From: The Washington Post <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: The Daily 202: Hope Hicks's FBI interviews underscore Trump's impulse to stonewall and hold back damaging info Sent: Tue. 3 Dec 2019 16:24:54 +0000 If you're having trouble reading this, click here. Share: Listen to The Big Idea Hope Hicks's FBI interviews underscore Trump's impulse to stonewall and hold back damaging info President Trump kisses Hope Hicks goodbye on her last day as White House communications director on March 29, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AP) BY JAMES HOHMANN with Mariana Mara THE BIG IDEA: What emails about Ukraine does President Trump think, or hope, will never get out? During two interviews with FBI agents and members of Bob Mueller's team last year, former White House communications director Hope Hicks recounted the president's reaction to the discovery of damning emails about the meeting his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort took with a Russian emissary at Trump Tower in June 2016. "Throughout Hicks' conversations with Trump, it was clear to her that Trump did not think the emails would get out," according to the FBI's summary of her first interview, which was released on Monday night in response to an open-records lawsuit. "Hicks' EFTA00046834

impression was Trump meant the emails would not get out to the press, but he did not say that explicitly." Hicks said she thought the messages would come out eventually and warned Trump that they would become "a massive" story." She wanted "Junior" — as the FBI summaries refer to the president's eldest son — to give an interview to a friendly media outlet, where he could take "softball questions," to minimize the fallout. "The President said they should not do anything, asked why so many people had the emails, and said they needed to let the lawyers deal with it," Hicks recalled to the FBI. There are no fresh bombshells in these new summaries. The juiciest material appeared in Mueller's 448-page report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. But the memos about Hicks's FBI sit-downs, which both occurred in March 2018, offer a revealing window into how Trump tries to control bad news. Trump's unwillingness to rip off the Band-Aid and get out in front of bad facts has resulted in a drip, drip, drip of revelations that have clouded most of his tenure in office. -- Hicks's comments are newly relevant against the backdrop of the impeachment inquiry. The White House's categorical refusal to comply with subpoenas for documents, from phone records to emails, has made it harder for investigators to corroborate sworn testimony from witnesses about the alleged campaign to coerce Ukraine's new president to announce an investigation into former vice president Joe Biden in exchange for a White House meeting and nearly $400 million in military aid that had already been approved by Congress. A confidential White House review of Trump's decision to freeze the aid has turned up hundreds of documents that reveal extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for the decision and a debate over whether the delay was legal, three of my colleagues reported last week. But none of those emails have been turned over to investigators. Trump appointees at the departments of State, Energy and Defense have also defied subpoenas and refused to produce documents that get at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. They have justified doing so by making absolutist claims of presidential privilege EFTA00046835

that have led to protracted litigation in the courts. The White House is refusing to participate at all in the House Judiciary Committee's first impeachment hearing on Wednesday. For her part, Ivanka Trump repeatedly conducted official government business on her personal email account throughout much of 2017, sending hundreds of emails in potential violation of federal recordkeeping rules. The White House adviser did so after her father made Hillary Clinton's private email use as secretary of state a centerpiece of his stump speech, egging on crowds as they chanted "Lock her up." The House Oversight Committee has unsuccessfully sought to subpoena Ivanka Trump's emails. Hope Hicks testifies during a closed-door hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on June 19. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) -- House Democrats are also quietly debating whether they should expand articles of impeachment to include charges stemming from the Mueller report, including the episode Hicks discussed with the FBI. "Members of the House Judiciary Committee and other more liberal-minded lawmakers and congressional aides have been privately discussing the possibility of drafting articles that include obstruction of justice or other 'high crimes' they believe are clearly outlined in [the Mueller report] — or allegations that Trump has used his office to benefit his bottom line," Rachael Bade reports. "The idea, however, is running into resistance from some moderate Democrats wary of impeachment blowback in their GOP-leaning districts, as well as Democratic leaders who sought to keep impeachment narrowly focused on allegations that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals ... The debate is expected to play out in leadership and caucus meetings this week." When the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Hicks to appear for a closed-door interview this June about the possible instances of obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller report, the former White House communications director refused to answer any question related to her interactions with Trump after Election Day in 2016. Citing a directive from White House lawyers, Hicks declined to answer 155 different questions EFTA00046836

from lawmakers, according to a transcript. -- BuzzFeed News and CNN filed lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act to force the release of these FBI notes, known as "302 reports," that were created as part of the two-year Mueller probe. The 295-page tranche that went out last night is quite repetitive, and the interviews are still mostly whited out. The media outlets pledged to challenge the heavy redactions as part of the ongoing litigation to obtain records. Hicks left the White House last year and now works at the Fox Corporation in Los Angeles as a public relations executive. During another closed-door deposition in February 2018, while she was still employed by the White House, Hicks acknowledged that she occasionally told "white lies" for Trump. Hicks was advised at the beginning of both her interviews that it is a crime to lie to the FBI in the course of an investigation, which she acknowledged. -- Hicks told the FBI agents that "Trump was angry, surprised, and frustrated" when Mueller was appointed as special counsel in May 2017. "The only other time she had seen Trump like that was when the Access Hollywood tape came out during the campaign," according to the FBI notes. "Trump thought the fact that the intelligence community assessed the Russians had interfered in the 2016 election was his Achilles heel," she added, according to the summary. "Even if it had no impact on the election, Trump thought that was what people would think. He thought the assessment took away from what he did." CONTENT FROM PARTNERSHIP FOR AMERICA'S HEALTH CARE FUTURE Stop one-size-fits-all new government insurance systems Independent analysts estimate the cost of some one-size-fits-all health care proposals could more than double income taxes for every American family. We can't afford a new government insurance system. EFTA00046837

Hope Hicks confers with Trump in the Oval Office on June 16. 2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) -- Hicks was treated like family during her time as a member of the Trump inner circle. The president referred to her affectionately as "Hopey." He called her more often than his chief of staff at the time. The onetime fashion model from Greenwich, Conn., whose dad was a top executive at the NFL, was tight with the president's kids, who she had gotten to know during her work for the Trump Organization before the presidential campaign. That's how she ended up in the White House residence on the morning of June 22, 2017, with only Trump, Kushner and Ivanka Trump. "Kushner had a manila folder with documents with him and said to the President that they had found one thing that the President should know about, but it was not a big deal," according to Hicks' account. "Kushner told Trump that he, Don Jr. and Paul Manafort had attended a meeting during the campaign. When he started to open the folder, Hicks said, the president stopped him and said he did not want to know about it." Hicks believed Kushner's folder included emails about the June 2016 meeting. The next week, on June 28, Kushner asked Hicks and his spokesman Josh Raffel to go to the offices of someone whose name has been redacted (perhaps a lawyer) to review documents. "Hicks was shocked by the emails concerning the meeting she and Raffel reviewed," the FBI write-up says. "She thought they looked really bad." The next day, on June 29, Hicks joined Kushner, Ivanka Trump and the president in his personal dining room to discuss about the emails. "Hicks' initial reaction was that they should get in front of the emails," according to the FBI summary. "Kushner responded that it wasn't a big deal, just a meeting about Russian adoption. Kushner reminded the president that he had previously mentioned a meeting, and the President said he did not want to know about it." EFTA00046838

When Hicks said the story was going to become "massive," the FBI summary says, 'the President did not want to talk about it and did not want details." Trump then asked Kushner when his document production was due. Kushner told him it would be a couple of weeks. "Then leave it alone," Trump told Kushner, according to Hicks. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump board Air Force One in October. (Andrew Harnik/AP) Fast forward a week to July 7. Kushner and Ivanka Trump came to Hicks's hotel room in Germany to confer about how to respond to a story the New York Times was working on about the Trump Tower meeting. The next day, while they were all at the G-20 summit, Hicks alerted Trump about what the Times was chasing. The president told her not to comment. Hicks and Trump talked again later that day. "The President asked what the meeting was about. Hicks told him Kushner and Junior had told her the meeting was about Russian adoption," according to the FBI summary. "The President said words to the effect of, 'Then just say that,' and dictated what she should say." When they got to Air Force One for the flight back, one of Junior's representatives texted Hicks the statement that the president's son wanted to provide to the media. "She took that to the President's cabin and read him Junior's statement," according to the FBI summary. "He told her they should not respond. Hicks advocated for providing the full story. The President did not say what was wrong with Junior's statement, but just felt they were giving the media too much. ... After meeting with Trump about Junior's statement, Hicks returned to a seat and started texting with Junior. They worked on the statement for a period and ultimately settled on the statement that went to the press." During that flight back to Washington, Hicks also went to Trump's cabin to tell him that then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus knew about the emails. There are four redacted paragraphs about what happened next. — A reminder of what was in the emails: British music publicist Rob Goldstone, who EFTA00046839

Don Jr. knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, emailed the candidate's son to say that he knew a person who wanted "to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father." Goldstone explained: "This is part of Russia and its government's support of Trump" "[I]f it's what you say I love it," Don Jr. replied, "especially later in the summer." That's how the Trump Tower meeting got set up. It wasn't adoption. During the transition, Hicks told reporters in a statement that the Trump campaign had "no contact" with "any foreign entity," including the Russians. She told the FBI that she recalled talking about this with fellow advisers Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, Jason Miller and "probably" Kushner. "Hicks told the group she was planning to respond to the press and there was no hesitation or pushback from any of them," according to the FBI notes. President Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn before boarding Marine One on Monday. (Andrew Harnik/AP) — Other takeaways from the FBI notes released last night: 1. Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer, told FBI agents in November 2018 that he informed Trump during the campaign that he had spoken with a "woman from the Kremlin" about the plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. "Cohen told Trump he spoke with a woman from the Kremlin who had asked specific and great questions about Trump Tower Moscow, and that he wished Trump Organization had assistants that were that good and competent," according to the FBI summary. "He also said that in his letter to Congress about the development, he initially wrote that EFTA00046840

he had 'limited contact with Russian officials.' But that line was struck from the letter. Cohen said he did not know who specifically struck it," BuzzFeed notes. "It was the decision of the JDA to take it out," the document says, referring to lawyers from the Joint Defense Agreement who represented the Trump family, Cohen, and Kushner, "and Cohen did not push back." Cohen also told the FBI that he spoke with Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow about pardons after his home and office were raided. Sekulow told the AP that Cohen's statements were false. 2. Former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates told the FBI that, if Rudy Giuliani had been the attorney general, some in the president's orbit believed he wouldn't have recused himself, as Jeff Sessions did, from the Russia investigation. "After the recusal, he recalled conversations where people offered their opinion that had Rudy Giuliani been attorney general, he would not have recused himself," according to the FBI summary. "Gates knew Giuliani had been the first choice for attorney general, but turned it down because he wanted to be Secretary of State instead." 3. Former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein told the FBI he was "angry, ashamed, horrified and embarrassed" at how Jim Comey was fired as FBI director. "Rosenstein said he was asked during a White House meeting one day before Comey's firing to produce a memo laying out his concerns with the FBI chief. He said he knew when he left the office that day that Comey would be fired, though he said he did not expect for his memo to be immediately released, and was surprised by the portrayal in the media that the termination was his idea instead of the White House's," the AP reports. "Rosenstein said he expected Comey would be contacted by either Trump or Sessions so a meeting could be scheduled and he could be fired in person. Comey instead learned of his firing from television while speaking with agents in Los Angeles. "At one point during the interview, as Rosenstein was describing how he had 'always liked Jim Comey' but disagreed with his decisions in the Clinton case, the deputy attorney general 'paused a moment, appearing to have been overcome by emotion, but quickly recovered and apologized,' according to the FBI." EFTA00046841

