The Hill’s Morning Report — Biden juggles Iran, Maui wildfires, inflation

President Biden on Thursday juggled international diplomacy with a U.S. enemy, responded to a tragic national disaster, asked Congress to increase spending for Ukraine, and contemplated House Republicans’ talk of impeaching him as he seeks reelection. In other words, in one 24-hour period, a portrait of the contemporary presidency came into sharp focus.

The Biden administration and Iran arrived at a delicate deal that was years in the making. Five Americans are expected to be released from Iran in exchange for release of a group of U.S.-held Iranian prisoners. The freeing of prisoners is to be accompanied by the release of $6 billion in Iranian oil assets seized under international sanctions. The release of those funds is to be supervised by Qatar, which will disburse the money to Iran for humanitarian needs (The New York Times and The Washington Post). 

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said more than $10 billion would be released from accounts in South Korea and Iraq, and that under the agreement, the Americans wouldn’t be permitted to leave Iran until the funds become available in Iranian accounts in Qatar. A U.S. official dismissed Iran’s claim, saying that only the $6 billion in funds held in South Korea was under discussion. The official added that in exchange for having these Americans moved to house arrest, no Iranian prisoners in the U.S. have been released (The Wall Street Journal). The deal was criticized by the GOP as rewarding Iran for wrongdoing 

The U.S. negotiated to free Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz, who were jailed on unsubstantiated charges of spying, as well as two other prisoners whose families withheld their names. One of the unnamed Americans is a scientist, and the other is a businessman, according to the Times.

“We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were unjustly detained,” said Adrienne Watson, the National Security Council spokeswoman, noting they were moved to intermediary house arrest as a step in the agreement. 

“Negotiations for their eventual release remain ongoing and are delicate,” she added, noting they “should have never been detained in the first place.” 

Separately, Biden asked Congress on Thursday for another $20.6 billion to help Ukraine battle Russia through the first quarter of 2024, an anticipated request at a time when some congressional conservatives have become hostile to providing more U.S. assistance to Ukraine. The administration’s funding request also includes a proposed $12 billion in disaster relief and border management financing, sweeteners to attract bipartisan support on Capitol Hill (The Hill and The Washington Post).

Washington’s willingness and evident need to increase funding for the rise in natural disasters flashed across headlines and on TV from Hawaii, where the lush and historic beauty of Lahaina, Maui, was reduced to acres and acres of ash by wildfires this week, killing at least 55 people and forcing mass evacuations (Hawaii News Now). Cadaver dogs are expected at the scene from Washington and California to search for human remains.

Biden, speaking from Utah on Thursday, issued a federal declaration of a major disaster and promised all available assistance, including a response to wildfires on the Big Island of Hawaii.

“We’re working as quickly as possible to fight those fires and evacuate residents and tourists. In the meantime, our prayers are with the people of Hawaii, but not just our prayers: every asset that we have will be available to them,” the president said (CNN).

It is the deadliest U.S. wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll will rise as rescuers reach parts of the island that initially were inaccessible during three ongoing fires, including the one in Lahaina that was 80 percent contained on Thursday. More than 1,000 structures were damaged or destroyed, and dozens of people were reported to be injured, including some critically (The Associated Press). Many who survived the fire but lost their homes, vehicles and possessions described the harrowing hours of fleeing fast-moving flames — and the uncertainties of their next steps — after seeking help from emergency shelters (The Associated Press).

© Associated Press / Rick Bowmer | Wildfire devastation in Lahaina, Maui, triggered a major disaster declaration by President Biden, who promised Hawaii “help immediately.”

Biden on Thursday wrapped up a three-state swing through the Southwest with a focus on championing economic and manufacturing strides made possible by legislation enacted during his presidency. His “Bidenomics” message overlapped with the release Thursday of the consumer price index for July, which ticked up for the first time this year in large part due to housing costs and services (The Hill). Prices in the index rose to a 3.2 percent annual increase in July from 3 percent in June, the largest upward movement since June of last year.

