INSIDE Hillary’s NANTUCKET fundraiser -- SCOOP: DSCC raises $7.5 million in July -- SPICER to work from TRUMP TOWER -- B’DAY: Peter Hamby Presented by Amazon

Driving the Day

BREAKING -- Sean Spicer, the RNC chief strategist and communications director, is going to be working out of Trump Tower in New York three or four days a week, helping the campaign craft a message and strategy for the final 80 days of the campaign. Kellyanne Conway alluded to Spicer’s new role on ABC’s “This Week.”

Spicer emails Playbook: “We are committed to winning back the White House and maintaining our majorities in the House and Senate. To that end, our political, digital, data and communications teams will continue to integrate and coordinate with the top of the ticket.”

Good Sunday morning. Seventy-nine days until Election Day.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- SENATE DEMS OUTRAISE REPUBLICANS IN JULY-- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $7.5 million in July, $3.3 million more than their Republican counterparts. The DSCC has $31.3 million in the bank, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee has $23.8 million on hand. Statement from DSCC executive director Tom Lopach: “Our continued fundraising success and recent polling show that voters are frustrated with Republicans’ brand of irresponsible governance and their inability to stand up to toxic Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. But the DSCC is taking nothing for granted – we will use these resources to help our great candidates across the country continue running strong campaigns. We look forward to ensuring the Senate once again works for middle-class families in November.”

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THE VIEW FROM A HILLARY FUNDRAISER -- Hillary and Bill Clinton took a swing through Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket over the weekend, getting some downtime and raising money. One of the events was at the home of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a long-time top Democratic fundraiser who was the ambassador to Portugal under Bill Clinton.

SPOTTED: Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and his wife Dr. Susan Blumenthal; Rep. Bill Keating, the Democrat who represents Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and his wife Tevis; Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind; Vicki Kennedy and D.C. councilman Jack Evans. Clinton, according to our tipster, “delivered a comprehensive three-pronged policy agenda that focused on domestic and international affairs.” Pic of Hillary at the fundraiser http://bit.ly/2b7svvh

NEW POLL -- CBS “Battleground Tracker” -- Hillary Clinton extends her lead over Donald Trump to six points in Ohio -- 46 percent to 40 percent. Clinton and Trump are tied in Iowa, both garnering 40 percent of the vote.

--NYT A1, “Foundation Ties Bedevil Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign,”by Amy Chozick and Steve Eder: “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia donated more than $10 million. Through a foundation, so did the son-in-law of a former Ukrainian president whose government was widely criticized for corruption and the murder of journalists. A Lebanese-Nigerian developer with vast business interests contributed as much as $5 million. For years the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation thrived largely on the generosity of foreign donors and individuals who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the global charity. But now, as Mrs. Clinton seeks the White House, the funding of the sprawling philanthropy has become an Achilles’ heel for her campaign and, if she is victorious, potentially her administration as well.” http://nyti.ms/2bV1I5r

HUFFPOST banner, “JUST SHUT IT DOWN”

PRESIDENT CLINTON II – “With comfortable lead, Clinton starts refining an agenda,” by WashPost’s Anne Gearan, John Wagner and Dan Balz, two columns on the top right side of A1: “Hillary Clinton’s increasingly confident campaign has begun crafting a detailed agenda for her possible presidency, with plans to focus on measures aimed at creating jobs, boosting infrastructure spending and enacting immigration reform if current polling holds and she is easily elected to the White House in November. ... While careful not to sound as if she is measuring the draperies quite yet, Clinton now describes what she calls improved odds for passage of an overhaul of immigration laws — the first legislative priority she outlined in detail last year — and what could be a bipartisan effort to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, airports, rail system and ports.

“She also could be immediately confronted with a choice about a Supreme Court vacancy that could set the tone for her relationship with Congress, and she plans to immediately champion new measures on campaign-finance reform and ending legal immunity for gun manufacturers. Her campaign’s to-do list includes assembling a Cabinet that has women in roughly equal numbers to men and that otherwise reflects American diversity, and lobbying has intensified for those and scores of other jobs that Clinton would fill in her administration.” http://wapo.st/2b9jtb1

--WHAT HILL REPUBLICANS SAY: A) How are you going to pay for this stuff? B) We just passed a six-year highway bill! C) And immigration reform? Are you kidding me? The House Republican Conference is only drifting further to the right. Fat chance.



