Subject: FW: Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Thursday, August 2, 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: Thu, 02 Aug 2018 09:33:29 -0400

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing

*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email-masked]>
*Sent:* Thursday, August 2, 2018 7:51 AM
*To:* [email-masked]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, August 2, 2018

*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=000-9e9&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=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=001-a0c&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, August 2, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Media Highlight Morning Consult/Politico Poll Showing Biden Leading Trump
44%-37%. <#S1>

• Biden Endorses Harpootlian In South Carolina State Senate Special
Election. <#S2>

• Springfield Event Featuring Biden Expanded To Accommodate More People.
<#S3>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Media Analyses: Trump Call For Mueller Probe’s End Could Raise
Obstruction Issues. <#S4>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Pence Welcomes Return Of Korean War Dead. <#S5>

• State Dept. Says Iran Pressure Strategy Working As Parliament Summons
Rouhani. <#S6>

• US Sanctions Top Turkish Officials Over Continued Imprisonment Of Pastor.
<#S7>

• State Dept. Says Pompeo Will Not Meet With Lavrov At ASEAN. <#S8>

• State Dept. Offers Tajikistan Help In Probe Of ISIS-Claimed Killing Of US
Couple. <#S9>

• Taliban Routs ISIS In Northern Afghanistan. <#S10>

• US Preparing To Decrease Troops, Missions In Africa. <#S11>

• Mnuchin, Navarro Reportedly At Odds Over Threat To Increase Tariffs On
Chinese Goods. <#S12>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Trump Again Threatens Government Shutdown Over Border Wall. <#S13>

• New Rule Allows Short-Term Health Plans Costing Less Than ACA
Alternatives. <#S14>

• Justice IG Says Obama Clemency Initiative Was Poorly Planned, Executed.
<#S15>

• Grassley Hopes Kavanaugh Will Be Confirmed “Soon After” October 1st.
<#S16>

• Senate Approves Defense Policy Bill For Trump’s Signature. <#S17>

• Trump Discusses Prison Reform In Roundtable With Inner-City Pastors.
<#S18>

• TSA Considering Proposal To Eliminate Security Checkpoints At Smaller
Airports. <#S19>

• Obama Endorses 81 Democratic Candidates In Fall Elections. <#S20>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Lung Cancers Among Women Expected To Rise, Breast Cancers To Decline.
<#S21>

• AI Tool May Cut Time Needed To Develop Radiation Therapy Plan. <#S22>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S23>

• Washington Post. <#S24>
Biden in the News
Media Highlight Morning Consult/Politico Poll Showing Biden Leading Trump
44%-37%.

A number of media outlets highlighted the results of the new Morning
Consult/Politico poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=002-82c&t=c>,
covered in yesterday’s briefing, that showed former Vice President Joe
Biden leading President Trump 44%-37% in a hypothetical 2020 matchup, with
19% undecided. The Detroit Free Press
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=003-3ae&t=c>
(8/1, Spangler) reports that the poll results continue “a trend indicating
Democrats have an edge on Trump: The poll showed a generic Democratic
candidate scored slightly better than Biden even, with 48 percent support
to 35 percent for Trump, with 17 percent undecided.” However, “including
the margin of error, the potential spread between Biden and Trump may not
be much different than it was between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

        Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=004-3b7&t=c>
(8/1, Price) reported that while the poll shows Biden leading Trump, the
former Vice President “is not the preferred choice among Democrats. While
Biden would beat Trump by seven percentage points, a generic Democrat would
actually defeat Trump by nine percentage points, according to the
Politico/Morning consult poll. ‘Notably, 89 percent of Democrats said they
would vote for a generic Democrat over Trump, but only 80 percent of
Democrats said they preferred Biden over Trump,’ Morning Consult managing
director Tyler Sinclair said.” The Daily Mail (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=005-724&t=c>
(8/1, Martosko) reported that Biden “is by no means a White House shoe-in,
or even a serious contender, at this point. In a future Democratic primary
matchup against unnamed opponents, he would lose by 9 points,” according to
the poll.

        In its report on the poll, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=006-b30&t=c>
(8/1, Birnbaum) said that Biden “has been floated as a 2020 contender, and
a poll in June found that he would attract the highest support among
Democratic voters of any candidate in the survey.” On MSNBC’s Hardball[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=007-09e&t=c>
(8/1), host Chris Matthews and three guests – McClatchy’s Anita Kumar and
the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank and Eugene Robinson – discussed the
poll. Among the other media outlets reporting on the poll results were
the Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=008-fd9&t=c>
(8/1, Giaritelli) and People
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=009-c33&t=c>
(8/1, McAfee).
Biden Endorses Harpootlian In South Carolina State Senate Special Election.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00a-b23&t=c>
(8/1, Kinnard) reports that ex-South Carolina Democratic Party chief Dick
Harpootlian (D-SC) said in a Wednesday email to supporters “that he is
being supported by former Vice President Joe Biden in his special election
quest for a state Senate seat in the Columbia area. Harpootlian released a
60-second ad – which the campaign says is running on radio stations, but
online is accompanied by video and images – in which Biden asks voters to
support his bid.” Biden is quoted as saying in the ad, “I’ve known Dick for
a long time. He’s a fighter who stops at nothing to get things done and
makes South Carolina a much better place.” The AP says Biden “has long been
politically allied with Harpootlian,” who was “an early backer of Barack
Obama’s presidential bid” in South Carolina. Harpootlian “unsuccessfully
tried to persuade Biden to enter the 2016 presidential race.” The Columbia
(SC) State
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00b-417&t=c>
(8/1, Marchant) quotes Harpootlian as saying of Biden in a statement, “He
has been an incredible friend to my family and me over the years. He knows
what’s required to be effective in our legislative branch of government
better than anyone.” In a brief broadcast, WIS-TV[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00c-55e&t=c>
Columbia, SC (8/1) reported on Biden’s endorsement of Harpootlian.
Springfield Event Featuring Biden Expanded To Accommodate More People.

The Springfield (IL) State Journal-Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00d-642&t=c>
(8/1, Schoenburg) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden’s “planned
visit to Springfield on Aug. 16 is proving so popular that plans have
changed to accommodate more people. ‘Logistically, it’s a far more
challenging event than we anticipated,’ said Toby Trimmer, spokesman for
the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association, which has Biden
keynoting its brunch that day at the Crowne Plaza, 3000 S. Dirksen
Parkway.” Trimmer said the Crowne Plaza’s “main floor ballroom has already
been planned” to accommodate “2,500 people, and tickets for that room sold
out in a week after it was announced in June. But because of demand, there
is room for another 700 people on the hotel’s second floor. There will be
“less-formal programming” there, Trimmer said, but speakers including Biden
are expected to be there.” Under the headline “Joe Biden Visit Attracting
More Interest Than Expected,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00e-78a&t=c>
(8/2) reports on the story, drawing from the State Journal-Register
article.
Leading the News
Media Analyses: Trump Call For Mueller Probe’s End Could Raise Obstruction
Issues.

In a pair of tweets Wednesday morning, President Trump called on Attorney
General Sessions to end Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=00f-dea&t=c>,
“This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should
stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our
country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry
Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” In a second
tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=010-0a0&t=c>,
he wrote, “Russian Collusion with the Trump Campaign, one of the most
successful in history, is a TOTAL HOAX. The Democrats paid for the phony
and discredited Dossier which was, along with Comey, McCabe, Strzok and his
lover, the lovely Lisa Page, used to begin the Witch Hunt. Disgraceful!”

        Media reports cast the tweets as creating the appearance of Trump
seeking to obstruct justice. Outlets also highlight criticism of Trump’s
tweet from Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins, who Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=011-780&t=c>
(8/1, Dopp, Talev, Dennis) reports “gasped” when she was read Trump’s
tweets, and said, “Jeez. This is unbelievable. ... Those comments are
totally inappropriate. The president should not be talking about the
investigation at all.” She also said, according to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=012-620&t=c>
(8/1, Wagner, Barrett, Leonnig), “The only person who could fire Mueller is
Rod Rosenstein, who is bound by Justice Department guidances that specify
that he would have to have good cause, and it would have to be reported to
Congress.”

        In a series of tweets
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=013-67b&t=c>,
Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis reported that he had spoken with “a lot” of
senators and none had offered any support for Trump’s tweets. According to
Dennis, along with Collins, among those critical of the President were
Republican Sens. Thune, Hatch, Tillis, Fischer, Capito and Rubio. NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=014-076&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 2:05, Holt) too said Trump’s “critics pouncing.” Sen.
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): “These kinds of threats are no accident. They
reflect a state of mind and intent to obstruct justice.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=015-c53&t=c>
(8/1, Bender, Gurman) quotes Rep. Adam Schiff as saying, “This is an
attempt to obstruct justice hiding in plain sight.”

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=016-013&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 3:50, Muir) said it “has learned...Mueller made it clear to
the Trump legal team that he wants to ask the President about obstruction
of justice, and he wants that interview to be in writing and in person. The
President found out within the past 24 hours, and sources say he became so
enraged, that today he fired off this extraordinary tweet.” Major Garrett
said on the CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=017-3b5&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 2:15, Glor) that the tweet “suggested a new level of anxiety
about Robert Mueller’s probe.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=018-77d&t=c>
(8/1, Sullivan, Schmidt) reports Trump’s “order immediately raised
questions from some lawyers about whether it was an attempt to obstruct
justice.” Trump’s lawyers “quickly moved to contain the fallout, saying it
was not an order to a member of his cabinet, but merely an opinion.”
According to the Times, “An hour and a half after the tweet was posted, Mr.
Trump’s lawyers contacted a reporter for The New York Times,” and “in a
subsequent telephone conversation,” Rudy Giuliani “dismissed the
obstruction of justice concerns, calling it a ‘bizarre and novel theory of
obstruction by tweet,’ adding that it was ‘idiotic.’” Jay Sekulow, another
of Trump’s attorneys, said, “He doesn’t feel that he has to intervene in
the process, nor is he intervening.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=019-db2&t=c>
(8/1, Wagner, Barrett, Leonnig) reports that in an interview, Giuliani and
Sekulow “said Trump was not ordering Sessions to take any specific action.”
Stressing that Trump is allowed to express his opinions on Twitter, Sekulow
said, “The president has issued no order or direction to the Department of
Justice on this.” Giuliani added. “He very carefully used the word
‘should.’” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01a-d6f&t=c>
(8/1, Samuels) also reports their comments to the Post, and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01b-c1f&t=c>
(8/1, Morin, Cheney, Schor) likewise reports “Trump’s personal lawyers
quickly sought to downplay his comments, calling them an expression of his
personal opinion – not an order to Sessions.”

        Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01c-571&t=c>
(8/1) that he regards Trump’s tweets as a directive to Sessions. Castro
added, “I think he’s made his intentions pretty clear that he wants to shut
down the Mueller investigation and he’s used multiple tactics to try to
accomplish that – badgering, bullying Jeff Sessions, firing James Comey
because of the Russia investigation, berating Rod Rosenstein – he’s done so
many things now and this is one more.” Asked if Trump’s tweets amount to
obstruction of justice, Castro said, “Yes. I think it’s obstruction of
justice.” Senate Minority Whip Durbin was more cautious, telling CNN’s
Cuomo Prime Time
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01d-33d&t=c>
(8/1) that Trump has a First Amendment right, “but when he starts trying to
influence a man that he appointed as Attorney General, it gets dangerously
close to obstruction of justice.”

        Not all lawmakers, however, were critical. Rep. Chris Stewart
(R-UT) said on CNN’s Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01e-f3d&t=c>
(8/1), “I think it would be very, very difficult as a prosecutor to make
the case. I’m not an attorney but common sense would tell me it’s going to
take much more than that to prove any kind of case towards what you’ve
indicated there. The President can voice his opinion. I don’t deny him that
ability. But in this case, I wish he wouldn’t. I just don’t think it helps
him. I don’t think it helps those of us who agree with him. The original
intent of the special counsel is to investigate collusion. There’s been no
evidence of that. And I wish he would just let the special counsel finish
his work and show the American people what he has found and if there’s
something that we need to deal with we will at that time.”

        To Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=01f-1ff&t=c>
(8/1, Chiacu, Cornwell), Wednesday’s tweet from Trump “appeared to be his
most direct call for shutting down...Mueller’s investigation.” However, the
White House “said the tweet was not an order to Sessions and that Trump was
expressing his frustration with the length of the probe.” Said Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders, “It’s not an order. It’s the president’s opinion.
... He’s fighting back.” For his part, Giuliani said, “We have been saying
for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end. The president
has expressed the same opinion.” The White House, reports the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=020-ab6&t=c>
(8/1, Muñoz), said Trump “hasn’t taken any formal action with Mr.
Sessions.” Sanders argued, “The president is not obstructing, he’s fighting
back.” According to The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=021-a90&t=c>
(8/1, Fabian), Sanders also “said she was unaware of Trump making similar
comments to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the
special counsel.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=022-a52&t=c>
(8/1, Hanchett) and the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=023-ec6&t=c>
(8/1, Morrongiello), among other sources, also report Sanders’ comments.

        Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=024-f4c&t=c>
(8/1, Dopp, Talev, Dennis) calls the tweets “an extraordinary departure
from traditional boundaries between the president and law enforcement,” and
the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=025-21a&t=c>
(8/1, Bierman) says they are “opening the president to further complaints
that he is trying to obstruct the investigation into Russia’s election
interference and his campaign’s possible complicity.” In a report titled
“Do Trump Tweets Cross Legal Line For Obstruction Of Justice?” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=026-680&t=c>
(8/1, Sherman, Gresko) likewise says Trump’s tweet “raises difficult
questions about whether Trump’s frequent use of Twitter might be used to
build a case of obstruction of justice against him.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=027-cc3&t=c>
(8/1, Fabian) reports that while Sessions “has long been the target of
Trump’s ire over his decision to recuse himself from the Russia
investigation,” Trump “has seldom suggested publicly that his attorney
general should halt the probe.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=028-9ec&t=c>
(8/1, Jackson) says Trump’s “demand comes at what looks to be a pivotal
point in the probe: Mueller’s team is prosecuting former Trump campaign
manager Paul Manafort on financial allegations, and some Trump aides
believe that Mueller will submit a report soon on his findings as they
relate to the president.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=029-219&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes that it is “easy to become inured to President Trump’s
persistent, exhausting campaign to delegitimize the people and institutions
unwilling to accommodate his personal desires. A skilled propagandist, Mr.
Trump constantly repeats and escalates his accusations, threats and
outlandish claims.” But “his latest escalation...should not be shrugged
off.” The Post argues that “by all appearances, Mr. Mueller is conducting
the sober, effective investigation that the government asked him to
conduct. He does not leak. He does not grandstand. He does his job. Let him
get on with it.”

        Judge Andrew Napolitano said on Fox News’ Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02a-56e&t=c>
(8/1), “If the President brought about the closure of this investigation in
order to save himself, that would be a decision made for a corrupt purpose.
On the other hand, if the President just expressed an opinion as he’s been
doing for 18 months – he is entitled to express an opinion just like the
rest of us. Which was it? Who knows?”

        *Sources: Mueller Offers To Limit Questions In Proposed Trump
Interview. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02b-881&t=c>
(8/1, Leonnig) reports that according to two sources, Mueller “indicated
this week that he is willing to reduce the number of questions his
investigators would pose to President Trump in an interview.” In a letter
sent Monday, Mueller’s team “suggested that investigators would reduce by
nearly half the number of questions they would ask about potential
obstruction of justice, the two people said.” It was unclear, however,
“which topic or topics would be left out.” ABC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02c-819&t=c>
(8/1, Santucci) reports on its website that Mueller’s office wants to ask
Trump “about obstruction of justice,” but “will limit the scope of
questioning and would like to ask questions both orally and written for the
President to respond to.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02d-c53&t=c>
(8/1, Schmidt, Haberman), meanwhile, reports Trump “pushed his lawyers in
recent days to try once again to reach an agreement” with Mueller’s office
about him sitting for an interview, “flouting their advice that he should
not answer investigators’ questions, three people briefed on the matter
said on Wednesday.” Trump has told advisers “he is eager to meet with
investigators to clear himself of wrongdoing,” and “believes he can
convince the investigators...of his belief that their own inquiry is a
‘witch hunt.’”

        John Roberts said on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02e-1a5&t=c>
(8/1), “Fox News has learned that special counsel Robert Mueller has not
agreed to demands from President Trump’s attorneys to limit questioning to
matters of collusion, that he still wants to ask questions regarding
obstruction of justice and a few other topics. ... Sources say talks with
the special counsel continue, but add there is a long way to go.” Major
Garrett said on the CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=02f-4df&t=c>
(8/1, story 2, 2:15, Glor) that an interview with Mueller by Trump is
“highly, highly unlikely, but for appearance’s sake, both sides are going
through negotiations.” Former US Attorney Joe DiGenova said on Fox News’
Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=030-dea&t=c>
(8/1) that Trump “should not be interviewed by these people. His attorneys
should obviously, and I know they will do everything they can to advise him
not to do an interview. This is an illegitimate investigation. It’s a
perjury trap even though the President cannot be indicted for anything.”

        *Trump Congratulates Jarrett On “Tremendous Success” Of Book. *Trump
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=031-38c&t=c>
Wednesday night, “Congratulations to @GreggJarrett on The TREMENDOUS
success of his just out book, “The Russia Hoax, The Illicit Scheme To Clear
Hillary Clinton & Frame Donald Trump.” Already number one on Amazon. Hard
work from a brilliant guy. It’s the Real Story of the Rigged Witch Hunt!”

        *Judicial Watch: Strzok Allowed To Declassify Documents After
Joining Mueller Probe. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=032-f3a&t=c>
(8/1, Scarborough) reports that “new internal emails” show FBI agent Peter
Strzok “demanded to preserve all the powers he held as a deputy assistant
director as he agreed to move to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia
probe in 2017.” The emails obtained by Judicial Watch show “his superiors
agreed and made him a ‘floating’ deputy who could still handle
counterintelligence cases and declassify documents as he investigated the
Trump campaign for Mr. Mueller.”

        *Watchdog Files Suit Against DOJ Seeking Comey’s Personal Emails. *The
Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=033-ed2&t=c>
(8/1, Shepherd) reports the government watchdog group Cause of Action filed
a lawsuit Wednesday against the Department of Justice “claiming that the
agency has not responded to three Freedom of Information Act requests, one
of which is seeking emails from former FBI Director James Comey’s personal
email accounts that deal with government business.” Cause of Action argues
the DOJ “acknowledged receipt of the requests but has not proceeded any
further,” saying in the complaint that the DOJ “has failed to issue a final
determination on or promptly produce records responsive to CoA Institute’s
FOIA requests within the applicable time limits.” A DOJ official “said the
request is in progress.”

        *White House Downplays Criticism Over Handling Of Election
Security. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=034-c83&t=c>
(8/1, Nakashima, Timberg) reports that lawmakers and independent analysts
say the US “has done little to protect itself against a renewed effort to
influence voters in the coming congressional midterm elections,” but
“Administration officials dispute such criticism.” NSC spokesman Garrett
Marquis said in a statement that NSC staff “leads the regular and
continuous coordination of the whole-of-government approach to addressing
foreign malign influence and ensuring election security. The President has
made it clear that his Administration will not tolerate foreign
interference in our electoral process from any nation state or other
malicious actors.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=035-a3f&t=c>
(8/1, Taylor), meanwhile, reports that the State Department on Wednesday
“called out Russia in warning against foreign interference in US democracy,
a day after the White House declined to do so.” In a statement, spokeswoman
Heather Nauert said, “We demand that Russia and all other malign actors
immediately cease this reckless behavior. ... The United States will not
tolerate foreign, including Russian, attempts to subvert our democratic
processes and institutions.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=036-551&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes that while the White House “made a big to-do last week
about the president convening the first-ever meeting of his National
Security Council specifically dedicated to election security,” that meeting
“clocked in at well under an hour and, according to officials, was not a
strategy session but rather a basic review of measures already adopted by
various agencies absent direction from the White House.” The Times adds,
“No coordinated plan was discussed, nor were any new steps for countering
or deterring future attacks.” The “biggest hurdle” to combating the threat
posed by Russia, it argues, “seems to be America’s president.”

