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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email protected]>
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 6, 2019 8:00 AM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, March 6, 2019


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=001-983&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, March 6, 2019 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• 2020 Democratic Primary Poll: Biden 31%; Sanders 27%; Harris 11%. <#S1>

• Sen. Doug Jones On Biden: He’s “The Kind Of Leader That We Need.” <#S2>

• Democratic Voters In CNN Focus Group Say They Don’t Want Biden To Run For
President. <#S3>

• HuffPost’s Carter: Biden “Has Enthusiastically Championed Policies
Favored By Financial Elites.” <#S4>

• HuffPost: In 1974, Biden Said Roe V Wade Ruling “Went Too Far.” <#S5>

• VOA Analysis: Biden Bid Would Comes With Advantages, Drawbacks. <#S6>

• Ben Shapiro Decries Criticism Biden Received From The Left Over Pence
Remark. <#S7>

• Article Highlights Ages Of Biden, Some Other 2020 Contenders. <#S8>

• Bloomberg Opts Against 2020 Presidential Bid. <#S9>

• Sanders Signs DNC-Required Pledge To Run, Govern As Democrat. <#S10>

• Castro Focusing Heavily On Wooing Latino Voters. <#S11>

• Author Blasts Klobuchar Over Alleged Mistreatment Of Staff. <#S12>

• Inslee Says He Welcomes Support Of Super PAC Backing His 2020 Bid. <#S13>

• Most Top 2020 Democratic Contenders Support Legalizing Marijuana. <#S14>

• 2020 Democrats Embracing Ethanol. <#S15>

• Trump Disappointed Clinton Won’t Run In 2020. <#S16>

• WPost Analysis: Trump’s Numbers With Independents Are Problematic. <#S17>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Trump Criticizes Democrats’ “Overreach” And “Harassment” Amid New
Requests For Information. <#S18>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Bolton: US Will Consider Ramping Up Sanctions If North Korea Doesn’t
Denuclearize. <#S19>

• Trump Agrees “100 Percent” With Lawmakers That Some US Forces Should Stay
In Syria. <#S20>

• Bolton: US Looking At New Sanctions To Limit Maduro’s Power In Venezuela.
<#S21>

• General: Pentagon Has No Plan To Deter Russia From Deploying New Missiles.
<#S22>

• State Department Declines To Elaborate On Pompeo’s Remark On Taliban
“Terrorists.” <#S23>

• Bipartisan Group Of Senators Threatens Saudi Arabia Sanctions Over
Khashoggi Killing. <#S24>

• Pompeo To Visit Israel Three Weeks Before Netanyahu’s Reelection Bid.
<#S25>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Administration Urges GOP Senators To Support Border Emergency Declaration.
<#S26>

• White House Rejects House Democrats’ Document Request Regarding Security
Clearances. <#S27>

• Budget Deficit Widened 77% In First Four Months Of Fiscal Year. <#S28>

• Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Suicide Among Veterans. <#S29>

• McConnell: Senate Will Vote On “Green New Deal” In Coming Weeks. <#S30>

• T-Mobile Discloses Spending At Trump’s Washington Hotel After Merger
Announcement. <#S31>

• Study: Broadcast News Ignores Positive Economic News Under Trump. <#S32>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Potential Impact Of President’s $500M Childhood Cancer Commitment On
Local Family Highlighted. <#S33>

• Iowa Slow To Adopt Widespread HPV Vaccination, Data Show. <#S34>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S35>

• Washington Post. <#S36>
Biden in the News
2020 Democratic Primary Poll: Biden 31%; Sanders 27%; Harris 11%.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=002-e75&t=c>
(3/5, Greenwood) reported that a Morning Consult poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=003-a19&t=c>
of 12,560 Democratic voters, taken Feb. 25-March 3, shows former Vice
President Joe Biden leading a hypothetical 2020 Democratic presidential
primary with 31%, followed By Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at 27%, Sen.
Kamala Harris (D-CA) at 11%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at 7%, ex-Rep.
Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) at 6%, and a raft of other announced and potential
contenders lagging further behind. The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=004-e62&t=c>
(3/5, Stucky) reported that Biden’s 31% support in the poll “is two
percentage points higher than his standing last week, despite the fact that
he has yet to actually enter the race.” On its website, MSNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=005-2a8&t=c>
(3/5) posted a video of political analyst Steve Kornacki discussing the
poll results.

*Florida Poll Shows Trump “In Trouble,” Biden Up Big In Democratic
Race. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=006-4a2&t=c>
(3/6, Caputo) reports that a Bendixen & Amandi International (D) poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=007-e7b&t=c>
of 602 Florida voters, taken March 1-4, shows that President Trump “is in
trouble in Florida, a state that’s crucial to his reelection hopes.” In the
poll, 40% of respondents “said they believed the president should be
reelected,” compared with 53% who said he shouldn’t. Trump’s “approval
ratings were also poor, with 43 percent having a favorable impression of”
the President, “and 52 percent viewing him unfavorably – and 46 percent
very unfavorably.” The poll (300 Democratic voters) shows Biden leading a
hypothetical Democratic presidential primary with 26%, followed by Sanders
at 11%, Harris at 9%, and the other contenders lagging far behind; 46% were
undecided.
Sen. Doug Jones On Biden: He’s “The Kind Of Leader That We Need.”

On its website, Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=008-bd9&t=c>
(3/5, Goodkind) provides a transcript of an interview with Sen. Doug Jones
(D-AL), who was asked during the sit-down, “Joe Biden is a good pal of
yours. What are you thinking about a potential 2020 run?” Jones replied,
“I’ve talked to Joe several times about the pros and cons of running. I’ve
always believed that of all of the politicians and public servants that
I’ve met in my life, Joe would make a great president. He’s got all of the
qualifications, he’s got the temperament and I think he’s got that appeal
that can reach across a broad section of the American public. I mean,
young, old, black, white, Hispanic, you name it – Joe can reach a lot of
different people and I think that’s the kind of leader that we need.”
Democratic Voters In CNN Focus Group Say They Don’t Want Biden To Run For
President.

