FW: Russia – Clinton – private and confidential

Three Cheers for Don, Jr.’s Transparency!: Minutes before The New York Times published the emails Donald Trump Jr. sent and received regarding a meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, Jr. released the email chain himself via Twitter. The documents reveal that Jr. agreed to meet with a “Russian government attorney” last summer after receiving an email offering him information that would “incriminate” Hillary Clinton. The initial email came from publicist Rob Goldstone on June 3, 2016 and offered “very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump” (emphasis you know…added). 17 minutes later, Jr. replied, “If it’s what you say, I love it especially later in the summer.”

Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner joined Don, Jr. in the meeting with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya on June 9, 2016. Both men were forwarded the email chain on June 8 and were thus ostensibly able to scroll down to read the beginning of the conversation between Goldstone and Don, Jr. that the meeting would involve “very high level and sensitive information” that “is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” (Yes, we are repeating the same line from the email because you know–it seems pretty darned important). And The Beat Goes On.

Steve Bannon May Need Treatment for His Military-Industrial Complex: At the urging of of Stephen Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Trump’s team consulted with two businessmen to discuss alternatives to the Pentagon’s plans to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan. Erik D. Prince, a founder of the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide, and Stephen A. Feinberg, a billionaire who owns the military contractor DynCorp International, have proposed using contractors instead of American troops in Afghanistan.

This past weekend, Bannon met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to propose their ideas. Mattis declined to include Bannon’s suggestions in a review of Afghanistan policy that he is spearheading. The highly unusual meeting highlights the divide between Trump’s military and political staff over Afghanistan, and the willingness of the Trump administration to consult business leaders for help with diplomatic and military affairs. Soliciting the views of Prince and Feinberg “certainly qualifies as out-of-the-box thinking in a process dominated by military leaders in the Pentagon and the National Security Council.” But (of course) it also raises a host of ethical issues, not least that both the businessmen offering their advice on American policy in Afghanistan could profit enormously if their recommendations are heeded in the future.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Moves On, Minus the United States: Trump pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) soon after he took office, saying his “America First” policy favors bilateral trade agreements with other countries, rather than multinational agreements such as the TPP. The other 11 countries remaining in the TPP–Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam–are holding working-level talks today in Japan. This meeting follows the Economic Partnership Agreement signed last week between Japan and the European Union, which dismantles trade barriers and lowers tariffs between the two markets, which together account for almost a third of global economic activity.

Potato, Potahto, Prime Minister, President–Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: The US apologized for a White House statement that called China’s leader Xi Jinping president of the Republic of China—the formal name of Taiwan. Xi is the president of the People’s Republic of China. The erroneous naming was in the heading of a White House transcript of presidential remarks before a meeting between President Trump and President Xi at the G-20 held in Germany this past weekend. The gaffe was one of a series of misnomers issued by the White House during the summit. Trump’s Instagram account briefly identified Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore as President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, and another White House statement referred to the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, as “President Abe of Japan.” Ah, who cares right? You say tomato, and I say tomahto, Let’s Call Him Prime Minister Trump!

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