|
From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward, Joe Gould, Matt Berg and Ari Hawkins | |  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who asked for the Iran briefing several months ago, has been arguing on the Senate floor that the threat from Iran has worsened under President Joe Biden. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | With help from Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt Senior officials will brief Tuesday at the Biden administration’s first Iran-focused classified session for all senators, seven congressional staffers and U.S. officials said, coming at a time when relations with Tehran are spiraling and nuclear constraints are weakening. Outgoing Deputy Secretary of State WENDY SHERMAN, Undersecretary of Defense COLIN KAHL, Deputy Director of National Intelligence MORGAN MUIR, Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence BRIAN NELSON and Vice Adm. STEPHEN KOEHLER, the Joint Staff’s chief of strategy, policy and plans, will be on Capitol Hill at 4 p.m. for the classified briefing. One person who won’t be there is ROB MALLEY, the special envoy for Iran deal talks, who we’re told is on leave by two people (they, like others, were granted anonymity to freely discuss details of a classified session). His deputy, ABRAM PALEY, will accompany Sherman in his stead. Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL, who asked for the Iran briefing several months ago, has been arguing on the Senate floor that the threat from Iran has worsened under President JOE BIDEN. A Senate GOP aide said the briefing is “overdue.” McConnell has railed at the administration after an Iranian proxy killed an American contractor in Syria two months ago. The United States responded with air strikes on facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Republicans were also upset that, around the same time, the repeal of the 2002 Iraq authorization for the use of military force didn’t include a carve out to keep pressure on Iran. Sherman will use the opportunity to update senators on the state of Iran deal negotiations, a Senate Democratic aide told NatSec Daily. “There’s been progress on nuclear talks,” the staffer said without expanding further. Other topics that will surely come up include Iran’s general threats to the United States and its regional partners, namely Israel, and Tehran’s support for terrorism. Put together, there’s a good chance the private session will get a little rowdy as the administration, some Democrats, and Republicans are at odds over how to handle Iran. Sen. JONI ERNST (R.-Iowa) led a dozen senators in a bipartisan appeal last month to Biden to reinvigorate U.S. efforts to enforce sanctions on Iranian oil and gas shipments. “It is incredibly disappointing that my bipartisan call for Iranian oil sanction enforcement, which includes a dozen Republicans and Democratic senators, has yet to receive an answer from the administration, despite a requested deadline of today," she said in a statement. National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told reporters Monday that, since August, Iran has provided Russia with more than 400 drones, most of them Shaheds. In exchange, Moscow is assisting Tehran with its missile and air defense programs and selling it fighter jets, among other things. “This is a full-scale defense partnership,” he said, adding that additional sanctions will be placed on the individuals who are helping it flourish. Since the U.S. withdrew from the Iran deal in 2018, Tehran has been enriching nuclear fuel closer and closer to the weapons-grade level of 90 percent.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | FBI’S DOUBLE STANDARD: A report from Special Counsel JOHN DURHAM accuses the FBI of a double standard for aggressively probing ties between Russia and DONALD TRUMP’s 2016 presidential campaign while soft-pedaling similar claims about foreigners seeking influence over Democratic candidate HILLARY CLINTON, our own JOSH GERSTEIN and BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN report. Durham’s long-awaited, 306-page report slams the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe as deeply flawed. But Durham’s investigation into the origins of that probe resulted in few criminal charges, and the release of his report is unlikely to offset his high-profile failures in court. He charged just three defendants during his four-year investigation; juries quickly acquitted two of them, while a third pleaded guilty and avoided prison time. “The objective facts show that the FBI’s handling of important aspects of the Crossfire Hurricane matter were seriously deficient,” Durham wrote, referring to the code name for the counterintelligence probe of links between Russian officials and Trump associates. UKRAINE’S NEW TOYS: As Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY hops around Europe in a series of successful bids for military support, the White House is under pressure to deliver, our own PAUL McLEARY, ANTHONY ADRAGNA and JOE GOULD report. The $48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December has about $6 billion left, meaning U.S. funding for weapons and supplies could dry up by midsummer. Lawmakers are worried about what the White House is planning next, including when the administration will ask for another major package and whether it will be enough. The