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The Daily 202: Ousted Navy secretary warns Trump that 'the rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries' 
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Mon, 25 Nov 2019 15:47:59 +0000 
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Listen to The Big Idea 
Ousted Navy secretary warns Trump that `the rule of 
law is what sets us apart from our adversaries' 
Richard V. Spencer visits the Blue Angels at the squadron's hangar in Pensacola, Fla., on Nov. 5. He was 
forced out on Sunday as secretary of the Navy. (MI 
Schumaker/Navy/EPA-EFE/Rex) 
BY 
HOHMANN 
with Mariana Mara 
THE BIG IDEA: What makes America exceptional isn't any arsenal. It's moral 
authority. 
That's the upshot of Richard V. Spencer's Sunday letter to President Trump, 
acknowledging his "termination" as secretary of the navy. The messy circumstances 
surrounding Spencer's exit should not overshadow another damning resignation letter 
from another Trump appointee. 
Spencer explained that he has strived over two-plus years on the job to ensure judicial 
proceedings are "fair, transparent and consistent," from ensigns to admirals. 
"Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same 
understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me, in regards to the key 
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principle of good order and discipline," he wrote. "I cannot in good conscience obey an 
order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag 
and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States." 
His language goes further than Jim Mattis's letter last December when he resigned as 
secretary of defense to protest Trump ordering U.S. troops to withdraw from Syria, but 
there are echoes. Both Spencer and Mattis said Trump deserves someone whose views 
are better aligned with his own. 
Spencer was ousted over his efforts to resolve a dispute between the White House 
and Navy commanders who wanted to strip Edward Gallagher of the Trident pin 
that makes him a Navy SEAL. Gallagher's was one of three cases in the military justice 
system that Trump intervened in 10 days ago. The chief petty officer was accused of 
committing war crimes during a 2017 deployment in Iraq. He was acquitted of murder 
but convicted in July of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State prisoner. Trump 
reinstated Gallagher's rank after he was demoted as part of his punishment. The 
president tweeted on Thursday that he doesn't want Gallagher, who has become a 
cause celebre on Fox News, kicked out of the SEALs. 
"The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries," Spencer told Trump, 
offering a brief history lesson. "Good order and discipline is what has enabled our 
victory against foreign tyranny time and again, from Captain Lawrence's famous order 
'Don't Give up the Ship,' to the discipline and determination that propelled our flag to the 
highest point on Iwo Jima. The Constitution, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 
are the shields that set us apart, and the beacons that protect us all." 
— Disdain for the rule of law has been a recurring feature of Trumpism. 
- Spencer, 65, served in the Marines as an aviator from 1976 to 1981, separating 
as a captain, before making a fortune on Wall Street. He has been secretary of the 
Navy since the Senate confirmed him in August 2017. In his letter, he praised the troops 
who will soon miss their Thanksgiving dinners at home so that they can continue the 
watch beyond the curve of the horizon. 
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"As Secretary of the Navy, one of the most important responsibilities I have to our people 
is to maintain good order and discipline throughout the ranks," Spencer wrote. "I regard 
this as deadly serious business. The lives of our Sailors, Marines and civilian teammates 
quite literally depend on the professional execution of our many missions, and they also 
depend on the ongoing faith and support of the people we serve and the allies we serve 
alongside." 
Edward Gallagher and his wife, 
Gallagher, celebrate in July after a military jury in San Diego 
acquitted the Navy SEAL of premeditated murder in the killing of a wounded Islamic State captive under his 
care in Iraq. (Gregory Bull/AP) 
-- Pentagon spokespeople said Defense Secretary Mark Esper asked for Spencer's 
resignation after losing confidence in him. Their explanation is that Esper became 
"deeply troubled" when he discovered Spencer was backchanneling with the White 
House to offer a secret deal in which a review board would decide to let Gallagher keep 
his Trident pin — and affiliation with the SEALs — if Trump didn't directly meddle in the 
official peer-review process, thereby maintaining the appearance of independence. 
-- "Spencer had tried to find a compromise," 
Ignatius reports in his column, 
"after Trump tweeted Thursday, 'The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy 
Seal Eddie Gallagher's Trident Pin.' Spencer feared that a direct order from Trump to 
protect Gallagher, who is represented by two former partners of Trump's personal 
attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, would be seen as subverting military justice. After that 
Trump tweet, Spencer cautioned acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney that 
he would not overturn the planned SEAL peer review of Gallagher without a direct 
presidential order; he privately told associates that if such an order came, he might 
resign rather than carry it out. ... 