— The Post just published a six-part digital series to go along with the illustrated Mueller report. This is drawn directly from episodes detailed in the report in which prosecutors found possible evidence of obstruction of justice, as well as congressional testimony and Washington Post reporting. Dialogue is taken from text messages, contemporaneous notes and interviews conducted by Mueller's team and the FBI. The digital project pairs with a graphic nonfiction book being published today by Scribner. -- Crowd-sourcing a Big Idea: I'm planning to write an edition of the Daily 202 later this week on the 10 biggest storylines of the 2010s, based on reader input. If you could sum up this decade in one word or phrase, what would it be? Besides Trump, what do you think was the single most important story or issue of the decade? How will history remember "the teens"? Message me at [email protected], and I'll highlight some of the most thoughtful emails. Thanks to everyone who wrote in yesterday. So many smart answers! Attorney General William Barr listens as Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Nov. 26. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) THE LATEST ON THE INVESTIGATIONS: -- Attorney General Bill Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department's inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report about the FBI's Russia investigation. Barr appears to disagree "that the FBI had enough information in July 2016 to justify launching an investigation into members of the Trump campaign," Devlin Barrett and Karoun Demirjian scoop. "The Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horo-witz, is due to release his long-awaited findings in a week, but behind the scenes at the Justice Department, disagreement has surfaced about one of Horowitz's central conclusions on the origins of the Russia investigation. ... The inspector general report, currently in draft form, is being finalized after input from various witnesses and offices that were scrutinized by the inspector general. Barr or a senior Justice Department official could submit a formal letter as part of that process, which would then be included in the final report." EFTA00046842

-- The Ukrainian government became aware of Trump's freeze on military aid in July, according to former deputy foreign minister Olena Zerkal. From the Times: "'We had this information,' Ms. Zerkal said in an interview. 'It was definitely mentioned there were some issues.' ... Ms. Zerkal's account is the first public acknowledgment by a Ukrainian official that senior figures in Kyiv knew about the aid freeze during the Trump administration's pressure campaign — and that the Zelensky administration sought to keep that fact from surfacing to avoid getting drawn into the American impeachment debate. She said her own government blocked a trip she had planned to Washington to meet members of Congress in October, worried she would discuss matters related to impeachment and drag its president into an inquiry he has been eager to avoid. 'They worried about this,' she said of Mr. Zelensky's advisers. 'They said, 'This is not the time for you to travel to D.C." The cancellation of her trip was confirmed by Congressional aides." — The Ukraine pressure campaign began as an effort to undermine the Mueller investigation. Rosalind S. Helderman reports: "As 2018 came to a close, the special counsel investigation was bearing down on [Trump.] ... It was in this uncertain moment that [Giuliani] said he had the idea to focus on Ukraine. ... The direct connection between the Mueller investigation and the Ukraine pressure campaign, often lost as the administration has reeled from controversy to controversy, shows the deep imprint the Russia investigation has had on the president. ... Giuliani has repeatedly said the public does not appreciate the extent to which his work in Ukraine was driven by the Mueller investigation, rather than — as Democrats have alleged — as an effort to bolster Trump's 2020 reelection." -- The Senate Intelligence Committee already investigated allegations of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 campaign. From Politico: "Trump's allies have defended his demand for political investigations from Ukraine by claiming that the government in Kyiv tried to sabotage his candidacy ... But the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee thoroughly investigated that theory, according to people with direct knowledge of the inquiry, and found no evidence that Ukraine waged a top-down interference campaign akin to the Kremlin's efforts to help Trump win in 2016. The committee's Republican chairman, Richard Burr of North Carolina, said in October 2017 EFTA00046843

that the panel would be examining 'collusion by either campaign during the 2016 elections.' But an interview that fall with the Democratic consultant at the heart of the accusation that Kyiv meddled, Alexandra Chalupa, was fruitless, a committee source said, and Republicans didn't follow up or request any more witnesses related to the issue." -- House Republicans said Trump acted out of "genuine" concern about corruption in Ukraine and wariness about foreign aid in a preemptive rebuttal to Democratic allegations that Trump abused his power. Mike DeBonis reports: "In a 123-page draft report, GOP investigators assert that Democrats failed to make the case that Trump committed impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors ... Nor, the Republicans say, do Democrats have a basis for impeachment in Trump's decision to spurn House document requests and witness subpoenas pertaining to Trump's Ukraine dealings. Instead, the draft GOP report contends, the impeachment effort is 'an orchestrated campaign to upend our political system' ... The Republican report will serve as an initial blueprint for the GOP defense of Trump..." — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said the majority's report will be released publicly today. "We are putting the finishing touches on the report," he told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. The panel is scheduled to vote this evening to approve its public release ahead of tomorrow's Judiciary hearing. -- Federal prosecutors will probably bring more charges against Giuliani's associates Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas. From NPR: "A superseding indictment — which could add to or modify the existing charges — is likely, prosecutors said on Monday, but also adding that they're continuing to evaluate the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and FBI investigators are making their way through what prosecutor Douglas Zolkind called a 'voluminous' amount of evidence in the case — around 9 gigabytes' worth. Clearing their way through that material — which includes electronic devices, phone records, bank records and more — would set the stage for the next steps." -- The IRS whistleblower who raised concerns about political interference in the EFTA00046844

presidential audit program declined to voluntarily appear for a transcribed interview with the Senate Finance Committee, possibly because he was threatened with retaliation by his superiors. From CNN: "After raising concerns over the summer, the whistleblower met in November with Republican and Democratic staffers on the committee but has declined an invitation to appear for a follow-up ... [T]he whistleblower declined the transcribed interview after an official informed the whistleblower that it could be considered a violation of IRS code to provide the committee with any information related to an individual taxpayer. Under IRS code 6103, IRS employees can be fired, fined or even jailed for disclosing taxpayer information. It is unclear what next step the committee will take. One option would be to issue a subpoena, but it is not clear that is the route the committee would take." -- Commentary from The Post's opinion page: • Columnist Dana Milbank: "Pat Cipollone is the dog that caught the car." • The Editorial Board: "If Trump has a substantive defense, he should send advisers to testify." • Deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus: "Impeachment feels a lot like Kavanaugh 2.0." • Columnist Catherine Rampell: "The more love Always Trumpers show, the more dangerous Trump becomes." Subscribe on Amazon Echo Google Home Apple HomePod and other podcast players. Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost's morning briefing for decision-makers. Sign up to receive the newsletter. EFTA00046845

Duncan Hunter leaves federal court after a hearing in San Diego.(Denis Poroy/AP) DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS THAT SHOULD NOT BE OVERLOOKED: — Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) plans to plead guilty to misusing campaign funds at a hearing set for 1 p.m. Eastern. "I think it's important not to have a public trial for three reasons. And those three reasons are my kids," Hunter said in an interview with San Diego-based TV station KUSI. In July, federal prosecutors alleged that the congressman used campaign donations to finance extramarital affairs -- including trips, dinners and drinks — with at least five women, including three lobbyists, a woman who worked in his congressional office and another who worked for a member of House leadership. Hunter told the local TV station that he "did make mistakes" but that "not a single dime of taxpayer money is involved in this." He said he will plead guilty to only one of four counts against him as part of the deal. "Whatever my time in custody is, I will take that hit," he said. When he was first indicted last summer, Hunter called this a politically motivated witch hunt and said he was looking forward to the trial so he could fully vindicate himself. Initially, Hunter and his wife were charged with using more than $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for personal expenses including family vacations, theater tickets and school tuition. The couple allegedly agreed in electronic communications to claim that some of the expenses were intended to help veterans, even though they weren't. Then, in June, Margaret Hunter pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with her husband to spend $25,000 in campaign funds for personal use. As part of the plea deal, she flipped on her husband and agreed to testify against him. Today's plea deal means that the first two members of Congress to endorse Trump for president in 2016 will be convicted criminals. Hunter and Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) came out for Trump in February of that year, about a week before Jeff Sessions became the first senator to endorse Trump. Earlier this year, Collins resigned EFTA00046846

from Congress and pleaded guilty to insider trading charges. The crime he confessed to occured while he was standing on the White House lawn at a picnic hosted by Trump. These episode underscore just how swampy Trump's Washington has been. Hunter didn't say whether he will resign as part of the plea deal, but that seems like a safe assumption. He's already facing serious primary challenges from former congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, Felicia Sonmez notes. Hunter won the congressional seat after his father, Duncan Hunter Sr., retired from it to run for president in 2008. -- The North Dakota company that Trump urged military officials to hire for border wall construction received a $400 million contract to build a span of new barriers across an Arizona wildlife refuge. Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey report: "North Dakota- based Fisher Sand and Gravel won the contract to build in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Yuma County, Ariz., the Defense Department said, with a target completion date of Dec. 30, 2020. Trump has repeatedly pushed for Fisher to get a wall-building contract, urging officials with the Army Corps of Engineers to pick the firm — only to be told that Fisher's bids did not meet standards. Trump's entreaties on behalf of the company have concerned some officials who are unaccustomed to a president getting personally involved in the intricacies of government contracting. "Trump has been enamored with Tommy Fisher, the company's chief executive, who has made multiple appearances on Fox News to promote his firm and insists that it would do a better job than those the government had already chosen. ... Fisher has worked with some Trump allies — including former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach and ex-White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon — to build border fencing on private land using private donations. ... Trump has pledged to complete 450 to 500 miles of new border barriers by the end of next year. So far his administration has built about 85 miles of fencing, almost all of it in areas where tall steel bollards are replacing smaller, older structures that were there before he took office." -- A new biography of Melania Trump by CNN's Kate Bennett reveals that the first EFTA00046847