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BROOKLYN BRAIN DUMP -- this week’s message -- “Hillary Clinton is light years ahead of Donald Trump in transparency -- and the deeper we get into this campaign, the more we realize how little we know about Trump. Hillary Clinton has released decades of her tax returns, has provided detailed information from a credible doctor about her health, and publicly disclosed all donors to the Clinton Foundation. And just this week, the Clinton Foundation laid out the limitations under which it would operate should she be elected president. By contrast, Trump has yet to prove he will be free of conflicts given his vast and complex financial ties that directly affect his personal net worth. Today's New York Times looked into Trump's web of financial dealings and found that his businesses held $650 million in debt in the U.S. alone. Among the debtholders is the Bank of China, even as Trump claims he will crack down against China on trade.Trump needs to commit to divesting his holdings or otherwise explain how he would operate as President to ensure he is not letting his own financial interests affect decisions made by his administration.”

--We asked Trump’s campaign for a similar preview of their week. They didn’t respond.

THE NEW NARRATIVE -- “In Fredericksburg, Trump urges African-Americans to return to ‘party of Abraham Lincoln’,” by the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Graham Moomaw: “Donald J. Trump told a crowd of thousands on Saturday that the Republican Party ‘must do better’ at reaching out to African-Americans, using a campaign stop in Virginia to expand on his newly adopted emphasis on creating a more inclusive party. ‘I fully recognize the outreach to the African-American community is an area where the Republican Party must do better. And it will do better,’ the GOP nominee told a mostly white audience in the hall of the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center. ‘The GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln. And I want our party to be the home of the African-American voter once again.’

“Trump raised the issue of African-American outreach near the end of a roughly 40-minute speech read from a teleprompter. Polls have shown weak support for Trump among African-Americans, but he said Saturday that he’s asking African-Americans to ‘honor me with their vote,’ adding that the issue has ‘very deep personal importance’ to him.’” http://bit.ly/2bV8Hv5

--A1 of the WashPost: “‘Racialists’ are cheered by Trump’s latest strategy,” by Dave Weigel in Oakton, Virginia: “From his Fairfax County home, [Jared] Taylor has edited the white nationalist magazine American Renaissance and organized racialist conferences under the ‘AmRen’ banner. He said that Trump should ‘concentrate on his natural constituency, which is white people,’ suggesting that winning 65 percent of the white vote would overwhelm any Democratic gains with minorities. When Trump made Breitbart News CEO Steve Bannon his campaign’s chief executive last week, Taylor found reasons to celebrate. It was the latest sign for white nationalists, once dismissed as fringe, that their worldview was gaining popularity and that the old Republican Party was coming to an end.” http://wapo.st/2bxoO05

SCOOP -- “In Reversal, Trump Indicates To Hispanic Leaders Openness To Legalization For Immigrants,” by BuzzFeed’s Adrian Carrasquillo: “In a Saturday meeting with his newly announced Hispanic advisory council, Donald Trump suggested he is interested in figuring out a ‘humane and efficient’ manner to deal with immigrants in the country illegally, according to three sources. Trump, however, stressed that any new announcements will still be in line with the border security-focused approach that has invited intense opposition from Latinos and immigrants since he launched his campaign.” http://bzfd.it/2bxhx0e

--Trump campaign brushback from rapid-response director Steven Cheung:“Mr. Trump said nothing today that he hasn’t said many times before, including in his convention speech — enforce the laws, uphold the Constitution, be fair and humane while putting American workers first. Today’s conversation was productive and enlightening, and Mr. Trump looks forward to speaking with these leaders again soon and often.”

AND/BUT -- Asked on CNN Sunday whether Trump’s proposed “deportation force” was still the plan, Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway said, “To be determined.” http://cnn.it/2bdnXj9

HAPPENING THIS WEEK -- Donald Trump is in Akron, Ohio, Monday, and Austin, Texas Tuesday, where he’ll tape a two-hour town hall with Sean Hannity. On Wednesday, he’ll be in Jackson, Mississippi. Mike Pence is heading to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Monday and Pipersville, Pennsylvania Tuesday. Hillary Clinton has a bunch of West Coast fundraisers this week, and will have a campaign event in Reno Thursday.