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=009-c43&t=c>
(3/5, Ryan) reported that six “voters who say they backed Hillary Clinton
in the 2016 presidential election say they are unexcited by the prospect of
former Vice President Joe Biden entering the 2020 field. ‘How many of you
would like to see Joe Biden get in? Show of hands,’ CNN’s Alisyn Camerota
asked the panel of six Democrats, selected from Ohio, New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania, on ‘New Day’ Tuesday morning. No one raised their hands.”
Video of the segment can be seen by accessing the above hyperlink.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=00a-3bb&t=c>
(3/5, Concha) reported, “The focus group’s dismissal of Biden is notable
since” he “has been leading a number of public opinion polls and is seen as
the potential front-runner.” Asked about Biden, Carol Evans, a member of
the focus group, said, “His time is done.” Another member of the focus
group, Russel Banks, said, “I will be honest. He was riding the Obama wave
and I thought he was a person that would unite the party, but to be honest,
Sen. Biden really comes from kind of the good old boy politics of the
past.” A third member of the group added, “I don’t think Joe Biden
represents that new thing that we need. We need a new economy, we need new
politics and we need someone different.”

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=00b-1b8&t=c>
(3/5) reported that the members of the focus group “had the same response
to the possibility of another Clinton run in 2020.” However, “nearly every
member of the focus group believed that former President Barack Obama
needed to join in the race and campaign in favor of whichever Democrat
survived the highly contentious party primary.” The Root
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=00c-d76&t=c>
(3/5, Crockett), Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=00d-23c&t=c>
(3/5, Rodriguez), the Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=00e-09e&t=c>
(3/5, Rowan), and Real Clear Politics
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=00f-3be&t=c>
(3/5, Schwartz) also highlight the comments from the CNN focus group.
HuffPost’s Carter: Biden “Has Enthusiastically Championed Policies Favored
By Financial Elites.”

In a piece for the Huffington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=010-a36&t=c>
(3/5), Zach Carter said that while former Vice President Joe Biden has been
casting himself as “Middle-Class Joe,” “there’s only one problem with this
carefully cultivated image: Joe Biden’s entire career. In more than four
decades of public service, Biden has enthusiastically championed policies
favored by financial elites, forging alliances with Wall Street and the
political right to notch legislative victories that ran counter to the
populist ideas that now animate his party.”

In a report on the HuffPost article, Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=011-1b3&t=c>
(3/5, Huston) said that Carter mentions “several examples of Biden’s work
in favor of big money. The article cites a 1979 fight between Biden and
Sen. Ted Kennedy where Biden supported big money corporations over
Kennedy’s hopes to limit the growth of corporations. And then there was
Biden’s effort to scuttle Democrat plans to alter anti-trust laws to make
it easier for consumers to sue big corporations. The article even dredged
up a Biden quote where he commented favorably about ‘voting conservative’”
in 1974.

*Breitbart’s Nolte: CNN, HuffPost Trying “To Discourage” Biden From
Running. *Under the heading “Far-Left CNN, HuffPost Already Rigging The
Primary Against Joe Biden,” John Nolte wrote at Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=012-6cc&t=c>
(3/5) that the HuffPost piece by Carter and the aforementioned CNN focus
group of Democratic voters were intended “to discourage this 77-year-old
white male from jumping into the primary.” Nolte added that “CNN rigged the
focus group so that no one would support Biden. HuffPost is gaming the
system out of the fear a more centrist Biden might win the nomination.”
HuffPost: In 1974, Biden Said Roe V Wade Ruling “Went Too Far.”

Under the headline “Biden In 1974: Women Don’t Have Sole Right To Say What
Should Happen To Their Bodies,” the Huffington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=013-c79&t=c>
(3/5, Hatch) reported that former Vice President Joe Biden, at the time a
senator, “said
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=014-d2e&t=c>
in a 1974 interview with Washingtonian that he believed the Supreme Court’s
Roe v. Wade ruling clearing the way for legal first-trimester abortions
‘went too far,’ and that he didn’t ‘think that a woman has the sole right
to say what should happen to her body.’” Biden is also quoted as saying in
the interview, “My wife said I was the most socially conservative man she
had ever known. When it comes to issues like abortion, amnesty, and acid,
I’m about as liberal as your grandmother.” HuffPost added, “A spokeswoman
for Biden told HuffPost in 2015 that Biden’s comments in Washingtonian were
taken out of context.”
VOA Analysis: Biden Bid Would Comes With Advantages, Drawbacks.

Writing for Voice of America
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=015-5ca&t=c>
(3/6), Jim Malone discusses a possible 2020 bid by former Vice President
Joe Biden, saying that while the 76-year-old Democrat “would become the
oldest person ever elected president,” he “does have some advantages. He
leads in the polls and is the nearest thing to a Democratic front-runner.”
However, he’d “also have to confront a fear that he may be past his prime
as a candidate and may not fit in with a Democratic Party that seems to be
veering to the left and driven by younger voters.” John Hudak of the
Brookings Institute said, “Obviously there are challenges that Vice
President Biden faces, including having run a couple of failed presidential
campaigns. But also having a record as a senator on criminal justice issues
that are very far out of step with mainstream Democratic values today. And
so, the 1994 version of Joe Biden may be the worst opponent for the 2020
version of Joe Biden.”
Ben Shapiro Decries Criticism Biden Received From The Left Over Pence
Remark.

Writing at National Review
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=016-121&t=c>
(3/5), Ben Shapiro discussed the criticism former Vice President Joe Biden
received from the left after he described Vice President Mike Pence as a
“decent guy.” Shapiro said, “We have large-scale disagreements in this
country. Very few of those disagreements are rooted in animus. By casting
all disagreement as hate-based – and by destroying those with whom we
disagree on a character level – we worsen both hate and politics. ... It’s
just fine for Joe Biden to think Mike Pence is a decent guy. And it’s
pretty indecent to disagree.”
Article Highlights Ages Of Biden, Some Other 2020 Contenders.