lady doesn't just live in her own bedroom. She actually lives on a different floor of the White House than the president: "Melania Trump has her own quarters in the White House. ... It is true the first couple doesn't share a bedroom, according to several sources, and the first lady prefers her own large, private space in a suite of rooms on a separate floor." Bennett also reveals that the first lady was "beside herself with guilt" after her speech at the Republican National Convention was criticized for including parts from a speech given by Michelle Obama: "Not only did Melania Trump feel badly for her speechwriter, she also felt she had let down her husband on what should have been her most triumphant speaking engagement to date. The truth was, sources conclude, it was Donald Trump that let down Melania Trump. A skeleton staff of political neophytes neglected to read Melania Trump's speech, much less vet it for content." -- According to the new book, the first lady suspects that longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone was behind the release of nude photos from her modeling days during the 2016 campaign. From the Guardian: "Bennett also writes that the first lady 'still refuses to believe' her husband played a role in the release. ... Stone denied Bennett's claim while the White House poured scorn on her book." -- The Supreme Court heard a Second Amendment case for the first time in a decade, but the debate ended up being on whether a case concerning gun restrictions is still worth considering. Robert Barnes reports: "The controversy involves now-rescinded restrictions unique to New York City about whether citizens who have a license to keep a gun in their homes may transport them to firing ranges outside of the city or to a second home in the state. After the Supreme Court took the case to decide whether those restrictions violated the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, the city got rid of them. Then the state of New York passed a law that would keep them from being reenacted. The unstated purpose of both the city and state actions might have been to make the case moot and deny conservatives on the court a chance to explore whether there is a right to carry a gun outside the home. ... The arguments Monday suggested that New York would have had trouble defending the old regulations. But most of the hour-long discourse was consumed with questions about whether the court still has a live controversy before it, a requirement for rendering an opinion. The court denied New York's earlier plea to dismiss the case as moot. It said it would EFTA00046848

consider the question after argument." Barr's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to let federal executions proceed next week by "setting aside" a district court's injunction that blocks it from carrying out lethal injections as planned. Mark Berman reports: "This request, which came hours after an appeals court blocked a similar application, marked an escalation of the administration's push to restart federal executions after a nearly two- decade hiatus. .... The Justice Department argued in its 38-page filing Monday that the judge's interpretation of the law is 'implausible.' The filing, signed by Noel Francisco, the solicitor general, dismissed what it called a 'flawed injunction against the implementation of lawful executions.' [Barr], in announcing plans to resume executions, had said the department owes it to victims to carry out the sentences, though some relatives of the first inmate facing execution have urged the administration to call off the lethal injection and sentence him to life in prison instead." — The Senate confirmed Trump's pick to replace Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Several Democrats joined Republicans in approving Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette's promotion, 70-15. (AP) Trump recently gave states the power to ban refugees. But deeply conservative and devout Utah wants more of them. Griff Witte reports: "The governor, a Republican who aligns with Trump on most issues, wrote the president a letter in late October. He didn't want to keep refugees out. He didn't want to reduce their numbers. He wanted Trump to send more. 'We empathize deeply with individuals and groups who have been forced from their homes and we love giving them a new home and a new life,' Gov. Gary R. Herbert wrote. Such newcomers, he added, have become 'productive employees and responsible citizens.' They have been an asset to Utah, he said, not a liability. Republicans in the state legislature quickly backed up their governor, daring to defy a president who has repeatedly shown an unwillingness to tolerate intraparty dissent. So did Republican members of the state's congressional delegation. So did Republicans in city halls. Democrats across Utah added their support. 'I have to be honest: I don't have any idea why it's a partisan issue nationally. It's never been one here,' said Brad Wilson, the state's Republican speaker of the House. 'Regardless of political party, we value EFTA00046849

these people.- -- Ballroom dancers say a clampdown on immigration is hurting business. From the AP: "When no Americans replied to her ads seeking a dance instructor, studio owner Chris Sabourin looked overseas. But she was stymied again by a federal tightening of visa application rules she and others contend is hampering the ballroom dance industry. ... Federal records ... show a slight uptick since 2017 in initial denials of O-1 visa applications from individuals with 'extraordinary ability or achievement' — the visa that many of the foreign dancers seek — as well as for O-1 visa applicants who were given a second chance to meet eligibility requirements. Representatives of the dance industry say they've seen the processing times for those nonimmigrant visas, which allow the dancers to work in the U.S. for up to three years, increase from weeks to months, with uncertainty the application will be approved." -- A janitor working for the Border Patrol saved and photographed migrants' belongings that were thrown away by U.S. officials. From the Los Angeles Times: "While working as a janitor at the same facility from 2003 to 2014, photographer Tom Kiefer secretly collected the belongings and later began shooting them. ... The first items to pull Kiefer's attention were 15 to 20 toothbrushes. At the time, he didn't think about photographing them. He just felt compelled to remove them from the trash. 'When I started seeing a rosary, or a Bible, or a wallet, I realized that no one would believe me if I had not collected these items.' It took about six years of collecting — blankets, cellphones, toilet paper, depression medication, shoelaces — before Kiefer began photographing. ... Kiefer estimates he has more than 100,000 items collected and stored in his studio and other spaces around Ajo. The word he uses to describe how he copes with the magnitude of his collection: compartmentalize. ... `Our government is actually taking away a Bible or rosary," he said. "I mean, how twisted is that?" — The United Auto Workers has bolstered its financial controls in an effort to prevent embezzlement and bribery that was uncovered as part of a federal probe of the union. From the AP: "The moves announced Monday by Secretary-Treasurer Ray Curry come after last month's resignation of President Gary Jones, who has been implicated in the scandal. Several other union officials have been charged or implicated EFTA00046850

in the probe, which embarrassed the union leadership and angered many of its 400,000 members when it became public starting in 2017. Curry says the reforms will put checks and balances in place to prevent financial misconduct." -- Former president Jimmy Carter was hospitalized again to treat a urinary tract infection. Michael Brice-Saddler reports: "The Carter Center says 'he is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon.' The incident comes three weeks after Carter was hospitalized ahead of a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain caused by a subdural hematoma, a collection of blood outside the brain, spurred by his recent falls. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday, in time for Thanksgiving, and there were no complications from the surgery." This is an aerial view of a lake on the Greenland Ice Sheet before, left, and after drainage, right. (Thomas R. Chudley) THE NEW WORLD ORDER: -- Cracks in the Greenland ice sheet are producing massive waterfalls, raising scientists' concerns for sea level rise. Andrew Freedman reports: "A cerulean lake consisting of glacial meltwater on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, located about 18 miles from where the Store Glacier meets the sea in west Greenland, briefly became one of the world's tallest waterfalls during the course of five hours in July 2018. The waterfall, like many others on the ice sheet's surface, was triggered by cracks in the ice sheet. In the case of this one meltwater lake that scientists closely observed in July 2018, the water cascaded more than 3,200 feet to the underbelly of the glacier, where the ice meets bedrock. There, the water can help lubricate the base of the ice sheet, helping the ice move faster toward the sea. The observations of scientists, armed with aerial drones and other high-tech equipment, of the partial lake drainage that resulted could help researchers better understand how surface melting of the ice sheet could affect its melt rate, and improve global sea level rise projections. "Scientists are keenly interested in how meltwater on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet — the largest contributor to global sea level rise — acts to speed up the EFTA00046851

movement of ice toward the sea by lubricating the underside of the ice surface. The new study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that scientists are underestimating the number of melt ponds that partially, and rapidly, drain into the ice sheet each year. This means tweaks may be needed to the computer models used to predict sea level rise from Greenland. This is the first study to show that partial lake drainage can occur through cracks in the ice, rather than overtopping or other mechanisms, which was previously the assumption. This means even more water is reaching the base of the ice sheet than previously thought." — Trump revved up his global trade war yesterday by not only announcing tariffs on metals from Brazil and Argentina, but also by threatening even harsher penalties on dozens of popular French products. David J. Lynch, Rachel Siegel and Terrence McCoy report: "The administration said the moves were necessary because U.S. trading partners were acting unfairly to disadvantage both the country's traditional economic pillars as well as its best hopes for future prosperity. ... The unexpected announcement upends the Latin American countries' 2018 agreement with Trump to accept quotas on their shipments to the United States instead of the import taxes. ... Later, Robert E. Lighthizer, the president's chief trade negotiator, released the results of a five-month investigation that concluded a French digital services tax discriminated against American Internet companies and should be met with tariffs of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion in products such as cheese, yogurt, sparkling wine and makeup. The proposal, which awaits a presidential decision, threatens to intensify simmering transatlantic trade friction ... "Fallout from the president's renewed embrace of tariffs could cloud prospects for future or ongoing talks with countries in Asia and Europe. ... Administration officials worry that the French tax could set a precedent for other countries. Lighthizer said he may open investigations into similar taxes in Austria, Italy and Turkey. ... The president's enthusiasm for tariffs is not shared by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, who has said they are making executives so uncertain about the outlook that companies are delaying investments and slowing the economy. ... Typically, the United States provides businesses with some warning of tariff changes, delaying their effective date to allow goods in transit to arrive at American ports without being taxed. But the EFTA00046852

president tweeted that his tariff order was 'effective immediately.'" — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, hit with the new tariffs, has learned the hard way what so many others have discovered before him: A good personal relationship with Trump has its limits. David Nakamura and Anne Gearan report: "Bolsonaro and his country's diplomats in Washington were blindsided after Trump issued a pair of early morning tweets announcing punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports ... For Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who had patterned his campaign after Trump's and aggressively sought to ingratiate himself with the White House, the tariffs represented an embarrassing reality check on his strategy of gambling his administration's foreign policy largely on good personal chemistry with a president who craves validation — but who views virtually all relationships as transactional and, potentially, disposable." — This is not the first time that Bolsonaro has gotten burned by Trump. Terrence McCoy reports: "Over and over in recent months, Bolsonaro has been surprised and stung by Trump's slights and about-faces. Trump told Bolsonaro this year he would back Brazil's bid to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — a promise Bolsonaro then touted as a political achievement. But then the U.S. recommendation letter leaked, showing that the Trump administration was supporting Romania and Argentina for membership, not Brazil. A few weeks later, the U.S. government refused Bolsonaro's request to lift its ban on Brazilian imports of beef over safety concerns — again taking his administration by surprise. Now Trump is targeting one of the most important industries in Brazil, at a time when unemployment is above 10 percent and the economy has stalled." — Stocks sank amid disappointing manufacturing and construction data and Trump's escalating trade wars. Taylor Telford and Thomas Heath report: "'All this trade friction is weighing on the manufacturing sector, reminding us that protectionism is not a victimless crime,' said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. Nine of 11 stock market sectors declined Monday, with industrials, information technology and real estate leading the slide. All but seven of the Dow 30 blue chips finished in negative territory, with Boeing, American Express and United Technologies EFTA00046853