        *Senate Republicans Block Increase In Election Security Funding. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=037-d95&t=c>
(8/1, Hayes) reports Senate Republicans “blocked a Democratic push
Wednesday that would have provided $250 million to beef up election
security.” The funding “would have been doled out in grants through the
Federal Election Assistance Commission and helped, among other things,
replace outdated voting equipment and increase cybersecurity efforts.” But
the amendment failed “on a 50-49 vote, 10 votes shy of the 60 needed for it
to pass. The votes fell almost entirely on party lines as only one
Republican – Sen. Bob Corker – voted for the grant.”

        *NYTimes: Online Influencers Adapting To Better Disguise
Themselves. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=038-9f9&t=c>
(8/1, Roose) reports that the “people behind an influence campaign ahead of
this year’s elections, which Facebook disclosed on Tuesday, copied enough
of the tactics used by Russians in the 2016 races to raise suspicion that
Russia was at it again. But the new efforts also revealed signs of a
maturing adversary, adapting and evolving to better disguise itself, while
also better imitating real activists.” The coordinated activities, says the
Times, also “show the enormity of the challenge ahead of Facebook, as it
tries to weed out impersonators.”

        *Trump: Charges Against Manafort “Have Nothing To Do With
Collusion.” *Trump also tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=039-476&t=c>
Wednesday morning, “Paul Manafort worked for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and
many other highly prominent and respected political leaders. He worked for
me for a very short time. Why didn’t government tell me that he was under
investigation. These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion – a
Hoax!” In a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03a-c2f&t=c>
several hours later, he added, “Looking back on history, who was treated
worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and ‘Public Enemy Number
One,’ or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/Dole darling, now
serving solitary confinement – although convicted of nothing? Where is the
Russian Collusion?”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03b-603&t=c>
(8/1, Lafraniere, Cochrane) reports Trump “has at times sought to distance
himself from Mr. Manafort and at others to support him,” but on Wednesday
“took to Twitter to suggest that Mr. Manafort was being victimized by the
special counsel’s team because Mr. Mueller had turned up no evidence of
collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.” Kyra Phillips said on ABC
World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03c-9b4&t=c>
(8/1, story 3, 2:40, Muir), “President Trump’s tweet this morning...said
Manafort only worked for him for a very short period of time. But remember,
Manafort was on the Trump campaign for six months, and that includes three
months when he was the top official.”

        *Manafort Prosecutors May Not Call On Gates To Testify. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03d-f10&t=c>
(8/1, Lynch, Layne, Freifeld) reports that the prosecutor in Manafort’s
trial, Uzo Asonye, told Judge T. S. Ellis III Wednesday that the government
may not call on Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates, to testify
in the case. Gates, “who pleaded guilty to making false statements after
being indicted by Mueller, was expected to be a star government witness,”
according to Reuters. In its opening statement, Manafort’s defense “made
clear...that its strategy centered on discrediting Gates as an untruthful
embezzler.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03e-b2b&t=c>
(8/1, Mordock) calls reports that Gates will not testify “shocking.”
The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=03f-c9b&t=c>
(8/1, Weiner, Helderman, Jouvenal, Zapotosky) reports Asonye also told
Ellis “that the prosecution is ahead of schedule and could rest its case
next week,” which “means the trial would end sooner than the three weeks
prosecutors had initially said they thought it would last.” According to
the Post, Ellis “has been pushing prosecutors to speed up their case and
has expressed annoyance about the volume of evidence they have attempted to
introduce at various points. “

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=040-cf4&t=c>
(8/1, Day, Tucker) reports that Ellis also “warned prosecutors Wednesday
against using the word ‘oligarchs’ to describe wealthy Ukrainians, and
admonished them for spending so much time documenting the former Trump
campaign chairman’s extravagant lifestyle.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=041-923&t=c>
(8/1, Marsh, Golding) similarly reports on Ellis’ demand that lawyers stop
using the word “oligarch.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=042-960&t=c>
(7/31, Weiner) reports that Ellis’ “sharp demeanor comes as no surprise to
lawyers who appear before him often.” According to the Post, Ellis
“regularly interrupts trial testimony with his own questions and demands
that certain lines of inquiry be cut short, clearing up ambiguity that
defense attorneys hoped to create.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=043-acd&t=c>
(8/1, Johnson), meanwhile, reports that “for more than an hour Wednesday,
prosecutors walked jurors through volumes of clothing invoices, attempting
to show that the Republican political operative lived well beyond the means
depicted in his annual income tax reports.” Every invoice, store
representatives testified Wednesday, “were paid by international wire
transfers – some sending hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time” –
“almost exclusively from secret accounts Manafort held in Cyprus.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=044-bef&t=c>
(8/1, Gerstein, Samuelsohn) likewise reports on yesterday’s testimony by
employees “a luxury men’s clothing boutique Manafort frequented.”

        *Mueller Refers Cases Involving Obama Aide, Weber, Tony Podesta To
Federal Prosecutors. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=045-8c2&t=c>
(8/1, Rosenberg, Vogel, Benner) reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller “has
referred three investigations into possible illicit foreign lobbying by
Washington insiders to federal prosecutors in New York.” The Times says the
three cases “cut across party lines, focusing on both powerful Democratic
and Republican players in Washington,” and are “linked to Paul Manafort.”
The cases involve “Gregory B. Craig, who served as the White House counsel
under President Barack Obama before leaving to work for the law firm
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; former Representative Vin Weber,
Republican of Minnesota, who joined Mercury Public Affairs, a lobbying
firm, after leaving Congress; and Tony Podesta, a high-powered Washington
lobbyist whose brother, John D. Podesta, was the chairman of Hillary
Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=046-e9d&t=c>
(8/1, Hays) reports that Craig, Weber and Podesta all “did work related to
a lobbying effort on behalf of Ukraine’s government directed by Manafort
and longtime associate Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty and is expected
to testify at the trial.” According to the AP, “Two firms at which Podesta
and Weber have held executive positions – the Podesta Group and Mercury
Public Affairs – were retained through a nonprofit group in Brussels that
was directed by Manafort,” while Craig “oversaw his law firm’s report on
behalf of Ukraine’s government that defended the legitimacy of its
prosecution of a former prime minister.”

        A New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=047-e85&t=c>
(8/1, Mazzetti, Benner) analysis, meanwhile, says at Manafort’s trial, “an
unflattering picture has emerged of lawyers, lobbyists and consultants from
both political parties winning big paydays for work on behalf of a
Kremlin-aligned former Ukrainian strongman.” The Times argues that the
“vigor with which Mr. Mueller has investigated the flows of foreign money
from Ukraine, Turkey and other countries into Washington could be as much a
part of his legacy as special counsel as whatever he discovers about
possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign or presidential
obstruction of justice.”

        Dana Milbank writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=048-0ff&t=c>
(8/1) column that Tad Devine, “during his run as chief strategist for the
Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, railed against the corrupting
influence of money in politics.” But due to Manafort’s trial, “we now have
an unusual glimpse into the role the Democratic ad man had in electing and
preserving the power of Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych.” Milbank says that
while Devine did nothing illegal, it was ironic that he was responsible for
running Sanders’ anti-corruption campaign.

        *WPost A1 Analysis: Trump Has Made 4,229 False, Misleading Claims
Since Becoming President. *A front-page Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=049-95b&t=c>
(8/1, A1, Kessler, Rizzo, Kelly) “Fact Checker” piece indicates that “we
had fallen a month behind in updating The Fact Checker’s database that
analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the
president. It turns out that’s when the president decided to turn on the
spigots of false and misleading claims. As of day 558, he’s made 4,229
Trumpian claims – an increase of 978 in just two months” – and “an average
of nearly 7.6 claims a day.” The Post adds, “In his first year as
president, Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims. Now, just six
months later, he has almost doubled that total.”
Foreign Policy
Pence Welcomes Return Of Korean War Dead.

KGMB-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04a-c8d&t=c>
Honolulu (7/26) reports Vice President Pence, along with other dignitaries
and dozens of veterans attended “a somber repatriation ceremony” at Pearl
Harbor “to receive the possible remains of 55 American soldiers killed in
the Korean War.” Pence said, in an “an emotional address” at the Honorable
Carry Ceremony, “Today, we prove these heroes were never forgotten. Today,
our boys are coming home.” He called the return of the remains “tangible
progress” in the bid to “achieve peace on the Korean peninsula.” Similarly,
the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04b-e5c&t=c>
(8/2, McAvoy) calls the event “an emotional and solemn ceremony.”

        In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04c-6e4&t=c>,
President Trump offered, “A special thanks to Vice President Mike Pence on
delivering a truly magnificent tribute,” calling the ceremony “incredibly
beautiful.” In a second tweet after midnight, he wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04d-791&t=c>,
“Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the
process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing
fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also,
thank you for your nice letter – l look forward to seeing you soon!”

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04e-b9b&t=c>
(8/1, story 4, 0:25, Muir) reported that US officials “say a preliminary
review has confirmed the boxes do contain human remains, likely Americans,
they say.” Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=04f-b29&t=c>
(8/1) reported that “among the 55 containers of remains, there is just one
dog tag, and that concerns some people.” However, Fox’s Dan Springer said,
“We are told that is not that unusual considering the war ended 65 years
ago and the remains have been in North Korea this entire time.” Fox News’
Fox & Friends
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=050-c0d&t=c>
(8/1) opened with coverage of the repatriation of the remains of 55 US
soldiers killed in the Korean War from North Korea. The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=051-88f&t=c>
(8/1, Kim) reports the “initial forensic analysis suggested the remains
were likely to be of American servicemen, the US military said. But experts
say positive identification of all the remains could take years.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=052-e33&t=c>
(8/1, Maresca) reports officials said the remains “handed over by North
Korea to the United States last week were confirmed to be human and are
likely to be American soldiers.” Dr. John Byrd, laboratory director of the
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said, “The remains are what the DPRK
officials said they were. They appear to be remains from the Korean War.
They are likely to be American remains.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=053-1e4&t=c>
(8/1, Kim, Denyer) reports Byrd said North Korea “provided enough
information about where the bodies were found to allow US officials to
match them to battles fought between 1950 and 1951.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=054-401&t=c>
(7/31, Psaledakis) reports experts said the “painstaking identification
process” for the remains “could take from three days to two decades to
complete.” Paul Cole, an “expert on recovery of soldiers missing in action
and prisoners of war,” said the “remains within each box may not be those
of a single person and are likely fragments of bones.”

