Subject: FW: Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Thursday, January 17, 2019
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, 17 Jan 2019 09:58:31 -0500

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing

*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email-masked]>
*Sent:* Thursday, January 17, 2019 7:59 AM
*To:* [email-masked]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, January 17, 2019

*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=000-d61&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=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=001-fbc&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, January 17, 2019 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• Poll: Trump’s Approval Rating Dips; Biden’s Favorable Rating Tops Among
2020 Democrats. <#S1>

• CNN’s Bolduan Describes Biden As “The Quintessential Centrist.” <#S2>

• National Review’s Geraghty Highlights “Twenty Things You Probably Didn’t
Know About” Biden. <#S3>

• Loudell Highlights Article On Biden’s 2020 Deliberations. <#S4>

• 2020 Democrats Face Decision On Whether To Battle Trump Or Pay Him No
Heed. <#S5>

• Some Democrats Worry Liberals Will Choose A 2020 Nominee Who Lacks Appeal
In Swing States. <#S6>

• Sanders Meets With Ex-Staff Members About Alleged Harassment On 2016
Campaign. <#S7>

• Media Analyses: Gillibrand Emphasizing Her Gender Early In 2020
Democratic Race. <#S8>

• After Visiting New Hampshire Last Weekend, Warren Returning This Friday.
<#S9>

• O’Rourke Questions Whether “230-Plus Years” Old Constitution Still
Relevant. <#S10>

• Stumping In New Hampshire, Castro Issues Call For “Tuition-Free” Public
Colleges, Apprenticeships. <#S11>

• 2020 Presidential Race Appears Likely To Shatter Record For Democrats’
Largest Field. <#S12>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Republicans Weigh Alternative Venues After Pelosi Asks Trump To Skip
State Of Union Address. <#S13>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Media Analyses: Syria Attack Undermines Trump’s Claim That ISIS Is
Defeated. <#S14>

• Talks Fail To Bridge US-Russia Differences Over Missile Treaty. <#S15>

• At Least 21 Dead In Al-Shabaab Attack In Kenya. <#S16>

• May Follows Confidence Vote Victory With Attempt To Find Path To Brexit.
<#S17>

• Sources: Trump Could Announce Second North Korea Summit This Week. <#S18>

• Rouhani: Iran To Attempt Another Satellite Launch In A Few Months. <#S19>

• Report: Trump Peace Plan Sees Palestinian State In Most Of West Bank,
Capital In East Jerusalem. <#S20>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Pence, Kushner Tell GOP Senators Trump Won’t End Shutdown Without Wall
Funding. <#S21>

• NYTimes Analysis: White House Redefining Who Is Essential As Shutdown
Continues. <#S22>

• Giuliani: “I Never Said There Was No Collusion Between The Campaign” And
Russia. <#S23>

• GSA IG Expresses Constitutional Concerns Over Trump Hotel Lease. <#S24>

• Leaked Ohr Transcript: After Comey Firing, FBI Sought Out Steele. <#S25>

• Judge Orders Susan Rice, Other Obama Officials To Answer Questions In
Clinton Email Case. <#S26>

• Wheeler Defends His Tenure At EPA, Says Climate Change Not “Greatest
Crisis” Facing US. <#S27>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Opinion: More Diversity In Clinical Trials Needed. <#S28>

• Study Suggests LGBTQ Knowledge Gap Among Oncologists. <#S29>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S30>

• Washington Post. <#S31>
Biden in the News
Poll: Trump’s Approval Rating Dips; Biden’s Favorable Rating Tops Among
2020 Democrats.

In an online article, NPR
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=002-1f5&t=c>
(1/17, Montanaro) reports that an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll of 1,023 US
adults, taken Jan. 10-13, pegs President Trump’s approval rating at 39%,
with 53% disapproving – “a 7-point net change from December when his”
approval rating stood at 42%, with 49% disapproving. NPR says that Trump is
facing “some significant headwinds for re-election in 2020. Just 30 percent
of registered voters said they will definitely vote for Trump in 2020,
while 57 percent said they will definitely vote against him.” NPR adds, “As
for who Trump would face, former Vice President Joe Biden stands apart from
the Democratic field, in terms of how Democratic voters feel about him.” He
“is the best-known potential Democratic candidate, and is very well liked –
76 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have a
favorable impression of him. Just 12 percent have a negative view.”

        *2020 Poll: Sanders, Biden Viewed Most Favorably By Millennials. *The
Lowell (MA) Sun
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=003-33f&t=c>
(1/16) reports that in a UMass Lowell/YouGov national poll of 1,000
Americans ages 18-37 (millennials), taken Nov. 30-Dec. 10, 62% “said they
disapprove of Trump’s job performance,” while 37% said they approve of his
job performance. The Sun says, “Of those polled, 54 percent identify
themselves as Democrats, 32 percent as Republicans, 12 percent as
independents and 2 percent were unsure.” Among the field of potential 2020
Democratic candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Biden “are the most
well-liked by millennials, with 54 percent who have a favorable impression
of Sanders and 51 percent who have a favorable view of Biden. Forty percent
said they have a favorable view of [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren and 36 percent
of [ex-Rep. Beto] O’Rourke.”
CNN’s Bolduan Describes Biden As “The Quintessential Centrist.”

The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=004-0a3&t=c>
(1/16, Rutz) reported that CNN anchor Kate Bolduan described former Vice
President Joe Biden “as the ‘quintessential centrist’ in the 2020
Democratic primary on Wednesday, should he decide to run.” Discussing Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) entry into the race, “Bolduan wondered what
‘lane’ she might occupy.” Bolduan said that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
“is to the far left. If Joe Biden gets in, he’s kind of the quintessential
centrist, if you will. Where does Kirsten Gillibrand fit into this?” The
report added, “It is unclear what positions Biden has held in his lengthy
career that would lend to him being defined as a ‘centrist,’ except perhaps
compared to the far-left tilt of the new batch of potential Democratic
Party challengers for the nomination.”
National Review’s Geraghty Highlights “Twenty Things You Probably Didn’t
Know About” Biden.

In a negative piece headed “Twenty Things You Probably Didn’t Know About
Joe Biden,” Jim Geraghty – writing for National Review
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=005-63a&t=c>
(1/17) – lists a number of items about former Vice President Joe Biden. For
instance, Geraghty writes that Biden “received five student draft
deferments during the Vietnam War – which just happens to be the same
number of deferments received by former Vice President Dick Cheney. Biden
later was disqualified from service because of the asthma that he suffered
as a teenager,” though the condition “was not severe enough to stop” him
“from playing on his high-school football team or playing halfback for the
University of Delaware Blue Hens.” Other items touched on by Geraghty – as
they relate to Biden – include: “forced busing,” “abortion,” “the 1984
Crime Control Act,” and “the Gulf War.”
Loudell Highlights Article On Biden’s 2020 Deliberations.

In his blog on the website of WDEL-AM
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=006-c1b&t=c>
Wilmington, DE (1/16), Allan Loudell highlighted an article
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=007-312&t=c>
(1/16) by David Catanese of US World & News Report – covered in yesterday’s
briefing – that focused on former Vice President Joe Biden’s deliberations
on a 2020 run for president. Loudell wrote, “The latest Joe Biden intrigue:
The former Vice President has largely disappeared from the public view.
Interpretation: The former Veep is in the final stages of deliberations
about you-know-what.”
2020 Democrats Face Decision On Whether To Battle Trump Or Pay Him No Heed.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=008-7e7&t=c>
(1/16, Beaumont, Schor) reports that the field of 2020 Democratic
contenders “must decide how – and whether – to respond to [President]
Trump’s pugnacious and insensitive attacks on his political opponents. If
they punch back too hard, they could be accused of playing Trump’s game. If
they ignore him entirely, they risk appearing unprepared to take on a
president who knows few boundaries.” The AP says that some, like Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), “indicate that, whenever possible, they plan to
ignore Trump’s personal needling and focus on issues.” Others, though,
“haven’t hesitated to tangle with Trump.” For instance, former Vice
President Joe Biden “said last March that he would have ‘beat the hell out
of’ Trump if they were in high school together, citing Trump’s now-infamous
2005 comments about assaulting women with impunity.”

        In an online article, Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=009-a98&t=c>
(1/15, Steinhauser) reported that early in her campaign, Warren “so far has
curiously avoided” mentioning Trump by name – “a tactic that’s apparently
part of a broader party strategy, albeit one that could leave candidates
like” her “limited in their ability to strike back at an incumbent who
shows no qualms about personally attacking every political foe.”
Some Democrats Worry Liberals Will Choose A 2020 Nominee Who Lacks Appeal
In Swing States.

McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=00a-3cf&t=c>
(1/17, Glueck, Roarty) reports that liberals “are emboldened as the 2020
presidential primary season begins, but other Democratic leaders are
already questioning whether a nominee chosen by” progressives “can both
excite the base and hold onto red-district voters who just helped deliver
them the House of Representatives. It’s a critical issue in general
election battleground states that Donald Trump won last time, from Florida
to Pennsylvania.” McClatchy says that “to win back swing states,” Democrats
“can’t afford to lose many of the centrist voters who supported Democratic
candidates across the country last fall – the type of voters who are
troubled by [President] Trump but are also leery of a progressive agenda
that they perceive as too extreme.”
Sanders Meets With Ex-Staff Members About Alleged Harassment On 2016
Campaign.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=00b-5cf&t=c>
(1/16, Ember, Benner) reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday
had a meeting “with former staff members who conveyed their dismay over the
mistreatment of women during his 2016 campaign, in an effort to calm the
unrest over sexism that is overshadowing his possible 2020 bid.” The
sit-down, which took place in Washington, DC, was held “in response to a
recent letter sent by more than two dozen people who worked on Mr.
Sanders’s 2016 campaign, asking to meet with” him “and his leadership team
to discuss issues of harassment.” Sanders didn’t speak with the media
“afterward, and some attendees said they preferred to keep the discussions
private.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=00c-521&t=c>
(1/16, Otterbein, Thompson) reported, “The former aides sought a meeting
with Sanders to ‘discuss the issue of sexual violence and harassment on the
2016 campaign, for the purpose of planning to mitigate the issue in the
upcoming presidential cycle,’ according to a copy of [the] letter.” Those
who sought the meeting “said that Wednesday was only the first step in a
process to create practical ways for improving the campaign’s culture. They
said they planned to conduct more fact-finding with other people from the
2016 campaign, and hoped not only to create a blueprint for Sanders but
also to produce something that can be shared publicly for all campaigns.”