BULLETIN -- “Turkey blames IS for wedding party attack that killed 50,” by AP’s Cinar Kipar in Istanbul: “The attack late Saturday in Gaziantep, near Turkey's border with Syria, appeared to be a suicide bombing, officials said. The remains of a suicide vest have been recovered at the site … It is the deadliest extremist attack of 2016.” http://apne.ws/2b7u2BN

CORRECTION -- We referred to Dani Dayan yesterday as the new Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. He’s the new consul general to New York. The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. is Danny Danon. Apologies.

Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR: Hillary Clinton is seen silhouetted in the window of her campaign plane as she arrives at Nantucket Memorial Airport in Nantucket, Mass., en route to a fundraiser on Aug. 20. | AP Photo

TIME CAPSULE – From Playbook’s subject line a year ago today: “GOP MOVES TO NEW STAGE OF GRIEF: Trump’s here to stay – MIKE MURPHY: Jeb wins by ignoring Trump” http://politi.co/2bsfBY5

SUNDAY FRONTS -- THE BIG BOYS: NYT http://bit.ly/2bnbISH … WaPo http://bit.ly/2btemFR … LAT http://bit.ly/2bVbhkT … Chicago Tribune http://bit.ly/2b8qRZd … Boston Globe http://bit.ly/2bdjlJz … SWING STATES: Miami Herald http://bit.ly/2bdjCfG … Des Moines Register http://bit.ly/2b7xtIv … Philadelphia Inquirer http://bit.ly/2b9qYia … Cincinnati Enquirer http://bit.ly/2bM2vUO

NEW RNC VIDEO -- “RNC Releases New Paid Web Ad ‘Hillary Clinton’s Liberal Elite Summer Tour’”: “highlighting her string of fundraisers with the liberal elite in wealthy enclaves like Nantucket, Cape Cod, and Beverly Hills, a reminder of how out-of-touch she is and a clear sign of whose priorities she will really be championing if elected president.” 20-second video http://bit.ly/2buHhf4

-- TRUMP held fundraisers in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard earlier this month, and he owns a home in Beverly Hills.

UNDERSTANDING TRUMP -- “Portrait of a comical, chilling and somewhat sad Donald Trump,” by Evan Thomas in WashPost’s Outlook section, reviewing “An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power,” by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher: “Visiting him in his office high above Fifth Avenue, Kranish and Fisher asked about his friendships. There was a ‘considerable, unusual pause’ before Trump struggled to answer. He stumbled around, trying to explain that he had business friends, not social friends, because he had no time for social friends, unless you count the ones met ‘when you go out to a charity event or something.’ Then he named three men but put their names off the record. He had done business with them years before, he awkwardly said, but had rarely seen them in recent years. It was apparent that Trump had no friends, outside his immediate family.” http://wapo.st/2bV1zij ... $19.01 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2bV2gbG

KRISTOL WATCH -- @BillKristol: “If Winnie the Pooh was born this day, so I suppose was Eeyore ...The wisdom of Eeyore: ‘Pathetic,’ he said. ‘That’s what it is. Pathetic....Nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that’s what it is.’”

DATA DU JOUR -- “These people had their voting rights restored and then yanked away again,” by Fusion’s Terrell Star: “Thirty-four states have some form of voter disenfranchisement law on the books for people convicted of crimes ... One in 13 black Americans has lost the right to vote as a result of voter disenfranchisement laws, according to the Sentencing Project. In total, 5.85 million people can’t vote because of a felony conviction. And black Americans now make up 1 million of the 2.3 million people in prison.” http://fus.in/2bUaMYq

2016 PLAYERS -- “[RNC] staffer leaving Ohio over clash with Donald Trump’s state campaign leader,” by Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Andrew J. Tobias: “The [RNC] is pulling a recently hired staffer out of Ohio as a result of a personality conflict with Donald Trump’s Ohio campaign manager ... Ryan Shucard, hired a little more than two weeks ago as RNC’s Ohio communications director, is being re-deployed to Pennsylvania next week after being unable to establish a productive relationship with Bob Paduchik, a longtime GOP strategist who is running Trump’s Ohio campaign.” http://bit.ly/2bDOoO3