"It was a hold-your-nose solution,' said a source close to Spencer about his effort 
to broker an arrangement that would allow Gallagher to retire at the end of November 
with his former rank, an honorable discharge and his Trident pin, as Trump wanted, but 
without direct presidential interference in the SEAL review process. As so often 
happens with attempts to work with Trump's erratic demands, this one ended in 
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disaster. 'The president wants you to go,' Esper told Spencer on Sunday ... Esper then 
toed the White House line and announced Spencer's dismissal. ... 
"Trump began lobbying Spencer to exempt Gallagher from Navy discipline back in 
March, when he ordered the Navy secretary in an early-morning phone call to release 
Gallagher from the brig and give him more comfortable quarters. Presidential pressure 
has been relentless, ever since. ... While Gallagher is celebrated on Fox, current and 
former senior officers of the SEALs and other elite units told me this weekend that his 
case has little support within the community of Special Operations forces. One former 
SEAL commander noted that maintaining discipline among these elite units is so 
important that the SEAL peer-review panels have removed more than 150 Trident pins 
since 2011, or more than one a month." 
-- Trump now gets the outcome he wanted: Esper's aides said he will let Gallagher 
keep his Trident pin without even the pretense of a review board. And Trump has rid 
himself of someone he came to disregard as disloyal, based on his threat to resign. 
-- Spencer joins a growing list of former Trump appointees who have spoken 
critically, to varying degrees, about the president after leaving his employ. This 
includes, among others, John Bolton, Rex Tillerson, John Kelly, Tom Bossert, Fiona Hill 
and Gary Cohn. 
-- Spencer took the sting out of this punch by vigorously denying well-sourced 
press reports on Saturday that he had threatened to resign. In the version of his 
letter distributed to media outlets last night, the date "24 Nov 19" has been scrawled by 
hand on the top right of a letter that was reportedly drafted last week. The denial of 
accurate media accounts muddies the narrative around the secretary's departure. 
-- This appears to be the coda of a contentious chapter in a civilian-military 
relationship that has grown increasingly fraught. Trump avoided military service by 
claiming bone spurs. He has stated that avoiding sexually transmitted infections while 
bedding models in New York during the 1970s was "my personal Vietnam." Trump has 
insulted several war heroes, as well as their families, and never apologized. 
EFTA00047167

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Gen. Mark Milley arrives in Bahrain on Monday. (Idrees Ali/Reuters) 
-- The top U.S. military officer voiced public support today for Esper's decision to 
allow Gallagher to remain a Navy SEAL and to fire Spencer. "As far as I'm 
concerned, it's case closed now," Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
told reporters traveling with him in the Middle East, including Missy Ryan. "It's time to 
move on and address the national security of the United States. ... Esper made 
decisions for good reasons that are within his power. I'll support the secretary of defense 
in those decisions." 
-- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he spoke by phone with 
Spencer on Sunday night: "I told him he's a patriot, that he served the Navy and the 
nation well and he will be missed," Schumer said in a statement. "Secretary Spencer did 
the right thing and he should be proud of standing up to President Trump when he was 
wrong, something too many in this administration and the Republican Party are scared 
to do. Good order, discipline, and morale among the Armed Services must transcend 
politics, and Secretary Spencer's commitment to these principles will not be forgotten." 
— Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said Trump 
notified him personally that Spencer was being fired. "Both Secretary Esper and 
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President Trump deserve to have a leadership team who has their trust and confidence," 
Inhofe said in a statement, adding: "It is no secret that I had my own disagreements with 
Secretary Spencer over the management of specific Navy programs." 
— Other lawmakers offered praise for Spencer: 
Trump tweeted that he will nominate Kenneth Braithwaite, a retired Navy rear 
admiral who is currently the ambassador to Norway, to be Spencer's replacement. 
Esper recommended him. 
In an interview Sunday morning on "Fox & Friends," Gallagher said the Navy 
was only trying to take his Trident pin away as "retaliation" for Trump intervening 
on his behalf. "They could have taken my Trident at any time they wanted," he said on 
a show the president often watches. "Now they're trying to take it after the president 
restored my rank." Speaking of Rear Adm. Collin Green, who is in charge of the SEAL 
program as commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, Gallagher said: "What 
the admiral is doing is showing complete insubordination." 