the biggest drags." — The Trump administration quietly released more than $100 million in military assistance to Lebanon after months of unexplained delays that led some lawmakers to compare it to the frozen aid for Ukraine that prompted the impeachment inquiry. From the AP: "The $105 million in Foreign Military Financing funds for the Lebanese Armed Forces was released just before the Thanksgiving holiday and lawmakers were notified of the step on Monday, according to two congressional staffers and an administration official. ... The money had languished in limbo at the Office of Management and Budget since September although it had already won congressional approval and had overwhelming support from the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council. The White House has yet to offer any explanation for the delay despite repeated queries from Congress." — China is using DNA to map faces as Beijing's pursuit of control over a Muslim ethnic group continues pushing the rules of science and consent. From the Times: "With a million or more ethnic Uighurs and others from predominantly Muslim minority groups swept up in detentions across Xinjiang, officials in Tumxuk have gathered blood samples from hundreds of Uighurs — part of a mass DNA collection effort dogged by questions about consent and how the data will be used. In Tumxuk, at least, there is a partial answer: Chinese scientists are trying to find a way to use a DNA sample to create an image of a person's face. The technology, which is also being developed in the United States and elsewhere, is in the early stages of development and can produce rough pictures good enough only to narrow a manhunt or perhaps eliminate suspects. But given the crackdown in Xinjiang, experts on ethics in science worry that China is building a tool that could be used to justify and intensify racial profiling and other state discrimination against Uighurs." North Korea said that dialogue with the U.S. has been nothing but a "foolish trick" and warned Washington that it could be on the receiving end of an unwelcome Christmas gift. Simon Denyer reports: "The North Korean regime has given the United States until the end of the year to drop its 'hostile policy,' come up with a new approach to talks and offer concessions in return for its decision to end nuclear EFTA00046854

and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in 2018. But a recent decision by the United States to postpone a joint air drill with South Korea clearly hasn't satisfied Pyongyang. Ri Thae Song, vice foreign minister in charge of U.S. affairs, accused Washington of trying to buy time by calling for a 'sustained and substantial dialogue,' but he rejected this approach. ... 'The DPRK has done its utmost with maximum perseverance not to backtrack from the important steps it has taken on its own initiative,' he said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. 'What is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get.' North Korea has a history of timing launches with an eye on international developments and even U.S. holidays." -- On the first day of the NATO Summit, Trump slammed French President Emmanuel Macron's criticism of NATO as "very, very nasty" and "disrespectful." Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker and Michael Birnbaum report: Referring to comments Macron made "last month in an interview with The Economist — in which Macron described the 'brain death' of NATO due to lack of American support — Trump attacked Macron during his first remarks on the first day of the NATO 70th anniversary summit in London, calling the comments 'very insulting.' You just can't go around making statements like that about NATO,' Trump said, sitting next to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a one-on-one meeting between the two leaders Tuesday morning. Though Trump himself has long been a vocal critic of NATO — a combative stance that has alarmed Western allies and seemed to prompt Macron's comments — Trump took umbrage at the French assessment of the alliance, and depicted France as the beneficiary of American largesse. 'I would say that nobody needs NATO more than France,' Trump said." -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pair of bills. One requires all consumer electronic devices sold in the country to be pre-installed with Russian software. Another will require individual journalists to register as foreign agents. From Fox News: "Government officials say the law will help Russian IT firms compete with foreign companies, which dominate Russia's mobile phone market, Reuters reported. Another law signed by Putin Monday is a bill that gives the government the right to register bloggers, journalists and social media users as foreign agents. The bill is EFTA00046855

an extension of an existing law adopted in response to the U.S. Justice Department's 2017 decision to label the Russian state-funded network RT as a foreign agent. The new law applies to anyone who distributes content produced by media outlets registered as foreign agents and receives payments from abroad. Individuals registered as foreign agents will be subject to additional government scrutiny." -- The American woman who claims convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Britain's Prince Andrew told the BBC that the episodes were "disgusting" and asked for support from the British public. William Booth and Karla Adam report: "'This is not some sordid sex story, this is a story of being trafficked, this is a story of abuse, and this is a story of your guys' royalty,' told the BBC in an hour-long documentary that aired Monday night. ... — now 35 and a mother of three — told the BBC that she was passed around to Epstein's rich and powerful friends `like a platter of fruit.' She said she was trafficked to Andrew three times in 2001 and 2002: once in London at the home of Epstein's girlfriend, once at Epstein's New York mansion and once on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein. 'It didn't last long,' she said of the first of three alleged encounters with the prince. 'He got up, and he said thanks, I sat there in bed, just horrified and ashamed and felt dirty,' said." The prince has denied that he had sex with her. — The rape and killing of a veterinarian on her way home from work have shaken India. Joanna Slater reports: "The killing of the 26-year-old veterinarian in the South Indian city of Hyderabad last week has provoked outrage and anguish across India, the latest in a series of gruesome, high-profile crimes against women and girls. Police arrested four men and said they had confessed to the killing. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, India's defense minister called it an 'inhuman' crime that has 'brought shame to the entire country.' ... After news of the veterinarian's killing spread, demonstrations erupted in Hyderabad over the weekend. Thousands of people protested at a police station near where the woman's body was found and outside the gated compound where her family lives. In New Delhi, a young woman was arrested for holding a sign in a high-security area outside Parliament that read, `Why can't I feel safe in my own India?" EFTA00046856

-- The Pacific island nation of Samoa will shut down government services for two days so civil servants can focus on a nationwide immunization drive as the country struggles to end a measles outbreak that has so far claimed more than 50 lives, most of them children. From NPR: "Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi announced the closure on Monday, saying the government is relying on 'village councils, faith-based organizations, and church leaders, village mayors and government women representatives' to persuade the public to get vaccinated. As a result, he said, all but public utility government services will be shuttered Dec. 5 and 6. More than 3,700 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak began in October, with 198 recorded within a 24-hour period. Fifty-three people have died and of those, 48 are children under 4 years old." — The Post today launched the first episode of its Spanish-language podcast, "El Washington Post." Our podcast will round up a panel of renowned journalists who will explore the top international headlines in twice-weekly episodes. An aerial view shows the Biden campaign bus as it travels from a campaign stop in Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) 2020 WATCH: -- Joe Biden may lose the Iowa caucuses. But, by betting on strong support from black voters in Southern states and urban areas, he may still secure the 1,990 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. From the Times: "If Mr. Biden retains his strength with black voters, he'd have a structural advantage in the nomination race that is greater than his uneven lead in national polls suggests. ... While Iowa and New Hampshire may generate political momentum for a winner because they vote first, the two states award very few delegates. By contrast, a candidate who is popular in California, Texas and predominantly black districts in the South could pick up big shares of delegates. A recent poll shows Mr. Biden at 44 percent among black voters in South Carolina, the early voting state with a majority-black Democratic electorate, and a historic harbinger for how the South will vote. The same poll had Mr. Biden's next EFTA00046857

closest competitor, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, trailing him by more than 30 percentage points among black voters. ... "Some of the most delegate-rich districts in Southern states like Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina have large shares of black Democratic voters. (Vermont is an exception; its population is largely white, but it has only one district with 11 Democratic delegates.) Under party rules, more delegates are awarded in districts with high concentrations of Democrats. Because black people overwhelmingly vote Democratic, areas with many black residents tend to have higher numbers of Democratic delegates. This is a big reason why black Democrats are so sought-after in the race for the party's nomination. Historically, black Democratic primary voters have tended to back a single candidate, helping thrust the voting bloc to the forefront in Southern states where black voters make up the majority of the Democratic electorate. If a single candidate can get huge vote margins with black Democrats, like Barack Obama did in 2008 and Hillary Clinton did in 2016, he or she can amass a big delegate lead over other candidates." — In a wide-raging interview aboard the "No Malarkey" bus, the former vice president said he doesn't need Obama's endorsement, scoffed at the idea that Elizabeth Warren is building enthusiasm and accused Pete Buttigieg of stealing his plans. From Politico: "Biden reiterated that he asked Obama not to endorse him, and he stuck by that stance even when asked whether he'd want Obama's backing if the field narrowed to three people. 'No, because everyone knows I'm close with him,' Biden said. 'I don't need an Obama endorsement.' ... Biden was asked about a POLITICO Magazine article that recently reported how Obama had confided in another candidate that his former vice president 'really doesn't have it' when it comes to an intimate connection with voters. 'He may have said that. And if it's true, and he said it, there's truth to it,' Biden acknowledged on Monday before saying that he has 'mostly campaigned for other people in the time I've been here. And I've never been in a position seeking the nomination where I have had the money and the organization to be able to get open headquarters all over the state.' ... "Biden lamented media coverage that he said initially dismissed the durability of EFTA00046858

his candidacy because he was too moderate and didn't embrace policies like Medicare for All. Biden said the field was now moving closer to his views and away from the left. When asked whether he unintentionally set the stage for Buttigieg, who is leading in the polls in Iowa, Biden grew animated. 'Set it up? He stole it! Set it up?' Biden said of the mayor of South Bend, Ind. ... The former vice president then accused the media of going too easy on Buttigieg, saying his opponent had once supported a more liberal health care plan but then pivoted ... When asked about another polling leader in Iowa and elsewhere — Warren — Biden dismissed her rise and the notion that she had momentum behind her. 'Look at the polling everywhere. Tell me. Tell me where the polling has manifested itself,' he said. 'She lives in Massachusetts, she's invested millions and millions of dollars in New Hampshire, why shouldn't she be known there?" — Three state lawmakers acknowledge that lobbyists helped craft their op-eds attacking Medicare-for-all. Jeff Stein reports: "Montana state Rep. Kathy Kelker (D) and Sen. Jen Gross (D) acknowledged in interviews that editorials they published separately about the single-payer health proposal included language provided by John MacDonald, a lobbyist and consultant in the state who disclosed in private emails that he worked for an unnamed client. Gross said MacDonald contacted her on behalf of the Partnership for America's Health Care Future, a multimillion-dollar industry group founded in 2018 and funded by hospitals, private insurers, drug companies and other private health-care firms. Additionally, an aide to Ohio state Sen. Steve Huffman (R) confirmed in a brief interview that the lawmaker's op-ed criticizing Medicare-for-all was written with the help of Kathleen DeLand, an Ohio-based lobbyist. None of the lawmakers' columns discloses that they were written with the help of a lobbyist." — The Trump campaign denied credentials to journalists from Bloomberg News, accusing the organization of "bias" against the president. Kayla Epstein and Derek Hawkins report: "Bloomberg News faced a journalistic quandary when its owner, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, decided to jump into the 2020 Democratic primary last month. In a widely criticized decision, editor in chief John Micklethwait announced that the newsroom would continue its tradition of not investigating Bloomberg's personal life and finances, and would extend the same policy to his Democratic opponents. The move was intended to avoid conflict of interest in the Democratic primary. Micklethwait EFTA00046859

noted, however, that Bloomberg News would continue to investigate the Trump administration. After the Trump campaign announced its decision Monday to bar Bloomberg News, President Trump took to Twitter to attack the news outlet and the New York Times for their coverage of him." -- The New York Times is overhauling its traditional closed-door endorsement process for Democratic presidential candidates and will instead conduct interviews with the contenders on the record and air parts of the discussions - along with the editorial board's final decision — on its show "The Weekly." (Politico) -- A month after ending his presidential campaign, Beto O'Rourke is setting his focus on flipping the Texas state house. From the Houston Chronicle: "With Texas Democrats nine seats away from retaking the majority of seats in the Texas House, O'Rourke is trying to convince his donor base to send money to an organization called Flip The Texas House, which has targeted 17 House Districts in which Republican candidates won by fewer than 10 percentage points last year. More than half are districts in which O'Rourke won the majority of votes as he ran for U.S. Senate." — With just a week remaining before the deadline to run for office in Texas next year, some of O'Rourke's supporters are still hoping to see him jump into the race to unseat Sen. John Cornyn (R). They even commissioned a poll that shows he'd sail through the Senate primary were he to join the race. From the Dallas Morning News: "The poll also shows him in a near-tie, trailing Cornyn 46-42 at this point, which is far stronger than others already seeking the nomination. O'Rourke's campaign operation has gone dormant. He didn't respond to messages on Monday and hasn't said lately whether he's interested. ... During his presidential campaign, O'Rourke said flatly and repeatedly that he would not even consider running for the Senate in 2020 ... 'I know it's a bit of a longshot to try and convince Beto to do this, but it is clear to a lot of people in Texas that that would be the best thing for us,' said Alan Metni, executive director of the Democratic Policy Institute, the group that commissioned the new poll." -- Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp isn't expected to nominate Rep. Douglas EFTA00046860

Collins, Trump's pick, for a soon-to-be-open Senate seat. He's now facing heavy backlash — including threats of a primary challenge. Seung Min Kim reports: "Kemp is expected to tap business executive Kelly Loeffler for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) ... The public outcry against Kemp and Loeffler from Trump allies has led some of them to threaten a primary challenge against the first-term governor, and they have urged the president's supporters to flood Kemp's office with calls pushing him not to select Loeffler. ... Conservative radio host Mark Levin derided Kemp as 'another Romney,' referring to the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and current senator from Utah, Mitt Romney, as he accused the Georgia governor of being on the precipice of appointing a 'RINO,' a Republican in name only ... The formal announcement from Kemp is expected on Wednesday, the officials said, so as to not interfere with lsakson's farewell address on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon." — In a big break for Republican hopes of holding the Senate, Sen. Thom Tillis (R- N.C.) no longer faces a primary challenge in his reelection bid. From the News & Observer: "Raleigh retired businessman Garland Tucker is ending his campaign for the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate ... Tucker invested more than $1.5 million of his own money to challenge Tillis, who is seeking a second term in 2020. Monday marked the beginning of the 2020 filing period in North Carolina. Tucker, who joined the race in May, opted not to file. ... The letter cited the attention on the ongoing impeachment inquiry into [Trump] as well as Tillis' role as one of his defenders in the Senate as a reason for Tucker's decision to end his campaign." — An outspoken Holocaust denier, activist anti-Semite and white supremacist filed again for a Chicago-area House seat. From the Chicago Sun-Times: "Arthur Jones, of suburban Lyons, won the GOP nomination in 2018 because he was the only Republican on the 3rd District primary ballot. In the general election, he was easily beaten by Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-III., but received about 26 percent of the vote even after his views were exposed." SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ: George Conway, husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and a conservative critic EFTA00046861

of the president, replied to one of her tweets: He also retweeted this: A former Justice Department spokesman notes that Duncan Hunter's guilty plea will come as a relief to quite a few people: From the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who was fired by Trump: Amy Klobuchar attacked Senate Republicans for not taking up bills that have passed the House, a talking point intended to push back on the GOP talking point that impeachment is distracting Democrats from getting anything done: Trump once again went after the two FBI officials whose texts were selectively leaked by his appointees at the DOJ. A Los Angeles Times reporter noted the irony of the EFTA00046862

president's line of attack: From a former federal prosecutor: A former senior lawyer for the National Security Agency. who is now at Brookings. chastised Barr: A former Republican congressman who is now an independent shared this thought: And Trump's former national security adviser, who is now a convicted fellon. has a holiday wish: QUOTE OF THE DAY: "What would you have done to me? You would have torn my ears off," Joe Biden told reporters after accusing Pete Buttigieg of stealing his health-care plan. "I would be a plagiarizing, no good, old man who did bum bum bum." (Politico) EFTA00046863

VIDEOS OF THE DAY: Over the past three years, Trump and some of his allies have at times sounded like Vladimir Putin when talking about election interference: When Republicans have sounded like Vladimir Putin on election interference Hasan Minhaj discussed why billionaires won't save the world: Trevor Noah had a bit of fun talking about Joe Biden's "malarkey" bus: You received this email because you signed up for The Daily 202 or because it is included in your subscription. Manage my email newsletters and alerts I Unsubscribe from The Daily 202 Privacy Policy I Help @2019 The Washington Post 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071 EFTA00046864

The Daily 202: Little clamoring for impeachment in New Hampshire, even as both House members endorse inquiry From The Washington Post To Charisma Edge, The Washington Post Date 2019/07/29 11:42 Subject: The Daily 202: Little clamoring for impeachment in New Hampshire, even as both House members endorse inquiry Attachments: TEXT.htm, Mime.822 If you're having trouble reading this click here. The Daily 202 Share: Listen to The Big Idea Little clamoring for impeachment in New Hampshire, even as both House members endorse inquiry Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), far right, poses for a setfie at the Capitol earlier this year with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) BY JAMES HOHMANN with Mariana Alfaro THE BIG IDEA: MANCHESTER, N.H. - Both of New Hampshire's House members endorsed launching an impeachment inquiry against President Trump on Friday afternoon, • • • • • ••• WV • • • • • • Page 17354 EFTA00046865

bowing to pressure trom tneir ien tianks at tne start ot a 46-day summer recess. But most people in this swing state, including many Democrats, do not support such a move. Reps. Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster are among about a dozen House Democrats who have come out for the impeachment inquiry since former special counsel Bob Mueller testified last week, despite continued resistance from Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That brings the total to 106 members, by our tally, which is just under half the Democratic caucus. The divisions in the Granite State capture in miniature the difficult needle that party leaders must figure out how to thread to prevail in 2020. The Wards are Democrats who loathe Trump, for instance, but they don't support impeachment. "I hate to say this, but I agree with Nancy Pelosi. Not that Congress is doing much of anything anyway, but it would be a waste of Congress's time and our money to impeach," said Bryan Ward, 31, an IT network engineer who voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary and lives in Penacook. "In my heart of hearts, I'm pretty sure he's going to win the next election, but at this point in the term, I'm not sure impeachment is the best use of resources," said Meghan Ward, 35, a former stage manager who is working odds- and-ends jobs as she studies to get her teacher's license. Page 17355 EFTA00046866

Their 3-year-old son sat between them on Saturday night during a minor league baseball game here. Meghan voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary because she considered Sanders too much of a socialist and thinks his plans are unrealistic. But she refers to Trump as "Cheeto" and laments the president's remarkably resilient poll numbers despite constant controversies that she's convinced would cripple any other president. Bryan is more optimistic than his wife that Trump will lose in November 2020, but he's not excited about the crop of 2020 alternatives. "I'll wait until the field gets narrowed down a little bit, but right now not one of the candidates really speaks to me," he said. "There's no middle ground anymore. There's never compromise. It's so, so, so contentious. It's red team vs. blue team." The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a minor league baseball team, play the Fightin Phils of Reading, Pa., on Saturday at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, N.H. (James Hohmann/The Washington Post) This was the most frequent refrain during more than 30 conversations I had on Saturday evening with a cross section of New Hampshire voters at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in the heart of downtown in this small state's biggest city. The Fisher Cats, an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, were playing a doubleheader against the Fightin Phils of Reading, Pa. Every ticket in the stadium cost $14 at the box office, and there was a fireworks show Page 17356 EFTA00046867

arterwara. All the folks I talked with at the Fisher Cats game said they plan to vote next year, but none are the kinds of people who hang out at political events and yell at politicians. Pappas and Kuster, like so many House Democrats jumping on the impeachment bandwagon, are catering more to the hardened activists who volunteer and donate to their campaigns than the electorate more broadly. "[Trump's] choices aren't great, but I'm not sure he's done anything that's deserving of him getting kicked out of office," said Rich Fortier, 38, a lifelong Democrat from the Lakes Region up north. "There's probably a protocol for that." Fortier, a high school special education teacher, is frustrated that politicians in both parties are not paying more attention to education, and he worries about budget cuts as the economy slows down. "To me, it seems they're distracted by the battles away from the issues that matter," he said. "They're not worried about the future of the country or things like that." Another Democrat, Beck Bryon, said the country is in a "precarious position" and warned that Trump is turning it into a "dictatorship," but she considers impeachment a "Catch-22." She explained that "it could be beneficial," but the 40-year-old calibration technician worried about what would happen if the president was removed from office by the Senate. Vice President Pence would take over, and she thinks he might more effectively enact the same agenda and perhaps have an easier time Page 17357 EFTA00046868

winning the 2020 election. "So it's potentially smarter to wait," she explained. As the first state with a primary, New Hampshire will not just be pivotal in determining the Democratic nominee but will probably be a top battleground again in the 2020 general election. Clinton carried the Granite State by just 2,700 votes, or less than half a percentage point, after Barack Obama won it twice by more than five points. The specter of impeachment galvanizes many Trump supporters. Republican Wayne Jutras, a salesman who lives near the ballpark, appreciates that Trump is running the government like it's a business. He said Democrats are only coming after him because they resent his success at growing the economy. "They're just trying to dig up some dirt on him," said Jutras, 55, between licks of a vanilla ice cream cone. "It's like anything else: If you're playing for the New York Yankees, you're not going to be cheering for the Boston Red Sox. They're doing their best, but of course they're going to try to impeach him." Many middle-of-the-road voters see impeachment as a distraction. Tom and Suanne Milligan, retirees in their 70s, moved from Indiana last year to live closer to their grandchildren in Canaan, N.H. "We're non-Trump Republicans," he said. "I really don't like any of what's going on." In 2016, he voted for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and she voted for Green Party nominee Jill Stein. They said Page 17358 EFTA00046869

it's hard to imagine voting for Trump in 2020, but they continue to support GOP candidates down the ballot and hope their party breaks out of Trump's thrall sooner than later. But both disapprove of Democrats trying to impeach the president. "It seems like the Democrats are just trying to appease their own voters," said Suanne. Tom agreed. "Move on," he said. "It's just divisive, and I don't think it's really going to amount to anything." Trump: 'I watched Bob Mueller, and they have nothing' -- Public and private polling bolsters what I encountered on the ground: Most Americans oppose impeaching Trump, and overall public opinion has been shifting slightly away from impeachment since the release of the Mueller report. An ABC News-Ipsos poll published on Sunday showed that Mueller's testimony has failed to move the needle of public opinion. Among those who say they read, saw or heard about Mueller's testimony, just under half said it made no difference in their views about impeaching the president, while 27 percent said it made them more likely to support impeachment (almost all Democrats) and 26 percent said it made them less likely (almost all Republicans). "Independents were much more likely to echo the comments made by Republicans than those made by Democrats," ABC notes. "A majority of self-described Independents - 60% -- described the testimony as a waste of time and taxpayer money or questioned Mueller's fitness. About one in five — 1CP/n of Inripnpnripntc mantinnpri that thp tactimnnv nrnvpri Page 17359 EFTA00046870

VI . SO. 10,4 SO. • •••• • I • •• .....•••• • • SOSO I... I., • SO • ...SA or confirmed Trump's guilt. The remaining 20% of Independents had more mixed assessments." A Washington Post-ABC poll released earlier this month found that 59 percent of Americans said the House should not begin impeachment proceedings. That's slightly higher than Post polling throughout the year, which found opposition to impeachment at 54 percent to 56 percent. Last summer at this time, 49 percent said Congress should begin impeachment proceedings. That's down to 37 percent in our latest poll. But, but, but: Among Democrats, the number is 61 percent. About half of Democrats, 49 percent, said they "strongly" support impeachment. Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) waves to supporters after voting last November in Contoocook, N.H. She easily won a fourth term. (Geoff Forester/Concord Monitor/AP) -- Those numbers explain why so many Democratic politicians are staking out a position at odds with the views of most voters. But the ground truth is that, even on the left, there's less intensity around impeachment than there was a few months ago. For example, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was the first major Democratic presidential candidate to endorse impeachment when the Mueller report came out in April, and she saw a spike in small-dollar fundraising because of it. - - - - • - •• - •• Page 17360 EFTA00046871

The majority of her 2020 rivals eventually followed, another proof point of the field's leftward lurch. But Warren did not bring up impeachment during either of the two events she held in New Hampshire on Saturday. Not a single voter asked the senator about it during a house party in Bow or a town hall in Derry. When a reporter questioned Warren about this during a gaggle, she noted that she endorsed impeachment after reading the Mueller report because she felt she had an obligation to do so. But she added that her campaign is focused on removing Trump at the ballot box in 2020. "I'm not running on impeachment," she said. To be sure, each of the dozen voters I interviewed after Warren's first event, in the grassy backyard of a supporter's home, said they support impeachment. But their explanations were measured, and several acknowledged the political risks. "I'm hearing what Nancy says, and I understand where she's coming from," said Shannon Mills, 69, a dentist who served 30 years in the Air Force. (Folks in New Hampshire, so accustomed to access, love referring to national political figures like the speaker by their first names.) "But this is not about politics. You've sworn an oath to defend the Constitution. You cannot ignore the egregious crimes committed by the president. They have to do their jobs. Look, I'm concerned impeachment could make the president look sympathetic to a certain segment of the voting nnni ilatinn RI rt the to ith has to hp tnld " Page 17361 EFTA00046872

Mills said he believes that Trump welcoming Russian help in 2016, combined with the efforts documented by Mueller to interfere with the investigation that followed, is much worse than the behavior that led House Republicans to impeach Bill Clinton two decades ago. "Clinton lied about an affair, but he didn't sell our country out to the Russians," Mills reasoned. "Neither one is something I approve of. I'm not a big fan of Bill Clinton, either." State Rep. Rebecca McWilliams (D), who represents Concord, said she was impressed that Kuster, her congresswoman, endorsed an impeachment inquiry. "I didn't know I'd ever see Annie do that because she's so cautious," said McWilliams, 37, a practicing attorney and mother of two, as she waited in line for a selfie with Warren. "I don't believe the Mueller report has been the big bomb we thought it'd be. I think it's probably more the 24-hour news cycle we're barraged with. The weight of it all is that this guy is a liar, he's been using the presidency to enrich himself, and he doesn't have our country's best interests at heart. The Mueller report is only a piece of it. It's the culmination." -- Of the two New Hampshire House members, Pappas is considered much more vulnerable than Kuster. He just got elected last year. Notably, he announced his support for the impeachment inquiry at 6:30 on Friday night — about six hours after Kuster issued her statement. A short video that Pappas posted to YouTube begins with a preamble Page 17362 EFTA00046873

about how he has "been working hard with members of both parties to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, improve care for our veterans, rebuild our infrastructure and ensure that everyone in our state has access to clean drinking water." Then he called impeachment "another pressing issue we can't ignore." "After weeks of careful consideration and after countless conversations with my constituents, I believe it is imperative that Congress continues its oversight work by opening an impeachment inquiry," Pappas continued. "I have said many times that we should not take this step for political purposes and that we should not avoid our responsibility because it might feel politically convenient. It's up to Congress to put all the facts on the table and hold leaders accountable, and I'm committed to that process while maintaining my focus on the concerns of the people of New Hampshire." "Our Democracy is at Stake," Kuster wrote in an open letter to her constituents on Friday. "The Special Counsel reiterated that he did not exonerate the President, and that because of Department of Justice policy, he could not charge the President with a crime even if he had the evidence to do so. Under the Constitution, that job falls to us." -- Both Kuster and Pappas declined interview requests to discuss impeachment, which speaks volumes about how politically delicate the issue is in their state. More • •r• -LI I- 11 I Page 17363 EFTA00046874

signincanuy, [porn or New riampsnire s uemocraric senators declined to join their House counterparts. "I think we need to continue to investigate the charges, but I think at this time there is not a consensus to move forward with impeachment proceedings," said Jeanne Shaheen, who faces a competitive reelection fight next year, in a local radio interview. "Impeachment is a grave step that should not be taken lightly," said Maggie Hassan, the former governor who narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte in 2016, in a statement. "I am not convinced that initiating an impeachment inquiry is the best course of action at this time, but it is ultimately the House of Representatives' decision." CONTENT FROM AT&T BUSINESS A More Secure Foundation for a 5G World Learn how businesses can help safeguard their data in a 5G-connected future Pelosi downplays impeachment calls after meeting with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez -- Trump has signaled repeatedly that he believes impeachment will help his reelection prospects, and he's all but dared Democrats to do it by refusing to cooperate with House oversight. Many Republican fese, oct-tA nn +rstirara +n t•tirs +hes Lie,“ ten Page 17364 EFTA00046875

JLI CILV IOLO 1 VIsU JGU VI I lI y II lu lV YVII I Licn...rx ',JIG I IWUJG also think the issue will unite their base. Trump aides have said that the reelection campaign could tout an acquittal by the Senate, even if it was on party lines, as a form of exoneration. This tracks with what I heard from Republicans I talked with at the Fisher Cats game. Ken Grenier, a unionized postal worker who supports Trump, is angry that Democrats are trying to remove a president from power outside an election. "I've got to keep this PG for the paper, but right now they're extremely anti-American," said the 57-year-old. "It's just wasting more time and money to distract people from the good things that Trump is doing. They pushed `collusion' for so long, and they're so invested in it, that they can't back away, even though they know the Republicans in the Senate are not going to vote to remove him from office." After voting for Ted Cruz in the 2016 primary, Grenier has been grateful for the president's tireless efforts to secure the southern border. He was thrilled that the Supreme Court allowed the administration late Friday to move forward with construction of the wall. He's also pleased about the president's judicial nominations and efforts to reduce access to abortion. Grenier volunteered that he disapproves of Trump's recent attacks on the four minority congresswomen who call themselves the Squad. The president must stop "flapping his gums" on Twitter, he explained, as his wife nodded in agreement. "The Dems were in free Page 17365 EFTA00046876

fall for a while, and then Trump's tweets about the Squad unified them. I wish he hadn't done that." House Judiciary considers Trump impeachment after Mueller -- Nationally, Democrats continue to be divided about the right approach. Four House members from Washington state announced their support on Sunday for opening an impeachment inquiry, prompting Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to issue her own statement last night saying that she agrees. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday that his "personal view" is that Trump "richly deserves impeachment," but he says his committee still needs "more evidence" before opening an inquiry. "The question is," Nadler told CNN, "can we develop enough evidence to put before the American people?" House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D- Calif.) defended Pelosi's approach. "I worry equally about the message of taking an impeachment case to trial, losing that case, having the president acquitted and then having an adjudication that this conduct is not impeachable," Schiff said on NBC. "There's no making the case to the cult of the president's personality that is the Senate GOP, but we should at least be able to make the case to the American people. I want to make sure that that's true before we go " Page 17366 EFTA00046877

UUVVI I LI IIJ }JOU I. Subscribe on Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod and other podcast players. Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost's morning briefing for decision-makers. Sign up to receive the newsletter. THE LATEST FROM CALIFORNIA: Multiple people reportedly injured in shooting at California food festival -- Three people are dead and at least 15 injured after a shooting Sunday evening at a food festival in Gilroy, Calif. Allyson Chiu, Meagan Flynn and Faiz Siddiqui report: "One gunman was killed by officers at the scene, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said early Monday morning. Police are still searching for a possible second suspect, although it's unclear if that person also fired on the crowd or assisted the shooter. ... The first reports of gunshots at the Gilroy Garlic Festival came in around 5:41 p.m. local time, just as the event was wrapping up its third and final day. Smithee said he has `no idea' what the shooter's motive was on Sunday. He added that officers already stationed at the festival 'engaged the suspect in less than a minute.' " A war. ••• b.% Afte at,.. ••••••••• Ar• IA Int OS% I WI "WW •tese4 Ciess Page 17367 EFTA00046878

P11114,-1119 UIC UeOU IJ Q v-yeal -viu uuy I Idl CU •DleVel I Romero, the child's father told NBC Bay Area. The boy's mother and grandmother were also injured in the shooting. ... The shooter was carrying an `assault-type rifle,' the City of Gilroy said in a statement early Monday. Investigators believe the suspect entered the festival by cutting through a perimeter fence, Smithee told reporters. He noted that security at the festival's official entrances is `very tight.' ... Many evacuees were left stranded after the festival because their vehicles were parked at what had turned into an active crime scene. Some gathered on a stagecoach outside the festival, while others called ride-hailing services to get home. "Julissa Contreras and her boyfriend, Mario Camargo, were browsing at a food tent when they saw a man in a military-style outfit emerge from a nearby access road and start shooting `left to right and right to left,' Contreras told The Post in a phone interview. Contreras and Camargo ran in different directions, each taking shelter behind tents with crying children and frantic parents. Some people froze and others sprinted. Some appeared to play dead, Camargo said. Once they heard the gunfire stop, Contreras and Camargo each made a run for the entrance, eventually reuniting in the parking lot. Camargo said he saw two wounded people as he fled. ... Contreras said there was one moment that she couldn't stop thinking about. When the gunfire broke out, she looked in the direction of the gunman and saw children fleeing an inflatable slide, all trying to squeeze through the same tiny exit. Page 17368 EFTA00046879