        In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=00d-042&t=c>
(1/16, Krieg, Nobles) reported, “A former staffer for the Sanders campaign,
who asked her name not be revealed,” said that “Sanders was present for
‘about an hour’ and described him as ‘conciliatory.’ She said he opened his
remarks with an ‘honest apology.’ ‘It was clear that he came to listen and
to have us be heard,’ the former staffer said.”
Media Analyses: Gillibrand Emphasizing Her Gender Early In 2020 Democratic
Race.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=00e-d16&t=c>
(1/16, Summers) reports that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who on Tuesday
“jumped into the presidential race,” on Wednesday visited “her upstate New
York hometown” of Troy, New York, where she offered a “preview [of] a
campaign that is expected to put gender front and center.” Appearing
outside a local eatery, Gillibrand “framed the campaign as an extension of
motherhood.” Said Gillibrand, “I’m going to run for president of the United
States because as a young mom, I will fight for your children as hard as I
would fight for my own.” Gillibrand was accompanied “by her husband,
Jonathan, their 10- and 15-year-old sons, and her mother, Polly.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=00f-9e0&t=c>
(1/16, Johnson) reports that as she “introduces herself to more Americans
this week,” Gillibrand “is presenting herself in a few different ways: the
mother of two young boys who...would ‘fight for other people’s kids as hard
as I fight for my own.’ The resident of a working-class town who likes dive
bars and swearing, has declined campaign donations from corporate political
action committees and knows that ‘a lot of people feel left behind.’ A
fighter who hasn’t been afraid to challenge members of her own party and
will ‘take on the systems of power.’ ... And a working woman who has to
deal with a male reporter asking her to comment on his assessment of her
likability.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=010-a26&t=c>
(1/16, Wang) reports that during her appearance in Troy, Gillibrand was
asked “about her unequivocal promise, just three months earlier, not to run
for president as she sought re-election to represent” New York. She
replied, “I continue to fight for New Yorkers as I’ve always done. But I
believe the urgency of this moment now is we have to take on President
Trump and what he is doing.”

        *Gillibrand Says She Won’t Accept Super PAC Support. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=011-d30&t=c>
(1/16, Schneider, Niedzwiadek) reported during her Troy visit, Gillibrand
“rejected support from an individualized super PAC,” taking a stance “on
campaign finance that’s defining the early stage of the Democratic
primary.” Politico said that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has “called on
other 2020 candidates to reject super PAC support,” while ex-Rep. Beto
O’Rourke (D-TX), “who’s considering his own presidential run, did the same
in his 2018 Texas Senate run.”
After Visiting New Hampshire Last Weekend, Warren Returning This Friday.

The Springfield (MA) Republican
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=012-866&t=c>
(1/16, Young) reports that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “will again make
her pitch to New Hampshire voters Friday as” she “mulls a 2020 presidential
run. Warren, who met with Granite State residents last weekend, will hold
an organizing event...in Claremont, N.H., her exploratory committee
announced Wednesday.” The event “will mark Warren’s third in New Hampshire
in just one week.”
O’Rourke Questions Whether “230-Plus Years” Old Constitution Still Relevant.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=013-268&t=c>
(1/16, Chasmar) reports that ex-Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), a potential
White House hopeful, “recently questioned the modern-day relevance of the
US Constitution and whether the country should still be governed by ‘the
same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago.’ ‘I think that’s the
question of the moment: Does this still work?’ Mr. O’Rourke asked during a
taped conversation with two friends, which he aired to thousands in
response to President Trump’s Oval Office address to the American people
about the border wall.’” O’Rourke added, “Can an empire like ours with
military presence in over 170 countries around the globe, with trading
relationships...and security agreements in every continent, can it still be
managed by the same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago?”

        *Carlson Rips O’Rourke Over Remarks On Constitution. *In his
opening monologue on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=014-835&t=c>
(1/16), Tucker Carlson said that O’Rourke “is the favorite to win the
Democratic nomination,” and “walls are bad” is to date “the sum total of
what we know about [his] policy views,” expressed as part of an interview
with the Washington Post. Carlson said, “The real question is what the hell
is Beto O’Rourke talking about? It’s not like he is pretending to know. He
makes it perfectly clear he has no idea what he is saying.” He added that
what O’Rourke “wants to transform next is nothing less than the United
States of America, starting with the belief the country was founded on,”
but “the principles he refers to would include the Bill of Rights, freedom
of speech, freedom of assembly, and the rights to self-defense and fair
trial. Does any of that still matter?”

        *Mulling 2020 Run, O’Rourke Sets Off On Road Trip. *The Texas
Tribune
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=015-7de&t=c>
(1/16, Svitek) reports that O’Rourke, who is being urged to run for
president, “has embarked on a trip outside Texas, the first stops of which
he detailed in a Medium post Wednesday.” In the post, O’Rourke wrote that
“he was traveling along US Route 54 from his El Paso hometown, through New
Mexico, across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and into Kansas.” Said
O’Rourke, “Have been stuck lately. In and out of a funk. Maybe if I get
moving, on the road, meet people, learn about what’s going on where they
live, have some adventure, go where I don’t know and I’m not known, it’ll
clear my head, reset, I’ll think new thoughts, break out of the loops I’ve
been stuck in.”

        The El Paso (TX) Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=016-09c&t=c>
(1/16, Mekelburg) reports that although O’Rourke “didn’t reference his
future plans,” his post “fueled speculation that he would” enter the 2020
race for the White House. In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=017-2eb&t=c>
(1/16, Zeleny, Bradner) reported, “The road trip follows weeks of O’Rourke
selling his authenticity by filming scenes at the border, across El Paso
and beyond. But the Medium posts and viral videos have done little to
answer one of the biggest questions looming over him: Is he ready to be
president?”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=018-a9b&t=c>
(1/16, Siders) reported that as he kicks off his “highly anticipated road
trip,” O’Rourke’s “former advisers are quietly sketching the outline of a
potential presidential run that would replicate – and on a national scale –
the grassroots-driven organizing model O’Rourke employed in his”
unsuccessful 2018 challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Politico said, “Becky
Bond, a senior adviser to Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and an
adviser to O’Rourke’s 2018 Senate run, has been talking with operatives in
recent days about potential jobs on a 2020 campaign,” according to “two
sources.”
Stumping In New Hampshire, Castro Issues Call For “Tuition-Free” Public
Colleges, Apprenticeships.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=019-396&t=c>
(1/16, Hagen) reported that ex-HUD Secretary Julián Castro (D), a
presidential hopeful, on Wednesday “called for ‘tuition free’ public
colleges, apprenticeships and other certification programs as a way to make
the US workforce more competitive.” The Democrat “had initially called for
more ‘accessible and affordable’ higher education when he announced his
candidacy, but went a step further at a New Hampshire event on Wednesday.”
Said Castro, “We need to ensure, if we want to be competitive, that every
single American who wants a higher education can get one. That’s why I
believe that we need to work toward a tuition-free system of public
university, college, apprenticeship and certification programs in this
country to have the smartest, most well-prepared work force that we can in
this 21st century.”

        *Castro Highlights His Latin American Roots. *The New Hampshire
Union Leader
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=01a-7c3&t=c>
(1/16, Morin) reports that Castro also told “the story of his grandmother,
who at the age of 7 immigrated to San Antonio from Mexico. Signaling his
intention to run a campaign that embraces the immigration story of his own
Latin American roots, Castro drew parallels between the experiences of his
own family and those of today’s immigrants. ‘We had the chance to reach out
for the American dream, like so many other families throughout the
generations,’ said Castro of himself and his twin brother Rep. Joaquin
Castro.” He added, “I am quite sure that my grandmother, as she was growing
up as a young girl in 1920s Texas, never could have imagined that just two
generations after she had arrived in the United States, that one of her
grandsons would be a member of the United States Congress and the other
would be announcing his” run for president.
2020 Presidential Race Appears Likely To Shatter Record For Democrats’
Largest Field.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=01b-5f9&t=c>
(1/16, Page) reports, “An unprecedented field is gathering for the
Democratic presidential nomination – a group that is smashing previous
records in size and diversity, in generation and geography. A sprawling
group of contenders with no presumptive front-runner sets the stage for an
unpredictable contest.” USA Today says that some “30 Democratic
officeholders and activists have signaled they are considering the contest,
and there may be more who are just waiting to be noticed. The field is
poised to outpace the 17 credible candidates who competed at some point for
the 1976 Democratic nomination, the largest number ever. For Republicans, a
record 17 credible candidates ran at some point for the 2016 nomination.”

        *McClatchy Analysis: Crowded Democratic Race Sees Lack Of Seasoned
Campaign Operatives. *McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=01c-97c&t=c>
(1/16, Wollner) reports, “As more Democratic presidential hopefuls inch
closer to entering the 2020 contest, many are running into an early
roadblock: There aren’t enough staffers for everyone. In the critical early
voting states, there are a limited number of high-level operatives with
presidential campaign experience available.” Plus, “with no clear
frontrunner” and “several big names whose intentions remain unclear, some
staffers are hesitant to sign on to a campaign right away. ‘There are not
enough staffers to go around,’ said Jerry Crawford, a veteran of several
Democratic presidential campaigns in Iowa. ‘It’s a reflection that a lot of
candidates won’t have the resources to be competitive.’”
Leading the News
Republicans Weigh Alternative Venues After Pelosi Asks Trump To Skip State
Of Union Address.

Reaction to a letter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=01d-8dc&t=c>
by Speaker Pelosi to the President asking him not to deliver his State of
the Union address due to the ongoing government shutdown broke largely
along party lines, with a number of media analyses casting the letter as a
sharp escalation of partisan tensions in Washington. ABC World News
Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=01e-6a7&t=c>
(1/16, story 6, 2:00, Bruce), for example, referred to a “bold power play”
by Pelosi, and the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=01f-477&t=c>
(1/16, Davis, Fandos) to “a reminder to Mr. Trump that...she has the power
to frustrate his agenda and upend his plans.” Along similar lines, CNN’s
The Lead
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=020-c60&t=c>
(1/16) reported that “Pelosi sending a clear message to...Trump: ‘This is
my House.’”

        Special Correspondent Jamie Gangel said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=021-a8a&t=c>
(1/16), “This is Donald Trump’s wake-up call. What she did to Donald Trump,
what is his worst nightmare? Take away his audience. This is like taking
away your teenager’s cell phone. I really think she has won round
one.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=022-7f3&t=c>
(1/16, Dawsey) reports “Pelosi has moved aggressively to leverage her
decades of congressional experience to needle, belittle and undercut
Trump,” and the Washington Post’s Charles Lane said on Fox News’ Special
Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=023-dda&t=c>
(1/16), “The Democrats are loving this.”

        NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=024-bb1&t=c>
(1/16, story 4, 1:25, Alexander) reported “one of the biggest nights of the
year for...Trump may be off,” and the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=025-dae&t=c>
(1/16, story 3, 2:05, Garrett) said Pelosi “suggested the President could
submit the speech in writing.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=026-182&t=c>
(1/16, Costa) notes Pelosi “later told reporters that her letter was
intended as a suggestion and that she was not rescinding an invitation for
Trump to speak,” though Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=027-751&t=c>
(1/16, Cornwell, Oliphant) points out she told reporters that “if Trump
would not agree to reschedule the speech...he could deliver it from the
Oval Office.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=028-199&t=c>
(1/16, Collins, Jackson, Collins) quotes the Speaker as saying Trump “can
make (the speech) from the Oval Office if he wants.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=029-fb1&t=c>
(1/16, Lucey, Colvin, Mascaro) reports Pelosi “left unclear what would
happen if Trump insisted on coming despite the welcome mat being pulled
away,” but The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=02a-e4d&t=c>
(1/16, Brufke) indicates “Republican leadership...suggested that Trump
should come to the Capitol to deliver his annual update even if she decides
to rescind the formal invitation.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=02b-30e&t=c>
(1/16, Dawsey) reports Josh Holmes, “adviser to Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), called Pelosi ‘a total fighter,’” adding, “She
understands political leverage. She wields the knife.” Holmes also said,
however, that “her call to delay Trump’s speech was ‘a major screw-up’ and
predicted it would backfire.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=02c-6e2&t=c>
(1/16, Bresnahan, Caygle, Bade) says “Pelosi privately refers to Trump as
the Whiner in chief.’” She has also “questioned his manhood,” and “calls
out Trump’s lies to his face and openly wonders whether he’s fit for the
job.” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), “longtime Pelosi friend and political ally,”
is quoted as saying, “She’s satin and steel. He’s just untethered.”

        In a story titled “Nancy Pelosi Might Have Just Blown Up The State
Of The Union. And That’s OK,” meanwhile, Jeff Greenfield writes for Politico
Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=02d-d5c&t=c>
(1/16) that “in her historic letter...Pelosi essentially disinvited Trump
from delivering his address,” and cites two “concerns” she may have with
the event as planned, “First: What happens if the new and more militant
members of my caucus refuse to stand for the president, or interrupt his
speech with catcalls? Second: Do I really want to give this particular
president a national platform to make his case on the shutdown?” To
Greenfield, “She has good cause to worry about that second point.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=02e-5a1&t=c>
(1/16, Colvin, Superville) says the US Constitution mandates a State of the
Union report to Congress, but “offers no specifics on how that should be
done,” and in fact, “the modern State of the Union address – the pageantry,
the televised address and the agenda-setting message – is a far more recent
phenomenon.” The AP also reports that “the practice of delivering an
in-person address before a joint session of Congress has not always been
the norm.” Karen Tumulty, in her Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=02f-49e&t=c>
(1/16) column, similarly cites 19th Century precedent in arguing that
Pelosi’s “proposal was not as radical as it might sound.”

        At any rate, Republicans reacted with outrage yesterday. ABC World
News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=030-035&t=c>
(1/16, story 6, 2:00, Bruce) reported “House Republican leader Kevin
McCarthy calls Pelosi’s move ‘unbecoming of a speaker.’” ABC also reported
that “the Speaker of the House does have the power to block the President
from delivering the State of the Union from the House chamber,” though “he
could deliver it elsewhere – possibly even from the Republican-controlled
Senate.” Republicans “are weighing their options.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=031-bcb&t=c>
(1/16, Caygle, Bade) quotes McCarthy as saying, “It’s not a security issue,
it’s politics and she knows it.” Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) “agreed with
McCarthy, calling Pelosi’s move ‘a slap in the face for the TSA workers,
the border patrol agents and air traffic controllers and many federal
employers that she and her party says they’re trying to protect.’” Sen.
John Kennedy (R-LA), meanwhile, “called Pelosi’s letter ‘petty’ but
predicted rescinding the invitation would backfire on Democrats.” Said
Kennedy, “I think she must think the American people are stupid. It’s petty
and most people are going to see that it’s petty. And I strongly encourage
her. Politically, it’s great for us.”

        Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=032-993&t=c>
(1/16, Singman) cast Pelosi as “facing a mounting backlash from
Republicans,” and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=033-1f1&t=c>
(1/16, Costa) points out, meanwhile, that House Minority Whip Steve Scalise
“responded [to Pelosi] on Twitter, suggesting that Democrats were trying to
deny Trump an opportunity to make his case to the nation about the need for
border wall funding.” Wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=034-cf6&t=c>
Scalise, “#ShutdownNancy shut down the government, and now #SOTU. What are
Democrats afraid of Americans hearing? That 17,000+ criminals were caught
last year at the border? 90% of heroin in the US comes across the southern
border? Illegal border crossings dropped 90%+ in areas w/ a wall?” Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=035-2c2&t=c>
(1/16, News) also highlights Scalise’s tweet. Scalise later said on Fox
News’ The Ingraham Angle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=036-f90&t=c>
(1/16), “The left has become unhinged. ... They have tried to do everything
to insult the President, to not even acknowledge that he is the President.”

        Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=037-583&t=c>
(1/16), “I think it’s disingenuous. In fact, I think it’s nuts for the
Speaker to say ‘We should reschedule and to dis-invite the President.’ ...
The second thing is the Speaker primarily wants for the President not to
have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people, especially
about this border security that has been such a divisive issue and, as you
said, led to the shutdown. So I think that’s her primary objective there is
to take away the microphone from the President, not because she’s concerned
about security.”

        Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=038-f20&t=c>
(1/16, Benson) similarly argued that “the truth is that this is a political
play that has nothing to do with the ability of Secret Service and
Congress’ police force to protect the US Capitol building and its
occupants.” Pelosi just “doesn’t want to offer the president an enormous
platform from which to advance his arguments and inevitably blame Democrats
for their refusal to negotiate or compromise.”

        The National Review’s Jonah Goldberg said on Fox News’ Special
Report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=039-f09&t=c>
(1/16), “I think...Pelosi’s explanation for why she does want to do the
security thing buys into the idea that it is a ceremony for a king and it
is lame and dumb. ... If she doesn’t want him there she should say ‘We
don’t want you’ and own it.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=03a-8a2&t=c>
(1/16, Caygle, Bade) reports “Democrats scoffed at that notion as they
streamed out of a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning, where Pelosi first
delivered the news of her letter to Trump.” Said House Progressive Caucus
Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), “Why do we have to be concerned about
escalating the war when [Trump] is the one who every day escalates the war
and started this whole thing?” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), meanwhile,
“said Pelosi’s letter was reasonable given the added security needed for
the speech, and pointed out Trump would have the option to deliver it in
writing.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=03b-d0c&t=c>
(1/16, Andrews, Bender), Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=03c-e76&t=c>
(1/16, Pollak), CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=03d-622&t=c>
(1/16, McPherson) and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=03e-995&t=c>
(1/16, Lillis), among other news outlets, run similar accounts of Pelosi’s
letter and the ensuing partisan sniping.

        *DHS, Secret Service Dispute Pelosi’s Claims About Security. *The Los
Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=03f-f0a&t=c>
(1/16, Wagner) notes that in her letter, Pelosi had argued the State of the
Union should not go forward “given the security concerns” due to the
shutdown “and unless government re-opens this week.” The Federalist
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=040-3f1&t=c>
(1/16, Orr) reported “senior law enforcement officials are responding to
Pelosi’s letter by debunking her false reasoning,” and the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=041-f56&t=c>
(1/16, Fredericks) that “the Secret Service and Department of Homeland
Security said they can handle security at...Trump’s State of the Union
address.”

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=042-96e&t=c>
(1/16, story 6, 2:00, Bruce) noted Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=043-a95&t=c>
, “The Department of Homeland Security and US secret service are fully
prepared to support and secure the State of the Union.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=044-84e&t=c>
(1/16, Lucey, Colvin, Mascaro) reports Republicans “saw her move as a ploy
to deny Trump the stage,” and Nielsen “denied anyone’s safety is
compromised” because of the shutdown, “saying...agencies ‘are fully
prepared to support and secure” the event. The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=045-f3a&t=c>
(1/16, Dinan) and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=046-e2d&t=c>
(1/16, Fabian), among other news outlets, also report Nielsen’s response to
Pelosi.

        The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=047-c76&t=c>
(1/16, Johnson), meanwhile, reports “the Secret Service was never contacted
by...Pelosi’s office or other Democratic congressional leadership regarding
their ability to protect the president, members of the administration and
Congress during the State of the Union, according to a senior law
enforcement official at the Department of Homeland Security.” Said a
“senior law enforcement official,” “The Secret Service was never contacted
by congressional leadership regarding our security plan or the Secret
Service’s ability to carry it out.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=048-bad&t=c>
(1/16, Johnson) also reports “multiple DHS officials and Secret Service
veterans have said that Pelosi is not being truthful in her remarks and
weaponizing the Secret Service for political reasons.”

        *Pelosi On Secret Service Security Assurances: “I Don’t Care What
They Said.” *Under the headline “I Don’t Care What They Said,” the Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=049-115&t=c>
(1/16, Picket) reports “Pelosi told reporters Wednesday night she ‘doesn’t
care’ if the Secret Service said it was prepared to appropriately secure
the State of the Union address despite the partial government shutdown.”

        *Manchin: Pelosi Taking “Wrong Approach.” *Asking about Pelosi’s
letter, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said on MSNBC Live[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=04a-0ce&t=c>
(1/16), “I’m not sure what her intentions are, but I think this is a wrong
approach to be taking.” He added, “We should have every type of respectful
dialogue we can. Where I come from, we don’t act this way.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=04b-883&t=c>
(1/16, Caplan) runs a story on Manchin’s comments.

        Ed Henry said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=04c-990&t=c>
(1/16), “Pelosi’s gambit appears to be backfiring a bit. ... The President
could also benefit from other cracks in the Democratic side,” as Manchin
“seemed to rebuke Pelosi.”

        *More Criticism Of Pelosi. *David Gergen said on CNN’s Anderson
Cooper 360
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=04d-d8d&t=c>
(1/16), “She would have been better off arguing politics than the security
question. I think she left herself vulnerable for the first time because
she’d come across overall as a much tougher customer and a very wily
leader. ... It is clearly, she does not want to give the President a forum
to come in there and shoot at them and bang them over the head on the wall
and just give them another platform to go at that. He’s already had one and
she is saying ‘I don’t think you deserve a second crack at it.’”

        Political commentator Mike Shields said on CNN’s Anderson
Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=04e-c08&t=c>
(1/16), “We have a phrase for this: bollocks. It is absolute bollocks.
Think of what the President gets accused of: stepping on norms, being
bellicose and showing machismo just to delight his base, being petty and
scoring political points, and just flat-out lying to make a case. She hit
all four of those. ... She would have been better served to tell the truth
and say ‘He gave a fantastic State of the Union last year. He will have up
in the balcony victims of people from border security. I don’t want to hand
him that.’ This is a political power move.”