The president said in a statement that the “strong” U.S. economy showed inflation on the decline compared with conditions a year ago, accompanied by a resilient labor market and growing real wages. Republicans, however, argued that July’s report demonstrated that what they describe as Biden’s debt- and deficit-aggravating policies are taking the country in the wrong direction.

The Hill: Is it still the economy, stupid? 

---

Related Articles

▪ USA Today: The Social Security cost of living adjustment estimate for 2024, 3 percent, did not change with Thursday’s inflation report. Seniors still struggle. 

▪ NBC News: The Supreme Court on Thursday put the bankruptcy reorganization of OxyContin opioid maker Purdue Pharma on hold, granting an emergency request from the Biden administration that raised objections to liability protection for the company’s Sackler family. 

▪ The Associated Press: Biden wants to compensate New Mexico residents sickened by radiation during 1945’s nuclear testing.

---

LEADING THE DAY

➤ POLITICS

© Associated Press / Jacquelyn Martin | House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) at the Capitol in July.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Thursday that his committee, which has been investigating the foreign business dealings of Biden’s family members, will eventually move to subpoena the Biden family — a move Comer hinted could include the president himself.

“This is always going to end with the Bidens coming in front of the committee. We are going to subpoena the family,” Comer said on Fox Business.

As The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports, Comer’s subpoena tease comes a day after his committee released a third staff memo outlining millions of dollars in foreign funds paid to Hunter Biden and his former associates while his father was vice president. That memo noted that the committee has so far only subpoenaed banks tailored to specific individuals and companies, but it has not yet issued subpoenas for bank records for members of the Biden family. Comer, however, indicated that subpoenas for members of the Biden family would not be imminent. Takeaway: Expect this hearing in 2024. 

The Washington Post analysis: So where’s the bribe, Comer?

Meanwhile, traditions ranging from eating hot dogs to visiting the famous “Butter Cow” dairy sculpture await the 2024 presidential candidates at the Iowa State Fair starting Thursday. The fair, an annual celebration of Iowa’s agriculture industry, is a rite of passage for presidential candidates looking to mingle with early-state voters. And with so many unscripted interactions, it also presents landmines for White House hopefuls.

While the fair has been historically popular among candidates, former President Trump is delivering what could be a death blow to the old way. The Republican front-runner has barely set foot in the Hawkeye State, but five months out from the 2024 caucuses, he holds a comfortable lead in the polls. If any of Trump’s dozen challengers hope to stop his march to a third straight nomination, they will almost certainly have to halt, or at least slow, him in Iowa after spending the better part of a year making their case (ABC News and The New York Times).

“You’ve got to do it in Iowa, otherwise it’s gone, it’s all national media,” Doug Gross, a Republican strategist who was the party’s nominee for Iowa governor in 2002, told the Times. “The chance to show that he’s vulnerable is gone. You’ve got to do it here, and you’ve got to do it now.”

While Trump will visit the fair Saturday, he won’t be participating in The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox, billed as giving candidates “20 minutes, a microphone and a crowd eager to listen to political pitches.” Also skipping the event: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The speaker’s schedule for the event can be found HERE.

Des Moines Register: Former Vice President Mike Pence pushes back after an Iowa State Fair attendee accuses him of “treason” on Jan. 6.

Politics roundup: Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), who has not ruled out a third-party 2024 presidential bid, says he is “thinking seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and declaring himself an independent before the election (The Hill). … Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was a GOP star. Then came Trump (Politico). … Democratic strategist James Carville isn’t one to hold his tongue, and in an interview with The Hill this week, he wasn’t shy about offering his uncensored opinions on Trump and No Labels, the group flirting with backing a third-party candidate (The Hill). … A federal appeals court on Thursday appeared skeptical of the Biden administration’s bid to reverse a court order sharply limiting its ability to ask social media companies to remove content that it considers to be misinformation (The Hill and Reuters). … A push to have obesity treatments covered by Medicare is receiving increased bipartisan support in Congress (The Hill). … Florida has clarified that Advanced Placement psychology courses can be taught “consistent” with state laws, a reversal of recent directives  (Politico). … Kansas Republicans are facing an uphill battle in their effort to oust, Rep. Sharice Davids, the lone Democrat representing their state in Congress (The Hill). 