-- • Mabus, who served as Navy secretary under Barack Obama, said on 
MSNBC that he's been stunned that a sailor on active duty is going on cable 
television to criticize his commanding officers. "It's so dangerous for good order and 
discipline ... to get this politicized," Mabus said Sunday on MSNBC. "You simply cannot 
have good order and discipline. You simply cannot hold people accountable. You simply 
cannot have the elite fighting force if you allow things like this to happen. If you set this 
sort of precedent, then how do you tell the next SEAL that is up on charges not to go 
public, not to try to undermine their superiors, not to try to change a military judgment 
and make it a political one?" 
-- The Post's Editorial Board says Trump's intervention in the Gallagher case, 
including Spencer's ouster, dishonors the troops who uphold American values: 
"Restoring to service someone who was turned in by members of his unit who wouldn't 
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tolerate his behavior sends precisely the wrong message. ... Most offensive is what Mr. 
Trump's actions say about his view of the military. We train our boys to be killing 
machines. then prosecute them when they kill!.' he tweeted in October when he 
announced he would review these cases. Perhaps Mr. Trump has watched too many 
bad war movies. but if he were to consult with his military leaders or talk to the many fine 
men and women in uniform. they would tell him they are trained to engage in combat 
while following the laws of war and upholding the country's ideals." 
QUOTE OF THE DAY: 
A lawyer for Gallagher, 
Parlatore, welcomed last night's news and 
expressed amazement at the turn of events that led to Spencer's ouster. 
"This case is bananas," he said. "Yes, you can quote that." (Ashley Parker 
and Dan Lamothe) 
L
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. 
Lawmakers react after a week of impeachment inquiry hearings 
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THE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: 
-- A confidential White House review of Trump's decision to place a hold on 
military aid to Ukraine 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, according to three people familiar with the records. 
Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig and Tom Hamburger scoop: "The research by the White 
House Counsel's Office ... includes early August email exchanges between acting chief 
of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House budget officials seeking to provide an 
explanation for withholding the funds after the president had already ordered a hold in 
mid-July on the nearly $400 million in security assistance ... White House lawyers are 
expressing concern that the review has turned up some unflattering exchanges and facts 
that could at a minimum embarrass the president. ... 
"In the early August email exchanges, Mulvaney asked acting OMB director 
Vought for an update on the legal rationale for withholding the aid and 
how much longer it could be delayed. Trump had made the decision the prior month 
without an assessment of the reasoning or legal justification ... Emails show Vought and 
OMB staffers arguing that withholding aid was legal, while officials at the National 
Security Council and State Department protested. OMB lawyers said that it was legal to 
withhold the aid, as long as they deemed it a 'temporary' hold ... 
"Mulvaney's request for information came days after the White House Counsel's 
Office was put on notice that an anonymous CIA official had made a complaint to 
the agency's general counsel about Trump's July 25 call to [Volodymyr] Zelensky 
This official would later file a whistleblower complaint with the intelligence community's 
inspector general ... 
"The document research has only exacerbated growing tension between [White 
House Counsel Pat] Cipollone and Mulvaney and their offices, with Cipollone tightly 
controlling access to his findings, and Mulvaney's aides complaining Cipollone isn't 
briefing other White House officials or sharing important material they need to respond to 
public inquiries ... The emails revealed by White House lawyers include some in which 
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Mulvaney urges Vought to immediately focus on Ukraine's aid package, making clear it 
was a top priority for the administration. [Mulvaney's lawyer, 
Driscoll, declined to 
comment.] 
"The legal office launched this fact-finding review of internal records in a 
protective mode, both to determine what the records might reveal about internal 
administration conversations and also to help the White House produce a timeline for 
defending Trump's decision and his public comments. Along with examining documents, 
the review has also involved interviewing some key White House officials involved 
in handling Ukraine aid and dealing with complaints and concerns in the aftermath of the 
call between Trump and Zelensky. Cipollone's office has focused closely on 
correspondence that could be subject to public records requests, those which 
involve discussions between staff at the White House and at other agencies. Internal 
White House records are not subject to federal public records law, but messages that 
include officials at federal agencies are." 