        On NBC’s Today Show
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=055-06b&t=c>
(8/1), Keir Simmons reported, “The repatriation of US troops is a step
towards the agreements reached at June’s historic summit between President
Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.” Simmons said that at his
rally in Florida last night, the President was “praising the deal.” Trump
was shown saying, “There’s been no nuclear testing. There’s been no
missiles or rockets flying.” Simmons reported that North Korea has not
“tested a missile since November of last year,” and Kim “vow[ed] to stop
all missile and nuclear testing.” Simmons said the State Department is
“promising to keep Kim...to his word.” State Department spokeswoman Heather
Nauert was shown saying, “What we’re going on is the commitment that
chairman Kim made to our President. That is the commitment to
denuclearize.” Simmons went on to report that Secretary of State Pompeo
“admitted” last week that North Korea “is still producing nuclear weapons
fuel,” but Simmons said “that doesn’t necessarily mean the agreements made
with President trump have been broken.”

        *WPost Editorial Calls For Pressing North Korea In Serious Nuclear
Negotiations. *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=056-57b&t=c>
(8/1) warns that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “will be a tough and wily
negotiator” who “must be pressed hard for transparency about his nuclear
and missile programs, and for verification of his promises.” The Post adds
that, “except for the relatively minor dismantlement of an engine test
stand, there is no evidence that North Korea has changed direction,” While
President Trump “recklessly declared after the summit that North Korea was
‘no longer a Nuclear Threat” and “made a concession in calling off joint
U.S.-South Korea military exercises,” he has not received a concession in
return. While there hasn’t been North Korean nuclear or missiles tests,
“silence does not mean Pyongyang is idle.” The Post calla for “a serious
negotiation at which Mr. Kim can be challenged and any concessions
verified.”
State Dept. Says Iran Pressure Strategy Working As Parliament Summons
Rouhani.

Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=057-077&t=c>
(8/1) reported that amid a “plummeted currency, slowing economy, persistent
protests,” and the US expected to restore sanctions lifted as part of the
Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s state press says the country’s parliament has
summoned President Hassan Rouhani to “answer for the economic conditions.”
State Department officials “say...the economic situation demonstrates the
strategy is working.” State and Treasury Department officials “say they
will travel to more than 20 countries, including those still part of the
Iran nuclear deal, to warn governments and businesses of the dangers of
conducting business” with the Iranians. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=058-53f&t=c>
(8/1, Vahdat) reports Iran’s parliament “announced Wednesday it would hold
a special session to question President Hassan Rouhani about the plummeting
currency and struggling economy.” Members of parliament said on their
website that Rouhani “must appear within a month in an open session to
answer questions, but no specific date was announced.”

        *US “Monitoring” As Iran To Run Drills To Shut Down Strait Of
Hormuz. *Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=059-cbc&t=c>
(8/1) reported that two US officials say Iran is expected within the next
48 hours to “launch 100 small boats to practice and demonstrate the
potential of shutting down a vital international waterway, the Strait of
Hormuz.” Officials also “say Iran typically runs these drills in the Fall.” USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05a-4cd&t=c>
(8/1, Brook) reports, “Iran recently threatened to block the Strait of
Hormuz, a key passage for oil tankers from the Persian Gulf, a move the
Pentagon said would be countered.” Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for
Central Command, said in a statement. “We are monitoring” the increase in
Iranian naval operations “closely, and will continue to work with our
partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in
international waterways.”

        *Israel Warns Of Military Response. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05b-ad6&t=c>
(8/1, Lewis) reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that
his country’s military would respond should Iran try to block the Bab
al-Mandeb strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. While “Iran has
not threatened to block Bab al-Mandeb,” it previously warned “it would
block the Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Gulf, if it were prevented
from exporting its own oil.”

        *Russia Says Iranian-Backed Militias Will Remain 50 Miles Away From
Israeli Territory. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05c-5ea&t=c>
(8/1) reports Russian envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said Wednesday
“that an agreement with Israel that includes Russian guarantees ensures
that Iran-backed fighters will remain more than 80 kilometers (50 miles)
away from Syria’s frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.”
Lavrentyev told “the Russian Interfax news agency the agreement was reached
in order not to ‘irritate’ Israel.”

        *Reuters: US Making Little Progress On Hostages Held By Iran. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05d-07c&t=c>
(8/1, Torbati, Schectman) reports in a nearly 3,300-word story on Iran’s
practice of taking US citizens as prisoners and using them as bargaining
chips. Over a year into President Trump’s tenure, Iran “still holds
prisoner at least five US citizens and permanent residents – including one
taken during Trump’s tenure.” The White House “declined to comment, and the
State Department said the United States works ‘tirelessly’ to free
Americans held in Iran.” However, Reuters adds, Trump’s Administration
“confronts a troubling reality: There is no easy way to stop Iran from
taking Americans prisoner, a tactic Tehran has employed since the Islamic
Revolution of 1979.” Since 1979, Iran has “detained at least 25 American
citizens or permanent residents, Reuters found through interviews and a
review of court documents and news reports.”
US Sanctions Top Turkish Officials Over Continued Imprisonment Of Pastor.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05e-30f&t=c>
(8/1, Thomas) reports that the White House announced that the US “will
impose sanctions on two Turkish officials over a detained American pastor
who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges.” The AP notes
that President Trump “warned last week that he might impose sanctions
against Turkey...for its treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson.” Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “has said his government won’t back down and
was willing to ‘go its own way’ if the US imposes sanctions,” according to
the AP. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=05f-adb&t=c>
(8/1) identifies those now under US sanctions as Turkey’s Justice Minister
Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

        Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=060-6ed&t=c>
(8/1, Olorunnipa) reports that “within the State Department, Brunson and
other prisoners including NASA scientist Serkan Golge and three Turkish
employees of the US mission to Turkey are referred to as ‘hostages.’”
According to Bloomberg, the Administration “says they’re innocent and being
held by Turkey for the sole purpose of extracting concessions on other
points of tension in the US-relationship.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=061-8d1&t=c>
(8/1, Jackson) reports Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said, “Pastor Brunson’s
unjust detention and continued prosecution by Turkish officials is simply
unacceptable.” White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sander “said Trump has
discussed the Brunson case with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
and is dissatisfied with Turkey’s lack of response.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=062-b8b&t=c>
(8/1, Goldman, Harris) calls the sanctions “an extraordinary use of
financial sanctions against an allied government” and “a rare public break
between Mr. Trump and Mr. Erdogan.” The Times predicts the move will
“inflame tensions that were already simmering over a litany of
disagreements.” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter
that “sanctions against our two ministers will not be left unanswered.”
According to a senior Administration official, Trump is upset partly
because he believed he and Erdogan had a deal that Brunson would be freed
if Israeli authorities released a Turkish woman accused of funding Hamas.
The woman was released, but Brunson remains on house arrest.

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=063-ef4&t=c>
(8/1, Sonmez) reports, “Turkey’s Foreign Ministry registered a ‘strong
protest’ against actions it called inexplicable, disrespectful and
illegal,” warning in a statement that they will “seriously damage” efforts
to repair US-Turkey relations. Secretary of State Pompeo, in a statement,
said that the “Turkish government refused to release Pastor Brunson after
numerous conversations between President Trump and President Erdogan, and
my conversations with Foreign Minister Cavusoglu. President Trump concluded
that these sanctions are the appropriate action.” Also covering this story
are the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=064-2f3&t=c>
(8/1, Bender, Nissenbaum) and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=065-6d7&t=c>
(8/1, Boyer).
State Dept. Says Pompeo Will Not Meet With Lavrov At ASEAN.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=066-8ef&t=c>
(8/1) reports that State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert released a
statement confirming that Secretary of State Pompeo and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov “will not meet on the sidelines of a gathering of
southeast Asian nations in Singapore this week.” According to Reuters,
“Earlier on Wednesday the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement it
was trying to set up a meeting between Lavrov and Pompeo when the 10-nation
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met.”

        *NBC’s Mitchell: Trump, Bolton Acting Without Conferring With
Pompeo, Other Top Officials. *Asked, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=067-527&t=c>
(8/1), how the State Department has reacted to President Trump’s recent
foreign policy announcements, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell said, “Mike Pompeo was
about as close to this President as anyone can be as CIA director – he was
briefing him every day” – so “people in the State Department were initially
encouraged” when Pompeo became Secretary of State. However, State
Department and Intelligence officials see “the fact that John Bolton can
tell Sarah Sanders to tweet out an invitation to Putin without telling
Pompeo, Mattis, or Dan Coats” as evidence that Trump is continuing to act
unilaterally and “making it up as he goes.”
State Dept. Offers Tajikistan Help In Probe Of ISIS-Claimed Killing Of US
Couple.

ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=068-4ee&t=c>
(8/1, story 6, 0:15, Muir) identified the two Americans killed while
cycling through Tajikistan as Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin. Two
Europeans were also killed. A video “appears to show a vehicle deliberately
ramming” into them. The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=069-0b5&t=c>
(8/1, story 5, 2:00, Glor) reported, “ISIS, whose membership has been
growing in recent years in predominantly Muslim Tajikistan, claimed
responsibility for the attack.” Police ran down the five suspects and
killed four of them, Tajik authorities said. The State Department “says the
US has offered assistance, but the investigation is being led by
Tajikistan.”
Taliban Routs ISIS In Northern Afghanistan.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06a-dd2&t=c>
(8/1, Rahim, Nordland) reports that “more than 200 Islamic State fighters
and their two top commanders surrendered to the Afghan government on
Wednesday to avoid capture by Taliban insurgents, after a two-day battle
that was a decisive victory for the Taliban.” The Times says that a
“spokesman for Afghanistan’s commando forces...said in a post on his
Facebook page that the surrenders marked the end of the Islamic State in
northern Afghanistan.” According to the Times, the Taliban and ISIS “are
bitter enemies in Afghanistan, attacking each other wherever they can.”
US Preparing To Decrease Troops, Missions In Africa.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06b-327&t=c>
(8/1, Cooper, Schmitt) reports that in “response to the Trump
administration’s strategy to increasingly focus on threats from China and
Russia,” Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, the head of United States Africa
Command, submitted a plan to reassign hundreds of American troops in Africa
and wind down Special Operations missions there. In an interview with the
New York Times, General Waldhauser said, “We’re not walking away,” and
added that the United States would “reserve the right to unilaterally
return” to protect American interests. “Africa has increasingly become an
emerging battlefield for the United States in the fight against Islamist
militant groups,” and Defense Department officials “expected most of the
troop cuts and scaled-back missions to come from Central and West Africa,”
where Special Operations are training militaries to combat extremist
Islamist militant groups.
Mnuchin, Navarro Reportedly At Odds Over Threat To Increase Tariffs On
Chinese Goods.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06c-db0&t=c>
(8/1, Swanson, Bradsher) reports the Administration has “escalated its
fight with China...saying that President Trump is considering raising
tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10
percent.” According to “senior administration officials...Trump has
directed the United States trade representative to consider increasing
tariffs on Chinese imports,” but “a final decision on the size and scope of
the tariffs is not expected before September.” The “effort to further
punish China is being led by hard-line advisers to Mr. Trump, who see the
measure as a way to force Beijing back to the negotiating table on trade.”
That approach, says the Times, “is once again creating fissures within Mr.
Trump’s own team, with his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, adamantly
opposed to ratcheting up the tariffs and Peter Navarro, a key trade
adviser, advocating for the higher levies.”

        Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06d-6f4&t=c>
(8/1, Mayeda) reports that the President asked USTR Lighthizer “to consider
hiking the duties, which could be implemented as early as next month.” On
Wednesday, Lighthizer said “the proposed higher tariff ‘is intended to
provide the administration with additional options to encourage China to
change its harmful policies and behavior and adopt policies that will lead
to fairer markets.’” According to Bloomberg, Mnuchin and Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He “are having private conversations as they look for ways to
reengage in negotiations after talks broke down last month.” In a
front-page article, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06e-6b0&t=c>
(8/1, A1, Davis, Wei) reports that some Administration officials believe
that the Chinese government is poised to back down eventually due to the
poor performance of the Chinese economy recently and pessimistic forecasts
regarding future growth. However, the Journal says the talks between
Mnuchin and Liu have yet to produce any tangible results.

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=06f-268&t=c>
(8/1) reports that Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute says
“a 25 percent tariff rate would be more effective in keeping out Chinese
goods from US markets” because “the Chinese government could more easily
offset a 10 percent tariff with subsidies or by weakening China’s yuan
currency.” Reuters points out that the yuan “has already weakened by about
7 percent against the dollar since the beginning of May, prompting” Mnuchin
to say he is “concerned that Beijing may be manipulating its currency.”

        Fox News’ Special Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=070-8d9&t=c>
(8/1) reported Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he was “ramping up the trade
dispute with China, announcing today that the next $200 billion in Chinese
goods to be targeted by tariffs could be taxed at a rate of 25 percent,
more than double the initially proposed percent.” White House Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders said of the move: “The President is going to
continue to hold China responsible for their unfair trade practices. This
has gone on for long enough and he’s going to do something about it.”
China’s response was “swift and sharp.” Fox showed Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Geng Shuang saying, “US pressure and blackmail will not work. If
the US takes further measures to escalate the situation, China will fight
back.”

        *Amid Washington-Beijing Trade Tensions, Cost Of Pig Feet
Increasing In China. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=071-105&t=c>
(8/1, Paquette) reports, “The first signs of trouble” with US and Chinese
tariffs “are just emerging in both countries, where some workers are
bracing for economic turmoil.” The Post focuses on the increasing price of
pig feet in China, where they are a “classic snack...called trotters.”

        *Neil Bush Criticizes Trump Over Trade Policies Toward China. *George
H.W. Bush China-US Relations Foundation Chairman Neil Bush, in an op-ed in
the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=072-9f5&t=c>
(8/1), compares Trump to Don Quixote, in that “they both see illusionary
wrongs, set out to make them right and then claim victory at the end of
each battle against imaginary enemies.” Evidence shows that Trump’s
accusations about China taking US manufacturing jobs is a fantasy.
Meanwhile, as he seeks to address the “illusion of a problem,” Trump “is
damaging friendships, alliances, supply chains, long developed business
contracts, market efficiencies and hard-won, well-established treaties.”
Furthermore, “there are genuine giants that need to be conquered and
dragons to tame” in China, such as “protecting intellectual property rights
and leveling the playing field for international trade.” Progress on these
issues “will happen through honest negotiation,” and “jousting with
imaginary monsters will only hurt America’s credibility and hamper real
progress toward solutions.”

        *Google Reportedly Working On Censored Search Engine For Chinese
Market. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=073-125&t=c>
(8/1, Yuan, Wakabayashi) reports, “American tech companies are trying to
tailor their products to enter the huge Chinese market, even if it means
tamping down free speech.” Google is producing a censored search engine
“will filter websites and search terms that are blacklisted by the Chinese
government, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.” Still,
the people adds that this “does not mean that Google’s return to China is
imminent,” as the company “often builds and tests different services that
never become publicly available.” Meanwhile, many companies’ “overtures
appear to fall short of winning over Beijing.” As for Google, its work a
censored search engine “caused an outcry among human rights activists” and
is “unpopular among many of Google’s own employees.” Tucker Carlson
reported on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=074-0dc&t=c>
(8/1) that Google’s work is “actively abetting the communist police state
and crushing dissent.”

        *Germany Blocks Sale Of Metals Firm To Chinese Buyer. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=075-946&t=c>
(8/1, Delfs) reports that “for the first time,” the German government has
“vetoed a possible Chinese takeover of a German company, signaling a
toughening stance toward investments from the country.” Earlier today,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet “voted to block the potential
purchase of German machine tool manufacturer Leifeld Metal Spinning AG by a
Chinese investor.” According to Bloomberg, “The decision follows a
government review examining possible negative impacts of the sale that
concluded a purchase would raise national security concerns.” Bloomberg
says Leifeld “is one of the leading producers of high-strength metals for
the car, space and nuclear industries.”

        *Senate Approves Measure Expanding Cfius Powers. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=076-89a&t=c>
(8/1, Yoon-Hendricks) reports that the Senate on Wednesday passed
legislation expanding the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in
the United States (Cfius), which “reviews foreign investments in the United
States for national security threats.” Under the measure, the Foreign
Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, which is headed to the President
for his signature, Cfius “will soon have more power to investigate, and
possibly block, foreign deals.”

        *Trumka Offers Qualified Praise For Trump’s Trade Policies. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=077-c89&t=c>
(8/1, Collins) reports that AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on Wednesday
“offered qualified” praise for President Trump’s trade policies” but
“questioned the administration’s approach to levying tariffs.” Speaking at
a Christian Science Monitor breakfast roundtable, Trumka argued that
international trade is a vital part of the economy, “but powerful corporate
interests and secret negotiations have led to trade rules that ‘stacked the
deck’ for large corporations at the expense of working people.” Said
Trumka, “It’s time to rewrite those laws,” and Trump “understands that’s
what needs to be done.” Trumka added that while tariffs “are a legitimate
tool against enforcing trade agreements,” they should be used selectively
against countries that are breaking the rules, not against Canada.” Trumka
said, “I don’t think that Canada has violated the rules.”

        *ArcelorMittal Says Trump’s Steel Tariffs Are Boosting Profits. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=078-3a8&t=c>
(8/1, Reed) report that the chairman and chief executive of the world’s
biggest steel maker, ArcelorMittal, is “the rare business leader who
applauds President Trump’s protectionist approach to trade.” For Lakshmi N.
Mittal, Trump’s tariffs on steel imports “have driven up prices, which,
along with strong global demand, have delivered his company’s best results
since 2011.” ArcelorMittal said Wednesday that “profit rose to $1.9 billion
in the second quarter, a 41 percent increase from the same period a year
earlier, on sales of $20 billion.” The Times says Mittal’s comments “and
the earnings, stand in stark contrast to fears voiced by companies and
analysts in the United States and elsewhere over Mr. Trump’s protectionist
push.”

        *Poll Shows 42% Of Those In Agriculture And Farming Back Trump
Trade Policies. *Under the headline, “Trump Is Telling Farmers To Trust Him
On Trade. It May Be Working,” JM Rieger of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=079-8e9&t=c>
(8/1, Rieger) writes, “The most remarkable part of President Trump’s trade
war may be the extent to which those most hurt by it still support it.”
Rieger writes that “according to a CBS News/YouGov poll, 42 percent of
‘people in jobs that directly depend on agriculture or farming’ approve of
how Trump is handling trade. Even more striking is that one-third of those
in agriculture ‘dislike the president’s approach’ but are ‘glad he is
trying something,’ as opposed to having left the matter alone.”

        *Mexican, Canadian Officials: US Showing More Flexibility On NAFTA
Auto Rules. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=07a-58d&t=c>
(8/1, White) reports that Mexican and Canadian officials said that the US
and Mexico “are getting close to a deal on the key issue of autos content
rules at talks to renew the NAFTA trade pact.” According to Reuters,
“Guillermo Malpica, head of the trade and NAFTA office for the Mexican
government, also said the United States had ‘started showing more
flexibility last week’ on autos content and other topics at the
negotiations.” Reuters adds that “Canadian trade negotiator Colin Bird told
an auto industry conference in Michigan on Wednesday that NAFTA negotiators
are making progress on auto content rules, and endorsed the concept of
linking those rules to improving workers’ wages.”

        *EU’s US Soybeans Imports Were Rising Prior To Deal With Trump. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=07b-f31&t=c>
(8/1) reports EU Commission figures show that “European Union imports of
U.S. soybeans were already rising substantially” – 37 percent of EU imports
in July, up from 9 percent the previous year – before Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker told President Donald Trump last week that the bloc
would buy more. “A high level EU official” said the increase was not
political, but due to US soybeans being cheaper than imports from Brazil
and Argentina.