--“Trump paid dearly to boost fundraising: The campaign increased its spending in July, but not on building a staff or field organization,” by Isaac Arnsdorf: “Donald Trump campaign's boasts of a formidable fundraising month in July spooked Democrats who feared their financial advantage could be slipping. But a closer inspection of the campaign finance report filed just before Saturday's midnight deadline indicates the haul came at a steep price, and the campaign was still not dedicating resources to catching up on building the staff and field organization that all previous presidential efforts have required … The money that the Trump campaign raised also didn’t come cheap. The campaign more than doubled its spending from the previous month to $18.5 million in July, far more than in any other period of the campaign. But most of that money went toward expanding the campaign's online fundraising operation.” http://politi.co/2b9cu1H

TWEETS DU JOUR -- @kenvogel: “Trump’s biggest vendor in July, Giles-Parscale (paid $8.3M for digital consulting & online ads), had never worked on a campaign before 2016” … AP’s Julie Bykowicz (@bykowicz): “Two weeks after being ousted as campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski’s firm collected $20K from Trump camp. He was already on CNN’s payroll.”

MILESTONE -- Twitter Government (@gov): “Congrats, @POTUS! To celebrate 10 million followers, we took a look back at some of your best Tweets.” 45-second video http://bit.ly/2bxg7TG

DEEP DIVE -- “Seth Rich: Inside the Killing of the DNC Staffer,” by Newsweek’s Jeff Stein: “It was closing time at Lou’s City Bar in a trendy neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C. when Seth Rich drained the last of his Bell’s Two Hearted ales and headed out into the muggy night. At 2:30 am on July 10, the torrid heat that had gripped the city for weeks had eased slightly, with temperatures slipping into the low 70s. Maybe it was the relative cool that prompted him to walk through several dark, dicey blocks to his apartment in Bloomingdale, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood a mile away. Or maybe he thought the walk would do him some good after venting to his longtime bartender about his unsuccessful efforts to reconcile his love life and 12-hour days at the [DNC]. Whatever the reason, Rich, 27, a normally upbeat computer-voting specialist at the DNC, would soon leave family and friends grieving. And his decision to walk that night would become part of a wild election year conspiracy theory that once again portrayed Hillary Clinton and the Democrats as murderous criminals.” http://bit.ly/2b7s5VB

CHILLING READ -- NYT A1, “More Enemies Of the Kremlin End Up Dead,”by Andrew E. Kramer in Moscow (the online headline uses the word “Opponents” instead of “Enemies”): “Muckraking journalists, rights advocates, opposition politicians, government whistle-blowers and other Russians who threaten that image are treated harshly — imprisoned on trumped-up charges, smeared in the news media and, with increasing frequency, killed. ... No other major power employs murder as systematically and ruthlessly as Russia does against those seen as betraying its interests abroad. Killings outside Russia were even given legal sanction by the nation’s Parliament in 2006.” http://nyti.ms/2bxgTzS



WEST COAST WATCH: “Why Loretta Sanchez is struggling to wake up California's sleepy Senate race,” by LATimes’ Phil Willon in Sacramento: “Down in the polls and trailing in fundraising, U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez has just more than two months to close the gap with front-runner Kamala Harris before Election Day. Sanchez’s absence from the campaign trail in recent weeks, a noticeable lull even for the sedate summer months of the political season, only adds pressure on the Orange County congresswoman to show voters and donors — soon — that she has a legitimate shot to win in November … Sanchez’s representatives say the congresswoman has been working behind-the-scenes to raise money, hosting fundraisers and burning up the phone lines with prospective contributors. She also attended ‘night out’ crime prevention events earlier this month in Downey and Wilmington, though officially in her capacity as a congresswoman.” http://lat.ms/2bdfbBK

RIO ROUNDUP – “Olympians struggle to adjust to life beyond the rings,” by WashPost’s Barry Svlruga and Liz Clarke in Rio: “Just beyond their medals and the post-Olympic exhibition tours and commemorative cereal boxes looms a hurdle [Olympians] don’t see coming: everyday life. ... On Sunday night, the 17 days of the Rio Games conclude. On Monday morning, most Americans will rise and go work. The athletes will do — what, exactly? Many don’t know.” http://wapo.st/2bt6d44