The Wilmington (DE) News Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=017-4d3&t=c>
(3/5, Bies) reports that if former Vice President Joe Biden, “currently
76,” won the 2020 race for the White House, “he’d be 78 years old by the
time he was sworn in, displacing Donald Trump as the oldest person elected
president of the United States. The debate is already raging: Is Biden too
old to run for president?” The article highlights the ages of some other
2020 hopefuls, including “Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, 69, and
Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 77, as well as Massachusetts’s governor,
73-year-old William Weld. President Donald Trump is 72.”
Bloomberg Opts Against 2020 Presidential Bid.

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=018-cd2&t=c>
(3/5, story 8, 0:20, Glor) reported, “The field of Democrats running for
president next year remains at 12, with two big names now opting out.
[Ex-New York City Mayor] Mike Bloomberg wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=019-37f&t=c>
today he believes he would beat President Trump, but added, ‘I am
clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in
such a crowded filed.’ Last night, the 2016 nominee, Hillary Clinton, ruled
out another run.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=01a-87f&t=c>
(3/6, Peoples) reports that rather than seek the White House, Bloomberg
“said he planned to focus his energy and considerable resources on outside
efforts aimed at” beating “Trump, as well as on combating climate change
and addressing gun violence.” The AP adds that “aides said internal polling
suggested Bloomberg’s path to the Democratic nomination was narrow,
particularly if Vice President Joe Biden – who shares some of Bloomberg’s
moderate positions – decides to run.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=01b-ec7&t=c>
(3/5, Burns) reports that Bloomberg’s “decision appears to reflect a
recognition of the long odds he would have faced as a moderate newcomer in
an unapologetically liberal party, and his own unsentimental calculus about
the trade-offs involved in running. After conducting polling and other
research, Mr. Bloomberg’s advisers concluded he would have a real but
narrow path to the nomination – and that it could all but vanish
if...Biden” runs. The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=01c-29d&t=c>
(3/5, Scherer) reports, “Throughout the process” of exploring a run, the
possibility of a bid by Biden “loomed large, as Bloomberg’s advisers
concluded that he appealed to a similar set of primary voters.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=01d-c71&t=c>
(3/5, Oliphant) reports, “Any path to the nomination for Bloomberg would
have been complicated by the entry of...Biden, another moderate, into the
race. Biden has said he will decide soon whether to mount a run.” The Daily
Beast
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=01e-807&t=c>
(3/5, Resnick) reported that Bloomberg’s “absence in the contest leaves a
wider lane for a centrist candidate like...Biden, who could feel more of a
push to make a final decision in the coming weeks.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=01f-cca&t=c>
(3/5, Epstein) also reports on the story.
Sanders Signs DNC-Required Pledge To Run, Govern As Democrat.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=020-a22&t=c>
(3/5, Wagner, Weigel) reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), “a longtime
independent, signed a pledge Tuesday saying he would seek the presidency as
a Democrat and govern as a Democrat if elected. The move comes in response
to a new rule from the” DNC requiring “all candidates for the party’s 2020
presidential nomination to sign such a pledge.” Sanders, “who caucuses with
Democrats in the Senate and has said he will support the Democratic
presidential nominee in 2020 no matter how the nominating contests go, has
frustrated some in the party by remaining politically independent.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=021-cba&t=c>
(3/5, Morin) reported that the new DNC rule requires “all the party’s
candidates to ‘run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party.’ The DNC
last year passed the rule, which angered a number of Sanders’ 2016 advisers
when it was first proposed.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=022-e80&t=c>
(3/5, Greenwood) reported that Sanders’ “supporters viewed the rule change
as directly focused on him after the self-described democratic socialist
sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 without formally
declaring himself a member of the party.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=023-0d2&t=c>
(3/5, Morton) reports on Sanders’ move, saying, “America’s best-known
socialist is now officially a Democrat.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=024-c78&t=c>
(3/5, Thomas) and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=025-d4a&t=c>
(3/5, Hayes) also report on the story.

*Lingering Clinton-Sanders Rivalry Heats Up Early In 2020 Race. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=026-cda&t=c>
(3/5, Otterbein) reported that Sanders and Hillary Clinton “formally made
peace at a New Hampshire unity event in July 2016 where the two rivals
sought to put the acrimonious Democratic primary behind them. Clinton
staffers, however, weren’t party to that agreement. And now that Sanders is
embarking on a second run for president, they’re” detailing “what they see
as” his “flaws, imperfections and vulnerabilities – much as he once did to
their ex-boss during a primary that saw mud flying on both sides.”

Similarly, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=027-462&t=c>
(3/5, Summers, Slodysko) reports, “The 2020 Democratic primary may be in
full swing, but the bruising 2016 contest between Sanders and Clinton never
ended for some. In the opening days of Sanders’ latest campaign, Clinton’s
supporters have warned that he will drag the party to the extreme left and
have threatened to reveal unsavory details about him. Sanders and some of
his backers have been strikingly dismissive of” Clinton. Now, “the entire
Democratic field risks getting bogged down in the last campaign instead of
positioning themselves to beat President Donald Trump.”

*In Second Presidential Bid, Sanders Working To Improve His Appeal
Among Blacks. *The Huffington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=028-a40&t=c>
(3/5, Marans) reported that Sanders “made racial justice a central theme of
the first two rallies of his presidential campaign, a major shift from the
launch of his 2016 presidential run.” That “dramatic rhetorical shift is
part of a multi-pronged strategy Sanders is employing to address what he
and his advisers see as one of the biggest weaknesses of his 2016 run: a
lack of traction among non-millennial black voters and a perception that
his focus on class barriers reflects an insensitivity to racial bias. Since
announcing his presidential run in late February, Sanders has announced a
racially diverse roster of senior staff members and top surrogates, opened
up about his history of participation in the civil rights movement, and put
a greater emphasis on fighting racism as an evil in itself, rather than
indirectly through economic policies.”