        Conservative columnist Mary Katarine Ham said on CNN’s The Lead[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=04f-d3d&t=c>
(1/16), “Do I think more drama works to [Trump’s] advantage? Yes. Do I
think he planned it that way? No. I do have a lot of confidence the Secret
Service would pull off a giant event even in the event of a shutdown.”

        The President’s daughter-in-law and senior adviser Lara Trump said
on Fox News’ Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=050-df4&t=c>
(1/16), “The reality is [Pelosi] is clever because they don’t want Trump to
give another State of the Union, one of his best speeches. ... But the good
news is the President can give it anywhere he wants. He doesn’t have to
give it in front of Congress on Capitol Hill. It is up to him where he
wants to do it. Good try on her part but I don’t think it will go over.”

        *Hoyer Walks Back “The State Of The Union Is Off” Comment. *The
Federalist
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=051-325&t=c>
(1/16, Orr) notes House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) “said there is
nothing the president can do to change the speaker’s mind,” telling CNN’s
At This Hour
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=052-5c3&t=c>,
“Yep! The speaker is the one who invites the president to speak at a joint
session, and she has said as long as government is shut down we’re not
going to be doing business as usual. ... The state of the union is off.”
The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=053-daf&t=c>
(1/16, Caralle) reports “Hoyer’s office walked back his stunning
declaration Wednesday afternoon,” with his communications director, Mariel,
Saez, saying, “Mr. Hoyer had not read Speaker Pelosi’s letter and
mischaracterized it.”
Foreign Policy
Media Analyses: Syria Attack Undermines Trump’s Claim That ISIS Is Defeated.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=054-f48&t=c>
(1/16, Mroue) reports that “a number of US troops were killed in an
explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria on Wednesday.” The AP
points out in the first sentence of its report that the attack “came less
than a month after” President Trump “announced his intention to withdraw
troops from” Syria. The AP goes on to report that ISIS “claimed
responsibility for the morning attack, which local groups said killed 16
people in the US-patrolled town of Manbij.” The AP adds in the next
sentence, “The claim calls into question Trump’s claim that IS has been
defeated in Syria – his stated reason for pulling 2,000 American troops out
of the country.”

        In the lead story for ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=055-4b6&t=c>
(1/16, lead story, 2:50, Muir) noted White House Press Secretary Sarah
Sanders issued a statement saying, “Our deepest sympathies and love go out
to the families of the brave American heroes killed today in Syria. We also
pray for the soldiers who were wounded in the attack.” Barbara Starr
reported for CNN’s Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=056-780&t=c>
(1/16, 6:02 p.m. EST) that this was “the largest single suicide attack
against American troops inside Syria.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=057-99d&t=c>
(1/16, Schmitt, Hubbard) reports that “two American troops and a contractor
were among 15 people killed.” The Times, also in the first sentence of its
article on the attack, says it happened “just weeks after President Trump
ordered the withdrawal of United States forces and declared that the
extremist group had been defeated.” According to the Times, “The bombing
puts Mr. Trump in the position of being squeezed between his decision to
withdraw American troops and his promise in a tweet on Sunday to hit the
Islamic State again, and ‘hard,’ if the group lashed out.” The Times says
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), “who has criticized the Syria withdrawal plan,
suggested the president’s stance emboldened Islamic State fighters and
encouraged such attacks.” Meanwhile, David Martin reported in the lead
story for the CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=058-af9&t=c>
(1/16, lead story, 2:35, Glor) indicated Graham also said the attack shows
that ISIS is “not defeated and they’ve been emboldened.” In its lead story, NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=059-26f&t=c>
(1/16, lead story, 2:30, Holt) showed Graham saying, “It set in motion
enthusiasm by the enemy we’re fighting. You make people we’re trying to
help wonder about us. I saw this in Iraq. And I’m seeing it in Syria.”

        The first sentence of the report from the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=05a-eb9&t=c>
(1/16, Loveluck) about the attack reads, “Multiple Americans were killed in
a suicide attack in Syria on Wednesday, the largest loss of life in the
Pentagon’s war against Islamic State militants there and a sign of the
potent threat that remains as the Trump administration begins to withdraw.”
The Post continues: “The attack occurred in the northern city of Manbij,
where American forces have conducted patrols after militants were flushed
from the area. In coming months, those troops are expected to depart in
keeping with President Trump’s decision to end the military mission in
Syria.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=05b-ca7&t=c>
(1/16, McDowall, Stewart), the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=05c-50c&t=c>
(1/16, Bulos) and Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=05d-475&t=c>
(1/16, Abdulrahim, Youssef), among other news outlets, run similar stories.

        *Pence Fails To Mention Attack In Address Claiming ISIS Has Been
Defeated. *According to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=05e-8d9&t=c>
(1/16, Loveluck), Vice President Pence, “speaking at the State Department
several hours after the US casualty reports, did not mention the bombing or
the deaths, but instead hailed Trump’s leadership in combating the
militants in Syria.” Pence is quoted as saying, “We are bringing our troops
home. ... The caliphate has crumbled, and ISIS has been defeated.”

        Likewise, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=05f-b76&t=c>
(1/16, Wroughton) reports that Pence “did not mention the deaths in an
address to 184 chiefs of US diplomatic missions gathered in Washington from
around the world for a speech that sounded more like a campaign rally than
a strategic overview of US foreign policy.” According to Reuters, “Earlier,
a spokeswoman for Pence’s office, Alyssa Farah, said the vice president had
been briefed about the soldiers’ deaths and expressed his sympathy.” The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=060-61b&t=c>
(1/16, Steinbuch), The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=061-f41&t=c>
(1/16, Samuels) and Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=062-f1c&t=c>
(1/16, Boyer), among other news outlets, run similar reports on Pence’s
address.

        Jim Acosta reported for CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=063-78a&t=c>
(1/16) that “the White house did not seem to have its message straight,”
with Pence declaring victory over ISIS despite the bombing earlier that
morning. In a second segment, Acosta reported for CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=064-3ee&t=c>
(1/16, 5:08 p.m. EST) that “a White House official tried to explain, saying
that the White House had not yet publicly confirmed the deaths of US
soldiers at the time Pence was speaking.” However, Acosta reported, “The US
coalition against ISIS did tweet a message about those deaths a full hour
before the vice president’s speech.”

        Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=065-b0a&t=c>
(1/16), “I think the bombing is proof you have to stay. ... We know a lot
of ISIS travel to Syria to fight the west, they’re going to be willing to
travel to the United States to fight the West, too. I’ve always said this
and I believe this, fighting terrorism is not a choice we have. What we can
choose is where we fight terrorism. And when you make a statement like,
‘ISIS is defeated and the caliphate is defeated,’ what you’ve done is
empower the recruiters of ISIS to say, ‘Look, we did it, we outlasted the
United States! I told you we could do it. We had tough times, like was
prophesied, but what we’ll do is come back from this even stronger.’”

        *Kurdish Commander: US Troops in Syria “Playing A Very Big Role” In
Fight Against ISIS. *Charlie D’Agata reported for the CBS Evening News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=066-c4e&t=c>
(1/16, story 2, 2:45, Glor) from Syria on the importance of US forces
fighting on the ground to Kurdish forces. Commander Simko Shka said,
“They’re playing a very big role. … Their forces have been very effective,
we give them coordinates for ISIS locations and their air force and
artillery do all they can.” However, D’Agata reported, “While these ground
forces are making progress, on the sharp end of this fight, no one here is
talking about ISIS being defeated. “

        *After White House Meeting, Rand Paul Says Trump Committed To US
Troop Withdrawal. *Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=067-0f9&t=c>
(1/16, Griffen, Brown, Emanuel, Pergram, Lam) reports that following “a
closely watched White House meeting on Syria and Afghanistan,” Sen. Rand
Paul (R-KY) indicated that President Trump “remains committed to pulling
troops out of those countries despite a deadly terrorist attack that killed
US military personnel in Syria earlier in the day.” In a statement after
the White House meeting, Paul said, “I have never been prouder of President
Donald Trump. In today’s meeting, he stood up for a strong America and
steadfastly opposed foreign wars. Putting America First means declaring
victory in Afghanistan and Syria. President Trump is delivering on his
promises.”
Talks Fail To Bridge US-Russia Differences Over Missile Treaty.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=068-d9d&t=c>
(1/16, Emmott) reports that the US has “rejected a Russian offer to save a
landmark treaty that keeps nuclear missiles out of Europe because it could
not be properly verified, setting the stage for Washington to withdraw from
the pact next month.” After a meeting in Geneva between Russian and US
officials, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security
Andrea Thompson “said Moscow was refusing to allow proper inspection of a
new Russian missile system that Washington says breaks the 1987
Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).” Said Thompson, “We weren’t
able to break any new ground yesterday with Russia. ... Based on
yesterday’s discussions and corresponding rhetoric today, we see no
indication that Russia would choose compliance.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=069-d1c&t=c>
(1/16, Blake) reports the talks came as President Vladimir Putin said in an
interview published Wednesday that Russia “has no interest in a new arms
race.” At the same time, however, Putin warned the Administration against
withdrawing from the INF. During an interview “with Serbian media,
according to an English translation released by the Kremlin,” Putin said,
“Indeed, the United States is basically pursuing a course towards
dismantling the system of international agreements on arms control that
prevent it from bolstering its military capabilities, or trying to adhere
to the agreements selectively, i.e. only insofar as they serve its
interests. The declaration of the intention to withdraw from the INF Treaty
has become just another step in a sequence of similar actions. It is
obvious that such a course will have the gravest consequences.”

        *Senate Fails To Advance Bill That Would Reimpose Sanctions On
Russian Oligarch. *In what Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=06a-642&t=c>
(1/16, Zengerle) calls “a victory” for President Trump, “legislation to
keep sanctions in place on companies that have been controlled by the
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, including the giant aluminum firm Rusal,
stalled” in the Senate on Wednesday. Reuters says “the vote was 57-42 to
end debate on the measure, as 11 of Trump’s fellow Republicans joined
Democrats in favor of the resolution,” which “fell short of the 60 votes
necessary to advance to a final passage vote.” Reuters adds that “many
members of Congress have been questioning the US Treasury Department’s
decision in December to ease sanctions on the core businesses of Deripaska
– Rusal, its parent, En+, and power firm EuroSibEnergo.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=06b-be0&t=c>
(1/16, Dinan) says “Democrats’ attempt to undermine President Trump’s
decisions on Russia sanctions went down to defeat in the Senate on
Wednesday,” meaning “the Treasury Department’s plans to relax sanctions on
three Russian companies can move forward.” To the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=06c-1f4&t=c>
(1/16, Vogel), Republicans “who voted against the administration plan were
adhering to what had once been party orthodoxy: taking a hard line against
Moscow.”
At Least 21 Dead In Al-Shabaab Attack In Kenya.

The CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=06d-70d&t=c>
(1/16, story 6, 1:50, Glor) reported 21 are dead in the wake of yesterday’s
terror attack in Kenya, including American businessman Jason Spindler, who
survived the September 11 attacks in New York. CBS (Patta) added Al-Shabaab
militants stormed into a luxury Nairobi hotel “complex with firearms,
grenades, blew it up, and then rushed in, going from office to office.” Not
long after 9/11, Spindler “gave up a high-powered Wall Street career to
work in developing countries, a decision that ultimately led him to Nairobi
and a late lunch break in a restaurant targeted by an Al-Shabaab suicide
bomber.” Ian Pannell reported on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=06e-bf2&t=c>
(1/16, story 7, 1:35, Muir), “The 19-hour siege that claimed at least 21
lives.” Among them, Spindler, who “lived in Nairobi for the past several
years doing humanitarian work.” Kelly Cobier reported on NBC Nightly
News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=06f-193&t=c>
(1/16, story 2, 1:30, Holt), “Most of the victims were Kenyan.”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=070-300&t=c>
(1/16, Houreld, Miriri) reports Kenyan security forces killed all the
militants who stormed the complex. At least 21 were killed but “fifty
people believed to have been in the complex remained unaccounted for on
Wednesday afternoon, the Kenya Red Cross said, raising the possibility of a
much higher final death toll.” Al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab “said they
carried out the attack in revenge for US President Donald Trump’s decision
to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.” CCTV clips showed at least
five assailants dressed in black, some sporting green grenade belts.

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=071-b63&t=c>
(1/16, Curtis) reports the attack “demonstrated al-Shabab’s continued
ability to strike Kenya’s capital despite setbacks on the battlefield.”
Although “US airstrikes and African Union forces in Somalia have degraded
the group’s ability to operate, it is still capable of carrying out
spectacular acts of violence in retaliation for the Kenyan military’s
campaign against it.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=072-f16&t=c>
(1/16, Bearak) reports the assault, which “seemed to be aimed at Kenyan
professionals and foreigners,” showed “al-Shabab’s ability to carry out
attacks outside Somalia despite a dramatic increase in airstrikes against
the group by the Kenyan air force and US military.” Similarly, the New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=073-b50&t=c>
(1/16, Kyama, Oduor, De Freytas-Tamura) reports, “The attack underscored
the persistence and potency of the Shabab.” President Uhuru Kenyatta said
in a speech, “We will seek every person involved in planning, funding and
executing this heinous act.” He “made clear in his speech that the fight
against the Shabab and other militant groups would be a long one, while
trying to strike an optimistic note.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=074-05e&t=c>
(1/16, O'Grady) also covers Spindler’s death.
May Follows Confidence Vote Victory With Attempt To Find Path To Brexit.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=075-be4&t=c>
(1/16, Macaskill, Piper) reports that Prime Minister Theresa May “won a
confidence vote in the British parliament on Wednesday before proposing
immediate talks with other party leaders in an attempt to break the
deadlock on a Brexit divorce agreement.” Reuters says the 325 to 306
confidence vote came “just 24 hours after handing her Brexit deal a
crushing defeat that left Britain’s exit from the European Union in
disarray.” According to Reuters, “After the results of the confidence vote
were announced to cheers from Conservative lawmakers, May said she believed
parliament had a duty and a responsibility to find a solution that would
deliver Brexit.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=076-fc1&t=c>
(1/16) says, “despite the reprieve, May faces a monumental struggle to find
a way out of her country’s Brexit impasse,” and “has until Monday to come
up with a new blueprint for Britain’s EU exit.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=077-f3a&t=c>
(1/16, Adam) reports that “immediately after beating back the move to
topple her, May invited leaders of other parties to meet with her
individually to try to hammer out a deal that could pass a bitterly divided
Parliament.” However, the Post says “the deep divisions that caused
lawmakers to reject May’s initial plan persist,” as “Labour and the Liberal
Democrat party leaders said they first wanted May to rule out a ‘no-deal’
Brexit, which they say would wreak havoc on British workers and economy.”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=078-7d6&t=c>
(1/16, Macaskill, Piper) points out that, in addition, “hardline
Brexit-supporters in [May’s] party, who last month made an unsuccessful
attempt to oust her, and the Northern Irish party that props up her
minority government will not countenance a deal that keeps close trade ties
with the EU.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=079-fcf&t=c>
(1/16, Birnbaum) reports that “European Union leaders on Wednesday called
on Britain to give them a clear plan to split from Europe,” and “gave
little ground on their insistence that any withdrawal deal adhere broadly
to the principles of the one that was incinerated in the House of Commons.”
The Post adds, “They said that the onus was on British lawmakers to come up
with a proposal – any proposal – that could win a majority at home, so that
there could be a basis for continued talks between the sides.”

        According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=07a-f9b&t=c>
(1/16, Castle, Pérez-Peña), “Ordinarily, a prime minister would be expected
to resign after suffering a big defeat on a signature bill, but Brexit has
rewritten the rules of British politics. And once again, Mrs. May, who has
defied many predictions of her political demise, lived to fight another
day.” The Times adds that May’s “ability to soak up political punishment
and survive is an acute frustration to Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the
opposition Labour Party, who began the no-confidence motion by reminding
lawmakers that Tuesday’s vote was ‘the largest defeat in the history of our
democracy,’ adding that Mrs. May was leading a ‘zombie government.’”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=07b-5de&t=c>
(1/16, Hjelmgaard) reports that despite “many” Conservative Party MPs
voting against her Brexit plan, “they still like and back May as leader.”
USA adds that “May and her counterparts in the EU have ruled out any major
renegotiations” of the proposed agreement, yet German Chancellor Angela
Merkel said “we still have time to negotiate,” yet German Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas on Wednesday said the parties “need a solution,” adding, “we
need it quickly.”

        Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=07c-080&t=c>
(1/16, Ross, Morales, Donaldson) reports May “immediately opened talks with
rival political parties in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock,” but
the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=07d-185&t=c>
(1/16, Kirka, Lawless) reports Corbyn “said despite May’s claim that she
would reach out to opposition parties, he had not received a call from
her.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=07e-769&t=c>
(1/16, Mueller) reports that “after years of lying low on the question of
Brexit, steadfastly refusing to commit to a clear course, [Corbyn] finally
made his move, thrusting himself into the center of the debate, where he
will have to choose a side.” The Times adds, “Having risen to the edge of
power by presenting himself as an authentic, left-wing champion of
grass-roots Labour members, it is increasingly untenable for Mr. Corbyn to
defy them and avoid a decision on Brexit.”

        *WSJournal, NYTimes Hope Coming Deadline Will Focus Leaders’
Attention On Making A Good Deal. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=07f-738&t=c>
(1/16) editorializes that May won the confidence vote because no one else
seems prepared to take on the task. The Journal adds that the prospect of
Brexit without an agreement may cause EU leaders to offer a more
accommodating approach.

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=080-83a&t=c>
(1/16) editorializes, “Staring in the face of an exit without a deal 10
weeks from now may finally compel British lawmakers to accept reality.” The
Times adds that British leaders must deal with their real options which the
Times says are: “trying to forge a consensus position on a new Brexit deal
and hoping the Europeans will consider it; or opting for a new referendum,
which is favored by politicians who believe that enough of the public has
reconsidered Brexit to scrap the idea; or accepting Mrs. May’s deal.” The
Times argues that all sides must agree to extend the deadline in order to
continue the discussion.
Sources: Trump Could Announce Second North Korea Summit This Week.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=081-557&t=c>
(1/16, Hudson) reports President Trump “could announce a second summit with
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as soon as Friday, following an expected
meeting at the White House with a North Korean envoy, US and Asian
diplomats said Wednesday.” Kim’s lead negotiator, Kim Yong Chol, is
“expected to carry a letter from the North Korean dictator to Trump when he
travels to Washington this week.” If announced soon, the Post says the
summit “would probably take place in March or April, with Danang, Vietnam,
seeming to be the most likely venue, according to people familiar with the
flurry of diplomatic activity over the past month. Trump and Kim have
exchanged letters in recent weeks, two people briefed on aspects of the
diplomacy said.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=082-267&t=c>
(1/16, Taylor) reports that while “US officials have declined to confirm
the visit by Kim Yong-chol...South Korean media reported that he left
Beijing Wednesday en route to Washington.” CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=083-a4d&t=c>
(1/15, Atwood, Berlinger, Ripley) reports Kim is expected to arrive in
Washington on Thursday and meet with Secretary of State Pompeo and special
envoy Steve Biegun on Friday, according to “two US sources familiar with
the negotiations.” It is unclear, however, if Kim will visit the White
House, but the sources say “that is the expectation from the North Koreans
and the US side is preparing for the possibility.”

        *Pence: US Still Waiting On North Korea For “Concrete Steps” To
Denuclearize. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=084-e70&t=c>
(1/16, Sanger) reports Vice President Pence, meanwhile, “told American
ambassadors on Wednesday that North Korea has failed to take any
substantive steps to give up its nuclear weapons, even as President Trump
is moving toward a second meeting with Kim.” Speaking at the State
Department, Pence said, “While the president has started a promising
dialogue with Chairman Kim, we still await concrete steps by North Korea to
dismantle the nuclear weapons that threaten our people and our allies in
the region.” Calling his remarks an “unequivocal statement,” the Times says
Pence “seemed to directly contradict the president’s claim on Twitter,
after his first summit meeting in June, that ‘there is no longer a Nuclear
Threat from North Korea.’”

        *WPost Analysis: Confusion Over North Korea’s Definition Of
Denuclearization Complicates Talks. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=085-47e&t=c>
(1/15, Denyer) reports that “one of the central questions in the
negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program” is what does leader Kim
Jong Un mean by his insistence on the “complete denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula” — and “whether that includes a demand for US troops to
leave South Korea and pull nuclear-armed American bombers and submarines
out of the surrounding region.” The Post says “ambiguity over such a
central question could be a negotiating tactic, leaving some tough
questions for later in the peace process when mutual trust is higher.”
Rouhani: Iran To Attempt Another Satellite Launch In A Few Months.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=086-94e&t=c>
(1/16, Sharafedin, Irish) reports Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said
Wednesday that Iran “will be ready for a new satellite launch in a few
months’ time after a failed attempt this week...ignoring US and European
warnings to avoid such activity.” According to Reuters, “Western officials
say the missile technology used in such launches could be applied to
delivering a nuclear weapon.” Reuters adds that “Iran’s bid to send a
satellite, named Payam, into orbit failed on Tuesday as its launching
rocket did not reach adequate speed in its third stage.”