— Follow the money: Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the Rudy Giuliani associates 
who have been indicted, tried to recruit a Ukrainian energy executive to join them 
in a proposed takeover of the state oil-and-gas company. From the Wall Street 
Journal: The two men described the "company's chief executive and [Marie Yovanovitch] 
as part of 'this Soros cartel' working against [Trump.] 'You're a Republican, right?' 
Andrew Favorov, the head of natural gas for state-run Naftogaz, recalled the men ... 
asking him, after their reference to investor and Democratic donor George Soros. 'We 
want you to be our guy.' ... Mr. Favorov described the efforts of Messrs. Fruman and 
Parnas to enlist his help in an effort to oust Naftogaz CEO Andriy 
Kobolyev. Naftogaz is the most important company in Ukraine, representing 
nearly 10% of the country's gross domestic product and supplying virtually all of 
the country's natural gas. Mr. Favorov said he was bewildered by Messrs. Parnas and 
Fruman's pitch to stage a takeover of Naftogaz and put Mr. Favorov in place as CEO. 
On one hand, the pair appeared to know little about the natural gas business; on 
the other it was clear to him they had significant political connections. 'They don't teach 
you how to deal with this in business school,' Mr. Favorov said." 
EFTA00047172

-- So many potential conflicts: Giuliani also discussed representing a state-owned 
Ukrainian bank in a legal dispute over the summer, even as he publicly pressed 
Ukraine on behalf of Trump. From Bloomberg News: "Though he ultimately did not 
take on the client, the talks expose his enthusiasm for foreign business and his 
willingness to insert himself in matters rife with potential conflicts. In fact, the Ukrainian 
bank is entangled in a legal dispute with its former owner who has ties to 
Ukraine's president and is the subject of a federal investigation in the U.S. ... 
[Giuliani] said he was approached by lawyers for Privatbank seeking to recover assets 
linked to the previous owner. They wanted to know if Giuliani -- who had written tweets 
critical of the man -- could assist their civil suit, Giuliani confirmed by phone on 
Thursday." 
— "What we still don't know about the Ukraine affair," by deputy editorial page editor 
Jackson Diehl: "Let's start with the distinct possibility that Trump's demand that 
[Zelensky] launch politicized investigations in exchange for military aid and a White 
House meeting was only the last of a series of quid pro quos he forced on Ukrainians." 
Giuliani met with Zelensky's predecessor at least twice in 2017 as Ukraine's 
former chief prosecutor Yuri Lutsenko transferred an investigation into secret 
payments to Paul Manafort, effectively stalling it, and the U.S. released the sale of 
Jaevelin missiles to Ukraine. "Let's see: a White House meeting and weapons ... for 
favorable actions on an investigation? There's no proof. But no wonder Trump 
complained to Zelensky in their July 25 phone call that 'I heard you had a prosecutor 
who was very good and he was shut down and that's really unfair.' One of Zelensky's 
first acts had been to fire Lutsenko. 
"The prosecutor has also been blamed for Trump's recall of [Yovanovitch]. But 
the full story behind her dismissal is still not known. ... Trump began demanding 
Yovanovitch's removal a year earlier, after meeting with [Parnas and -Fruman]. Why did 
Parnas and Fruman want the ambassador out? It's still not clear. ... One person who 
probably could shed light on this is Rick Perry. ... According to testimony by U.S. 
Embassy staffer 
Holmes, Perry used a meeting with Zelensky to give him a 
list of `people he trusts' on energy matters. The Times reported that these 
included a couple of Texas businessmen whom Perry wanted appointed to the 
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supervisory board of the Ukrainian state gas company. That's the same company 
Parnas and Fruman were trying to deal with. ... We may eventually learn more about 
Ukraine from federal prosecutors in New York, who have already indicted Parnas and 
Fruman and are said to be looking at Giuliani. But you have to wonder if Democrats are 
making a mistake by not pursuing these matters themselves." 
-- Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence 
Committee, said reports that he met with ex-Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor 
Shokin in Vienna to obtain information about the Bidens were false. Elise Viebeck 
and Felicia Sonmez report: "The allegation ... was made by the attorney for [Parnas]. 
On Fox News, Nunes declined to answer further questions about the accusation ... 