PLAYBOOK IN-BOX – OOPS -- From the Lisa Murkowski campaign this week, with the subject line “Thank you, Alaska.”: “Dear FIRST NAME, ... Lisa and our team were both humbled and honored to see that 72% of voters supported Lisa in the primary election. ... Thank you, FIRST NAME, for your energy, passion and support. ... Thank you, FIRST NAME.” See the text of the email, with lots of percent signs surrounding the all-caps words. http://bit.ly/2b4QUlm

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

--“Slightly More Than 100 Exceptional Works of Journalism,” by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic: “This fantastic nonfiction from 2015 is still worth discovering and pondering today.” http://theatln.tc/2btkQ8A

--Longform highlights some of the best Gawker stories in advance of the site shutting down operations next week: http://bit.ly/2bDuMuN

--“African Wildlife: Darkness Falls,” by Jeffrey Gettleman in the N.Y. Review of Books: “Today, wildlife experts speak of an ‘elephant holocaust.’ Not since the late 1800s, when Europeans went plunging into Congo and other parts of Africa in a quest for ivory for billiard balls and piano keys, ‘the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience,’ as Conrad put it, has such a large chunk of the elephant population disappeared.” http://bit.ly/2b5CSK1 (h/t TheBrowser.com)

--“Has Donald Trump Ruined Journalism?” by Isaac Chotiner in Slate: “Matt Taibbi says most political media is shilling for one side or the other.” http://slate.me/2b4QWtk

--“The Week Democracy Died,” by Yascha Mounk in Slate: “Dark days this summer showed how government by the people—beset by illiberal populists on one side and undemocratic elites on the other—is poised for extinction.” http://slate.me/2bmS48s

--“Are We Losing the Grand Canyon?” by Kevin Fedarko in NatGeo: “On a 650-mile trek, two adventurers faced danger and hardship — and saw how development could spoil an American icon.” http://on.natgeo.com/2bD6Kzc

--“Exit Interview: I Was Bernie Sanders’ Chief Advance Man,” by Sarah Laskow in Atlas Obscura: “We talked to the man [Marc Levitt] who planned all the logistics for Bernie 2016.” http://bit.ly/2b5Furj

--“The Momofuku Guide to Oysters,” by Lucky Peach’s Dave Chang and Peter Meehan: “How to shuck, serve, and garnish.” http://bit.ly/2b4nqDW

--“The Legacy of Lynching, on Death Row,” by The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin: “In Alabama, Bryan Stevenson is saving inmates from execution and memorializing the darkest episodes of America’s past.” http://bit.ly/2b70zCd

--“Sharpening competitiveness requires ingenuity, not inertia,” by Christopher Colford on WorldBank.org, reviewing “The Smartest Places On Earth: Why Rustbelts Are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation,” by Antoine Van Agtmael and Fred Bakker: “Scapegoating globalization and inflaming fears of job losses and wage stagnation, populists have harangued all too many voters into a state of passivity, lamenting the loss of a long-ago era (if ever it actually existed) when inward-looking economies were, allegedly, insulated from global competition.” http://bit.ly/2bGSOVG ... $14.60 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2bxidmo

--“The Life and Murder of Stella Walsh, Intersex Olympic Champion,” by Rob Tannenbaum on Longreads: “Eighty years ago, in Berlin, Stella Walsh won her second Olympic medal. Decades later, Walsh’s murder and subsequent autopsy threw the legacy of track’s first female superstar into turmoil.” http://bit.ly/2b9jGen

--“Trump and his Enemies,” by William Voegeli on the cover of the summer issue of Claremont Quarterly: “Sometimes, worthy causes have unworthy champions.” http://bit.ly/2b6LX5H

--“A Father Vows To Save His Daughter From A Marriage He Forced Her Into,”by Nurith Aizenman on NPR: “She was 15 years old. Her husband-to-be was in his 40s, had barely been to school and had a reputation as a heavy drinker. Even by the standards of their village in Northern India — where child marriages are still commonplace — this was a singularly bad match.” http://n.pr/2b6HUJw (h/t Longreads.com)

--“The Strange Brain of the World’s Greatest Solo Climber,” by J.B. MacKinnon in Nautilus Magazine: “Alex Honnold doesn’t experience fear like the rest of us.” http://bit.ly/2boegNF