        *Iran: Journalist Arrested After Filming Black Lives Matter
Documentary In St. Louis. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=087-2e9&t=c>
(1/16, Erdbrink) reports that Marzieh Hashemi, “a prominent American-born
journalist working for an Iranian state-run satellite television channel,
has been arrested in the United States,” according to the Iran’s Press TV.
The Times says “the reported action, which has not been confirmed by the
American authorities, was condemned by Iranian officials.” According to the
Times, Hashemi “has lived in Iran since 2009.” Press TV reported that
Hashemi was “arrested at the St. Louis airport on Sunday and transferred by
the F.B.I. to Washington, where she remained in custody.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=088-6d5&t=c>
(1/16, McConnaughey) reports that Hashemi “filmed a Black Lives Matter
documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area.” The AP adds
that the FBI “said in an email that it had no comment on the arrest of the
woman who was born Melanie Franklin of New Orleans and has worked for
Iran’s state television network for 25 years.” According to the AP, Hashemi
“lives about half the time in Colorado, where her children live, and half
the time in Iran.”
Report: Trump Peace Plan Sees Palestinian State In Most Of West Bank,
Capital In East Jerusalem.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=089-4c9&t=c>
(1/16, Williams, Spetalnick, Nichols) reports Israel’s Reshet 13 TV
television said Wednesday that President Trump’s Middle East peace plan
“would propose a Palestinian state on as much as 90 percent of the occupied
West Bank, with a capital in East Jerusalem – but not including its holy
sites.” Citing “what it said was a source briefed by the Americans,” Reshet
13 TV said the plan would entail Israel “annexing Jewish settlement blocs
in the West Bank while isolated settlements would either be evacuated or
their construction halted.” Jerusalem’s Old City – the site of Jewish,
Muslim and Christian holy sites – would “be under Israeli sovereignty but
with the joint management of the Palestinians and Jordan, the report said.”
Asked to comment on the report, a “senior White House official” said, “As
in the past, speculation with regards to the content of the plan is not
accurate.”
Domestic Policy
Pence, Kushner Tell GOP Senators Trump Won’t End Shutdown Without Wall
Funding.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=08a-012&t=c>
(1/16, Costa) says that “in calls to GOP senators,” Vice President Pence
and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner “made clear that the president
is unwavering and would not support” calls “to reopen the government,
despite mounting concerns about the political cost of the shutdown for his
party.” An anonymous “White House aide” is quoted as saying, “The president
sees this as a capitulation, and he’s not going to walk away.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=08b-22b&t=c>
(1/16, Brice, Oliphant) points out the White House outreach followed news
that “a handful of Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham and Lisa
Murkowski, were circulating a bipartisan draft letter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=08c-e72&t=c>
to Trump asking him to support a measure that would reopen the government
for three weeks while they work on funding legislation that would address
his concerns about border security.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=08d-b9f&t=c>
(1/16, Everett) says the letter is “a long-shot,” as “key Republicans
aren’t signing on, suggesting that the group will fall short of bipartisan
hopes of getting as many as 20 senators in each party to endorse the
missive to the president.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=08e-7a9&t=c>
(1/16, Ferrechio) also says the “bipartisan group of moderate senators is
struggling to get Republicans to sign” the letter.

        *White House Touts “Constructive Meeting” With “Problem Solvers
Caucus.” *Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=08f-3ec&t=c>
(1/16, Spiering) reports the President “held a bipartisan meeting with
congressional members on Wednesday as he welcomed the ‘Problem Solvers
Caucus’ to the White House.” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a
statement, “The President and his team had a constructive meeting with
bipartisan members of the problem solvers caucus. ... They listened to one
another and now both have a good understanding of what the other wants. We
look forward to more conversations like this.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=090-67c&t=c>
(1/16, Davis, Fandos) reports, however, that “during the meeting, lawmakers
told Mr. Trump that he must abandon his demand for funding for a border
wall in exchange for reopening the government.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=091-d26&t=c>
(1/16, Brice, Oliphant) also reports that the Democrats who met with Trump
“said they called on him to end the shutdown and then talk about the issues
dividing them. ‘Our singular message was we’ve got to reopen the government
and then in good faith we can have negotiations,’ Representative Dean
Phillips told reporters.”

        The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=092-9a6&t=c>
(1/16, Rodgers) reports “Trump has warned Democrats he might declare a
national emergency if they cannot come to an agreement soon.”

        House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=093-9a7&t=c>
(1/16), “Frankly, we have supported a lot of resources and expansion of the
border security personnel, the border security technology, all sorts of
things have been designed to make the border more secure. We are prepared
to do so and we have said that at the White House. Unfortunately the focus
has been on one issue and that is made it very difficult to discuss. ... We
are prepared and want to see good, effective border security.” He added,
“The debate ought to be not a morality or racism, with the rhetoric that
has come about and dealing with those coming across the border and we think
some of that rhetoric was in fact racist. We think some of that rhetoric
was to inflame and was not based upon facts. Having said that, we are
prepared to work with the President to make sure our borders are secure.”

        Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=094-55d&t=c>
(1/16), “Look, there’s enough criticism in my mind to go to both sides of
this debate. I think there’s an easy way to compromise on immigration and I
think 80 percent of Americans would be happy if we did it and happy with
the bill. But we’ve gotten into this stupid point in politics where
everybody thinks that the only way you can win is if the other side
completely loses. ... This is an embarrassment, our inability to have this
debate is an embarrassment, frankly, around the world that looks at us as
this model democracy and this is on all of us.”

        The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway said on Fox News’ Special
Report[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=095-d88&t=c>
(1/16), “I don’t think it is particularly good to take over the House of
Representatives and immediately have a government shutdown that you don’t
much seem to care about. ... At some point I think people are going to have
to stop thinking about who gets credit or blame, who does this help or hurt
and just remember there is a government that shutdown. There is a fairly
modest proposal on the table for border security and other issues that will
help with the inflow of drugs and other problems that happen on the border.
At some point the adults will have to actually take it up and move
forward.”

        *House Passes Bill To Fund Government Through Feb. 8 Without Wall
Funding. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=096-b17&t=c>
(1/16, News) reports the House on Wednesday voted 237-187 to pass “the
latest in a series of bills to end the partial government shutdown with
little Republican support.” The measure would provide $12.1 billion in
disaster aid and “reopen the nine shuttered federal departments and dozens
of agencies through Feb. 8,” but it “doesn’t include the money [President]
Trump seeks for a border wall” and “would prevent Trump from using any of
the disaster aid to build a border wall.” Bloomberg News notes that “only
six Republicans voted with majority Democrats for the bill.”

        *Sanders: Democrats Not Negotiating On Shutdown Deal, Ignoring
Border Crisis. *Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=097-a36&t=c>
(1/16), White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said a new migrant
caravan forming in Honduras is “another example of why the President’s
message has been right all along. We have a crisis at the border, both a
national security and humanitarian crisis. Democrats have got to stop
ignoring the problem, sit down with the President at the table., and help
us come to a solution.” Democrats “have to be willing to do something. So
far they have been willing to do nothing but obstruct. That is not going to
fix the problem. That is not going to open the government. They claim to
care about federal workers, but they have been so busy hanging out on the
beaches of Puerto Rico, and hitting Broadway shows, frankly, they don’t
have time to sit down with the President.”

        *Pence Calls For US Ambassadors’ Help “To Secure Our Border.” *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=098-f7f&t=c>
(1/16, Shesgreen) reports “Vice President Mike Pence tried to enlist
America’s ambassadors in the shutdown fight on Wednesday, telling the
diplomats they each have ‘a role to play as we take the battle forward on
Capitol Hill to secure our border.’” Pence also “implored the ambassadors
to ‘make it clear to our allies around the world that the United States
supports legal immigration. In fact, we celebrate it, and America has a
proud record of support for refugees.’”

        *Customs And Border Protection Officials Make Case For Wall. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=099-fe0&t=c>
(1/16, Hesson) reports “federal border officials pressed the case today for
a border wall – even as Democrats showed no sign of yielding to President
Donald Trump’s $5.7 billion funding request.” US Customs and Border
Protection “officials hosted a background press briefing to highlight the
value of barriers as part of a broader system that prevents illegal
entries.” Politico quotes “one CBP official” as saying, “The barrier itself
is the backbone of the system.”

        *Trump: “Radical Democrats” The “Party Of Open Borders And
Crime.” *Trump
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=09a-fb2&t=c>
yesterday morning, “It is becoming more and more obvious that the Radical
Democrats are a Party of open borders and crime. They want nothing to do
with the major Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border. #2020!”

        *Trump Touts “77 Major Or Significant Walls Built Around The
World.” *The President also took to Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=09b-41d&t=c>
yesterday to write, “There are now 77 major or significant Walls built
around the world, with 45 countries planning or building Walls. Over 800
miles of Walls have been built in Europe since only 2015. They have all
been recognized as close to 100% successful. Stop the crime at our Southern
Border!”

        *Lara Trump: President “Won’t Back Down.” *The President’s
daughter-in-law and senior adviser Lara Trump said on Fox News’ Hannity[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=09c-b6e&t=c>
(1/16), “The good news is my father-in-law won’t back down. He is fighting
for the American people. He knows this is about more than a wall. It’s
about the future of the government. We can’t sustain illegal immigration in
perpetuity. It won’t work for the country.”

        *Kennedy: Trump “Dug In” And “Resolute.” *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=09d-670&t=c>
(1/16, Muñoz) reports Sen. John Kennedy said yesterday that Trump “is ‘dug
in’ and ‘resolute’ on his side of the shutdown stalemate.” Kennedy also
said, “I hitched a ride on his plane with him Monday coming back from New
Orleans and on this issue the president is a carnivore. ... Unless there’s
an agreement reached that includes a wall, he’s not going to give in.”

        *NYTimes Analysis: Despite “Bravado,” Trump Frustrated By Media
Coverage Of Shutdown. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=09e-079&t=c>
(1/16, Haberman, Karni) reports “Trump has insisted that he is not going to
compromise with Democrats to end the government shutdown, and that he is
comfortable in his unbendable position. But privately, it’s sometimes a
different story.” The Times adds that “according to one person familiar
with the conversation,” Trump told acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, “We
are getting crushed! ... Why can’t we get a deal?” The Times adds that
“despite his public bravado...Trump has had recurring moments of
frustration as he takes in negative news coverage of the shutdown, pointing
his finger at aides for not delivering the deal he wants. Yet the aides say
that the president believes he is still playing a strong hand and that any
moments of frustration have been fleeting.”

        *Rove: Both Parties Should Consider Shutdown’s Impact On 2020
Election. *Karl Rove writes in his Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=09f-c17&t=c>
(1/16) column that both parties appear to be narrowly focused on how the
shutdown is playing with their bases and argues that they need to think
beyond the shutdown and consider its impact on the 2020 election.

