POLITICO Playbook: What Pelosi is telling vulnerable Dems about impeachment Presented by Amazon

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling Democrats this isn’t about President Donald Trump; it’s about the Constitution. | Sergio Flores/Getty Images

DRIVING THE DAY

It’s not about President DONALD TRUMP; it’s about the Constitution. That’s the message Speaker NANCY PELOSI wants House Democrats to remember as they gear up for what will be a key week in their march to impeachment. “We have to proceed with our hearts full of love for America and our hearts full of love for the Constitution. And not with negative attitudes towards him, but a positive attitude towards our responsibility,” she said on a conference call with House Democrats on Sunday.

“The polls have changed drastically about this,” Pelosi added, pointing to numbers showing that support for impeachment has surged since her announcement.

THE CALL underscored the tricky position Democrats, particularly those in districts that Trump won in 2016, are in as they move to sell the impeachment inquiry over the two-week recess. It also comes amid growing frustration among many Democrats over inconsistent messaging about how to talk about impeachment.

THE DEM STRATEGY … SARAH FERRIS and ANDREW DESIDERIO: “Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, who leads House Democrats’ campaign arm, advised the caucus’s most vulnerable members to gauge support and test their message through the use of polling in their respective districts — surveys that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would help fund, according to multiple people on the call. She also said the campaign arm could deploy digital ads in the future.

“Bustos also shared the results of the DCCC’s first poll focused on impeachment since Pelosi formalized an inquiry last week. The poll found that 54 percent of likely voters support the Democrats’ inquiry, according to a summary obtained by POLITICO.

“Top Democrats used Sunday’s conference call to formalize their caucus’s messaging operation on impeachment with more focused talking points. It came after leaders faced blowback from some lawmakers, particularly those from swing districts, over past messaging stumbles.

“Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) outlined a plan to message the issue with ‘repetition,’ according to multiple people on the call. He named six words that Democrats will use — ‘betrayal, abuse of power, national security’ — as they make the case that Trump abused his office when he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden.” POLITICO

-- CASE IN POINT: “Back Home, House Democrats Tread Carefully on Impeachment and 2020,” by NYT’s Jonathan Martin and Catie Edmonson in Anaheim, Calif.: “Orange County was the epicenter of the 2018 House Democratic takeover, where Republicans lost four seats in what was once the heart of Ronald Reagan conservatism in California. On Saturday night, as three of the victorious Democrats were honored at an annual political dinner, a new battle was on everyone’s minds: How to protect those gains in 2020 by selling voters on the impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

“At the dinner, Representative Harley Rouda warned Democrats not to ‘sit on our laurels.’ Representative Mike Levin solemnly said ‘the times have found us.’ And Representative Gil Cisneros, who came out for the inquiry only last week, plugged his campaign website twice to ask for donations and noted, ‘The Republicans are coming after me now.’” NYT

-- Outgoing House Freedom Caucus Chairman MARK MEADOWS (R-N.C.) told us Saturday at a Playbook Exchange in Austin for the Texas Tribune Festival that Republicans’ path back to the majority runs straight through California.

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RECESS? WHAT RECESS? -- “U.S. House impeachment inquiry to intensify,” by Reuters’ David Morgan: Wednesday: “deposition from former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch” … Thursday: “deposition from Trump’s former special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker” … Friday: “closed-door hearing on Friday with the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson.” Reuters

-- PLUS, as House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday, Congress may get to hear directly from the whistleblower. But talks over his testimony are still ongoing, his lawyers said Sunday night, contradicting Schiff. Their letter

BURGESS EVERETT and JAMES ARKIN: “‘A stinking fish’: Dems see impeachment as weapon against Republican Senate”: “Senate Democrats are growing increasingly giddy at the prospect of seeing a half-dozen vulnerable senators squirm for weeks and months about Trump’s behavior before eventually being forced to go on the record to convict or acquit Trump if he’s impeached by the House.