--“The Sandwich That Ate the World,” by Simon Stanley in Roads & Kingdoms: “France brought all manner of new and exotic items to Vietnam during its colonization of the region, from beer to bread, carrots to coffee, but didn’t hand them over willingly. The story of how the modern banh mi came together, the sort of banh mi you can pick up today at a farmers’ market in London, or from a food truck in Los Angeles, recounts 160 years of Vietnam’s history in one single, fiery package.” http://bit.ly/2bD6jVN

--“Are we wearing out obscenities?” by Brian Bethune in Macleans: “Profanity sinks deep emotional roots in our brains. When words develop duelling meanings, the bad stuff almost always wins out.” http://bit.ly/2bQ2ErO (h/t ALDaily.com)

--“Is Angela Corey the Cruelest Prosecutor in America?” by Jessica Pishko in The Nation: “The woman who failed to convict Trayvon Martin’s killer is putting hundreds of kids in prison, and dozens of people on death row.” http://bit.ly/2bD7PqG

--“Present at the Creation,” by Harald Doornbos and Jenan Moussa in Foreign Policy: “The never-told-before story of the meeting that led to the creation of ISIS, as explained by an Islamic State insider.” http://atfp.co/2b5EiEg (h/t Longform.org)

--“Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered,” by Michelle Dean in BuzzFeed: “Dee Dee Blancharde was a model parent: a tireless single mom taking care of her gravely ill child. But after Dee Dee was killed, it turned out things weren’t as they appeared — and her daughter Gypsy had never been sick at all.” http://bzfd.it/2bafk92

BONUS WEEKEND LISTEN, curated by Jake Sherman:

--Grateful Dead, today in 1972 at the Berkeley Community Theater. Classic 1972 stuff, with a great “Black Throated Wind” and “Friend of the Devil.” A rare second-set “Mississippi Half Step.” This is actually a good introduction to live Grateful Dead. http://bit.ly/2bV53kV

Playbookers

SPOTTED: Bob Woodward, headed down the escalator yesterday at Union Station to the Metro ... Ezra Klein at Japanese restaurant Perry’s yesterday.

THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD: “On Monday, the President will attend meetings at the White House. On Tuesday, the President will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he will get a first-hand look at the impact of the devastating floods, and hear from local officials about the response, including how the federal government can assist and tell the people of Louisiana that the American people will be with them as they rebuild their community and come back stronger than ever. ...

“On Wednesday and Thursday, the President will attend meetings at the White House. On Friday, the President will travel to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland to visit with wounded service members.”

TRANSITIONS -- Rebecca Coffman has taken over as director of strategic communications for Concerned Veterans for America, a veterans’ advocacy organization fighting to reform the VA. She’s previously worked at Freedom Partners and Generation Opportunity, and is an RNC alum.

REMEMBERING JOHN MCLAUGHLIN – Pool report: “A warm & personal farewell at the National Shrine with a full retinue of celebrants (at least 8 priests in addition to Monsignor John Enzler, the priest who escorted Pope Francis during his visit). As a former Jesuit priest, John would have loved it. Eleanor Clift, Clarence Page, Michelle Bernard among the pallbearers, current Group member Tom Rogan did a reading, & old friend & colleague Pat Buchanan did the eulogy. Buchanan told the story about how then Father McLaughlin talked his way into a White House job with Buchanan after being creamed in his Senate race against John Pastore. SPOTTED: Former Groupers Chris Matthews, Fred (The Beetle) Barnes.”

REMEMBERING D.A. HENDERSON – WashPost’s Emily Langer: “Donald ‘D.A.’ Henderson, an American epidemiologist who led the international war on smallpox that resulted in its eradication in 1980, the only such vanquishment in history of a human disease and an achievement that was credited with saving tens of millions of lives, died Aug. 19 ... A self-described ‘disease detective,’ Dr. Henderson spent the defining years of his career as an official of the [CDC] and [WHO] ... [I]t was in the fight on smallpox — perhaps the most lethal disease in history and one that killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone — that he became known around the world. Lent from the CDC to the WHO for a decade in the 1960s and 1970s, he commanded a small cadre of public-health officials and an army of field workers in an endeavor that amounted to a medical moonshot.” http://wapo.st/2b8kYLp

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Whitney Mitchell, press secretary for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Eamonn Brennan, college basketball writer at ESPN, got married yesterday at the Inn at Willow Grove in Orange, Virginia. The couple met at Indiana University where they went to J-school together. Whitney is a Virginia native and long time Hill vet who’s worked for Third Way, former Reps. Dan Maffei, Raul Ruiz and Heath Schuler. Picture of the bride: http://bit.ly/2bGn1DM

SPOTTED: Marc Brumer, Mallory Ward, Erica Bordador, Becky Cornell, Clay Shroers, Bryan Maxwell.