        *Boot: Trump Posturing As A Free Trader. *Max Boot writes in
the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=07c-3f5&t=c>
(8/1) that Trump’s “opposition to free trade” is a “constant in [his]
worldview,” and that he is “not buying” claims that “Trump’s trade wars are
a brilliant strategy to achieve a free-market nirvana.” Trump, Boot writes,
“is posturing as a free-trader because he knows the EU ‘won’t!’ eliminate
‘all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies.’ It’s simply a ploy to shift the
blame for a trade war that he started.”
Domestic Policy
Trump Again Threatens Government Shutdown Over Border Wall.

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=07d-3c6&t=c>
(8/1, Moore) reports President Trump “renewed his threat to shut down the
government over his long-promised border wall,” stating in an interview
Wednesday that he sees border security as a “great campaign issue.” Trump
told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, “I happen to think it’s a great
political thing, because people want great border security. It’s not just a
wall, it’s border security, it’s getting rid of catch-and-release, where
you catch somebody – he can be a criminal of the highest order – and you
have to release him.” Trump, however, “said he’s not suggesting a shutdown
because of politics,” but because “it’s the right thing to do.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=07e-89a&t=c>
(8/1, Spiering) says Trump “promoted the idea of a government shutdown
during the interview, noting the importance of toughening the country’s
immigration laws and border security.”

        To the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=07f-083&t=c>
(8/1, Werner), Trump “indicated Wednesday that he may wait until after the
November midterm elections to shut down the government, even as he insisted
that a shutdown would be good politics.” Said Trump, “Now, the shutdown
could also take place after the election. I happen to think it’s a great
political thing, because people want border security.” He added that
Republicans in Congress would “rather do it after [the election]. They
don’t agree on doing it before, and I accept their opinion, but I happen to
think it would be a good thing to do before.”

        *WPost Analysis: Trump Base “Spoiling For A Fight” Over Border
Wall. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=080-64c&t=c>
(8/1, Nakamura) reports Trump’s “conservative supporters are spoiling for a
fight over funding for his border wall this fall even if it risks a
government shutdown, setting up a stark choice for the White House: Juice
the president’s base or placate Republicans who fear the electoral
fallout.” Trump, the Post says, is “under mounting pressure from the far
right to act aggressively on his top campaign promise, which remains
unfulfilled 18 months into his presidency despite warnings from GOP leaders
in Congress that a budget standoff would sow chaos just weeks before an
already tenuous midterm election.”

        *Miller Pushing For Further 40% Reduction In Number Of Refugees
Allowed Into US. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=081-1b2&t=c>
(8/1, Davis) reports the White House is “considering a second sharp
reduction in the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United
States, picking up where President Trump left off in 2017.” This time,
however, “the effort is meeting with less resistance from inside the Trump
administration because of the success that Stephen Miller, the president’s
senior policy adviser and an architect of his anti-immigration agenda, has
had in installing allies in key positions who are ready to sign off on deep
cuts.” According to the Times, “Under one plan currently being discussed,
no more than 25,000 refugees could be resettled in the United States next
year, a cut of more than 40 percent from this year’s limit.” The final
decision will be up to Secretary of State Pompeo, who “is now being advised
by two senior aides who are close to Mr. Miller and share his hard-line
approach.”

        *Ninth Circuit: Judge Who Blocked Order Defunding Sanctuary Cities
Went Too Far. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=082-76f&t=c>
(8/1, Thanawala) reports that in a 2-1 ruling, the 9th US Circuit Court of
Appeals found that President Trump’s executive order “threatening to
withhold funding from ‘sanctuary cities’ that limit cooperation with
immigration authorities is unconstitutional, but a judge went too far when
he blocked its enforcement nationwide.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=083-e12&t=c>
(8/1, Dolan) says the court “removed a nationwide injunction issued by the
judge, concluding that there was not enough evidence presented so far to
justify it.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=084-c04&t=c>
(8/1, Dinan) says that because the court “narrowed the ruling to only apply
to some California cities,” the Administration “could be free to apply the
conditions to communities across the country that haven’t been part of
sanctuary lawsuits.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=085-ca6&t=c>
(8/1, Morin) reports that the 9th Circuit “said that federal funding could
be withheld only with congressional authorization.” A three-member panel of
the court wrote, “We conclude that, under the principle of Separation of
Powers and in consideration of the Spending Clause, which vests exclusive
power to Congress to impose conditions on federal grants, the Executive
Branch may not refuse to disperse the federal grants in question without
congressional authorization.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=086-836&t=c>
(8/1, Birnbaum) and the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=087-535&t=c>
(8/1, Yilek) also report on the ruling.

        *Democratic Congressional Hopeful Garcia Calls To Replace “Racist”
ICE. *The Chicago Sun-Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=088-f9f&t=c>
(8/1, Ballesteros) reports Democratic congressional nominee Jesús “Chuy”
García said Wednesday that ICE is a “racist” and “repressive” agency that
needs replacing. Asked at a community meeting if he supported abolishing
ICE, García “shied away from calling for a complete abolition of the
agency,” saying that fellow Democrats “need to go beyond just a slogan.”
However, García “said he would work with fellow Democrats to drastically
reshape how the United States carries out immigration enforcement.”

        *Group Says Toddler Died After Release From ICE Detention.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=089-90c&t=c>
(8/1, Sacchetti) reports that according to the American Immigration Lawyers
Association, “a migrant toddler died shortly after being released from an
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Dilley, Tex.” In
a statement Wednesday, Gregory Z. Chen, the group’s director of government
relations, said, “AILA has learned that a toddler died soon after release
from the Dilley South Texas Family Residential Center. ... We do not have
information on the cause of death or information that confirms a connection
between medical treatment at STFRC and this death.” ICE said “that it could
not investigate the situation without the child’s name or other
information,” but “made clear that no child died while in its care.” The
agency said in a tweet, “Reports that a child died in ICE custody at Dilley
are false.”

        *White House Says Trump Meant ID Needed To Buy Beer, Wine At
Grocery Store. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=08a-cf5&t=c>
(8/1, Correll) reports that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
“offer[ed] cover Wednesday to President Trump,” who had claimed at a rally
Tuesday that an ID was needed to buy groceries. During Wednesday’s press
briefing, ABC’s Cecilia Vega said, “You go to the grocery store, I go to
the grocery store, I’ve never had to show ID,” to which Sanders replied,
“Certainly if you go to a grocery store and you buy beer and wine you’re
certainly going to show your ID.” When Vega “pointed out that Trump claims
he does not drink alcohol,” Sanders said, “He’s not saying every time he
went in, he said when you go to the grocery store. ... I’m pretty sure that
everybody in here who’s been to a grocery store that’s purchased beer or
wine has probably had to show their ID. ... If they didn’t then that’s
probably a problem with the grocery store.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=08b-34c&t=c>
(8/1, Wagner) reports that Trump’s claim that an ID is needed to buy
groceries “prompted a cascade of criticism from the media and his
adversaries, including the lawyer for adult-film star Stormy Daniels.”
Michael Avenatti, who is said to be considering a presidential bid, tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=08c-298&t=c>,
“People ask me why I think I can prevail against Mr. Trump,” Avenatti
wrote. “I tell them it’s because (1) I’ve bought groceries before and (2) I
know you don’t need an ID to buy groceries.” John Dean, the former White
House counsel under President Richard Nixon, tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=08d-253&t=c>,
“George H.W. Bush lost an election for not having any idea how a electronic
scanner in a market worked. Trump thinks you need photo ID to buy
groceries. May his ignorance come back to defeat him, not to mention his
ignorance is 10,000 times Bush’s!” CNN’s Jim Acosta tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=08e-2c5&t=c>,
“Trump out of touch here . . . you don’t need an ID to buy groceries.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=08f-e4a&t=c>
(8/1, Rogers) says that “with this particular offhand and baldly inaccurate
comment, the president landed himself in the company of other presidents
and presidential hopefuls who have fumbled while trying to showcase their
everyman appeal. The obvious question immediately surfaced: Has Mr. Trump
ever been in the checkout line at a grocery store?”
New Rule Allows Short-Term Health Plans Costing Less Than ACA Alternatives.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=090-60b&t=c>
(8/1, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports the Administration has “cleared the way for
insurers to sell short-term health plans as a bargain alternative to pricey
Obama-law policies for people struggling with high premiums.” However, the
AP says “the new policies don’t have to cover existing medical conditions
and they offer limited benefits.” HHS Secretary Azar said today, “For many
who’ve got pre-existing conditions or who have other health worries, the
Obamacare plans might be right for them. We’re just providing more
options.” According to the AP, “critics say the plans are ‘junk insurance’
that could lead to unwelcome surprises if a policyholder gets sick, and
will entice healthy people away from the law’s markets, raising premiums
for those left.” The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that up to
1.6 million people may enroll in a short-term plan “when the plans are
fully phased in.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=091-264&t=c>
(8/1, Pear) reports the new plans “do not have to cover prescription drugs,
maternity care or people with pre-existing conditions.” President Trump has
said they will offer “much less expensive health care at a much lower
price,” but, adds the Times, “the benefits will be fewer, and insurers do
not have to cover pre-existing conditions or the people who have them.” The
chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated
the average short-term plan will cost “about half” of the policies sold on
ACA exchanges. The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=092-1fc&t=c>
(8/1, Levey) describes the rule as “another step...to loosen regulation of
health insurance,” and says it “threatens to further weaken a pillar of the
Affordable Care Act” by providing “skimpier short-term plans.” Azar said,
“These plans aren’t for everyone, but they can provide a much more
affordable option for millions of the forgotten men and women left out by
the current system.” The Times also reports that “more than 98% — or 335 of
340 — of the healthcare groups that commented on the proposal criticized
it,” and the Administration’s proposal for association health plans “was
similarly panned.”

        *Politico: Trump “Can’t Kill Obamacare.” *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=093-4e4&t=c>
(8/1) in an analysis, says that President Trump “can’t kill Obamacare, no
matter how hard he tries” and characterizes the short-term plans as the
“latest threat to the law.” Politico adds that “more insurers are signing
up to sell 2019 coverage, and premium increases will be the lowest in
years.” Politico also reports that the popularity of the ACA “has
skyrocketed” after attempts to repeal it failed.