A person close to Shokin also has denied the claim. ... Nunes has also threatened to 
sue two of the news outlets that reported Parnas's accusation. On Fox News, Nunes 
claimed that CNN and the Daily Beast were 'likely conspiring to obstruct justice' by 
basing their reporting on interviews with a lawyer for Parnas. ... House Armed Services 
Committee Chairman 
Smith (D-Wash.) said Saturday that it was `quite likely, 
without question' that Nunes would face an ethics investigation following media 
reports of a meeting with Shokin. ... Several other Democratic lawmakers have said that 
Parnas's testimony could be helpful to impeachment investigators or that Nunes should 
face an ethics probe." 
Lordy, there are tapes? Parnas has provided the House Intelligence Committee 
with audio, photos and video recordings, but what these records show is unclear. 
From ABC News: "[The] tapes were provided as part of that congressional subpoena 
issued to Parnas, and the former Giuliani ally also provided a number of documents both 
in English and Ukrainian to the committee in two separate productions ... However, 
some of the material sought by congressional investigators is already in possession of 
federal investigators within the Southern District of New York and thus held up from 
being turned over, according to sources familiar with the matter." 
— House Intelligence Committee Chairman 
Schiff (D-Calif.) said his panel 
will press ahead with preparing its impeachment report, even though several key 
witnesses have refused to testify. Felicia Sonmez and Elise Vlebeck report: "In an 
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interview on CNN's 'State of the Union,' Schiff said the evidence against Trump is 
'already overwhelming,' although he stopped short of saying whether he would support 
impeachment himself. 'Yes, we'd love to have these witnesses come in,' Schiff said. 'But 
we're not willing to simply allow them to wait us out — to stall this proceeding — when 
the facts are already overwhelming.' ... Several key figures, including [Mulvaney], Vice 
President Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser John 
Bolton and [Giuliani], have declined to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry. A 
federal judge is expected to rule [today] on whether [former White House counsel Don 
McGahn] must testify under subpoena. ... 
"Schiff said Sunday that time is of the essence and that Democrats will continue to 
investigate even after they have submitted their report to the House Judiciary 
Committee. ... 'The investigation isn't going to end,' he said, adding that 'we may have 
other depositions and hearings to do.' He took particular aim at Bolton, arguing that the 
former national security adviser will have to explain why he chose to give his account of 
events 'in a book' rather than show the 'courage' that Fiona Hill, the former National 
Security Council Russia adviser, did in testifying before lawmakers last week. Schiff 
declined to say how long it might take impeachment investigators to finish their report, 
saying only that 'we'll take the time that's necessary.-
-- Amid tensions between the Trump administration and Democrats, Pelosi and 
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin must work out a spending deal. Luckily, they 
appear to maintain a good rapport. From the Journal: "While the Office of 
Management and Budget leads the administration's efforts on spending, Mr. Mnuchin 
has emerged as the public face of the administration on Capitol Hill in the spending 
talks, which took a positive turn this weekend even as impeachment strains the broader 
relationship between the two branches. Mr. Mnuchin's role speaks to the rapport and 
goodwill he has built up with lawmakers and, in particular, Mrs. Pelosi ... Mrs. Pelosi has 
clashed with two of the administration's other top negotiators, [Mulvaney] and [Vought], 
with whom she refused to negotiate last summer's budget deal. ... House Budget 
Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D., Ky.) said ... that Mr. Mulvaney would 
normally play a more visible role in the negotiations, 'but I think Mick, he has 
other distractions.-
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Record numbers vote in Hong Kong elections 
THE NEW WORLD ORDER: 
Hong Kong's pro-democracy parties swept aside the pro-Beijing establishment 
during local council elections in a significant endorsement of the protest 
movement that's shaken the territory. Shibani Mahtani, Simon Denyer, Tiffany Liang 
and Anna Kam report: "Voters took to the polls in record numbers to cast ballots in the 
only fully democratic election in the Chinese territory, an early sign that they wanted to 
send a strong message to their government and to the Communist Party in Beijing. Early 
results compiled by the South China Morning Post showed pro-democracy parties 
winning 278 of the first 344 seats to be declared, pro-Beijing parties taking 42, and 
independents 24. Many prominent figures in the protest movement won, and many 
leading pro-establishment figures were unseated. Pro-democrats look to be able to 
secure 12 of 18 district councils available in Hong Kong — before this vote, they did not 
have a majority in any. ... The turnout — 2.94 million, or more than 71 percent of the 
4.13 million eligible voters — was more than double the 1.4 million who voted in local 
elections in 2015. Voter registration was also a record high, driven in part by 390,000 
first-time voters." 