➤ TRUMP WORLD

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office proposed a Jan. 2, 2024, trial date for Trump’s criminal case stemming from his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election, and prosecutors indicated they expect it will take no longer than four to six weeks to present evidence. Trump last week pleaded not guilty to the four federal charges in the case, one of three indictments he currently faces. 

Trump’s legal team is due to respond by next Thursday. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who is slated to oversee the case, has indicated she will make a decision on the trial date at an Aug. 28 hearing (The Hill).

Meanwhile on Thursday, Trump and one of his two co-defendants pleaded not guilty in federal court to multiple charges alleging that the former president kept classified documents at his Florida property and, with the help of aides, tried to hide some of the material from government officials seeking to get them back.

Trump, who was not present at the hearing, entered his plea through his attorneys. Federal prosecutors initially accused him of committing 37 crimes in an indictment filed in June, and added three additional charges in a July superseding indictment. Walt Nauta, Trump’s aide who faced six charges in the initial indictment and was charged with two additional crimes, attended the Thursday court hearing and also pleaded not guilty. The third defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, faced four charges for the first time. He was not arraigned because of a lack of Florida-based representation — a requirement for arraignments in South Florida federal courts (The Washington Post).

▪ The Detroit News and The Hill: Michigan Republicans on Thursday pleaded not guilty in the fake electors scheme in 2020. 

▪ The Associated Press: Wisconsin judge allows civil case against fake Trump electors to proceed.

▪ The Hill: Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis warns staff not to respond to “derogatory” Trump ad.

▪ The New York Times: A conservative case emerges to disqualify Trump for his role on Jan. 6. Two law professors active in the Federalist Society wrote that the original meaning of the 14th Amendment makes Trump ineligible to hold government office.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Ukraine is facing a barrage of criticism and concern from Western supporters as its counteroffensive in the southeast slogs on without any significant and visible progress. As The Hill’s Brad Dress reports, heightened concerns of a stonewalled offensive picked up steam in the last week after Ukraine launched a second push in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and has still come up mostly empty in the eyes of western allies. Biden administration officials have also begun leaking “sobering” assessments to the media, though publicly the U.S. maintains that Ukraine will recapture Russian-occupied territory and ultimately triumph. 

Ukrainian authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation Thursday of nearly 12,000 civilians from 37 towns and villages in the eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces reportedly are making a concerted effort to punch through the front line (ABC News).

The country’s navy on Thursday announced “temporary corridors for trading vessels” to and from Ukrainian ports. Navy spokesperson Oleh Chalyk told Reuters cameras would be placed on ships to broadcast footage showing the corridor “is purely a humanitarian mission and has no military purpose.” Moscow in July suspended the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which had facilitated a humanitarian corridor for the export of Ukrainian agricultural goods through the war.

Meanwhile, Russia will launch its first lunar landing spacecraft in 47 years today in a race with India to the south pole of the moon, where a potential source of water could support a future human presence there. The launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles east of Moscow, will take place four weeks after India sent up its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, due to touch down at the pole on Aug. 23. Russian space agency Roscosmos said the two missions would not get in each other’s way because they have different landing areas planned (The New York Times).

Local officials said residents of a village in Russia’s far east will be evacuated from their homes ahead of the launch because of a “one in a million chance” that one of the rocket stages that launches Luna-25 could fall to earth there (Reuters).

▪ The New York Times: In a rare move, a Russian tech tycoon condemns the war in Ukraine.

▪ NPR: Inside Russia’s attempts to hack Ukrainian military operations.

▪ The Washington Post: F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots faces delays and uncertainty.