'I'm never going to torget that image, she said." -- Videos uploaded to social media showed the chaotic scenes: Dan Coats is expected to resign as director of National Intelligence ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN: -- Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats will leave his position next month, and Trump announced Sunday that he will nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R- Tex.), a third-term congressman, as his replacement. Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana and ambassador to Germany, was often at odds with Trump over the wisdom of negotiating with Russia, the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program and the severity of foreign threats to U.S. elections. Ratcliffe, who sits on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, has made his name in Congress as one of the GOP's most dogged critics of perceived anti-Trump bias at the FBI and in the special counsel's investigation. Ratcliffe will probably get confirmed by a Republican- controlled Senate that seems reluctant to challenge Trump, but the appointment of an outspoken partisan loyalist raises a litany of legitimate questions about the president's politicization of the intelligence community. Ratcliffe launched perhaps the most spirited defenses of Trump during the Mueller hearings last \A/prInperlaw rritiri7inn thp frwmpr cnprial rni Incpl fnr Page 17369 EFTA00046880

• • OCIS-0.0.-.1 C. IV IV, IV. Vt./VS-Olt-Al I providing evidence of the 10 episodes in which Trump possibly obstructed justice when he never intended to decide whether the president had committed a crime. Trump's announcement that Ratcliffe will get the job came a few hours after the congressman went on Fox News to defend the president and attack the Mueller report as an untrustworthy document written by liberals. Ratcliffe to Mueller: 'You didn't follow the special counsel regulations' -- "For months, Coats had recognized that his relationship with Trump, which was never strong, had frayed beyond repair. ... Coats had felt isolated and excluded from important national security decision-making," notes Shane Harris, our intelligence beat reporter. Ratcliffe "has no background in intelligence, though he did serve as a terrorism prosecutor and the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Texas in the George W. Bush administration. He also served as the mayor of Heath, Tex., a town of about 9,000 outside Dallas. ... Trump has repeatedly blasted the intelligence agencies as having tried to undermine his campaign and has, without evidence, accused former senior intelligence officials from the Obama administration of illegally spying on him. Ratcliffe echoed those allegations Sunday on Fox News. 'What I do know as a former federal prosecutor is that it does appear that there were crimes committed during the Obama administration,' he said, declining to identify anyone by name." Page 17370 EFTA00046881

-- "Last year, Ratcliffe's name was floated as a possible replacement for former attorney general Jeff Sessions," Karoun Demi]:*Tian notes_in_asklebar. "He joined the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year, where he has been considered the GOP's replacement for former congressman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), an accomplished prosecutor skilled in executing detailed, stinging examinations of witnesses in closed-door interviews and from the dais. ... Ratcliffe represents the seventh-most- Republican district in the country, according to the Cook Political Voting Index." Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser sits for a portrait at The Washington Post last week. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post) -- Trump's nominee to be vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, is facing a confirmation hearing tomorrow that will force senators on the Armed Services Committee to decide whether they believe an Army colonel's charges that he sexually assaulted her while she was under his command — accusations he denies. Demirjian reports: "Col. Kathryn Spletstoser has accused Hyten, who is currently responsible for the country's nuclear arsenal as the head of U.S. Strategic Command, of making unwanted sexual contact with her on several occasions in 2017 while the two were c— rc---1 D--k"--- Page 17371 EFTA00046882

CIVelll VVUI . . . jJUI I lel LJel I IUUI CILJ al IU INepuuliudi IJ on the Senate Armed Services Committee [have] said they are wary of taking her uncorroborated word over the categorical denials of a decorated four-star Air Force general endorsed by high-ranking colleagues. ... The Air Force's Office of Special Investigations investigated Spletstoser's allegations but could not substantiate her claims. ... "Spletstoser said the committee [led by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)] has denied her request to speak at the hearing, unless she has `new information' to present. Spletstoser's public remarks would probably mirror much of what she has told the panel in private and alleged in a Washington Post interview. ... The first time was in January 2017, she alleges, when Hyten grabbed her left hand as she was exiting a work meeting in his hotel room in Palo Alto, Calif., pulling it in toward his groin so she could feel his erection before she moved her hand away. In June 2017, Spletstoser said, Hyten interrupted a work meeting in his Washington, D.C., hotel room to fondle her breasts and kiss her — and she pushed him away and admonished him, she said. ... Yet it was during the Reagan National Defense Forum in December 2017 that Spletstoser said Hyten made his most aggressive move, arriving uninvited at her hotel room in workout clothes carrying a binder, and claiming he wanted to discuss work matters. Within minutes, Spletstoser said, Hyten had pinned her against him and begun `grinding on me hard, like he wants to take my clothes off and have sex ... and then I realize, he's ejaculating.' Page 17372 EFTA00046883

"If Spletstoser's account is correct, it would mean Hyten committed a crime, but if she is lying, as an active-duty service member, she will have committed a crime for which she could be court-martialed. ... Former Air Force secretary Heather Wilson, who was briefed on investigators' findings before leaving her position earlier this year, said in an interview Sunday that `the Air Force left no stone unturned in its investigation and the Senate has been thorough as well.' Based on what I know of the complete investigation,' she continued, `I believe General Hyten was falsely accused.- -- For this week's New Yorker, Connie Bruck profiles Harvard law professor and Trump ally Alan Dershowitz, writing about his controversial history as the attorney to men such as O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson and Jeffrey Epstein and the accusations he's faced following his close relationship to Epstein. Dershowitz, who was accused by Epstein victim of abuse, told the New Yorker that he's innocent and defended his work by saying that "every honest criminal lawyer will tell you that he defends the guilty and the innocent." Demonstrators demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, featured in a poster Saturday that reads in Spanish "traitor," after the government signed an agreement with the Trump administration to require migrants passing through the Central American country to seek asylum there, rather than pushing on toward the United States. (Oliver de Ros/AP) TI-4F KIFIA/ vinpi fl flPflPP• Page 17373 EFTA00046884

• • • • W•. , • • W .S0 • 11.11 ,..6, V' It WV • W.. -- In pressuring Guatemala to accept a deal to absorb vast numbers of asylum seekers, the Trump administration has embarked on a dramatic and risky strategy to slash the number of Central Americans flooding the U.S. border. "The accord — which was negotiated in secret and signed at the White House on Friday — could plunge Guatemala's young democracy into a constitutional crisis," Mary Beth Sheridan reports. "It could also saddle one of the hemisphere's poorest countries with tens of thousands of Salvadoran and Honduran migrants who would be barred from making their claims in the United States. The agreement is one of the boldest steps yet taken by Trump to stanch the flow of migrants to the U.S. border. It aims to close off the U.S. asylum system to the migrants who have crossed through Guatemala en route to the United States. They would instead have to seek protection in Guatemala. "But the agreement is built on a fragile political and legal base. The Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled earlier this month that President Jimmy Morales needed approval from the Guatemalan Congress to sign the accord, something he has not received. Some analysts said Morales could get around the ruling with his argument that the deal is simply a cooperation agreement, not a treaty. Others note Morales has at times simply shrugged off court rulings he dislikes. ... Guatemala holds a runoff presidential election on Aug. 11, and both candidates have criticized Morales's neaotiation of Page 17374 EFTA00046885

such a broad agreement in secret. While the next Guatemalan government could cancel the deal, it would face intense pressure from the Trump administration to not do so. ... The agreement is also likely to be challenged in U.S. courts by opponents who say Guatemala does not qualify as a `safe' country, because of high levels of violence. "Morales, who finishes his four-year term in January, is highly unpopular. Guatemalans were startled by a widely published photo showing their government minister, Enrique Degenhart, signing the agreement as Trump loomed over his shoulder, an image suggesting the Central American country's submission. On Saturday, hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the presidential palace in Guatemala City to protest the agreement. Guatemalan analysts have suggested Morales made the deal with Trump in hopes of winning support from the U.S. government. Morales faces allegations of financial crimes related to his 2015 electoral campaign but has been shielded by presidential immunity, which he loses in January. He says he is innocent." • Julian Castro warned that migrants may "end up dead" because of the deal. The Democratic presidential candidate said the country is not safe. (CBS News) • To try curbing the number of Central American migrants reaching the U.S., Mexico has pledged to help create jobs in Honduras. (Al Jazeera) • An Arizona Republican state senator apologized Page 17375 EFTA00046886

for saying that "we're going to look like South American countries very quickly" because immigrants are "just flooding us ... and overwhelming us." Sen. Sylvia Allen faced backlash after the Phoenix New Times published an audio recording of her speech at the Arizona Republican Party headquarters in Phoenix. (Morgan Krakow) -- Federal prosecutors are investigating Trump's close friend and campaign fundraiser Thomas J. Barrack Jr. in connection to foreign lobbying. From the Times: "Investigators have looked in particular at whether Mr. Barrack or others violated the law requiring people who try to influence American policy or opinion at the direction of foreign governments or entities to disclose their activities to the Justice Department, people familiar with the case said. The inquiry had proceeded far enough last month that Mr. Barrack, who played an influential role in the campaign and acts as an outside adviser to the White House, was interviewed, at his request, by prosecutors in the public integrity unit of the United States attorney's office in Brooklyn." Barrack's spokesman said that, in expectation of the Times article, his lawyer had contacted the prosecutor's office and confirmed it has no more questions for him. "Mr. Barrack has not been accused of wrongdoing, and his aides said he never worked on behalf of foreign states or entities. ... "But as the scrutiny of Mr. Barrack indicates, prosecutors continue to pursue questions about foreign influence. Page 17376 EFTA00046887