        *Democratic Candidates Focusing On ACA’s Protections For
Pre-Existing Conditions. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=094-685&t=c>
(8/1, Sanger-Katz) reports that many Democratic congressional candidates
are focusing attention on healthcare, generally by raising the issue of
pre-existing conditions. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) asks at every event
for people to stand if they have a pre-existing health condition. Sen. Joe
Donnelly (D-IN) asks how many know someone who has a pre-existing
condition. They, and other “Democrats have detected a newfound concern that
the consumer protections” of the Affordable Care Act “might go away.” The
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also “running its own
advertisements on health care.” It has, according to a study by the
Wesleyan Media Project become “the most common subject of Democratic
campaign ads.”
Justice IG Says Obama Clemency Initiative Was Poorly Planned, Executed.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=095-1e9&t=c>
(8/1, Fritze, Korte) reports on a review by Justice Department Inspector
General Michael E. Horowitz of President Obama’s clemency initiative,
finding that it was “hamstrung by a lack of planning and may not have
reviewed all petitions consistently.” The initiative, adds USA Today,
“began in 2014,” and “was targeted at non-violent dealers who received
mandatory-minimum sentences.” As part of that initiative, “Obama commuted
sentences of 1,696 inmates...and denied another 12,000 petitions.” The IG
report states, “We found that the Department did not effectively plan,
implement, or manage the initiative at the outset.” USA Today adds that
President Trump “has so far taken a different approach” and is “bypassing
the traditional Justice Department process.”
Grassley Hopes Kavanaugh Will Be Confirmed “Soon After” October 1st.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=096-9ff&t=c>
(8/1, Sonmez) reports that in an interview with conservative radio host
Hugh Hewitt Wednesday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley said that
his committee does not intend to hold confirmation hearings for Supreme
Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until September, “raising the possibility”
Kavanaugh “will not be confirmed in time for the start of the court term on
Oct. 1.” However, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=097-da5&t=c>
(8/1, Collins) reports that Grassley said that by using precedent set by
previous nominees, “it would take 65 to 80-some days from the president’s
nomination to confirmation.” Kavanaugh was nominated July 9. According to
Grassley, “based on those numbers, it would be possible to confirm
Kavanaugh before Oct. 1, when the Supreme Court starts its new fall
session.”

        The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=098-036&t=c>
(8/1, Daley) quotes Grassley as saying, “If we could get this all done by
October 1st when the Supreme Court starts its new fall session, [that]
would be ideal. ... But I think we can get it done soon after that if we
don’t get it done by October 1st.” CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=099-f00&t=c>
(8/1, Ruger) reports that Grassley “not[ed] the Senate still doesn’t have
key documents from Kavanaugh’s past.” Said Grassley, “And if these
documents coming from the archives and from George W. Bush’s presidential
library and other things get up here soon, then the sooner the better we
can have a hearing.”
Senate Approves Defense Policy Bill For Trump’s Signature.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=09a-b4c&t=c>
(8/1, Daly) reports the Senate voted 87-10 to approve “a $716 billion
defense policy bill that would raise military pay by 2.6 percent, the
largest pay hike in nine years.” With the Senate vote, the measure goes to
President Trump, who is expected to sign the bill. The AP adds the bill
“weakens a bid to clamp down on the Chinese telecom giant ZTE and allows
the president to waive sanctions against countries that have bought Russian
weapons,” and “does not fund Trump’s request for a new ‘Space Force,’” but
does include funds for “a military parade...in Washington in November.”
Defense Secretary Mattis defended the weapons waiver, saying that it “would
not benefit Russia,” but instead “would benefit the US and countries
wishing to pursue a security relationship with the US, including Vietnam
and Indonesia.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=09b-a09&t=c>
(8/1, Zengerle) reports the bill backed the President’s “call for a bigger,
stronger military and sidestepp[ed] a potential battle with the White House
over technology from major Chinese firms.” Reuters adds that the bill’s
“controls on US government contracts with China’s ZTE Corp and Huawei
Technologies Co Ltd...are weaker than in earlier versions of the bill.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=09c-149&t=c>
(8/1, Demirjian) reports the bill was approved “barely a week after the
House passed the same measure,” while “in recent years, it has taken
several months to iron out differences.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=09d-9bc&t=c>
(8/1, Tritten) reports in addition to being “the second installment of a
two-year budget deal aimed at rebuilding the military,” the bill “includes
provisions suspending sales of F-35 joint strike fighters to Turkey and
countering Russian influence.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=09e-132&t=c>
(8/1, O'Brien) calls the bill a “compromise...aimed at building up the
military and blunting Chinese foreign investment and telecommunications
technology.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=09f-127&t=c>
(8/1, O'Keeffe, Hughes) reports that some supporters of the bill emphasized
provisions directed at China, though critics, including Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-FL) said the bill’s provisions were too weak and voted against the bill.

        *Senate Sends Combined Appropriations Bill To House. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a0-819&t=c>
(8/1, Daly) reports the Senate voted 92-6 to approve a $154.2 billion
“catch-all spending bill” that “combines four spending bills into one,”
leaving the Senate “more than halfway” finished with the 12 budget bills
required by October 1. The bill goes to the House, which approved a
“similar but not identical measure.” Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard
Shelby said the bill showed that the Senate is moving toward “regular
order” in appropriations bills. Senate Majority Leader McConnell said that
the seven appropriations bills approved by the Senate so far is “the most
passed by that date in nearly 20 years.” The bill combines the
appropriations bills for the Interior Department and Environmental
Protection Agency; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development;
Agriculture; and the Treasury, judiciary and “other agencies.”

        CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a1-d4e&t=c>
(8/1, Sword) characterizes the vote as “a continuing bipartisan effort”
with six Republican senators opposing the bill: Ted Cruz (TX), Ron Johnson
(WI), Mike Lee (UT), Rand Paul (KY), Ben Sasse (NE) and Patrick J. Toomey
(PA). With passage of the bill, the Senate has approved seven of 12
appropriations bills and the House has approved six. Roll Call adds that
the bill increased spending for Transportation and HUD by $10 billion,
whereas the Administration had proposed a $20 billion reduction. The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a2-cda&t=c>
(8/1, Sherfinski) reports the Congress is working “to defuse President
Trump’s shutdown threat,” by passing “as many spending bills as possible
before next month’s deadline.” While they “still need to be reconciled in a
conference committee...lawmakers are pushing to have as many as nine bills
completed before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.” Senate
Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby “said a shutdown isn’t in
anyone’s interest and the president’s threats could be motivating some
senators to get their work done faster.”

        The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a3-bfe&t=c>
(8/1, Carney, Elis) reports the senators who opposed the measure did so
“mostly in protest of the overall spending level.” The Hill adds that the
bill “largely rejects President Trump’s budget proposal, which sought
massive cuts in discretionary spending.” The Senate also did not include
“conservative policy riders deemed ‘poison pills’ by Democrats.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a4-f84&t=c>
(8/1, Yoder) reports the bill includes a raise for federal employees
“averaging 1.9 percent in January 2019” rather than “the White House’s call
for a freeze.” The House bill “made no mention of a federal raise.”
Trump Discusses Prison Reform In Roundtable With Inner-City Pastors.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a5-89c&t=c>
(8/1) reports President Trump discussed efforts to reform the prison system
during White House roundtable Wednesday with inner-city pastors, one of
whom “said he may go down as the ‘most pro-black president’ in recent
history.” Trump told the group that his Administration “has been making
progress on efforts to make it easier for prisoners to re-enter society and
find work.” Said Trump, “When we say hire American, we mean all Americans.” NBC
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a6-662&t=c>
(8/1) reports that Pastor Darrell Scott, a surrogate for Trump in the 2016
campaign, said, “This is probably the most pro-active administration
regarding urban America and the faith-based community in my lifetime. ...
This president actually wants to prove something to our community, our
faith-based community and our ethnic community. The last president didn’t
feel like he had to. He got a pass. ... This is probably going to be... the
most pro-black president I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
TSA Considering Proposal To Eliminate Security Checkpoints At Smaller
Airports.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a7-c32&t=c>
(8/1, Halsey) reports on a proposal to eliminate security checkpoints at
“more than 150 smaller US airports” being considered by Transportation
Security Administration. Under the plan, screening would happen upon
arrival at larger airports. Former Department of Transportation inspector
general Mary Schiavo said, “This is completely nuts.” The Post adds that
two of the September 11, 2001 hijackers “began their travels in Portland,
Maine, in an effort to escape notice.”
Obama Endorses 81 Democratic Candidates In Fall Elections.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a8-8cd&t=c>
(8/1, Fritze) reports that former President Obama on Wednesday endorsed 81
Democratic candidates for this fall’s mid-term elections, including
candidates for Congress, governor, and other state offices. Said Obama,
“I’m eager to make the case for why Democratic candidates deserve our votes
this fall.” USA says that Obama “did not mention Trump by name.” USA Today
includes the list of candidates.

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0a9-4c0&t=c>
(8/1, Burns) reports that the list includes “more than a dozen veterans of
his administration,” and several gubernatorial candidates, including former
CFPB director Richard Cordray in Ohio, J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, and
former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. Obama is also “backing
legislative candidates” and “Democrats running for relatively low-profile
offices, including secretary of agriculture in Iowa, state auditor in Ohio
and lieutenant governor in California and Illinois.” Obama made his
endorsements in a list posted on Twitter. Obama said they are “as diverse,
patriotic and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent.” He
also said they would “strengthen this country we love by restoring
opportunity, repairing our alliances and standing in the world, and
upholding our fundamental commitment to justice, fairness, responsibility,
and the rule of law.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0aa-184&t=c>
(8/1, Sonmez) reports that “the list is drawing attention for its omissions
as much as for who made the cut. No incumbents are included among Obama’s
endorsed candidates; neither are Democrats running in several high-profile
races across the country. Only one Senate candidate, Rep. Jacky Rosen (D)
in Nevada, appears on the list. Noticeably absent is Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old rising star and self-described democratic
socialist who bested longtime Rep. Joseph Crowley in June’s Democratic
primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District.” TIME
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0ab-7cf&t=c>
(8/1, Abramson) reported that Obama’s “choice of endorsements, even if
arguably representative of the diversity among Democratic candidates, is
still relatively conservative in regards to the future of the party as a
whole. Obama did not endorse anyone facing contested primaries, and all of
candidates he endorsed are in states that have already held their
primaries, with the exception of New York, which is holding its statewide
primaries in September.”

        Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0ac-c50&t=c>
(8/1, Caplan) reported that Obama “snubbed women who are military veterans
running in the 2018 midterm elections.” Breitbart quoted Josh Kraushaar of
National Journal as tweeting of Obama’s endorsements, “Surprised Obama
didn’t endorse a single one of the female military vets running for
Congress.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0ad-54e&t=c>
(8/1, Bowden) reported that with his endorsement, Obama kept “his distance
from several high-profile battles.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0ae-9f1&t=c>
(8/1, Boyer) reports former Bush White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
“commented about Mr. Obama’s list, ‘He also endorsed Hillary.’ The
Republican National Committee pointed out that Democrats suffered huge
losses under Mr. Obama at all levels of government. ‘No one’s more to blame
for how weak today’s Democratic Party is than President Obama,’ said RNC
spokesman Michael Ahrens. ‘He cost them over 1,000 legislative seats,
decimated their state parties and voters rejected his policies at the
ballot box less than two years ago.’”

        The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0af-154&t=c>
(8/1, Moore) reports that among those endorsed is “Antonio Delgado, a
rapper whose racially charged lyrics from more than a decade ago have come
under fire.” Delgado is running against Rep. John Faso (R-NY). In a 2006
CD, “Painfully Free,” Delgado “spews the N-word, compares ‘dead’ presidents
to ‘white supremacists’ and blasts the country’s two-party political
system.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b0-623&t=c>
(8/1) reports, “Obama’s moves follow former first lady Michelle Obama’s
commitment to help lead When We All Vote, a non-partisan, not-for-profit
group working to help register new voters.”

        *OH12: Poll Shows Aug. 7 Special Election Is In “Dead Heat.” *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b1-742&t=c>
(8/1, Schneider) reported that a Monmouth University poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b2-926&t=c>
shows the Aug. 7 special election to succeed ex-OH12 Rep. Pat Tiberi (R) –
in which state Sen. Troy Balderson (R) is battling Franklin County Recorder
Danny O’Connor (D) – is “in a dead-heat, just days out from Tuesday’s
vote.” The poll shows Balderson leading O’Connor 44%-43% “among all
potential voters, which includes voters who have participated in an
election since 2010 or have newly registered to vote in the district.”
Politico added, “Under several different turnout models, the race is still
close. A standard midterm model” showed Balderson leading 46%-45%, while “a
model accounting for a surge in Democratic participation,” shows O’Connor
leading 46%-45%. However, “in a low turnout environment, Balderson leads”
49%-44%. The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b3-190&t=c>
(8/1, Weigel) reports, “O’Connor’s own polling, which the campaign has
released to the media each week, has found a similar trend, with the
Democrat gaining ground on Balderson but the Republican holding onto a
lead.” On its website, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b4-1ca&t=c>
(8/1, Kamisar) reported, “The poll exemplifies the concerns for
Republicans, who fear that an embarrassing loss in a district long-held by
the GOP could deal a blow to the party going into the November midterms.”

        *Media Analyses: OH12 Contest “A Referendum” On Trump. *The Cincinnati
Enquirer
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b5-3b5&t=c>
(8/1, Balmert) reports that the special election “shouldn’t be
competitive,” but now “is considered a toss-up,” due in large part “to one
man: President Trump.” The Enquirer says that O’Connor is courting
“frustrated Republican suburbanites concerned about Trump’s tone and
enthusiastic progressive activists frightened by Trump’s policies.”
Meanwhile, “Trump himself is campaigning for Balderson at the Delaware
County Fair on Saturday.” The Columbus (OH) Dispatch
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b6-9fc&t=c>
(8/1, Torry) reports that with his planned Saturday visit, Trump “is doing
more than just trying to help a Republican win the seat. He’s also made it
a referendum on his own performance as president.” Trump, says the
Dispatch, “is gambling he can rescue the Republicans from what would be a
staggering political defeat in a congressional district held by Gov. John
Kasich and...Tiberi since 1983 while simultaneously cementing his brand of
populism over the Kasich wing of the Republican Party wary of his stands on
tariffs and immigration.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b7-462&t=c>
(8/2, Schneider) reports, “The home stretch of Tuesday’s special House
election” in the OH12 “has turned into not just a barometer of the national
political environment heading into the midterms, but a referendum on the
parties’ two top leaders: Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi.” Trump’s “decision
this week to inject himself into a district – split between rural voters
who support him and well-educated suburbanites who are trending away from
him – effectively puts him on the ballot alongside” the Republican
candidate. At the same time, the GOP is “going all out to” link “O’Connor
to Pelosi, their favorite liberal bogeywoman.”

        McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b8-7b2&t=c>
(8/2, Glueck, Roarty) reports that the contest is taking place “in a once
deep-red suburban House seat that...Trump won just two years ago by 11
points. Now, however, both parties view the” contest “as a toss-up – and
that’s a warning sign for GOP candidates already bracing for a difficult
election environment, especially in suburban districts that will help
determine control of the House this fall.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0b9-9c8&t=c>
(8/1, McLaughlin) reports that while Trump and Kasich have often been at
odds, “the two are working toward the shared goal of” trying to boost
Balderson to victory. The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0ba-ddb&t=c>
(8/2, Epstein) headlines its report, “With GOP District In Jeopardy, Trump
To Stump In Ohio Special Election.”
Cancer Research
Lung Cancers Among Women Expected To Rise, Breast Cancers To Decline.

HealthDay
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0bb-d03&t=c>
(8/1, Preidt) reports that “as women around the world wage war against
cancer, good news on the breast cancer front is tempered by predictions
that lung cancer deaths could rise more than 40 percent.” HealthDay adds,
“Researchers in Spain reported that between 2015 and 2030, lung cancer
deaths among women worldwide will likely increase 43 percent.” But, “during
that same period...breast cancer deaths are projected to fall 9 percent.”
The findings
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0bc-159&t=c>
were published in Cancer Research.
AI Tool May Cut Time Needed To Develop Radiation Therapy Plan.

Forbes
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0bd-e2c&t=c>
(8/1, Forster) reports on a study
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0be-3eb&t=c>
published in Medical Physics finding that “a new artificial intelligence
(AI) tool developed by a team at the University of Toronto may be able to
significantly reduce the time needed to develop radiation therapy treatment
plans for people with cancer.” The tool “used AI to mine historical
radiation therapy data and designed algorithms to develop recommended
treatment strategies.” Author Aaron Babier of the University of Toronto
said, “It’s essentially a pretty simple plugin to help with what is
currently there in a clinical setting, but with more intelligent parameters
than currently available.”
Editorials/Op-Eds
New York Times.

*“Mars Close Up.”* The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0bf-5e2&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes on the subject of Mars, saying that it is “closer to
the Earth than it’s been in 15 years,” and adding that thought about the
possibility of life on Mars has gone from “yes” to “no” to “maybe” and the
question is “enough to sustain Mars as the most explored planet after
Earth.” The Times also says, “we’ll eventually get there through the same
extraordinary curiosity and ingenuity that has fired exploration from the
dawn of time.” The Times urges its readers to “ponder” these matters and
“gaze at the red spot now a mere 35.8 million miles away.”

        *“Russia Attacks America’s Election System. Trump Shrugs.” *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0c0-7d9&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes that “attempts to disrupt America’s government and
electoral system are widespread and multifaceted,” and “it’s no mystery why
Russia and other bad actors would assume they could get away with such
incursions. Despite repeated warnings from United States intelligence
agencies regarding the nation’s vulnerabilities, there remains no focused,
coordinated plan by the White House for dealing with this crucial security
issue.” Further, while the White House “made a big to-do last weekabout the
president convening the first-ever meeting of his National Security Council
specifically dedicated to election security” that meeting “clocked in at
well under an hour and, according to officials, was not a strategy session
but rather a basic review of measures already adopted by various agencies
absent direction from the White House.” The Times adds, “No coordinated
plan was discussed, nor were any new steps for countering or deterring
future attacks.”
Washington Post.

*“Trump’s Cynical Attacks On The Rule Of Law Hurt The Nation.”* The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0c1-bcd&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes that it is “easy to become inured to President Trump’s
persistent, exhausting campaign to delegitimize the people and institutions
unwilling to accommodate his personal desires. A skilled propagandist, Mr.
Trump constantly repeats and escalates his accusations, threats and
outlandish claims.” But “his latest escalation...should not be shrugged
off.” The Post argues that “by all appearances, Mr. Mueller is conducting
the sober, effective investigation that the government asked him to
conduct. He does not leak. He does not grandstand. He does his job. Let him
get on with it.”

        *“Don’t Make Makiyah Wilson Another Black Person Whose Killers
Never Face Justice.” *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0c2-b31&t=c>
(8/1) editorializes on the case of Makiyah Wilson, age 10, who “was shot
and killed in front of her home in Northeast Washington.” The Post says the
failure of the police to make progress in the case “is sadly all too
typical of what happens — or more accurately, doesn’t happen — when the
victim of a homicide is black.” The Post adds that its reporters have
“found that black victims, who accounted for the majority of homicides,
were the least likely of any racial group to have their killings result in
an arrest.” The Post concludes, “Police need to solve this homicide” and
urges people with knowledge of the matter to call.

        *“Warning Signs From North Korea Make Negotiation Even More
Urgent.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018080201biden&r=email-bf9d&l=0c3-548&t=c>
(8/1) warns that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “will be a tough and wily
negotiator” who “must be pressed hard for transparency about his nuclear
and missile programs, and for verification of his promises.” The Post adds
that, “except for the relatively minor dismantlement of an engine test
stand, there is no evidence that North Korea has changed direction,” While
President Trump “recklessly declared after the summit that North Korea was
‘no longer a Nuclear Threat” and “made a concession in calling off joint
U.S.-South Korea military exercises,” he has not received a concession in
return. While there hasn’t been North Korean nuclear or missiles tests,
“silence does not mean Pyongyang is idle.” The Post calla for “a serious
negotiation at which Mr. Kim can be challenged and any concessions
verified.”

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