 © Associated Press / Gbemiga Olamikan | Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, at the ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on Thursday.

Niger’s junta told U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland that they would kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum if neighboring countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule, two Western officials told The Associated Press. The West African bloc ECOWAS said Thursday it had directed the deployment of a “standby force” to restore democracy in Niger, without giving details about its makeup, location or proposed date of deployment.

“No option is off the table, including the use of force as a last resort,” Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, and current ECOWAS chair, said at the end of the summit (CBS News and The New York Times).  

▪ The New York Times: No more coups in West Africa, Nigeria’s leader vowed. Niger called his bluff.

▪ Bloomberg News: Biden fears China is a “ticking time bomb” posing a danger to the world.

▪ CNN: Kim Jong Un fires top general, orders North Korean military to “gird for war.”

▪ The Hill and The Washington Post: Six Colombians arrested over Ecuadorian presidential candidate assassination.

---

OPINION

■ Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s corruption is getting intolerable. Here’s what we can do about it, by Noah Bookbinder and Dennis Aftergut, opinion contributors, The Los Angeles Times.

■ My son is an American citizen held in Afghanistan for one year, by Ahmadullah Habibi, opinion contributor, The Hill.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will convene for a pro forma session at 11 a.m. Lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 11. 

The Senate is out until Sept. 5 and will hold a pro forma session at 9 a.m.

The president is at the White House where he’ll receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. Biden plans to depart for Rehoboth Beach, Del., at 6:10 p.m.

Vice President Harris will travel to Chicago to participate in a moderated conversation at 12:50 p.m. CT in the Chicago Convention Center as part of Everytown For Gun Safety’s annual conference. She will return to Washington this evening. On Saturday, she will travel to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., to headline political fundraising events. 

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, also in Chicago today, will speak at a Biden Victory Fund donor reception at a private residence at 5:25 p.m. CT.  

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Blackstone, Va., to visit the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center at 11 a.m., and observe training programs for members of the Diplomatic Security Service. The secretary will greet employees of the training center at 2:20 p.m. 

---

ELSEWHERE

➤ ICYMI: INTRIGUING READS

■ Clarence Thomas’s 38 vacations: The other billionaires who have treated the Supreme Court justice to luxury travel, by Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski (ProPublica).

■ Eric Adams’s administration of bluster, by Ian Parker(The New Yorker). 

■ How hip-hop conquered the world, by Wesley Morris (The New York Times Magazine).

■ “I didn’t kill my wife!” — An oral history of “The Fugitive,” by Andy Greene (Rolling Stone).

■ A tale of two abortion clinics, by Andrea González-Ramírez (The Cut).

---

THE CLOSER

© Associated Press / AP photo | White House visitors helped themselves to a 1,400-pound block of cheese during President Andrew Jackson’s administration.

And finally … Congrats to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! With August in mind, the puzzle focused on White House trivia about a few oddities and traditions.

Here’s who went 4/4 with smarts, Googling and guesses: Patrick Kavanagh, Richard E. Baznik, Paul Harris, Mary Anne McEnery, Harry Strulovici, Kathleen Kovalik, Jaina Mehta, Lou Tisler, Stan Wasser, Ki Harvey, Jerry Leonard, Robert Bradley, Randall S. Patrick, J.A. Ramos and Steve James. 

Then-President Andrew Jackson received as a gift a 1,400-pound wheel of cheese, which he placed in a White House foyer for visitors to nibble and share.

It’s true that presidents often take summer vacations away from the White House and building and renovation projects are easier to complete in their absence.

William H. Taft was the first president to display a Christmas tree in a public area of the White House, specifically, the Blue Room.

In 1878, then-President Rutherford B. Hayes issued an order that if any children should come to the White House to roll their Easter eggs, they would be allowed to do so, ushering in what is now the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. The preceding event in 1876 was passage of a law forbidding the Capitol grounds to be used as a children’s playground.

---

Stay Engaged

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. Follow us on Twitter (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends!