POLITICO Playbook: Inside Alfalfa Presented by Amazon

"Everyone’s worried about artificial intelligence and robots taking over the world. That’s not true or I would be president now," Sen. Mitt Romney said at the Alfalfa dinner. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

DRIVING THE DAY

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) was the keynote speaker at the Alfalfa dinner. One of his top lines: Everyone’s worried about artificial intelligence and robots taking over the world. That’s not true or I would be president now.

-- ROMNEY’S GUEST at the dinner was Ben Stiller.

SPOTTED at the Cafe Milano Alfafa Dinner after-party hosted by Yousef Al-Otaiba, Robert Johnson, Catherine Reynolds, Jim Jones, John Rogers, Robert Allbritton, Deborah Lehr, Franco Nuschese and Bret Baier: Bob Woodward chatting with Defense Secretary Mark Esper and John Kerry, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Hilary Geary Ross, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Robert O’Brien, Kellyanne Conway, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Debbie Meadows, Joe Lieberman ...

... Colin Powell, David and Kellie Urban, Norah O'Donnell, Mark Wallace, Ja’Ron Smith, Mark Ein, Glen Johnson, Tom Nides, David Petraeus, Dina Powell McCormick and David McCormick, Mike Allen, Jonathan Karl, Hilary Rosen, Cal Ripkin Jr., Ulrich Brechbuhl and Terry McAuliffe.

SPOTTED at Jeff Bezos’ Kalorama house last night for an Alfalfa Dinner after-party: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Elaine Chao, Kellyanne Conway, Jim Mattis, Bill Gates, Lauren Sanchez, Jamie Dimon, David Rubenstein, David Solomon, John Rogers, Norah O'Donnell, Jared Cohen, Jonathan Karl, Dina Powell McCormick and David McCormick, Fred Ryan, John Waldron, Steve and Jean Case, Robert Allbritton, Barbie Allbritton, Paul and Janna Ryan, Josh Bolten, Jay Carney and Claire Shipman, Geoff Morrell and Chris Nassetta.

BREATHE, EVERYONE. No stakeouts, no overbearing security measures and no gaggles. For a day, we’re impeachment-less -- mostly.

HOW IT PLAYED … PETER BAKER on NYT A1: “President Trump’s legal defense team mounted an aggressive offense on Saturday as it opened its side in the Senate impeachment trial by attacking his Democratic accusers as partisan witch-hunters trying to remove him from office because they could not beat him at the ballot box.” …

… WAPO, by Elise Viebeck, Mike DeBonis and Rachael Bade: “Lawyers for President Trump argued Saturday that he had valid reasons for withholding military aid from Ukraine and that House prosecutors overlooked facts that are more favorable to his case, giving a short preview of the aggressive defense they are expected to mount this coming week in the Senate impeachment trial.

“In a two-hour presentation that reserved their most provocative attacks for Monday, members of Trump’s legal team echoed the president’s justifications for his actions toward Ukraine and sought to plant doubts about both the prosecutors’ case and its lead advocate, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.).”

… KYLE CHENEY and DARREN SAMUELSOHN: “President Donald Trump's lawyers laced into the House's impeachment case Saturday, opening their defense with pointed — and at times personal — efforts to seed doubt in GOP senators’ minds about Democrats’ push to remove Trump from office.

“Over the course of a swift, two-hour session, Trump's top lawyer Pat Cipollone and his deputy Michael Purpura repeatedly sought to poke holes in the evidence that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rivals.” POLITICO

MCCONNELL LOOKING TO GET THIS FINISHED … via Burgess and Bres: “The Republican strategy — which is still fluid — could mean senators have limited time between key procedural votes and the final vote on whether to convict the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. And with the odds growing against additional witnesses being called, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will face critical decisions on how fast he can bring the proceedings to an end. …

“[Sen. John] Barrasso suggested that an acquittal vote could take place as soon as Friday — if senators don’t agree to subpoena additional witnesses or documentary evidence. Under the organizing resolution that controls the proceedings, Democrats could offer additional motions if the Senate votes down deposing additional witnesses -- including former national security adviser John Bolton -- but Republicans could then move to shut down debate and call for an up-or-down vote on acquittal.” POLITICO

... AND TRUMP IS LOOKING FOR MANCHIN TO GIVE HIM A BIPARTISAN ACQUITTAL, via WaPo’s Josh Dawsey

BURGESS EVERETT: “Sen. Hawley readies subpoena votes for Bidens, Schiff”: “If the Senate decides to consider new impeachment trial witnesses and documents next week, Sen. Josh Hawley plans to try and force votes on everyone from Adam Schiff to Joe Biden.

“The Missouri Republican is preparing to file subpoena requests for witnesses and documents that Democrats and Republicans alike won't want to vote on. Hawley's strategy harmonizes with plans from GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky to force votes to hear from Hunter Biden, the former vice president's son who was on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.”

-- “Democrats see Trump lawyers boosting their own case for witnesses,” by Burgess Everett, James Arkin and John Bresnahan

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P.K. SPEAKS! “Democrats hear echoes of Benghazi probe of Clinton in GOP calls to investigate Biden”

THE PRESIDENT at 8:20 a.m.: “Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!”

-- SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OKLA.) to JAKE TAPPER on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION” … “I just don’t think it’s a death threat. I don’t think he’s encouraging a death threat.” TAPPER: “People who are supporters of the president have heard his rhetoric and then actually tried to bomb and kill politicians and the media -- I mean that’s happened.” LANKFORD: “We’ve also had individuals go up to a baseball game …”

TAPPER: “Yeah, horrible.” LANKFORD: “And shoot Republicans and walk up and say ‘Is this where the Republicans are? I’m going to go fire at them.’ So to be able to say the president’s trying to be able to spur this on and be able to say Democrats were trying to spur on the killing of …” TAPPER: “I guess I don’t understand why you’re offended at what Adam Schiff said … LANKFORD: “Because I think it’s political … I think what the president is saying is he’s going to be held to a price and I’m offended only because Adam Schiff believes that the only reason that we act the way we do is the president’s going to put our head on the pike.”

CHUCK TODD spoke to REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CALIF.) on NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”: TODD: “Do you take that as a threat?” SCHIFF: “I think it is intended to be. But look -- it is going to be very difficult for these senators to stand up to this president. It really is -- there’s no question about it. And I want to acknowledge that. And I don’t want to acknowledge it in a way that is offensive to them. But I do want to speak candidly about it.”

LANKFORD told GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on ABC’s “THIS WEEK” that RUDY GIULIANI was doing oppo research on behalf of TRUMP: LANKFORD: “Now, if you go back again to the phone call and the transcript that happens in the phone call, the whole issue about Hunter Biden and Rudy Giuliani doesn’t originate with the president. President Zelensky actually brings that up to President Trump, saying hey I’m working with. It’s pretty clear Rudy Giuliani is traveling around the world trying to gather opposition research on behalf of the campaign. The same thing the Hillary Clinton campaign did when they hired a British citizen to be able to go work with the Russians to be able to go gather information on President Trump. So this concept of you can’t do opposition research for a campaign to outside of the United States is not true --”

CHRIS WALLACE spoke to Trump’s attorney ALAN DERSHOWITZ on “FOX NEWS SUNDAY”: DERSHOWITZ: “Much of what was presented by the Democrats were not impeachable offenses. They were campaign ads designed to try to show that you should vote for a different candidate. That’s fine. Let’s put it up to the voters. Let’s not destroy our heritage of our Constitution by expanding the criteria for impeachment beyond that what the framers accepted.”

DISINFORMATION ALERT: The White House held a call yesterday, where a source on the president’s legal team said: “We were pleased to have an opportunity to begin presenting the President’s defense today. Obviously we had not had any opportunity in the House proceedings to do that.” THE WHITE HOUSE was, indeed, afforded opportunities to participate in the House process, but they, curiously, declined.

HOW IT’S PLAYING … Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Defense: Dems seek to overturn vote” … Los Angeles Times: “Trump team blasts House case” … San Diego Union-Tribune: “TRUMP TEAM ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF ELECTION INTERFERENCE” … Tampa Bay Times: “DEFENSE: NO EVIDENCE”

Good Sunday morning.

SNEAK PEEK … THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK: Monday: THE PRESIDENT will host BENJAMIN NETANYAHU. They will meet, and then TRUMP will meet with Benny Gantz. The president is also scheduled to have lunch with VP MIKE PENCE. Tuesday: NETANYAHU will return to the White House -- and TRUMP will deliver remarks with him. THE PRESIDENT will go to Wildwood, N.J., for a political rally in the evening.

WEDNESDAY: THE PRESIDENT will have a signing ceremony for the USMCA. Thursday: THE PRESIDENT will travel to Warren, Mich., for a USMCA-related event, and then he’ll fly to Des Moines for a political rally. Friday: THE PRESIDENT will speak at a human trafficking summit at the White House.

AP GOT THE WHOLE TRUMP DINNER RECORDING: “Trump provided the guests with an update ahead of his first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, revealing that he’d settled on a date and location. One of the people in attendance sought to pitch a different location: Songdo, South Korea, which is 70% owned by Gale International and features a Nicklaus-designed golf course. ‘You know that Kim Jong Un is a great golfer,’ Trump is heard telling the guests, who roar with laughter.”

THE NYT has asked 2020 candidates a series of questions -- should TRUMP be investigated after he leaves office? Celebrity crush? -- and everyone participated besides Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. The questions and answers, captained by Alex Burns

DES MOINES REGISTER GOES FOR WARREN … A DIG AT THE TIMES?: “The outstanding caliber of Democratic candidates makes it difficult to choose just one.

“But ultimately Iowa caucusgoers need to do that. Who would make the best president at this point in the country’s history? At a time when the economic deck has become so stacked against working Americans that the gap between rich and poor is the highest in more than 50 years? At a time when a generation of war has stressed military families and sapped the treasury? The Des Moines Register editorial board endorses Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses as the best leader for these times.” DMR front page

ONTO NEW HAMPSHIRE … CNN HAS BERNIE IN THE LEAD: “Bernie Sanders leads the race for the Democratic nomination in New Hampshire, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

“Overall, 25% of likely Democratic primary voters back the Vermont senator, with former Vice President Joe Biden (16%), former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (15%) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (12%) battling for second place. Behind these four, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (6%), Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (5%) and businessman Andrew Yang (5%) make up a third tier of candidates.” CNN

-- NBC has Sanders in the lead with 22%, PETE BUTTIGIEG with 17% and JOE BIDEN with 15%.

FRONT PAGE of the San Jose Mercury News: “Costly loans, suits at Steyer bank”

ESCAPE HATCH! … NYT: “Gantz to Meet Trump on Peace Plan, but Alone, Not With Netanyahu,” by David Halbfinger in Ramat Gan, Israel: “Benny Gantz, the former Israeli military chief making a third attempt to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Saturday that he would visit President Trump on his own in Washington on Monday to discuss a White House proposal for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Calling himself ‘the president’s full and committed partner,’ Mr. Gantz pointedly said, in English, that he would be meeting with Mr. Trump ‘as the leader of the largest party in Israel,’ the centrist Blue and White faction. Mr. Gantz also gave measured praise to Mr. Trump’s proposal, about which he said he had already been told a good deal by administration officials. …

“[I]t also means Mr. Gantz will be able to fly back to Israel in time to oversee a key proceeding Tuesday regarding Mr. Netanyahu’s attempt to obtain parliamentary immunity from prosecution on serious corruption charges. Lawmakers are expected to reject the request, with Mr. Netanyahu’s party, Likud, vowing to boycott Tuesday’s debate in protest, but if Mr. Gantz were in Washington, that likely would have been delayed.”

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THE TRUMP CABINET …

-- MORE on Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO’s back and forth with NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly, via WaPo’s Karen DeYoung

-- “‘I stand with Greta’: Mnuchin’s wife posts — then deletes — support for climate activist,” by Evan Semones: “Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s wife on Saturday appeared to publicly break with her husband over support for Greta Thunberg's climate change activism. ‘I stand with Greta on this issue. (I don’t have a degree in economics either),’ actress Louise Linton wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post after Mnuchin chided the 17-year-old’s call for governments to end their support of fossil fuels at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying she should attend college and study economics.”

L.A. TIMES: “California’s first case of new coronavirus strain is confirmed in Orange County,” by Alex Wigglesworth and Rong-Gong Lin II: “California has recorded its first confirmed case of the new strain of coronavirus, arriving in Orange County by a traveler who visited from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, China.

“The Orange County Health Care Agency confirmed late Saturday night that the infected person’s virus was the same strain as the one that has spread to more than 2,000 people in 14 countries and territories and caused 56 deaths since it was discovered late last month in central China.

“The patient is in good condition and is in isolation at a hospital, Orange County health officials said. Health authorities are following up with anyone who has had close contact with the patient, but also noted that people with casual contact — such as visiting the same grocery store or movie theater — “are at minimal risk of developing infection.” LAT

TRUMP’S SUNDAY: Nothing on the schedule.

PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: Gao Fu, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks to reporters about a virus outbreak in Beijing on Sunday. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman (@dlippman):

-- “It May Be the Biggest Tax Heist Ever. And Europe Wants Justice,” by NYT’s David Segal: “Stock traders are accused of siphoning $60 billion from state coffers, in a scheme that one called ‘the devil’s machine.’ Germany is the first country to try to get its money back.” NYT

-- “The Secret History of Facial Recognition,” by Shaun Raviv in Wired: “Sixty years ago, a sharecropper’s son invented a technology to identify faces. Then the record of his role all but vanished. Who was Woody Bledsoe, and who was he working for?” Wired

-- “Trumpworld has converted the nation’s regional talk radio hosts into a loyal army,” by WaPo’s Sarah Ellison: “Salem started out as a small fundamentalist Christian operation run out of Southern California and has expanded aggressively in recent years, particularly in swing states. It supports nationally syndicated hosts such as Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, and Joe Walsh in addition to a host of regional personalities largely unknown outside their areas. According to Salem, it now serves more than 2,000 radio stations across the country.” WaPo

-- “N. K. Jemisin’s Dream Worlds,” by the New Yorker’s Raffi Khatchadourian: “The sci-fi writer’s inventive, intricate novels have defied convention and sold millions of copies.” New Yorker

-- “My Instagram,” by Dayna Tortorici in n+1 magazine: “Genres of Instagram I came to recognize after this door opened were: archival photography, astrology meme, travel photography, cooking/baking, fitness/exercise, political meme, celebrity stan, street fashion, makeup/drag, time-lapse photography, architecture/design, tactile or ‘satisfying,’ cross-platform meme (e.g., screenshots from Twitter), female influencer, historical, inspirational, animal rescue, literary, home decor, viral dance, gymnastic/acrobatic, ceramic, houseplant care, illustration, and softcore pornography.” n+1 (h/t Longform.org)

-- “The Weird and Glorious Reign of Nike's Superhero Swoosh,” by David Wolman in The Daily Beast: “The boy who idolized the San Diego Chicken would grow up to become a sports mascot himself. Then he got a call from Nike and a chance to become a genuine superhero.” Daily Beast

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-- “Norway Is One of the World’s Happiest Countries. Is Friluftsliv the Secret?” by Lisa Abend in the Sept./Oct. issue of Afar magazine: “Fjordside farms, foraged cuisine, and the Mountain Code: Norwegians claim to have a unique relationship with nature. Perhaps it’s something in their nature.” Afar

-- “Rediscovering the Lost Power of Reading Aloud,” by Meghan Cox Gurdon in LitHub -- per ALDaily.com’s description: “Reading silently was once considered outlandish. Reading aloud is one of the oldest and grandest traditions of humankind.” LitHub

-- “Becoming a Man,” by P. Carl in the NYT Magazine: “What I learned about masculinity from my father, my father-in-law and my own transition.” NYT

-- “The Philosophy of Anger,” by Agnes Callard in Boston Review: “Everyone assumes that we can retain the moral side of anger while distancing ourselves from paradigmatically irrational phenomena such as grudges and vengeance. But what if this is not the case? What if we humans do morality by way of vengeful grudges? People draw grudge-bearing and vengeful conclusions from premises involving genuinely moral facts about injustice and wrongdoing. We should not be too quick to pathologize this inference.” Boston Review (h/t TheBrowser.com)

-- “Meet the Boy Scouts of the Border Patrol,” by Morley Musick in The Nation: “The Border Patrol Explorers program offers training and mentorship—with a side of Trumpian ideology.” The Nation (h/t Longreads.com)

PLAYBOOKERS

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].