        *WPost Analysis: El Chapo Trial Undermines Trump’s Case For Wall. *The
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a0-5b2&t=c>
(1/16, Phillips) reports that testimony from the ongoing trial of
“notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán,” who “funneled
drugs into the United States for more than two decades” is “further
evidence that a physical barrier, whether it’s fencing, steel slats or a
concrete wall, would probably not stop drug trafficking.” The Post says
Jesús Zambada Garcia, “a former leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel,
testified this week that for years smugglers used trucks and other vehicles
with hidden compartments to ply their trade.” The Post adds that “the
testimonies seem to be corroborated by the federal government’s own
findings.” According to the Post, the DEA “says private vehicles and
tractor-trailers passing through ports of entry are among the primary
methods of smuggling drugs across the southwest border.”

        *Multiple Caravans With Hundreds Of Migrants On Their Way To US. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a1-f09&t=c>
(1/16, Renteria, Palencia) reports that “at least 150 Salvadoran migrants
departed in a group for the United States on Wednesday,” in what Reuters
says is “the latest in a string of such ‘caravans’ that” President Trump
“has used to build his case for a wall along the US-Mexican border.”
Reuters says the migrants have been “organized through social media,” and
are “following in the wake of a larger caravan that departed from Honduras
this week.” Reuters adds that earlier today, “between 900 and 1,000
Hondurans gathered at the country’s border with Guatemala, waiting to cross
en-route to the United States,” and “several hundred Honduran migrants
already entered Guatemala on Tuesday.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a2-3a6&t=c>
(1/16, Spagat) also reports “the latest caravan of Honduran
migrants...crossed peacefully into Guatemala, under the watchful eyes of
about 200 Guatemalan police and soldiers.”

        *Border Ranchers Say Prayer Rugs Found In Their Properties In
Recent Months. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a3-c9b&t=c>
(1/16, Giaritelli) reports that “ranchers and farmers near the US-Mexico
border have been finding prayer rugs on their properties in recent months,
according to one rancher who asked to remain anonymous.” Said the rancher,
“There’s a lot of people coming in not just from Mexico. People, the
general public, just don’t get the terrorist threats of that. That’s what’s
really scary. You don’t know what’s coming across. We’ve found prayer rugs
out here. It’s unreal. It’s not just Mexican nationals that are coming
across.”

        *ICE Mistakenly Detains Latino-American Marine Veteran. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a4-4a6&t=c>
(1/16, Rosenberg) reports that immigration authorities mistakenly detained
27-year-old Marine veteran Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, who was born in Michigan.
Ramos-Gomez has been released, but his story “rocketed to national
attention on Wednesday after the American Civil Liberties Union called for
the county to investigate how an American citizen and decorated veteran was
taken into ICE custody.”

        *Memos: Pentagon Developing Plan To Scrutinize Recruits With Green
Cards, Foreign Ties. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a5-1a5&t=c>
(1/16, Lamothe) reports that the Pentagon, “citing terrorism and espionage
fears, is developing a plan to scrutinize prospective recruits with foreign
ties, including some US citizens, after a related effort targeting
thousands of green-card holders was blocked by a federal judge last year.”
The new policy, “still in development, will be distributed to the military
services by no later than Feb. 15, according to two Defense Department
officials and several department memos” obtained by the Post. One draft
document “circulated in recent weeks among senior officials and others who
oversee recruiting” is attributed to Joseph D. Kernan, the undersecretary
of defense for intelligence, and James N. Stewart, “who performs the duties
of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.” The memo states,
“The Department must implement expanded foreign vetting and screening
protocols to identify and mitigate the foreign nexus risks.” Defense
officials declined to comment.
NYTimes Analysis: White House Redefining Who Is Essential As Shutdown
Continues.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a6-321&t=c>
(1/16, Rogers, Rappeport) reports that as the government shutdown
“stretches into its fourth week, the Trump administration is reinterpreting
longstanding rules to open the federal government piece by piece, forcing
thousands of workers to report to work without pay, many of them in sectors
that could minimize damage to the president’s base.” According to the
Times, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget “is now focused on
Justice Department guidance, issued by previous administrations, that would
broaden who is considered essential, using lesser known exceptions to call
back thousands of employees to perform duties like preparing taxes or
opening mail.”

        *TSA Chief Confirms Spike In Agent Sick Calls Due To Shutdown. *The CBS
Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a7-e81&t=c>
(1/16, story 4, 1:50, Glor) reported, “Groups of TSA workers rallied today
in Los Angeles and other cities, demanding an end to the shutdown. While
they’ve been working without pay, a growing number have been calling in
sick, some so they can work other jobs.” CBS (Van Cleave) added, “The TSA
Administrator now confirms the spike in sick calls is due to officers who
can no longer afford to work for free.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a8-215&t=c>
(1/16, Inserra) contributor David Inserra argues that the sick calls are a
sign that the nation’s airport screening services should be privatized. He
argues that privatization “can mean screening that is cheaper, more
accountable and as secure as a government-run model.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0a9-c2d&t=c>
(1/16, Tankersley, Kaplan), meanwhile, that “even though they aren’t
getting paid,” federal employees “keep reporting for work.” Lawmakers are
“beginning to float the idea that perhaps they shouldn’t and that some sort
of coordinated absence by federal workers might be the quickest way to
persuade President Trump and congressional Democrats to find a deal to end
the shutdown.”

        A USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0aa-47b&t=c>
(1/16) editorial says “airport security is just one of the many areas to
suffer from the record long partial government shutdown,” and writes that
“perhaps it will take a mass walkout or a sickout by TSA screeners to force
an end to this idiotic shutdown. We wouldn’t condone or encourage such a
disruptive work action, but we could certainly understand if it happens.”

        *Furloughed Federal Workers To Get Back Pay Once Shutdown Ends. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0ab-b94&t=c>
(1/16, Collins) reports President Trump signed legislation Wednesday
guaranteeing that furloughed federal workers will be paid retroactively
once the shutdown ends. The legislation, which was passed by both the House
and the Senate last week, “does not spell out specifically when workers
will see the money but says they will be paid as soon as possible when the
shutdown ends.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0ac-bd2&t=c>
(1/16, Fredericks) notes lawmakers passed the bill last week, “unanimously
in the Senate and in the House by a vote of 411 to 7.”

        *Thousands Of Furloughed Workers Line Up At Washington, DC Soup
Kitchen. *NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0ad-d95&t=c>
(1/16, story 5, 1:10, Holt) reported that “hundreds of thousands struggling
without a paycheck. In the nation’s capital, at World Central Kitchen,
thousands showed up for a free meal.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0ae-0c7&t=c>
(1/16, story 5, 2:30, Muir) likewise said that “unpaid workers — many for
the TSA, the Coast Guard, the IRS, so many government workers — now lining
up for food,” and the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0af-c35&t=c>
(1/16, story 4, 1:50, Glor) reported that “just blocks from the White
House, the line was steady outside this 2019 shutdown version of a soup
kitchen for unpaid government workers and their families.”

        *USDA Call Backs 2,500 Furloughed Workers. *Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b0-826&t=c>
(1/16, Fernandez) reports Agriculture Secretary Perdue announced Wednesday
that “the USDA has called back 2,500 furloughed workers to temporarily
provide limited financial services for farmers and ranchers affected by the
government shutdown.” Roughly “half of all Farm Service Agency offices will
be reopened Jan. 17, 18 and 22 to provide services for agricultural
producers with existing farm loans, expiring financing statements and
unprocessed payments made on or before Dec. 31.”

        *National Park Service Using Fees To Keep Parks Open During
Shutdown. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b1-baf&t=c>
(1/16, Bastasch) reports the Administration is “tapping into recreation
fees charged to provide basic services at national parks while the federal
government remains shut down.” Administration officials “wanted to keep
national parks accessible during the ongoing government shutdown, in sharp
contrast to the 2013 shutdown, but came under fire amid a slew of reports
that parks were being trashed.” Now, National Park Service officials are
“allowed to tap into revenues to stay open and provide basic services.”
Giuliani: “I Never Said There Was No Collusion Between The Campaign” And
Russia.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b2-f61&t=c>
(1/16), “I never said there was no collusion between the campaign. Or
between people in the campaign,” and Russia, but “there is not a single bit
of evidence the President of the United States committed the only crime you
could commit here, conspired with the Russians to hack the DNC” and “he
didn’t collude with Russia either.” Giuliani said that former campaign
chairman Paul Manafort giving Russia polling data is not collusion “because
polling data is given to everybody,” but added that “he shouldn’t have
given it to them.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b3-359&t=c>
(1/16, Morton) reports that in “another exchange, Mr. Cuomo pointed out
that when Paul Manafort, who has pleaded guilty to crimes related to his
interactions with Kremlin officials, was in charge of the Trump campaign
during the Republican nominating convention, the party watered down its
platform on supporting Ukraine against Moscow.” Giuliani replied that
“Trump didn’t know that.” Cuomo replied, “He didn’t know about his own
party platform?” Giuliani said, “Chris, come on. You’ve been around
politics enough to know. Candidates don’t know a damn thing about the
platform. They don’t pay any attention … They care about their acceptance
speech.”

        Also reporting Giuliani’s comments, the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b4-7de&t=c>
(1/16, Lim) reports the interview came as Vanity Fair
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b5-dc1&t=c>
reported Wednesday that Giuliani “hates” being one of Trump’s external
attorneys. The magazine “additionally reported that the former New York
mayor expected Mueller’s final report...will be ‘horrific’ for the
president.”

        *Lara Trump: Only Collusion Between Russia And Clinton Campaign. *The
President’s daughter-in-law and senior adviser Lara Trump said on Fox News’
Hannity
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b6-1da&t=c>
(1/16), “There is the Russian collusion: with the Hillary Clinton Campaign.
Not with the Trump Campaign. We have all from day one said there has never
been any Russian collusion. The President has said it. I said it many
times.”

        *Giuliani: Trump Will Not Answer Any More Questions. *Trump lawyer
Rudy Giuliani said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b7-ab1&t=c>
(1/16), “We told them six weeks ago that we would not take anymore
questions. That was at the time we found out a lot of very disturbing
things about how they’ve conducted themselves, including one today that’s
devastating to Mueller. And basically, you know, destroying the 19,000
texts [belonging to Peter Strzok and Lisa Page] that were all done during
the period of time of the Mueller investigation. Every single one of his
text messages has been destroyed by Mueller’s people.”

        *Papadopoulos Says FBI Asked Him To Spy On Maltese Professor.
*The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b8-a3f&t=c>
(1/16, Ross) reports former Trump aide George Papadopoulos told Congress
last October “that the FBI offered to pay him to travel to London to
conduct surveillance on Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor who allegedly
claimed that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton.” Papadopoulos says he
“rejected the offer, which was made during a Jan. 31, 2017 meeting with an
FBI agent in Chicago.” Papadopoulos, the Caller notes, has served a 14-day
prison sentence for “lying to the FBI about the extent of his contacts with
Mifsud.” Portions of Papadopoulos’ testimony were published Wednesday by The
Epoch Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0b9-82f&t=c>.