*Staff Convinced Sanders “To Get More Personal, And Be A Little
Less Gruff.” *Writing for The Atlantic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=029-3a3&t=c>
(3/5), Edward-Isaac Dovere says, “Grumpy has always been...Sanders’s brand.
But now that he’s running for president to win, his advisers keep pushing
him to soften up.” Sanders “fought his staff for weeks as they pushed him
to get more personal, and be a little less gruff, as he launched his second
presidential campaign.” The staff, however, “finally convinced him that the
mission was going to fail if he didn’t. So he spent the weekend in Brooklyn
and Chicago launching his campaign with rallies meant to emphasize the
experiences that made him who he is – the son of a paint salesman who fled
from anti-Semitism in Poland, and the student at the University of Chicago
whose activism led him to get on a bus in 1963 and travel to hear the ‘I
Have a Dream’ speech in Washington, DC.”
Castro Focusing Heavily On Wooing Latino Voters.

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=02a-8ae&t=c>
(3/5, Finnegan) reported, “With more than a dozen Democrats now” mounting
2020 White House runs, ex-HUD Secretary Julian Castro “is charting a path
unlike any of the others, as his visit to California on Monday made clear.”
In Los Angeles, he fielded “questions from a Chicano studies class at
UCLA,” sat for “a television interview with Univision anchor León Krauze,”
and “led a roundtable of black and Latino neighborhood activists.” As “the
only Latino in the race at a time when many Democrats are appalled by
President Trump’s fight to block immigrants from entering the US from
Mexico,” Castro “has set his sights on scoring delegates in states with big
Latino populations, among them California, Nevada and Texas.”
Author Blasts Klobuchar Over Alleged Mistreatment Of Staff.

Writing for The Atlantic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=02b-570&t=c>
(3/5), author Caitlin Flanagan says that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) “has a
problem. ... Her problem is rage, easily uncorked, and directed not at the
various forces that might thwart the needs of her constituents, but at the
people – many of them young – who work for her.” Flanagan says “the recent
reporting of BuzzFeed News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=02c-bb0&t=c>,
HuffPost
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=02d-373&t=c>,
The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=02e-84d&t=c>,
and others” has detailed current and former staff members’ allegations of
mistreatment at the hands of Klobuchar, who has sought “to frame the
behavior as part of the high expectations she has of herself and her
staff.” Flanagan adds, “It’s shameful to humiliate and mistreat employees,
no matter your gender. It’s unacceptable to be so unable to control your
emotions that you throw things toward co-workers, and despicable to do it
to subordinates who are afraid of you.”
Inslee Says He Welcomes Support Of Super PAC Backing His 2020 Bid.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=02f-9e8&t=c>
(3/5, Jaffe, Slodysko) reports that Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) on Tuesday said
“that he welcomed the support of a super PAC even as many fellow 2020
Democratic presidential candidates have rejected them, voicing concern that
they give the wealthy outsized political influence.” The super PAC “Act Now
on Climate was formed last month specifically to back Inslee’s eventual
presidential bid, a detail he glided past at an Iowa campaign stop as he
explained why he welcomed them.” Said Inslee, “They want to defeat climate
change, and this is something I’ve been very passionate about for decades.
So, no, I won’t be condemning any organization that’s trying to defeat
climate change.” His comments “come after the liberal group End Citizens
United called on Inslee to disavow the group.”
Most Top 2020 Democratic Contenders Support Legalizing Marijuana.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=030-22d&t=c>
(3/6, Whitesides) reports that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “has reintroduced
his U.S. Senate bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level”; ex-Rep.
Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) has “called for expunging the records of those
arrested for possession of the drug,” and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has
“admitted she had smoked pot.” On the issue of “legalizing marijuana,” says
Reuters, a number “of the current and potential 2020 Democratic
presidential contenders are eager to show they are cool with cannabis.
Their embrace of the issue reflects a rapid shift in public opinion that
has brought what was once an extreme political position into the
mainstream.”

Similarly, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=031-c30&t=c>
(3/6, Wilson) reports, “Virtually every major” Democratic hopeful “running
for president has publicly supported a raft of proposals to legalize
marijuana, erase past convictions for minor possession and remove marijuana
from the federal Controlled Substances Act.” The Hill adds, “It is a sea
change of epic proportions, one that mirrors radical reversals in public
policy of the recent past like the expansion of multistate lottery games in
the 1980s and 1990s or the embrace of same-sex marriage laws in the 2000s
and 2010s. In all three cases, hesitant politicians who were once loath to
take a risky stand found themselves at odds with a more permissive public
that no longer found legalization outside the mainstream.”
2020 Democrats Embracing Ethanol.

Writing for Politico Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=032-113&t=c>
(3/5), Michael Grunwald said that while the Democratic Party has “lost most
of its support in farm country,” every “leading 2020 Democrat” running for
president “who has taken a position on ethanol is for it.” Grunwald said
the candidates “still seem to think they can revive their brand in farm
country by pledging allegiance to the government’s longstanding efforts to
prop up ethanol.” They are focusing on the issue, added Grunwald, partially
because “opposition to ethanol is far down the list of priorities for
environmental groups,” and because “Democrats have done so badly in the
economically depressed rural areas that helped Trump flip their state red
in 2016, they feel even greater political pressure to embrace ethanol in
2020.”
Trump Disappointed Clinton Won’t Run In 2020.