SPOTTED: John Kerry at the Apple Store in Georgetown on Saturday afternoon. Pic

SPOTTED at a party celebrating Vox editor at large Ezra Klein’s new book “Why We’re Polarized,” ($18.99 on Amazon) hosted by Vox Media chairman and CEO Jim Bankoff and Kara Swisher at Bankoff’s D.C. home on Saturday night: Susan Rice, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Judy Woodruff, Neera Tanden, Mark Leibovich, Bob Costa, John Harwood, Brian Beutler, Wesley Lowery, E.J. Dionne, Margaret Carlson, David Frum, Nicholas Johnston, Molly Ball, Cameron Barr, Marcus Brauchli, Elizabeth Drew, Jonathan Chait, Melissa Bell, Meridith Webster, Ryan Pauley, Lauren Williams, Sean Rameswaram and Jane Coaston.

SPOTTED at the annual CSIS pre-Alfalfa luncheon where Jim Mattis, Robert Gates and Henry Kissinger discussed U.S. relations with Iran: Sens. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Mary Barra, Jeb Bush, Steve and Jean Case, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Bob Corker, Tom Daschle, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), David Dreier, Boyden Gray, Ross Perot Jr., Ray Dalio …

… Steve Hadley, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, Ken Langone, Drew Maloney, Tom Pritzker, Bob Schieffer, Texas GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry, Jane Harman, Marillyn Hewson, Rex Tillerson, Walter Isaacson, Oscar Munoz, Dina Powell McCormick and David McCormick, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Peter Thiel, Jay Powell, Sylvia Matthews Burwell, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ginni Rometty, Kathy Warden, Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) and Randall Stephenson.

TRANSITION -- Lindsay Baringer is now PAC manager Amazon’s public policy team. She previously was AVP at Angerholzer Broz Consulting.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Kristie Greco Johnson, COS to Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), and John Johnson, attorney-adviser at the Federal Railroad Administration, welcomed John Pasquale Johnson on Thursday, Jan. 9, weighing 7 lbs, 5 oz and measuring 20 inches. Pic

BIRTHWEEK (was Wednesday): Buckley Carlson, who is now press secretary for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), turned 23.

BIRTHDAYS: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is 5-5 … White House staff secretary Derek Lyons … California A.G. Xavier Becerra is 62 … Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) is 69 … POLITICO’s Tim Alberta … Jim Papa, partner at Global Strategy Group and head of the D.C. office (h/t Erin Billings) … The Kansas City Star’s Eric Nelson is 5-0 … Mike Luce … Bloomberg’s Jarrod Bernstein is 4-0 (h/t Scott Mulhauser) … Mike Quaranta … Cristina Antelo, CEO of Ferox Strategies … Justin Green, deputy managing editor at Axios, is 31 … Lindsay Bomar … Marisa Bellantonio … Kayla Gowdy, social media director at America First Action, is 25 (h/t Samantha Summers) …

… Olivia Beavers, reporter at The Hill … Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Mala Parker (h/t husband Richard) … Thunder Road Group’s Jim Jordan (h/t Samantha Greene) … former Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen is 67 … Hauwa Otori … NPR’s Isabel Lara … Jessica Phan is 29 … John Fisher … Matt Miller, COS for Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) … Cheri Jacobus … John Ruxton … Brett Layson … Peter Urbanowicz … Jen Hing … former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is 73 … Sarah Pompei (h/t Blain Rethmeier) … HHS’ David Naimon … Isabelle Furth … Lindsay Hayes … Paul Feinman is 6-0 … Daryn Kagan … Joel Noyes … Christian Mesa … Margie Omero … Sabena Siddiqi … Christian Deschauer … Robert Mitchell … Jeremy Settle … Paula Wolfson … Morgan Pearlman … Laura Kuhl

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