president’s White House staff.” Axios calls the scheduled hearing “a
rare sign of movement on a politically difficult issue.” Ms. Trump “has had
to contend with a skeptical chief of staff, John Kelly — who’s described
the plan as a “pet project” — and a myriad of other skeptics on Capitol
Hill and inside the conservative movement.”
Cancer Research
Novel Drug From Brigham And Women’s Researchers Combats Cancer Cell
Proliferation.

The Boston Globe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0bb-061&t=c>
(7/2, Finucane) reports Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers “say
they’ve developed a drug that can get the body’s own immune cells to eat
cancer cells,” publishing their findings
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0bc-903&t=c>
Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. Investigators
“developed a new drug that blocks the ‘don’t eat me’ signal that fools”
M1-type macrophages responsible for destroying pathogens into avoiding
cancer cells. The drug also “cuts down the conversion of M1 macrophages to
M2s,” which “are involved in tissue repair and wound healing” but which
cancer cells convert to M1s to foster tumor growth. Researchers wrote their
drug caused “complete inhibition of tumor growth” in mice and “can disable
both mechanisms.”
Massachusetts Breast Research Registry Gathers More Than 1,000 Participants.

The Springfield (MA) Republican
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(7/2, Flynn) reports researchers are applauding the news that the D’Amour
Center for Cancer Care now has “more than 1,000 participants in the Breast
Research Registry...[a] research data base of tissue and blood samples as
well as medical information from those diagnosed and treated for breast
cancer and other breast problems” which is “sponsored by the Rays of Hope
Center for Breast Cancer Research.” The registry, initiated in 2012, has
“helped the center share in a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer
Institute as well as a $1.5 million Department of Defense grant,” the piece
adds.
Editorials/Op-Eds
New York Times.

*“This Tweet Captures The State Of Healthcare In America Today.”* A New
York Times
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(7/2) editorial points out that the US “spends vastly more on health care
than other industrialized countries,” not “because Americans use more
medical services,” but “because health care is far more expensive here than
in other countries.” The costs are “often passed on to patients, either in
the form of deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses or through
ever-soaring insurance premiums.” The Times highlights an accident last
week on a Boston subway platform, where a woman whose “leg got stuck in the
gap between the train and the platform” begged for no one to call an
ambulance because it is too expensive. The Times says “the trade-offs that
everyday people are being asked to make, the calculations they are being
forced to undertake in the scariest of situations, suggest that far too
many of America’s politicians have placed too little value on the
well-being of its citizens.”

        *“Can Airport Workers Pull Out Of A Financial Nosedive?” *A New
York Times
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(7/2)editorial says “real wages for the men and women who do much of the
work at airports declined by 14 percent between 1991 and 2011. ... While
airline profits have become robust since that period, airport worker pay
has stagnated.” The Times calls on the board of the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey “to buck that trend and approve a resolution to raise
the minimum pay to $19 an hour at John F. Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark
Liberty International Airports.”

        *“A New Path In Mexico.” *The New York Times
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(7/2) editorializes that “the prospects of a populist who makes as many
promises as” Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador are hard
to predict, but what is certain is that “Mexico’s relations with the United
States will not improve.” The Times posits, “If there is a danger for the
United States in Mr. López Obrador’s election, it is not that he will move
his country radically leftward, but that he will fail to meet the high
expectations he has raised.” If the Administration “chooses to make life
difficult for him,” the Times cautions, “it will only deepen Mexico’s
problems and increase the power of the drug cartels and the despair driving
people to head north.”
Washington Post.

*“Mexico’s President-Elect Has Far Too Many Promises To Keep.”* In an
editorial, the Washington Post
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(7/2) says Mexico’s President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador “is a
product of the political left, but his victory is part of the global story
of rising populist leaders.” The Post explains that like many populist
leaders, including Trump, “López Obrador promises to overturn the reigning
political establishment, says he alone is capable of delivering on his
far-fetched promises, and assails the media, courts, civil society groups
and all others who might check his personal power.” He “also has been vague
and occasionally contradictory about the specific policies he may pursue,
even while insisting he will bring about a ‘transformation’ comparable to
Mexico’s achievement of independence.” The Post says in that, López Obrador
“is sure to fail; the question is how much damage he may do to the
democratic system that enabled him to gain power.”

        *“The Centrists Can Steer The Supreme Court.” *The Washington Post
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(7/2) editorializes that the future of the Supreme Court will be decided by
“the votes of a handful of centrist senators. In vetting the next Supreme
Court justice, those powerful centrists will want to avoid further
politicizing the judiciary by opposing an accomplished nominee. Yet they
should also seek to prevent a rightward lurch on the court that would usher
in a new era of conservative judicial activism. Now is the time for them to
apply their leverage.”

        *“It Ain’t Broke Yet, But Federal Disability Insurance Still Needs
Some Big Fixes.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
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(7/2) says the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program “has
functioned as de facto long-term unemployment insurance, fraught with
inefficiencies and perverse incentives.” The program’s rules “require that
applicants be unable to engage in any significant paid work, giving them
every incentive to cease working completely to qualify, and to avoid
rehabilitation – that is, to exit the labor force for good.” The Post calls
for changes to the program’s rules to give applicants “something other than
a binary choice between work and benefits, perhaps by allowing benefits to
phase out gradually as earnings from employment rise.”

        *Trump Urged To Retool His Domestic Policy Team. *In an op-ed for
the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018070301biden&r=email-5ea6&l=0c4-6c3&t=c>
(7/2), Paul Winfree, director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy
Studies and the Richard F. Aster fellow at the Heritage Foundation, writes
that the nation needs “a robust domestic policy agenda where worker supply
and demand go hand in hand,” but the Trump Administration “has not been
able to establish that coherent, focused agenda.” Winfree argues that while
“Make America Great Again” may be “a fine campaign slogan,” it “needs to be
supported by a robust agenda.” The President, he writes, “should retool his
domestic policy team and give it a new focus that supports the success of
the economic agenda. ... Without a focused agenda to connect the United
States’ potential workforce with its entrepreneurs, the economic successes
will fall short of their full potential.”

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