In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=033-578&t=c>
Tuesday evening, President Trump reacted to news that Hillary Clinton has
decided not to enter the 2020 presidential race. Trump wrote, “‘(Crooked)
Hillary Clinton confirms she will not run in 2020, rules out a third bid
for White House.’ Aw-shucks, does that mean I won’t get to run against her
again? She will be sorely missed!” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=034-8d3&t=c>
(3/5, Athey) said Trump “reacted with disappointment” to news of Clinton’s
decision. Trump, the DC adds, “has repeatedly mocked Clinton for her loss
against him in 2016 and has even attempted to taunt her into joining the
2020 race.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=035-79f&t=c>
(3/5, Correll) reported Clinton told News 12 Westchester, “I’m not running,
but I’m going to keep on working and speaking and standing up for what I
believe. ... I want to be sure that people understand I’m going to keep
speaking out. ... I’m not going anywhere. What’s at stake in our country,
the kind of things that are happening right now are deeply troubling to me.
And I’m also thinking hard about how do we start talking and listening to
each other again? We’ve just gotten so polarized. We’ve gotten into really
opposing camps unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my adult life.” David Muir
said on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=036-494&t=c>
(3/5, story 9, 0:45, Muir) that Clinton responded to Trump with a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=037-21d&t=c>
of her own saying, “Why are you so obsessed with me?”
WPost Analysis: Trump’s Numbers With Independents Are Problematic.

In an analysis for the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=038-861&t=c>
(3/5), Philip Bump cites an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released over
the weekend in which “41 percent of respondents indicated that they will
definitely or probably vote for President Trump’s reelection,” while “48
percent say they definitely or probably will vote against him.” Bump says
this is “the worst margin on this question that any incumbent has seen at
the equivalent point in the last four presidential bids for reelection.”
Bump adds that Independents “are 18 percentage points more likely to say
they’ll vote against Trump than vote for him.” Meanwhile, “86 percent of
Republicans already plan to support Trump and 90 percent of Democrats plan
to oppose them,” which “suggest[s] that Trump’s standing with independents
is in problematic territory.”
Leading the News
Trump Criticizes Democrats’ “Overreach” And “Harassment” Amid New Requests
For Information.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=039-9a2&t=c>
(3/5, story 6, 1:35, Muir) reported President Trump called Democrats
“stone-cold crazy” after House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler “made 81
new requests for information.” ABC’s Cecilia Vega: “The House Judiciary
Committee [is] demanding documents from 81 people and entities close to the
President, including his sons, Don Jr. and Eric., [Jared] Kushner, and
former aides like Hope Hicks and Steve Bannon. And they want to know about
everything, from the President’s one-on-one meetings with Vladimir Putin to
the now infamous Trump Tower meeting with that Russian lawyer and whether
President Trump and his family are profiting from the presidency. The White
House furious, but Democrats undaunted.” Nadler: “There has to be a check
on the executive. We have to protect the rule of law, and that’s what we’re
doing here.”

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=03a-d45&t=c>
at 5:14 a.m., “Now that they realize the only Collusion with Russia was
done by Crooked Hillary Clinton & the Democrats, Nadler, [House
Intelligence Chairman Adam] Schiff and the Dem heads of the Committees have
gone stone cold CRAZY. 81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them.
They won’t get ANYTHING done for our Country!” An hour later, he tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=03b-ae2&t=c>,
“The greatest overreach in the history of our Country. The Dems are
obstructing justice and will not get anything done. A big, fat, fishing
expedition desperately in search of a crime, when in fact the real crime is
what the Dems are doing, and have done!” He immediately followed by tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=03c-a27&t=c>,
“PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!”

The President returned to the theme after 11:00 p.m., retweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=03d-5da&t=c>
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’ statement on the “fishing
expedition” and also retweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=03e-bde&t=c>
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel writing, “While @realDonaldTrump was
successful in the private sector, career politicians enrich themselves by
spending decades in DC. Now they’re attacking his success through a fishing
expedition. They know there was no Russia collusion. These are
investigations in search of a crime.” At 11:27 p.m., the President tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=03f-f67&t=c>,
“Hans Von Spakovsky, ‘I haven’t seen any evidence of actual violations of
the law, which is usually a basis before you start an investigation. Adam
Schiff seems to be copying Joseph McCarthy in wanting to open up
investigations when they don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing.’”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=040-43b&t=c>
(3/5, Wagner) reports, “At an afternoon event at the White House, Trump
told reporters that Democrats had hurt their chances of working with him on
policy issues.” The President said, “It’s too bad, because I’d rather see
them do legislation. Instead of doing infrastructure, instead of doing
health care, instead of doing so many things that they should be doing,
they want to play games.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=041-6ef&t=c>
(3/5, Howell, Boyer) reports, “Democratic investigators claim they can walk
and chew gum at the same time, yet Mr. Trump says they decided to poke into
his administration, business contacts and family members to dent his
presidency, as the 2020 election looms.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=042-794&t=c>
(3/5, Lucey, Miller) says Trump’s “response points to his increasing
frustration with Congress and his intention to seize on the investigations
as evidence that he is under siege in Washington.” While he “is far from
the first president to bristle at Capitol Hill oversight, his enthusiastic
embrace of political victimhood is still novel – and stands to serve as a
key part of his re-election argument. Trump has made railing against the
so-called witch hunt against him a staple of his rallies and speeches.”

Kaitlan Collins said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=043-0bb&t=c>
(3/5) that her sources in the White House think Democrats “went too broad.
... They think they went too wide, that it will get lost in the noise, that
the people that thought the President who was a criminal before won’t have
their minds changed, and the people who supported the President and don’t
care won’t have their minds changed by that either.” Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=044-3ba&t=c>
(3/5, Rummler) reports, “64% of American voters believe President Trump
committed crimes before he became president, while just 24% believe he did
not, according to Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday.” But voters “are more
divided on the question of whether or not Trump committed crimes during his
presidency, with 45% responding yes and 43% no.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=045-fcb&t=c>
(3/5, Jackson, Fritze) reports that as Trump “attacked House Democrats on
Tuesday for launching various investigations against him, White House
lawyers set up the prospect of a subpoena fight by rejecting a request for
documents on security clearances. The House committee seeking the documents
‘has failed to point to any authority establishing a legitimate legislative
purpose’ for its ‘unprecedented and extraordinarily intrusive demands,’
said a letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=046-745&t=c>
(3/5, Ballhaus) reports the requests cover nearly every aspect of the
President’s Administration, campaign, and business.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=047-ceb&t=c>
(3/5, Fabian) reports the President “suggested he was unwilling to comply
with the House Judiciary Committee’s requests for documents related to 81
of his associates, citing what he said was former President Obama’s
handling of congressional probes during his time in office.” Trump said,
“They didn’t give one letter. They didn’t do anything. They didn’t give one
letter of the requests.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=048-4d8&t=c>
(3/5, Qiu) reports in a “Fact Check” piece that Trump “wrongly suggested
that his predecessor didn’t turn over any documents to Congress.” While
President Obama “did invoke executive privilege in at least one instance,
Mr. Trump is wrong that his predecessor did not turn over any documents at
all.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=049-269&t=c>
(3/5, Enjeti) briefly covers Trump’s assertion as well.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=04a-238&t=c>
(3/5), “There’s never been more questionable conduct by a presidential
campaign, a presidential inaugural committee, a presidential Administration
and his Cabinet, than this Trump team. This is a house of cards. ... It is
a plethora of opportunities for the House to look into because they have
violated so many areas of the rule of law and decorum in our society. We
were elected in large numbers to...provide oversight, which is something
that has been missing for two years.”