— The election's results will pressure Beijing to rethink its approach. Shibani, 
Simon and Tiffany report: "With this rebuke of its affiliates in the city, Beijing faces a 
choice among opening up politics as promised in Hong Kong's mini-constitution, 
extending a crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters by the city's police force and 
government, or trying to navigate a delicate middle path. Beijing can continue to dig in, 
but it would risk escalating and prolonging the conflict now that the electorate has 
spoken, said Ho-Fung Hung, an expert on the Chinese political economy and Hong 
Kong politics at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International 
EFTA00047176

Studies. .... Reacting to the outcome on Monday, Chinese state media accused foreign 
forces, particularly the United States, of interfering. ... [Carrie] Lam, Hong Kong's 
embattled leader, said in a statement Monday that her government respects the election 
results and acknowledged 'various analyses and interpretations.' ... Susan Shirk, a 
China expert and former official in the Clinton administration who is now at the University 
of California at San Diego, said it was possible that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had not 
been receiving accurate information from lower-level officials on the public 
dissatisfaction in Hong Kong, despite months of protests." 
A growing body of evidence from former detainees, human rights groups and 
reporters details the Chinese government's efforts to detain more than 1 million 
ethnic minorities in camps. Hannah Knowles, Kim Bellware and Lateshia Beachum 
report: "Papers released Sunday pierce a culture of intense secrecy to add a new piece 
of corroboration: the government's own classified directives. Provided to the 
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists by an anonymous source, the 
documents lay bare a crackdown in Xinjiang that has sought to stamp out minority 
culture, language and religion — with a particular focus on the Muslim Uighurs, whom 
the government blames for regional unrest. A manual, the first of its kind to be made 
public, details the inner workings of the three-year-old detention camps, while four 
intelligence briefings illuminate the mass surveillance that identifies people for 
internment on merely the suspicion that they may cause trouble. ... 
"Camps are heavily secured and full of surveillance, according to the manual 
signed by Zhu Hailun, who used to be in charge of security in Xinjiang. ... Some 
communication with outsiders is allowed to put family 'at ease.' Detainees are supposed 
to have phone conversations with relatives at least once a week and video chats every 
month." 
— A "phase two" trade deal between the U.S. and China is looking less likely. From 
Reuters: "Officials in Beijing say they don't anticipate sitting down to discuss a phase two 
deal before the U.S. election, in part because they want to wait to see if Trump wins a 
second term. 'It's Trump who wants to sign these deals, not us. We can wait,' one 
Chinese official told Reuters.... Trump's main priority at the moment is to secure a big 
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phase one announcement, locking in big-ticket Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural 
goods that he can tout as an important win during his re-election campaign, according to 
a Trump administration official." 
-- Pope Francis called for the abolition of nuclear weapons while visiting Nagasaki 
and Hiroshima. Akiko Kashiwagi and Chico Harlan report: "Pope Francis called Sunday 
for a 'world without nuclear weapons,' which he said are 'immoral' for war or deterrence. 
'We will be judged on this,' Francis said. In Hiroshima, the pope met with bomb survivors 
and spoke vividly of the 'black hole of death and destruction' atomic weapons could 
cause. Earlier, in a somber address in Nagasaki delivered in the driving rain, he spoke 
about the weapons in policy terms and expressed concern that a 'climate of distrust' was 
endangering international arms control efforts. ... Francis used the first papal trip to 
Japan since 1981 to emphasize one of his signature issues in cities that remain lasting 
symbols of atomic destruction (though both have been fully rebuilt in the decades since 
the 1945 attacks). ... After laying a wreath to the Nagasaki bombing's victims, the pope 
said the arms race creates a false sense of security, poisoning international 
relationships. He described nuclear weapons as wasteful and environmentally 
damaging. ... By saying that weapons shouldn't be held for deterrence — a stance he 
first outlined in 2017 — Francis has gone further than his predecessors. The only other 
pope to visit Japan, John Paul II, said during the Cold War that deterrence could be 
'morally acceptable,' so long as it was a step toward disarmament." 
