First Draft on Politics: Haspel Offered to Withdraw

President Trump's nominee to run the C.I.A. offered to withdraw her nomination ahead of a tough confirmation hearing. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, May 7, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [Gina Haspel, the president’s nominee to run the C.I.A., offered to withdraw her nomination ahead of what is expected to be a tough confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.]( Gina Haspel, the president’s nominee to run the C.I.A., offered to withdraw her nomination ahead of what is expected to be a tough confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. C.I.A. Good Monday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - President Trump’s pick to lead the C.I.A., Gina Haspel, told White House officials last week that [she would withdraw her nomination]( if they were concerned that her role in the brutal interrogation of a Qaeda suspect would scuttle her confirmation. Her offer sent administration officials scurrying: A group of top aides went to C.I.A. headquarters to keep Ms. Haspel from dropping out. - Rudolph W. Giuliani, who recently joined Mr. Trump’s legal team, said on Sunday that Mr. Trump [would not have to comply]( with a subpoena if one was issued by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election. “He’s the president of the United States,” Mr. Giuliani said. “We can assert the same privileges other presidents have.” - California Republicans fear that they will have no candidate for U.S. senator or governor on the ballot in November. A field of Republican candidates for those positions [is struggling against political headwinds]( in seeking to end a drought of more than 10 years and elect a party member to statewide office. - Before he joined the Trump Organization and became Mr. Trump’s lawyer and do-it-all fixer, Michael D. Cohen was a hard-edge personal-injury attorney and businessman. Now a significant portion of his quarter-century business record is under the microscope of federal prosecutors — [posing a potential threat]( not just to Mr. Cohen but also to the president. - As he battles brain cancer and the debilitating side effects of his aggressive treatment, John McCain is [reckoning with his history and the future]( as he and a stream of friends share memories and say what needs to be said. No one is saying goodbye, not explicitly. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [The Week in Good News]( Coming soon: A newsletter that’s meant to help you start your weekend with a smile, or at least a lighter heart. [• Sign Up »]( News Analysis [Verifying the End of a Nuclear North Korea ‘Could Make Iran Look Easy’]( By DAVID E. SANGER AND WILLIAM J. BROAD [A nuclear inspection team from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iran in 2014. North Korea is believed to have far more nuclear fuel production facilities than Iran, providing a challenge to inspectors.]( A nuclear inspection team from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iran in 2014. North Korea is believed to have far more nuclear fuel production facilities than Iran, providing a challenge to inspectors. Kazem Ghane/European Pressphoto Agency As he weighs opening nuclear disarmament negotiations with North Korea, President Trump faces a regime that for decades has hidden major elements of its nuclear programs from international monitors and has barred inspectors from the country. As a result, the first step in any meaningful agreement would be a declaration from North Korea about the scope of its nuclear program, a declaration that no one will believe. It would have to be followed by what experts call the most extensive inspection campaign in the history of nuclear disarmament, one that would have to delve into a program that stretches back more than half a century and now covers square miles of industrial sites and hidden tunnels across the mountainous North. And it might demand more than the 300 inspectors the International Atomic Energy Agency now deploys to assess the nuclear facilities of nearly 200 countries. For Mr. Trump, getting the right declaration and inspection process is critical, given his argument that [false declarations from Iran undercut the legitimacy of the 2015 nuclear accord]( which he is debating pulling out of this week. [Read more »](  [Richard Cordray, left, and Dennis Kucinich are facing off in a primary on Tuesday to be the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio.]( [Here Are Ohio Newspaper Endorsements for Governor in Tuesday’s Primary]( By LIAM STACK Ohio’s newspapers backed Mike DeWine for the Republican nomination but were divided over the two Democrats, Richard A. Cordray and Dennis Kucinich. [President Trump at the National Rifle Association conference in Dallas on Friday, where he spoke about a London hospital with “blood all over the floors.”]( [Amid Knife Crimes, Trump Compares London Hospital to ‘a War Zone’]( By YONETTE JOSEPH At the N.R.A.’s conference in Dallas, the president defended U.S. gun ownership and said of London: “They don’t have guns. They have knives and instead there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital.” [President Trump at a round-table discussion on tax cuts on Saturday in Cleveland, where he detoured into topics like immigration and trade.]( [In Speech Ostensibly About Tax Cuts, Trump Keeps China in Cross Hairs]( By MARK LANDLER Despite a detour to topics like trade and immigration, the president largely stuck to the script after a week of speaking off the cuff. [Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, with its chief executive, Rose Marcario, in the tin shed where he once forged and hammered metal. The outdoor-clothing company has mixed commerce and activism since the early 1970s.]( [Patagonia v. Trump]( By DAVID GELLES The outdoor retailer Patagonia has supported grass-roots environmental activists for decades. Now it is suing the president in a bid to protect Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. [An open-carry rally on Saturday outside the annual National Rifle Association meeting in Dallas. Members of the gun rights group were incensed after a local restaurant announced it was donating proceeds to help put in place “reasonable and effective gun regulations.”]( [N.R.A. Urges Boycott of a Dallas Restaurant Seeking ‘Reasonable’ Gun Laws]( By CHRISTINA CARON A restaurant that said it would donate proceeds to promote gun regulations drew the ire of the N.R.A., which told its members to “steer clear.” [Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, accused the Chinese Communist Party of trying “to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies.”]( [‘Orwellian Nonsense’? China Says That’s the Price of Doing Business]( By CHRIS BUCKLEY After the White House accused China of censorship over airlines’ references to places like Hong Kong, a Chinese spokesman said the U.S. should “respect the national feelings of the Chinese people.” [Tim Kane greeting a potential voter in Dublin, Ohio. Unlike President Trump, who has mined deep skepticism of immigration and free trade, Mr. Kane, a fellow Republican, is a vocal proponent of both.]( [Can a ‘Policy Nerd’ Economist Win Over Republicans in Ohio?]( By BEN CASSELMAN Tim Kane would seem to have the right stuff to be a G.O.P. candidate for Congress in any other year. But in 2018, he seems out of step with his party. [President Trump has said he “essentially” got rid of Obamacare. But the portion of the law that was eliminated by the Republican tax bill last year was the individual mandate, not the employer mandate that’s still in effect.]( [Trump Says He Got Rid of Obamacare. The I.R.S. Doesn’t Agree.]( By ALAN RAPPEPORT The I.R.S. has started sending penalty notices to businesses that failed to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, angering Republicans and business groups. [Kellyanne Conway, center, and her husband, George Conway, right, on the South Lawn of the White House during a Halloween event last year. They moved their family down to the capital for Ms. Conway’s job as counselor to the president.]( [Spouse of Top Trump Counselor Takes White House to Task on Twitter]( By KATIE ROGERS George T. Conway III has for months seemed to question publicly decisions made by a chaotic White House in which his wife, Kellyanne Conway, holds a central role. [A pharmacy in Deerfield Beach, Fla. Stung by a legislative defeat that required drug companies to lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries, the industry is pouring money into a lobbying campaign to thwart any serious efforts to rein in prescription drug prices.]( [As Trump Prepares Plan to Lower Drug Prices, Big Pharma Girds for a Fight]( By ROBERT PEAR Mr. Trump will lay out a plan this month to make good on his promise to lower prescription prices. Drug companies are ready to resist. LIKE THIS EMAIL? 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