White House is discussing a new package, and it will be timed to keep support for Ukraine flowing, a senior administration official said. While Zelenskyy was in England on Monday, Prime Minister RISHI SUNAK announced that London would send Ukraine hundreds more air defense missiles and “long-range attack drones” that can reach more than 120 miles, the Associated Press’ JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA report. Later this week, Sunak will push allies at the G-7 summit to deliver more support to Kyiv, his office said. In Paris on Sunday, French President EMMANUEL MACRON met with his Ukrainian counterpart and promised to “train and equip” several Ukrainian battalions and provide them with “tens of armored vehicles and light tanks,” our own GABRIEL GAVIN and CLEA CAULCUTT reported. Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy was in Berlin when German Chancellor OLAF SCHOLZ said that his country would send a $3 billion military aid package to support Kyiv. PRIGOZHIN’S PLAN: Wagner chief YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN denied reports on Monday that he offered to provide Ukrainian officials information on Russian troop positions for Kyiv to conduct attacks if they withdrew from Bakhmut, Reuters’ BRAD HEATH reports. Kyiv officials rejected his offer, which came as thousands of his troops were slain in Bakhmut in January, because they didn’t trust his intentions, the Washington Post’s SHANE HARRIS and ISABELLE KHURSHUDYAN reported Sunday, citing leaked Pentagon documents. Zelenskyy wouldn’t confirm the contact and objected to the publicizing of classified information in an interview with the Post. Prigozhin called the claims "nonsense" in a Telegram post, while Kremlin spokesperson DMITRY PESKOV said the report "looks like the latest hoax.” On Saturday, the Post dropped possibly the biggest bombshell from the leak yet: While Zelenskyy has promised to not use Western weapons to strike inside Russia, he has secretly plotted for Ukrainian forces to occupy Russian villages to gain leverage and bomb an oil pipeline between Russia and Hungary, among other aggressive tactics. Zelenskyy dismissed the intelligence claims as “fantasies.” As the Wagner chief’s ongoing divide with the Kremlin spills into the public, Ukrainian forces racked up a major win in Bakhmut over the weekend, killing two senior Russian military officers, Gabriel reported. It’s still a tough fight for the eastern city, Ukrainian officials said, but they’ve made several territorial gains in recent days in an effort to exhaust enemy troops ahead of the counteroffensive. (UN)FREE AND (UN)FAIR: Turkey’s election board wasn’t properly transparent and there was clear bias in state-run coverage of Sunday’s election, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe told reporters Monday. "I regret to note that the election administration's work was lacking in transparency, as well as the overwhelming bias of the public media and the limitations to freedom of speech," JAN PETERSEN, head of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights election observation mission, said in Ankara. That puts a stain on the election that proved a great challenge for Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN, who has been in power for 20 years. Turkish elections officials said Erdoğan won 49.4 percent of the vote, only narrowly shy of the 50 percent needed for an outright win, per our own CHRISTIAN OLIVER and ELÇIN POYRAZLAR. His opponent, KEMAL KILIÇDAROĞLU, had secured 44.96 percent. It now appears that the election is headed to a two-way runoff on May 28. NO VETTING NECESSARY: There’s no requirement for U.S. Special Operations forces to vet the foreign troops they arm and train for past human rights violations, the New York Times’ CHARLIE SAVAGE and ERIC SCHMITT report. Past reports detailing the gap in vetting rules for a counterrorism program have been based on anonymous sources, but the documents, obtained via public records request, are the first official confirmation. IT’S MONDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and mberg@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @Lawrence_Ukenye, @reporterjoe and @_AriHawkins.
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | TRUMP’S CHATGPT VISION: Former President DONALD TRUMP has worries about artificial intelligence, and he plans on doing something about it. When asked if he’s paid attention to ChatGPT or AI, he called it a “very dangerous subject” in an interview with The Messenger published Monday. On regulation, he said it’ll be important to watch how it develops over the next few years. “I'll be very much involved because it's got the potential for great danger to the country and in fact, to the world,” Trump said, without specifying what action he’d take.
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | | HACKERS IN THE HERMIT KINGDOM: North Korean cyber hackers have stolen $721 million worth of cryptocurrency assets from Japan since 2017, according to a new study by U.K. blockchain analysis provider Elliptic,per AKINOBU IWASAWA and REI KOBAYASHI from Nikkei Asia. Japan was the single largest target, accounting for 30 percent of the stolen worldwide total of $2.3 billion. Last week, a White House official said that roughly half of Pyongyang's missile program has been funded through cryptocurrency theft.