Rep. Harley Rouda (D-CA) was asked on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=04b-98b&t=c>
(3/5) how Democrats will respond if the White House refuses to turn over
requested documents. Rouda said, “I think the first thing is, subpoenas. If
we can’t get the dissemination of the documents we requested voluntarily,
we are left with no other alternative but to issue subpoenas for that
information. Then, we fully expect the White House and the Administration
to provide those documents.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=04c-d1a&t=c>
(3/5) says in an editorial that many of the alleged offenses Nadler is
investigating, such as firing then-FBI Director James Comey, may have been
ill-advised, but are within the President’s constitutional purview and are
therefore not illegal nor grounds for impeachment.

*Inaugural Committee Chair Barrack Will Cooperate With House
Judiciary Committee. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=04d-bb0&t=c>
(3/5, Halaschak) reports Tom Barrack, the chair of Trump’s inaugural
committee, “says he will cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee in a
probe whose subjects include potential foreign money sources for the
January 2017 festivities.” He “told CNBC that he would ‘fully cooperate
with the Committee’s important work as he has with all government
inquiries.’”

*Schiff Hires Goldman As Director Of Investigations. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=04e-922&t=c>
(3/5) reports Schiff “announced Tuesday that he hired Daniel Goldman as
senior adviser and director of investigations. Goldman formerly worked in
the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of New York.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=04f-95f&t=c>
(3/5, Layne, Hosenball) reports Goldman, “who until recently was a frequent
TV commentator on the special counsel’s Russia investigation, said he was
‘excited’ to join the committee’s probe.” He said in a statement, “Under
Chairman Schiff’s leadership, we intend to run a professional investigation
designed to uncover the facts and the truth.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=050-b31&t=c>
(3/5, Scarborough) reports that Goldman “is a big proponent of the
discarded dossier about President Trump, tweeting as recently as Dec. 27
that ‘nothing has been undermined thus far.’”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=051-e95&t=c>
(3/5, Demirjian) reports, “Schiff has long promised to focus the
committee’s efforts on questions of money laundering, financial leverage
foreign entities might have over Trump and his businesses, and whether
Trump sought to use his political and presidential contacts to improve his
own bottom line, during the campaign and since becoming president.”

*House Democrats Expected To Seek 10 Years Of Trump’s Tax Returns. *The
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=052-c99&t=c>
(3/5, Werner) reports House Democrats are “likely to request 10 years of
President Trump’s tax returns in coming weeks, tailoring their inquiry in a
way they hope will survive a court battle.” According to the Post, “The
exact parameters of the request are still in flux, including whether to
seek tax returns related to Trump’s many business enterprises in addition
to his personal returns.” The Post says House Ways and Means Chairman
Richard Neal and congressional attorneys “are in the advanced stages of
preparing the request.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=053-66b&t=c>
(3/5, Faler) reports, “A 1924 law allows the heads of Congress’ tax
committees to examine anyone’s confidential tax filings. Lawmakers can also
vote to make those returns publicly available, experts say.” The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=054-b5e&t=c>
(3/5, Jativa) also has a brief item on the expected request.

*New York Financial Regulator Subpoenas Trump Organization
Insurance Broker. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=055-28e&t=c>
(3/5, McCoy) reports the New York Department of Financial Services has
subpoenaed Aon, “a London-headquartered financial services company that is
one of the world’s largest insurance brokerages,” for documents. Aon serves
as insurance broker for the Trump Organization, and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=056-3f7&t=c>
(3/5, Fahrenthold) reports the subpoenaed came after Cohen told Congress
“that Trump exaggerated his wealth to insurance companies.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=057-283&t=c>
(3/5, Ramey) reports that an Aon spokeswoman said the company had received
the subpoena, and added, “As is our policy, we intend to cooperate with all
regulatory bodies. We do not comment on specific client matters.”

*NYTimes Analysis: Trump Wrote Checks To Cohen In Midst Of Official
Work. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=058-826&t=c>
(3/5, Baker, Haberman) reports that the dates on “newly available checks”
that Trump wrote to then-attorney Michael Cohen “shed light on the parallel
lives Mr. Trump was living.” Trump “hosted a foreign leader in the Oval
Office, then wrote a check. He haggled over legislation, then wrote a
check. He traveled abroad, then wrote a check. On the same day he
reportedly pressured the F.B.I. director to drop an investigation into a
former aide, the president’s trust issued a check to Mr. Cohen in
furtherance of what federal prosecutors have called a criminal scheme to
violate campaign finance laws at the direction of Mr. Trump.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=059-c62&t=c>
(3/5, Zapotosky, Hamburger, Rucker), following up on a Wall Street Journal
report indicating that Cohen discussed a possible pardon with Trump
attorneys, writes that Cohen “has privately claimed that a pardon was
dangled to him by Trump’s representatives, people familiar with the matter
say – though he has been unspecific about the timing or substance of the
talks.”