-- A couple kidnapped by Islamists was rescued in the Philippines during a 
military operation. Regine Cabato reports: "Allan Hyrons, 71, and Wilma Hyrons, 59, 
were abducted last month by Abu Sayyaf fighters at a beach resort the couple owned in 
the southern Philippines. They were rescued around 8 a.m. Monday in the island 
province of Sulu after a 20-minute firefight, said regional military commander Lt. Gen. 
Cirilito Sobejana, who attributed the operation's success to support from the public. ... 
The rescue of the Hyrons came at the end of a three-day operation, which the military 
said left six militant fighters dead." 
-- The White House asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to block the resolution 
that would have formally recognized Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people. 
EFTA00047178

From Axios: Graham was leaving the Oval Office after he joined a meeting with Turkish 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when a senior White House staff asked him to object 
on the floor to the resolution that had passed the House to avoid upsetting Erdogan. 
"Graham confirmed this in a phone interview on Saturday. ... A White House legislative 
affairs official told Graham that Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was going to bring up his 
Armenian genocide resolution and asked if Graham could 'please object.' I said sure,' 
Graham said. 'The only reason I did it is because he [Erdogan] was still in town. ... That 
would've been poor timing. I'm trying to salvage the relationship if possible.' Asked 
whether he felt uncomfortable blocking the Armenian genocide resolution, Graham 
replied: 'Yeah. ... I'm not going to object next time,' Graham added." The White House 
prodded Sen. 
Perdue (R-Ga.) to object the next time, and he obliged. 
— Threatening more arrests, Iran restored Internet access in large parts of the 
country after a weeklong shutdown aimed at nationwide protests. From the Journal: 
"Tehran's response to the unrest indicates its willingness to resort to deadly force to 
push back against what it sees as U.S. attempts to weaken and eventually oust the 
country's leaders. It also comes amid a growing pushback in the region, where Iraqi and 
Lebanese protesters have railed against the influence of Iran and its local allies. ... 
Iranian authorities haven't released an official number of arrests, but state media said 
authorities had arrested 180 'ringleaders' and 'rioters' connected with such disparate 
groups as Islamic State, the MeK and Kurdish militants. Iran's internet blackout stemmed 
the sharing of videos and photos of the demonstrations, helping contain coverage to 
inside Iran, while making it difficult for those outside the country to assess the state of 
the protests and the brutal crackdown." 
— Reuters chronicles the role Iran's leaders had in plotting the September attacks 
on the world's biggest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia. "This account [was] 
described to Reuters by three officials familiar with the meetings and a fourth close to 
Iran's decision making ... These people said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali 
Khamenei approved the operation, but with strict conditions: Iranian forces must avoid 
hitting any civilians or Americans. ... The plan by Iranian military leaders to strike Saudi 
oil installations developed over several months, according to the official close to Iran's 
decision making. ... The official close to Iran's decision making said the group settled on 
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the plan to attack Saudi Arabia's oil installations because it could grab big headlines, 
inflict economic pain on an adversary and still deliver a strong message to Washington." 
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces his first serious leadership 
challenge from his own party. Ruth Eglash reports: "The first public cracks in 
[Netanyahu]'s Likud party appeared over the weekend, days after the country's attorney 
general indicted the longtime leader on charges of bribery and fraud in three criminal 
cases. The move comes after a year of political limbo that could send Israelis back to the 
polls for an unprecedented third general election in less than a year. Gideon Saar, 
Netanyahu's most outspoken challenger within Likud, told an Israeli news show 
Saturday that it was time for the party to hold primaries to decide its leader and keep it 
from losing power. Saar, a 52-year-old former minister who returned to politics last year 
after a four-year hiatus, said he himself could end the political crisis. On Sunday, he 
submitted a request to the party's central committee calling for a leadership vote to be 
held in the next three weeks — the deadline for the country's lawmakers to form a long-
elusive government before another general election must be called." 
Uber lost its license to operate in London after authorities discovered that more 
than 14,000 trips were taken with uninsured drivers. From the Guardian: "Transport 
for London announced the decision not to renew the global ride-hailing firm's licence at 
the end of a two-month probationary extension granted in September. Uber was then 
told it needed to address issues with checks on drivers, insurance and safety, but has 
apparently failed to satisfy the capital's transport authorities. ... The decision is unlikely 
to see Uber cars disappear from London, as the firm is expected to appeal, and can 
continue to operate pending the outcome, provided it launches official proceedings 
within 21 days." 