--Brian Gralnick, director of social responsibility for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia who ran for Pennsylvania State Senate in 2014, on Saturday married Perri Rosner, a physician assistant at Jefferson University Hospital. The maid of honor was Jess Levin, comms director at Making Change at Walmart. At the wedding at The Old Mill in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania. Levin, toasting the newlyweds, said “Brian, you may have lost the election but you won her heart.” Pics http://bit.ly/2bn7KJR ... http://bit.ly/2bn7SsH

BIRTHDAYS: Ken Mehlman, global head of public affairs at KKR ... Peter Hamby, head of news at Snapchat and a CNN alum … Fox News’ Fin Gomez (h/ts Mosheh Oinounou) ... Steve Case, AOL’s co-founder, now chairman of Revolution and the pride of Honolulu, is 58 (h/t Herbie Ziskend) … NBC newsman Harry Smith is 65 ... WashPost’s Manuel Roig-Franzia, the pride of Escalon, Calif., near Modesto ... Ben Howard, floor director for Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, is 3-0 (h/t Dad, U.S. Chamber’s Jack Howard) ... Politico’s Katherine Rojas and David Beavers ... Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is 6-0 ... Mike Shannon … Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, is 69 … Ruben Olmos of Global Nexus, LLC, which caters to U.S.-Mexico interests ... Steve Munroe, VP and director of media planning at Global X Fund, is 31, celebrating in Vegas placing an entry in the Vegas Super Contest (h/t Cailie Burns) ... Elizabeth Stoltz, project manager at Ketchum ... Stephen Neuman, senior adviser to Hillary Clinton in Michigan and former COS to RI Gov. Gina Raimondo, is 4-0 (h/t Lis Smith) ... Brian Parks of Locust Street Group (h/t Allison Schneider) ...

… Matt Cott, actuarial analyst at Willis Towers Watson and a UVA 2016 grad and former NYT contributing writer on fantasy football (h/t Colby Bermel, who attended the Drake concert last night in DC) ... Puja Murgai, managing editor at cebglobal.com and a Politico alum ... Joe Minges, LA for Rep. Perlmutter ... Hunter Lipscomb ... Katie Brown of Rep. Grace Meng’s office ... Cheyne Worley of Rep. Yoder's office ... former Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) is 48 ... Mary Ann Naylor, LD for Sen. Kaine ... Bruce Evans of Senate Approps ... Sarah Rusciano of House Ways and Means ... Joan Kirchner, COS for Sen. Isakson ... Marguerite Biagi, scheduler for Rep. Ami Bera ... former Rep. James Rogan (R-Calif.) is 59 (h/ts Legistorm) ... David Heifetz ... Matt DeCample, a Mike Beebe alum ... Greg Bell, speechwriter at Hillary for America and a HUD alum … WBZ’s Joe Mathieu ... Quartz’s Cameron Hough ... WMAL’s Heather Smith ... Francine McMahon, CEO and founder of The Capitol Image Counsel and former publisher of the Hill … former Calif. Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado … Ragin’ Cajun Brandon Lee Breaux … Larry Martin ... Paul Harstad (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Lamont Black … Jack Kelly ... Tim Griffin ... Tom Houck ... Jessica Lee of Morgan Stanley ... Adam Dubitsky ... Heather Martin ... former NFL player and general manager Pete Retzlaff is 85 ... Kenny Rogers is 78 ... Harold Reid (The Statler Brothers) is 77 ... College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is 71 ... Kim Cattrall is 6-0 ... College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is 57 ... Brody Jenner is 33 ... Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt is 3-0 ... Brooks Wheelan (“Saturday Night Live”) is 3-0 ... Maxim Knight (TV: “Falling Skies”) is 17 (h/ts AP)

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Follow us on Twitter Anna Palmer @apalmerdc



Jake Sherman @JakeSherman