Among other lines of inquiry, they have sought to determine whether Mr. Barrack and others tried to sway the Trump campaign or the new administration on behalf of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia ... Investigators have also questioned witnesses about Mr. Barrack's involvement with a proposal from an American group that could give Saudi Arabia access to nuclear power technology. ... Central to the inquiry into Mr. Barrack are his dealings with [Rashid al- Malik, an Emirati businessman], who is well connected in the court of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. ... When Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. al-Malik received a coveted invitation to the inaugural's most exclusive event — the chairman's dinner, hosted by Mr. Barrack." -- A leading Russian critic of Vladimir Putin was hospitalized with suspected poisoning. From ABC News: Alexei Navalny "was taken by ambulance to the hospital early on Sunday morning from the jail with what authorities said was a 'severe allergic reaction,' his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter. Initially, one of Navalny's close colleagues suggested the cause was likely unsanitary conditions in the jail, but by the evening Navalny's lawyer released a statement from his long-time doctor saying that his symptoms were the result of 'an undefined chemical substance.- -- A crackdown on Moscow protesters this weekend suggests a new, more hostile approach by Putin toward the Russian opposition. Matthew Bodner reports: "Analysts said the scale of the roundup — nearly 1,400 Page 17377 EFTA00046888

demonstrators were swept off the streets in Moscow on Saturday, according to the monitoring group OVD-Info — suggested a change in approach for a Russian elite that is increasingly concerned about political stability. ... Thousands took to the streets of central Moscow on Saturday to demand that independent candidates be allowed to run in upcoming elections for city parliament. It was the latest demonstration in a protest movement that began two weeks ago after the city election commission rejected the candidacies of several opposition-minded candidates, citing falsified supporter signatures." -- In Hong Kong, protesters once again took to the streets and turned neighborhoods into foggy battlegrounds. Shib_ani Mahtani reports: "The clouds of gas left bystanders — including children, tourists and the elderly — choking and sputtering, underscoring the growing risks of Hong Kong's deepening political crisis, now in its eighth weekend. Police said that protesters threw paint bombs, corrosive liquid and bricks at them, and that 49 people were arrested. Protesters had convened to demonstrate against what they saw as police brutality over the course of the protests, including in the neighborhood of Yuen Long the day before." -- Iran's deputy foreign minister said an emergency meeting in Vienna between Tehran and other signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal was constructive but inconclusive. Adam Taylor reports: "Earlier Sunday, the head of Iran's nuclear agency was reported to have told Page 17378 EFTA00046889

lawmakers that Iran had enriched 24 metric tons of uranium since the nuclear deal was reached in 2015. The remarks by Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization were reported widely by state-run and semiofficial media, which cited conservative lawmakers present at the closed-door meeting. The claim, if confirmed, would suggest that Iran has produced far more enriched uranium than was previously known, exceeding the deal's limit many times over. But some analysts were skeptical." -- The targeting of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi was no aberration. Vanity Fair's Ayman Mohyeldin reports on a targeted campaign by Saudi Arabia against dissidents: "Prince Khaled bin Farhan al-Saud sat in one of the few safe locations he frequents in Dusseldorf and ordered each of us a cup of coffee. With his close-cropped goatee and crisp gray suit, he looked surprisingly relaxed for a hunted man. He described his constant fear of being abducted, the precautions he takes when venturing outside, and how German law enforcement officials routinely check on him to make sure he is all right. As we sat over coffee, he relayed a story that at first sounded innocuous. One day in June 2018, his mother, who lives in Egypt, called him with what she thought was good news. The Saudi Embassy in Cairo had contacted her, she said, and had a proposal: The kingdom wanted to mend relations with the prince and was willing to offer him $5.5 million as a goodwill gesture. .. . "But as tempting as the overture was, he claimed he Page 17379 EFTA00046890

never considered it seriously. And when he followed up with Saudi officials, he realized the deal had a dangerous catch. They had told him he could collect his payment only if he personally came to a Saudi embassy or consulate. That immediately set off alarm bells. He declined the offer. Two weeks later, on October 2, 2018, bin Farhan saw a startling news report. [Khashoggi] had gone to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up paperwork required for his pending marriage. Minutes after his arrival—as revealed in leaked audiotape transcripts compiled by Turkish authorities—Khashoggi was tortured and strangled by a Saudi hit squad. ... Bin Farhan was dumbstruck as he watched television news shows and saw surveillance-camera footage of Khashoggi's last hours alive. The prince realized all too clearly: By refusing to go to a Saudi consulate to pick up his payment, he might have narrowly avoided a similar fate." 'Disgusting,' A hate agenda': Lawmakers condemn Trump's tweet rant targeting Cummings DIVIDED AMERICA: -- Trump created another racial firestorm by spending the weekend attacking the city of Baltimore and the congressional district of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, saying it represents a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess." City leaders fired back. Fredrick Kunkle and Hannah Natanson report: "Maryland's political leaders and residents reacted with outrage — and sometimes resignation — to Trump's tweetstorm ... Some Page 17380 EFTA00046891

said Trump's language describing a majority black city represented by an African American lawmaker demonstrated his predilection for degrading political opponents. ... Others said that even if the president were half right about Baltimore's woes, he has a duty to do more than use them as a political weapon." -- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's (R) muted response to Trump's comments stirred more anger. Antonio Olivo and Rebecca Tan report: "In a statement delivered by his spokesman, Hogan said: 'Baltimore City is truly the very heart of our state, and more attacks between politicians aren't going to get us anywhere.' On social media, where the Twitter hashtag #WeAreBaltimore was trending on Sunday, Hogan's critics called the governor `weak' and `gutless' for not delivering a forceful rebuke of the president." -- Others didn't hold back their disdain: • "Better to have a few rats than to be one," the Baltimore Sun's editorial board said in response to Trump's comments: "In pointing to the 7th [District], the president wasn't hoping his supporters would recognize landmarks like Johns Hopkins Hospital, perhaps the nation's leading medical center. He wasn't conjuring images of the U.S. Social Security Administration, where they write the checks that so many retired and disabled Americans depend upon. It wasn't about the beauty of the Inner Harbor or the proud history of Fort McHenry. And it surely wasn't about the Page 17381 EFTA00046892

ecor lune Slar 1U11 UI a UISLI ICA WI ler e LI le IT leUlar I income is actually above the national average. No, he was returning to an old standby of attacking an African American lawmaker from a majority black district on the most emotional and bigoted of arguments. It was only surprising that there wasn't room for a few classic phrases like `you people' or `welfare queens' or `crime- ridden ghettos' or a suggestion that the congressman `go back' to where he came from." • "We are African Americans, we are patriots, and we refuse to sit idly by," 149 African Americans who served in the Obama administration say in an op- ed published by The Post. • Former president Barack Obama, who doesn't comment often on politics, shared the op-ed on Twitter: "I've always been proud of what this team accomplished during my administration. But more than what we did, I'm proud of how they're continuing to fight for an America that's better," he wrote. Michelle Obama, who also shies away from commenting on the Trump administration, also criticized Trump's comments. "What truly makes our country great is its diversity," the former first lady tweeted, "I've seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there's a place for us all. We must remember it's not my America or your America. It's our America." (Colby Itkowitz) -- White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told Page 17382 EFTA00046893

Loll' IS VIIcilldUC Oil I- OA JUI way Lllal I I 1-1Ilip tweets had "zero to do with race," and Wallace called him out. From Mediaite: "'Nobody objects to the president defending his border policies, but this seems, Mick, to be the worst kind of ... racial stereotyping. Black congressman, majority-black district,' Wallace shot back. `No human being would want to live there.' Is he saying people that live in Baltimore are not human beings?' Mulvaney again insisted that Trump is going after Cummings for saying `things that are not true about the border.' ... Wallace responded by saying, `You say it has zero to do with race. There is a clear pattern here, Mick.- -- Keeping the story alive on Sunday, Trump accused Cummings and his allies of being the real racists. From the Times: "Trump said Democrats who called him racist as a result were themselves playing 'the Race Card,' as he put it on Twitter. The president later specifically referred to Mr. Cummings as a racist without explaining why. 'If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership,' Mr. Trump wrote. ... Mr. Trump posted repeated tweets throughout the day denying that he was racist and attacking Mr. Cummings and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, herself a Baltimore native and daughter and sister of former mayors. He defended himself by citing record-low unemployment for African-Americans on his watch." r^ei LCu ickriehr fh" rirescieltArtiPc ceirsir‘r ,nehlicinr -arid Page 17383 EFTA00046894

" ♦!GI GN I %%.1.71 II IGO , ILI IG r.l1 G.711‘11GI IL .7 JGI IIVI CAIA V I..7 11 GI IN son-in-law, owns more than a dozen apartment complexes in Baltimore that have been cited for hundreds of code violations and, critics say, provide substandard housing to low-income tenants. Rebecca Tan reports: "Kushner Cos., which started operating in Maryland in 2013, has owned almost 9,000 rental units across 17 complexes, many of them in Baltimore County, the Baltimore Sun reported earlier this year. ... In 2017, Baltimore County officials revealed that apartments owned by the Kushner firm were responsible for more than 200 code violations, all accrued in the span of the calendar year. Repairs were made only after the county threatened fines, local officials said, and even after warnings, violations on nine properties were not addressed, resulting in monetary sanctions." ProPubli a and the Times originally reported on Kushner's Baltimore real estate "empire" in 2017. -- Wanda Vazquez Garced, the unpopular justice minister who was next in Puerto Rico's line of succession, announced that she will not take over as governor, hoping to put a stop to continuing street protests. In a tweet, Vazquez said she has no interest in the position and said she hopes the ousted Ricardo Rossello appoints a new secretary of state who can take over instead. (CNN) "I understand that eve hin • that Donald Trum. sa s Page 17384 EFTA00046895

is offensive to some people." — Mulvaney on Trump's comments about Baltimore. (Felicia Sonmez) SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ: Trump attacked Al Sharpton after the reverend said he was traveling to Baltimore: A Post reporter responded to Trump's campaign manager appearing to mock homicides in Baltimore: A Vox reporter reminded us once again that there's always a tweet. Trump called on Barack Obama to bring Baltimore together during the 2015 Freddie Gray riots: A Democratic senator from Connecticut decided to unfollow the president: A Times reporter reflected on the significance of Trump's words when combined with his accomplishments: Page 17385 EFTA00046896

A Times reporter on a flight to Baltimore shared this moment: A reporter for Salvadoran online newspaper El Faro shared images from migrants on the road traveling to the U.S.: Julian Castro, the 2020 candidate, poked fun at attempts by his twin brother, a congressman, to look different than him: And Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, guest-edited an issue of Vogue: VIDEOS OF THE DAY: John Oliver explained how the United Kingdom ended up with Boris Johnson as its prime minister: The former first lady trolled Trump by posting this video of dancers from Baltimore after the president ridiculed the city: The CEO of Under Armour celebrated Baltimore, the city where the company is headquartered: Page 17386 EFTA00046897

A new political advertisement for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu features Trump and Vladimir Putin: India's prime minister ventured into the wild with Bear Grylls: And cyclists made their way around the Louvre's pyramid for this year's Tour de France: You received this email because you signed up for The Daily 202 or because it is included in your subscription. Manage my email newsletters and alerts I Unsubscribe from The Daily 202 Privacy Policy I Help @2019 The Washington Post I 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071 Page 17387 EFTA00046898

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