*Reuters Analysis: Barr Walking “Political And Legal Tightrope” On
Mueller Report. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=05a-870&t=c>
(3/5, Lynch) reports legal experts say Attorney General Barr “must walk a
political and legal tightrope in deciding how much of Special Counsel
Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s role in the 2016 election to disclose,
balancing competing demands” from Trump and congressional Democrats.
Reuters says the decision “presents Barr, a veteran Washington insider,
with his first major test” since returning to the DOJ last month.

David Ignatius writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=05b-2d5&t=c>
(3/5) column that Mueller’s final report “should present Congress with a
clean choice: Either the facts warrant impeachment of President Trump or
they don’t. ... In a country with a healthy political system, Mueller’s
report would lead to such a consensus and resolution. But we don’t live in
that country. Instead, congressional Democrats seem to want it both ways,”
arguing that investigations “should continue (and even expand) after
Mueller finishes, but not necessarily through a formal, disciplined
impeachment process. ... The Republicans, meanwhile, are continuing their
ruinous campaign to investigate the investigators – further undermining
public confidence in the FBI and the intelligence community.”

*Ex-Trump Lawyer Cobb Calls Mueller “An American Hero.” *ABC World
News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=05c-004&t=c>
(3/5, story 7, 1:05, Muir) reported that Ty Cobb, a former attorney for the
President, “had praise for Mueller” in an interview with an ABC News
podcast. Cobb: “I think Bob Mueller’s an American hero. I don’t feel the
investigation is a witch hunt. I wish it had happened on a quicker
timetable, but it didn’t. And that’s, you know, that’s unfortunate. But at
the same time, it’s not – it’s not a real criticism of the special counsel
on the timing, because there were a lot of surprises.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=05d-1f7&t=c>
(3/5, Wagner) reports that Cobb “joined the White House shortly after
Mueller’s investigation began in 2017,” but “departed in May last year as
Trump and his surrogates took a more aggressive approach in trying to
discredit the investigation.”

Aaron Blake writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=05e-a3a&t=c>
(3/5), “Elsewhere in the interview, Cobb rather gently alludes to the
discord in the White House and the many challenges of serving the 45th
president. One quote is particularly timely, given recent events.” Cobb
said of Trump, “You know, he is a very direct – forceful – presence. He
wants to get stuff done. He hates obstacles. And he reacts strongly in the
face of obstacles to try to move them out of the way, or find somebody who
will move them out of the way for him so he can do things.” Blake says
Cobb’s “comments come as a series of reports speak directly to his point:
Trump pushing for very questionable action with regard to the ‘obstacles’
he faces.”

*Mueller Team Says Manafort Has Not Shown Remorse. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=05f-466&t=c>
(3/5, Tucker) reports Mueller’s team says ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul
Manafort “has not shown remorse or taken responsibility for his crimes.”
The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=060-7c3&t=c>
(3/5, Mordock) reports prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo, “The
defendant blames everyone from the Special Counsel’s Office to his
Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=061-946&t=c>
(3/5, Wheeler) reports, “Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday
afternoon in his criminal case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia. The former Trump campaign chairman was convicted over
the summer of eight criminal charges, including five counts of filing false
tax returns, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to report
foreign bank accounts.”

*Judge Says Stone Book May Violate Gag Order. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=062-134&t=c>
(3/5, Lynch) reports US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said
Tuesday that last month’s publication of a book by ex-Trump political
adviser Roger Stone “may violate a media gag order – a transgression that
could land the self-proclaimed ‘dirty trickster’ behind bars.” Jackson
“ordered Stone and his lawyers to provide her with a report by Monday
explaining how he plans to comply with the order, and also demanded that he
turn over certain records detailing everything he knew about the book’s
release.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=063-4c0&t=c>
(3/5, Hsu) reports the order “does not spell out consequences but bodes ill
for the longtime friend of President Trump and Republican operative.”

*Graham Says He Told Trump To Follow Clinton’s Lead On Governing
Under Threat Of Impeachment. *Bloomberg
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=064-bdd&t=c>
(3/5, Flatley) reports Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a “Donald Trump ally,”
said the President “would do well to follow the model of former President
Bill Clinton in leading the country while under the cloud of investigation
and threat of impeachment.” Graham said he told the President Tuesday,
“Govern the country. That’s what Clinton did.”

*Steyer Group’s Ads Target Jordan, Meadows On Trump Impeachment. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=065-791&t=c>
(3/5, Barrón-López) reported billionaire Tom Steyer is taking aim at Reps.
Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) – “two of President Donald
Trump’s fiercest defenders in Congress.” Steyer’s Need to Impeach PAC “is
launching a week-long TV ad campaign in districts currently held by the two
GOP members of the House oversight committee. ... The ads are the first
from Need to Impeach aimed at specific Republican members on the issue and
will cost the group a modest $75,000 in the two districts.”
Foreign Policy
Bolton: US Will Consider Ramping Up Sanctions If North Korea Doesn’t
Denuclearize.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=066-62e&t=c>
(3/6, Alexander, Brunnstrom) reports National Security Adviser Bolton, in
an interview Tuesday with Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=067-261&t=c>
(3/5), said the US will look at increasing economic sanctions on North
Korea if the regime doesn’t shutter its nuclear program. Said Bolton, “If
they’re not willing to do it, then I think President Trump has been very
clear ... they’re not going to get relief from the crushing economic
sanctions that have been imposed on them and we’ll look at ramping those
sanctions up in fact.”

Bloomberg
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=068-4eb&t=c>
(3/6, Jacobs, Harney) quotes Bolton as saying, “We’re going to see a lot of
potential decisions coming out of North Korea, whether they’re serious
about the talks, whether they want to get back into them and fundamentally
whether they’re committed to giving up their nuclear weapons program and
everything associated with it.” He added, “The President’s ready to make a
deal, he’s ready to meet again. He’s pointed to that bright economic future
and if Kim Jong-un decides he wants to take advantage of it, the
President’s ready to talk to him.”