| | DATA TRANSFER: The Space Development Agency is seeking proposals from industry for 100 space vehicles to quickly transfer data among satellites in its network, according to a new notice that our friends at Morning Defense spotted (for Pros!). The plan is to pay two companies for the group of 100 space vehicles, which will be outfitted with Link 16, a command and control module, an optical communication terminal, navigation, and a payload called Warlock, whose purpose was not disclosed. The SDA is building a “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” meaning a united satellite constellation to perform communications, missile warning, missile tracking, Earth observation and navigation. The Pentagon anticipates launching these space vehicles no later than Sept. 1, 2026.
| | THE DEBT CEILING AND UKRAINE: Ukraine Caucus Co-Chair Rep. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-Ill.) is worried that Washington’s debt ceiling showdown could derail future aid to Kyiv, he told Morning Defense. “Everything — and I'm an appropriator — everything pivots on how we handle the debt ceiling,” he said. “If we don't get past that, utter hell and chaos reign. It will alter things so much, if we fail at that, it will be hard to accomplish all the big tasks.” If Ukraine military aid’s possible midsummer renewal date and a possible midsummer debt limit breach actually do happen at the same time, the debt limit will “be the only thing we’re talking about and the only thing we’re doing,” he said. “It will blow everything else out of the water.”
| | | |   | | | | | ‘WE CAN DO BETTER’: Wondering what the Space Force does? Its top general just asked all of his members if they even know, our own LEE HUDSON reports. “I have some concerns with our current mission statement,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. CHANCE SALTZMAN wrote in a note to all guardians on Monday. “My biggest concern is that the mission statement does not reflect why the Nation has a Space Force and the vital functions Guardians perform.” It’s also not catchy enough: “How many Guardians can recite the current mission statement of the Space Force?” he asked. “My guess is very few.” To fix the problem, Saltzman is asking guardians to send in their own submissions for a new mission statement. Send your serious suggestions to ocso.feedback@spaceforce.mil, and your silly ones to the NatSec Daily team. WESTERN SANCTIONS FORTHCOMING: Leaders of seven of the world’s richest nations plan to jointly tighten sanctions on Russia during their May 19-21 summit in Japan, according to officials with direct knowledge of the discussions who spoke with Reuters. The measures will target evasions involving third countries and aims to undermine Russia’s energy production and trade that could support Moscow’s military effort, the officials said. Washington also expects G-7 members to jointly adjust their approach to sanctions to automatically ban exports for certain categories of goods, unless they are on an approved list.
| | | — RACHEL LYNGAAS has been named the Treasury Department’s first ever chief sanctions economist. She will join the newly created Sanctions Economic Analysis division. She last served at the International Monetary Fund. — GORDON TROWBRIDGE is now chief of staff for Rep. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-Mich.). He most recently was strategic comms director for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. — Economist LUDOVIT ODOR was tapped to serve as Slovakia's interim prime minister on Monday. He’ll lead the country until the elections in September. — NAVTEJ DHILLON is now chief of staff to National Economic Council director LAEL BRAINARD and a special assistant to the president, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was a special adviser to the National Security Council where he helped shepherd AJAY BANGA to lead the World Bank. Before joining the White House, he worked for Brainard at the Federal Reserve and led investments in emerging markets at the International Finance Corporation. — AMY POPE, the U.S. candidate, was elected on Monday to be the next Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). She is the first woman to ever lead the UN migration agency.
| | — BENJAMIN SCHWARZ and CHRISTOPHER LAYNE, Harper’s Magazine: Why are we in Ukraine? — DAVID IGNATIUS, The Washington Post: In Vienna, the U.S.-China relationship shows signs of hope — VANDA FELBAB-BROWN, Foreign Affairs: Why America is struggling to stop the fentanyl epidemic
|  | Tomorrow Today | | — Potomac Officers Club, 7 a.m.: 4th Annual CIO Summit | Potomac Officers Club — United Nations, 9 a.m.: Modalities for Nuclear Disarmament in the Middle East WMD-Free Zone Treaty: Virtual Report Launch — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: Strategic Trends 2023: Key Developments in Global Affairs — Intelligence and National Security Alliance, 9 a.m.: Coffee & Conversation with RICH BAICH — New Lines Institute, 9:30 a.m.: The Strategic Implications of Kazakhstan’s Political Economic Reforms — Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, 10 a.m.: Artificial Intelligence in Government — Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2 p.m.: Nominations hearing — Henry L. Stimson Center, 2 p.m.:Beyond the Washington Declaration: Prospects for the Future of Extended Deterrence — Institute of World Politics, 5 p.m.: Maoist Revolutionary War Outside China — Asia Society Policy Institute Australia, 8:30 p.m.: The 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit: What to Expect Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who never tells us anything, even in private meetings. We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who has all the intelligence.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