Not only will England's Prince Andrew stand aside from all of his 230 
patronages after a scandalous interview about his relationship with sex offender 
Jeffrey Epstein, he also won't be able to throw a birthday bash next year, under 
orders from the Queen. From the Guardian: "The blanket move represents a key step 
in Buckingham Palace's attempts to limit the damage to the British monarchy from the 
prince's association with Epstein and his interview with BBC Two's Newsnight last 
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weekend in which he was widely thought to have shown insufficient concern for 
Epstein's victims. ... Andrew's withdrawal from public life coincides with Charles's 
wish for a more streamlined and cost-effective monarchy when he becomes king. 
Sources close to the Prince of Wales, who is on an official visit to the Solomon Islands, 
denied reports that he was 'angry and frustrated' by the publicity his younger brother 
was attracting. It was also reported that the Queen has cancelled a planned 60th 
birthday party for Andrew in February and has downsized it to a small family gathering." 
— A small plane crashed in eastern Congo, killing at least 27 people. From Reuters: 
"The propeller plane, which was operated by local company Busy Bee, crashed shortly 
after take-off en route to the city of Beni." 
Mike Bloomberg announces Democratic presidential run I Campaign 2020 
2020 WATCH: 
-- Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg officially announced his bid for 
the Democratic presidential nomination. 
Scherer reports: "Bloomberg has 
promised a disruptive campaign that could break spending records with a massive 
advertising buy aimed at states that vote in March and April. ... Without offering 
specifics, the announcement video says he will push for the wealthy to pay more in taxes 
and to guarantee health care to all Americans without removing private insurance from 
anyone who wants it. His campaign has made more than $30 million in television 
advertising reservations to help introduce him as a candidate. The ads will start [today]. 
... Bloomberg has also announced a $100 million ad campaign to criticize Trump in key 
battleground states and a $15 million voter registration effort in those same places. 
Those initial spending plans are already double the amount raised by the top fundraiser 
in the Democratic field, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), through September." 
— The billionaire's news outlet, Bloomberg News, announced it will stop writing 
unsigned editorials about its founder and its reporters will avoid investigating him 
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or his Democratic rivals as long as he stays in the race. Paul Farhi reports: "In an 
extraordinary memo to his newsroom on Sunday, Bloomberg News Editor in Chief John 
Micklethwait outlined steps designed to steer his reporters through a potential journalistic 
minefield: how to cover the campaign of the man who owns the news organization that is 
covering him. ... Bloomberg operates one of the world's largest media organizations, 
with about 2,700 journalists in TV, radio, magazine and digital operations ... 
Micklethwait's memo Sunday laid out what he called 'basic principles' in covering 
Bloomberg's political aspirations. Most notably, he said his newsroom would continue 
'our tradition' of not investigating Bloomberg, his family and his wealth, 'and we will 
extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries.' A Bloomberg News 
spokeswoman, Kerri Chyka, also said the company won't initiate stories about 
Bloomberg L.P., following a long-standing policy. The hands-off policy puts Bloomberg 
News in the awkward position of passing on such critical stories as Trump's unfounded 
allegations of corruption against [Biden] and his son Hunter. At the same time, 
Micklethwait said Bloomberg News would continue to investigate the Trump 
administration." 
-- "America already elected a builder," White House adviser Kellyanne Conway 
said of Bloomberg's announcement, which uses the tagline "Rebuild America." 
"His new ad that he put millions behind is all unicorns and rainbows. Keep your health 
care if you'd like to — and if you don't, I have something better. Rebuild America. We 
heard that from Obama-Biden," Conway said. (Politico) 
Biden is struggling in Iowa and his supporters blame a lack of enthusiasm and a 
spotty campaign operation. From the Times: "Voters at Mr. Biden's events, along with 
county chairs and party strategists, characterize his on-the-ground organization as 
scattershot, visibly present in some counties but barely detectable in others. His events 
are often relatively small and sometimes subdued affairs, and in a state where 
enthusiasm can make or break a candidate on caucus night — a big part of caucusing 
centers on persuading friends and neighbors — Mr. Biden's operation has found it 
difficult to build contagious excitement, these Democrats say. ... 'This is prime political 
season in Iowa and most candidates are spending a good deal of time visiting Iowa,' 
said Joey Norris, the Democratic chair in Montgomery County, Iowa, where [Pete] 
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