        *AP Analysis: Barr May Not Release Much Of Final Mueller Report To
Public. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0ba-acc&t=c>
(1/16, Day, Tucker) reports special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe
“has to end with a report,” but “anyone looking for a grand narrative on
President Donald Trump, Russian election interference and all the juicy
details uncovered over the last 20 months could end up disappointed.”
Attorney General nominee William Barr told senators during his confirmation
hearing Tuesday that “he wants to release as much information as he can,”
but “also made clear that he will ultimately decide what the public sees —
and that any report will be in his words, not Mueller’s.”

        Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0bb-e8e&t=c>
(1/16), “I don’t think the Mueller report is going to be an enormous event.
I don’t think it’s this political bomb that goes off. In fact, many of
those that seem to have information regarding the report are trying to
downplay some of the expectations. I think it’s going to be more of a
whimper than a lot of people expect. Either way, I think the American
people want to know. I think they should know.”
GSA IG Expresses Constitutional Concerns Over Trump Hotel Lease.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0bc-4ca&t=c>
(1/16, Chiacu) reports there were “serious shortcomings” in the General
Services Administration’s handling of President Trump’s lease of the
government-owned building that houses his Trump International Hotel in
Washington, according to a report released Wednesday by the GSA’s inspector
general. The GSA “did not address constitutional issues involved in
management of the lease, according to its inspector general’s report, and
‘the constitutional issues surrounding the president’s business interests
in the lease remain unresolved.’”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0bd-530&t=c>
(1/16, Fahrenthold) says the IG’s report indicated the GSA “ignored”
concerns that Trump’s lease on a government-owned building “might violate
the Constitution when it allowed Trump to keep the lease after he took
office.” The report “does not recommend that Trump’s lease be canceled,”
but instead, the inspector general “recommends a new legal review of the
deal.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0be-77a&t=c>
(1/16, Boyer) says the report “renewed condemnation from Democrats over the
deal,” and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0bf-064&t=c>
(1/16, Jansen) reports Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), who heads the
Appropriations subcommittee that oversees GSA, said the agency’s disregard
for the Constitution “is beyond troubling.”

        *WPost A1: T-Mobile Executives Frequent Trump Hotel After
Announcing Merger With Sprint. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0c0-450&t=c>
(1/15, A1, O'Connell, Fahrenthold) reports on its front page that one day
after T-Mobile announced its proposed merger with Sprint, “nine of
T-Mobile’s top executives” stayed at the Trump International Hotel. A VIP
list given to hotel staffers included T-Mobile’s “chief operating officer,
chief technology officer, chief strategy officer and chief financial
officer, and its outspoken celebrity chief executive, John Legere.”
Executives from the carrier “have returned to President Trump’s hotel
repeatedly since then, according to eyewitnesses and hotel documents
obtained by The Washington Post.” According to The Post, “seven weeks after
the announcement of the merger, hotel records indicated that one T-Mobile
executive was making his 10th visit to the hotel.” Legere himself “appears
to have made at least four visits to the Trump hotel, walking the lobby in
his T-Mobile gear.” The Post said, “These visits highlight a stark reality
in Washington, unprecedented in modern American history.”
Leaked Ohr Transcript: After Comey Firing, FBI Sought Out Steele.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0c1-3f9&t=c>
(1/16, Scarborough) reports that “after FBI chieftains targeted President
Trump as a possible Russian agent in May 2017, they also reached out to an
old informant, ex-British spy Christopher Steele, creator of the
much-disputed election-year dossier, according to new congressional
testimony.” According to a leaked transcript of closed-door testimony from
former Associate Attorney General Bruce Ohr, “Steele continued to brief the
Justice Department well into the term of Special Counsel Robert Mueller,
until at least November 2017.”

        In an apparent reference to the leaked Ohr transcript, Sean Hannity
said in his opening monologue on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019011701biden&r=email-a100&l=0c2-c78&t=c>
(1/16), “Damaging new information detailing that James Comey, Andrew McCabe
and others, top officials at the FBI and the DOJ willfully committed FISA
court fraud in the leadup to the 2016 election to his assist Hillary. They
did it knowingly. ... That is what happened under James Comey’s leadership.
That is why so many top officials surrounding Comey under his leadership
have either been fired, demoted, forced to resign and we know that people
like McCabe and Baker looked at criminally. This is a criminal
investigation. Because this was abuse of power and rampant. The bias
unconscionable. Corruption is widespread.”
Judge Orders Susan Rice, Other Obama Officials To Answer Questions In
Clinton Email Case.

USA Today
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(1/16, Cummings) reports that a federal judge “has breathed new life into
questions surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a
private email server” and the 2012 Benghazi attack. Judge Royce Lamberth
ruled Tuesday that Obama Administration officials, including national
security adviser Susan Rice and deputy national security adviser Ben
Rhodes, “must answer written questions as part of a conservative judicial
advocacy group’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State
Department over Clinton’s emails.” The lawsuit by Judicial Watch “claims
that Clinton intentionally used her private email server in an attempt to
shield her communications from FOIA requests and that the State Department
acted deceptively and did not really try to complete the request.”
Wheeler Defends His Tenure At EPA, Says Climate Change Not “Greatest
Crisis” Facing US.

The AP
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(1/16, Knickmeyer) reports that in an appearance before the Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works, Andrew Wheeler, who has been
nominated by President Trump to become the permanent EPA administrator,
“called climate change ‘a huge issue’ but not the ‘greatest crisis,’
drawing fire from Democrats at his confirmation hearing over the regulatory
rollbacks he’s made in six months as the agency’s acting administrator.”
According to the AP, “Republicans on the GOP-majority Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee mostly had praise for” Wheeler, and committee
chairman, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) described Wheeler as “very well
qualified.”

        The New York Times
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(1/16, Friedman) reports that Democrats “painted [Wheeler] as a danger to
clean air and water laws,” while Wheeler “vigorously defended his work over
the past several months rolling back Obama-era regulations, including the
replacement of a broad plan to reduce emissions from coal-fired power
plants, known as the Clean Power Plan, with weaker rules.” The Washington
Post
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(1/16, Eilperin) says Wheeler “has continued to generate controversy
because of the policies he’s continued to advance at the helm of the EPA,”
and “protesters began chanting as soon as he began speaking, only to be
removed from the room by police.” Reuters
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(1/16, Volcovici) and Politico
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(1/16, Adragna, Guillén), among other news outlets, run similar reports.
Cancer Research
Opinion: More Diversity In Clinical Trials Needed.

Dr. Jane L. Delgado, president and CEO of the National Alliance for
Hispanic Health, and Dr. Edward Abrahams, president of the Personalized
Medicine Coalition, write in an opinion piece for STAT
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(1/17) that advocacy groups for decades “have urged the National Institutes
of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the biopharmaceutical
industry to include people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, as
well as women, in clinical trials.” Notably, the NIH Revitalization Act of
1993 “requires all federally funded clinical research to prioritize the
inclusion of women and underserved racial and ethnic groups.” However,
between 1993 and 2013, “less than 2 percent of cancer studies have included
enough racial and ethnic group participants to report relevant results.”
While the physicians say “there is no single solution to the problem,” they
believe “the NIH’s recently launched All of Us Research Program is a good
start.”
Study Suggests LGBTQ Knowledge Gap Among Oncologists.

CBS News
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(1/16, Welch) reports a study
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published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests “many doctors are
lacking in knowledge about treating members of the LGBTQ community.” The
study involved 450 oncologists who work at NCI-designated cancer centers.
Study author Gwendolyn Quinn, PhD, of NYU Langone Health, said, “These are
the best of the best. If things are not happening at NCI centers, they’re
probably not happening at smaller community centers.”

        HemOnc Today
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(1/16, Leiser) reports “oncologists expressed a high interest in receiving
more training and education about the care of LGBTQ patients with cancer.”
Editorials/Op-Eds
New York Times.

*“Britain Races Toward A Cliff. Time To Slow Down.”* The New York Times
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(1/16) editorializes, “Staring in the face of an exit without a deal 10
weeks from now may finally compel British lawmakers to accept reality.” The
Times adds that British leaders must deal with their real options which the
Times says are: “trying to forge a consensus position on a new Brexit deal
and hoping the Europeans will consider it; or opting for a new referendum,
which is favored by politicians who believe that enough of the public has
reconsidered Brexit to scrap the idea; or accepting Mrs. May’s deal.” The
Times argues that all sides must agree to extend the deadline in order to
continue the discussion.
Washington Post.

*“A Suspect Detention.”* In an editorial, the Washington Post
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(1/16) condemns ICE for detaining Roxana Santos, who “was racially
profiled” and illegally arrested by Frederick County, Maryland sheriff’s
deputies. As a federal appeals court just “ruled that her arrest and 45-day
detention ran afoul of the Constitution” and held the county government
liable for damages, “the timing of the arrest has the unsavory appearance
of one law enforcement agency colluding to spare another from the
consequences of its misconduct,” especially as US District Court Judge
Catherine C. Blake said the court “strongly urges” that ICE hold off on
deporting her while her claim is litigated. The Post calls the case “a
textbook example of a local law enforcement agency’s contempt for civil
rights and a federal law enforcement agency’s misuse of resources” and
concludes that “whatever the outcome of the immigration proceedings against
her, it would be an outrage if her civil rights suit were derailed short of
resolution.”

        *“A Dubious Wine Law.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
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(1/16) writes, “Tennessee’s is a dubious law, but the problem for its
opponents is precisely that the 21st Amendment returned liquor-control
power to the states.” Additionally, striking down the law based on the
Commerce Clause might invalidate “the common requirement that production,
wholesale and retail business be carried on separately by in-state firms,”
which “would not fit the clear intent and meaning of the 21st Amendment, a
product of a very different time and culture but no less binding a piece of
constitutional text for all that.” Instead, the Post recommends the law be
struck down based on the Privileges and Immunities Clause. The Post
concludes that however the curt rules, its “goal should be to attack one
state’s vestigial, irrational law while leaving the bigger wine cases for
another day.”

        *“Our Alarming Climate.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
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(1/16) wrote, “Alarm is the only reasonable reaction” to the frequent dire
findings on climate change, calling for the US to “adopt policies such as a
carbon tax that would encourage economic growth without emissions growth.”
The Post adds, “by doing too little to respond to the warming threat,
humans are effectively betting their future on the notion that the climate
consequences of their behaviors will fall on the relatively benign end of
the spectrum of possibilities,” when the consequences could actually “fall
on the far more severe end.” The Post concludes, “Future generations will
find it unthinkable that the world responded so weakly in the face of such
clear warnings.”

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