*Satellite Imagery Shows North Korea Has Restored Part Of Key
Missile Launch Site. *Citing South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and two US
think tanks, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=069-427&t=c>
(3/5, Brunnstrom, Lambert) reports North Korea has restored part of its
Tongchang-ri missile launch site. South Korean lawmakers briefed by the
National Intelligence Service (NIS) said the work involved replacing a roof
and a door at the facility, and satellite imagery “showed that structures
on the launch pad had been rebuilt.” However, Yonhap quoted South Korean
lawmakers “as saying there had been no sign of reprocessing of plutonium
from the reactor and that tunnels at North Korea’s main nuclear test site
in Punggye-ri had remained shut down and unattended since their widely
publicized destruction in May.” Speaking with Reuters, “a U.S. government
source said the NIS was considered reliable on such issues, but added that
the work described did not seem particularly alarming.”

The Washington Post
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(3/5, Denyer) reports “the rebuilding work at the Sohae Satellite Launching
Station began sometime between Feb. 16 and March 2, according to satellite
imagery, meaning it began either just before or immediately after the
breakdown of” the summit meeting between Trump and Kim on February 28. The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=06b-66a&t=c>
(3/5, Choe) reports NSI officials who spoke with South Korean lawmakers
Tuesday “indicated that North Korea had been rebuilding the Tongchang-ri
facilities even before the Hanoi summit meeting, South Korean news media
reported on Wednesday.” The North “may have wanted to rebuild them in order
to make their dismantling more dramatic if the Hanoi summit produced a deal
with the Americans, the intelligence officials were quoted as saying. Or it
may have wanted the option to resume rocket tests if the Hanoi talks broke
down, they said.”

Meanwhile, Kristen Welker covered the White House’s reaction to
these revelations for NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
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(3/5, story 2, 0:40, Holt), reporting that White House Press Secretary
Sarah Sanders said the White House “does not comment on intelligence.”

*Paul Says “Discussion Is Good,” But Expresses Doubts About Kim’s
Willingness To Denuclearize. *Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was asked on CNN’s The
Lead[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(3/5) if he would recommend a third summit if Kim has not committed to a
step toward denuclearization. Paul said, “I think discussion and diplomacy
is always good. I think the President has been brave to have an opening to
a discussion when many said he shouldn’t talk to Kim at all. I have always
been a little bit wary and in disbelief that Kim would negotiate away his
nuclear weapons. That is the ultimate goal and I think discussion is good.
So, if it meant another summit, yes, I would continue to have talks. But, I
have my doubts as to whether or not Kim will give up his nuclear weapons.”

*North Korean Hackers Targeted US Banks, Utilities During
Summit. *Brian
Todd on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=06e-501&t=c>
(3/5, 5:51 p.m. EST) said a new report from security firm McAfee says
“North Korean hackers have tried to infiltrate nearly 80 government-related
organizations,” as well as American infrastructure, and that Kim’s “army of
hackers was continuing its campaign targeting American businesses even as
[Kim] was telling the world he wanted peace.” Likewise, Andrea Mitchell
reported on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=06f-cb0&t=c>
(3/5, lead story, 1:35, Holt) that “cyber experts say North Korean hackers
kept attacking US banks and utilities even during the summit.”

*Olsen: Canceling Joint Exercises With South Korea Gives North A
Free Bargaining Chip. *In an opinion piece, Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=070-080&t=c>
(3/5) columnist Henry Olsen says the Administration “apparently acceded to
a key North Korean demand without getting anything in return” when he opted
“to walk away from annual military exercises with our South Korean allies.”
Olsen says, “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had specifically protested the
annual exercises in his New Year’s Day speech, reiterating a longtime
demand.” However, “Trump said he never discussed canceling the maneuvers
with Kim at the recently concluded Hanoi summit. Giving away a valuable
bargaining chip for nothing is usually not a good move.” Olsen warns the
Administration not to “compound” its “error by allowing North Korea or the
Chinese to think they can bargain away our alliance in exchange for vain
promises or a smaller trade deficit.”

*O’Hanlon: Trump’s Approach To North Korea Has An Inherent Logic. *In
his Wall Street Journal
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(3/5) column, Brookings Institution senior fellow Michael O’Hanlon says
Trump’s approach to North Korea has an inherent logic and is similar, in
some ways, to the strategy employed by the Clinton Administration. However,
because Trump is dealing with Kim, not his father, he may garner better
results. O’Hanlon says Trump is making a smart offer to Kim by showing that
he’s willing to tolerate some parts of the regime’s nuclear arsenal in the
short term while lifting sanctions and encouraging foreign investment in
the regime. However, O’Hanlon asserts that economic pressure must be
maintained throughout future negotiations and advises Trump against
agreeing to a third summit without securing a real commitment from Kim to
denuclearize.
Trump Agrees “100 Percent” With Lawmakers That Some US Forces Should Stay
In Syria.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=072-fb0&t=c>
(3/5, Gearan, Demirjian) reports President Trump, “in a handwritten
notation to members of Congress who had written to Trump in concern over
his” plan to withdraw US troops from Syria, said “he agrees ‘100 percent’
that some US forces should remain,” which the Post calls “an about-face
from his insistence months ago that the American mission there was complete
and that all US troops would return home immediately.” The Post adds,
“Trump penned his response, in bold lettering that appeared to come from a
Sharpie marker, directly on a copy of the letter” written by a bipartisan
group of lawmakers “applaud[ing] the White House announcement on Feb. 21
that ‘a small peacekeeping group of about 200’ US troops will stay in Syria
beyond the planned withdrawal of most American forces this spring.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019030601biden&r=email-a673&l=073-b90&t=c>
(3/5, Correll) reports Trump “highlighted a paragraph emphasizing the
lawmakers’ goals for US involvement in Syria.” The paragraph read, “Like
you, we seek to ensure that all of the gains made in Syria are not lost,
that ISIS never returns, that Iran is not emboldened, and that we
consolidate our gains and ensure the best outcome in Geneva for American
interests. Those are all important objectives.”

*Hundreds Of ISIS Figh