“While conventional wisdom holds that trying to remove the president could cost House Democrats in battleground seats that Trump won in 2016, there’s a sense in the party that it could improve Democrats’ bid to seize the Senate.” POLITICO

AS DEMS SELL IMPEACHMENT … BIDEN PUSHES BACK -- “Biden campaign demands networks stop booking Giuliani,” by Michael Calderone: “Joe Biden’s presidential campaign demanded on Sunday that major TV networks stop booking Rudy Giuliani, accusing President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer of spreading ‘false, debunked conspiracy theories’ on behalf of his client.

“‘While you often fact check his statements in real time during your discussions, that is no longer enough,’ Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn and deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield wrote in a letter obtained by POLITICO. ‘By giving him your air time, you are allowing him to introduce increasingly unhinged, unfounded and desperate lies into the national conversation.’” POLITICO … The letter

-- WAPO’S MATT VISER: “Joe Biden faces the Trump fusillade. Are he and his campaign up to it?”: “Several allies, including top financial backers, are weighing whether to create a super PAC to independently defend Biden and go after the president, who has repeatedly accused the former vice president of corruption and whose campaign last week launched a $10 million ad blitz aimed largely at attacking Biden.

“Other supporters caution that a more aggressive approach could cut against Biden’s above-the-fray appeal and warn him against losing sight of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whose steady march in popularity has eroded Biden’s standing and given her narrow leads over him in several recent polls in early-voting states.” WaPo

Good Monday morning.

USMCA LATEST -- Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL and House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY penned a joint op-ed in the WSJ: “House Democrats Resist a Win for American Workers”

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2020 WATCH -- “Trump allies pushed Biden-Ukraine allegations at key moments in campaign timeline,” by NBC’s Monica Alba and Carol Lee: “As Joe Biden prepared to launch his 2020 presidential bid last April, members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle began publicly pushing unsubstantiated allegations about the former vice president and Ukraine.

“The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and Brad Parscale, his 2020 campaign manager, both blasted out links to articles on Twitter within days of each other in early April that painted Biden and his son Hunter as unethical, based on unproven charges stemming from Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine.

“Those first mentions, distributed to their combined millions of social media followers, coincided with a spring effort by the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to find damaging information on Biden and preceded, by a matter of days, Trump’s first phone call on April 21 with then Ukrainian President-Elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Four days later, Biden announced his run for office.” NBC

BUT, BUT, BUT -- “Trump Was Repeatedly Warned That Ukraine Conspiracy Theory Was ‘Completely Debunked,’” by NYT’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker

ICYMI -- SUNDAY NIGHT’S TWEETSTORM: “Trump demands to meet whistleblower and leakers of his Ukraine call,” by Rishika Dugyala

2024 WATCH -- @NikkiHaley: “Leave Joe Biden alone? So are you telling us @KamalaHarris that what Biden did was ethical and moral? Where are the questions about the conflict of interest that occurred from Biden’s actions and the issues with his son? This response is embarrassing.” The tweet

REMEMBER BERNIE? -- “Bernie Sanders is in Trouble,” by Holly Otterbein in West Liberty, Iowa: “With just four months until the first-in-the-nation caucuses, Sanders is in trouble. As he delivered his populist gospel to large crowds of camouflage-clad high schoolers, liberal arts college students, and trade union members across Iowa last week, a problematic narrative was hardening around him: His campaign is in disarray and Elizabeth Warren has eclipsed him as the progressive standard-bearer of the primary. He’s sunk to third place nationally, behind Warren and Joe Biden, and some polls of early nomination states show him barely clinging to double digits. He’s shaken up his staffs in Iowa and New Hampshire. He’s lost the endorsement of the Working Families Party, a left-wing group that backed him in 2016, to Warren.” POLITICO Magazine

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TRUMP’S MONDAY -- The president will leave the White House at 10:35 a.m. en route to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia, where he will participate in a welcome ceremony in honor of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At 12:05 p.m., Trump will return to the White House for lunch with VP Mike Pence at 12:45 p.m. in the private dining room. Trump will participate in the ceremonial swearing-in of Eugene Scalia to be secretary of Labor at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office. At 4 p.m., he’s scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also in the Oval Office.

PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz waves to supporters Sunday as his conservative party staged a major comeback to win an election in which the far-right faltered. | Matthias Schrader/AP Photo

NATASHA BERTRAND: “The Russia Hawk in the White House: Nobody ever expected Fiona Hill to become a Trump adviser. She ended up staying far longer than anyone predicted — including her.” POLITICO Magazine

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “U.S. Officials Warn of Rising Threat From Qaeda Branch in Northwest Syria,” by NYT’s Eric Schmitt: “American counterterrorism officials are voicing increased alarm about a Qaeda affiliate in Syria that they say is plotting attacks against the West by exploiting the chaotic security situation in the country’s northwest and the protection inadvertently afforded by Russian air defenses shielding Syrian government forces allied with Moscow.

“The rise of this latest Qaeda branch in Syria, as well as the operations of other Qaeda affiliates in West Africa, Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan, underscore the terrorist group’s enduring threat despite the death of Osama bin Laden and being largely eclipsed in recent years by the Islamic State, or ISIS, as the terrorist group of choice of global jihadis.

“The new Qaeda branch, called Hurras al-Din, emerged in early 2018 after several factions broke away from a larger affiliate in Syria. It is the successor to the Khorasan Group, a small but dangerous organization of hardened senior Qaeda operatives that Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s leader, sent to Syria to plot attacks against the West.” NYT

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TOP-ED … REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-N.Y.) in WAPO: “Dear anonymous op-ed writer: Your plan didn’t work”

BIG IN EUROPE … ZIA WEISE: “The party of former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz won Austria's snap election Sunday, paving the way for his return as the country's leader.

“Kurz's center-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) came in first with 37 percent, according to exit polls as of 6 p.m. It's a clear victory for the 33-year-old ex-chancellor, with the Social Democrats coming a distant second at 21.8 percent. …

“Kurz's former partners in government, the far-right Freedom Party, suffered heavy losses in the election following a scandal earlier this year, falling to 16 percent — down 10 percentage points from the last election in 2017.” POLITICO Europe … What it means

-- BORIS IN TROUBLE … AP: “U.K.’s Johnson denies wrongdoing as allegations mount” … More from London Playbook

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MEGATREND -- “Shale Boom Is Slowing Just When the World Needs Oil Most,” by WSJ’s Christopher Matthews and Rebecca Elliott: “The American shale boom is slowing as innovation plateaus—and just when shale’s importance in global markets has reached new highs following an attack on the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure.

“U.S. oil production increased by less than 1% during the first six months of the year, according to the Energy Department, down from nearly 7% growth over the same period last year. …

“[T]he slowdown this year is driven partly by core operational issues, including wells producing less than expected after being drilled too close to one another, and sweet spots running out sooner than anticipated.” WSJ

MEDIAWATCH -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: CNN senior political reporter NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON will write a book tracing the life and legacy of Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress. Henderson was repped by Deneen Howell of Williams & Connolly. She will be working with Zack Wagman at Ecco.

-- TV TONIGHT: On CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton (the guest band is Wilco) are touting their new book, “The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience.” $24.50 on Amazon

PLAYBOOKERS

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

SPOTTED: Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and former White House COS Ken Duberstein speaking on the American Airlines 9 a.m. shuttle from DCA to LaGuardia on Sunday.

SPOTTED at a Sunday brunch going-away party for Christine Lagarde, who will head to Frankfurt as the president of the European Central Bank, hosted by Adrienne Arsht: Xavier Giocanti, Renee Fleming, David Rubenstein, C. Boyden Gray, Sharon Rockefeller, Amy and Bret Baier, Andrea Mitchell, Patrick Steel, Fred Kempe and Pam Meyer, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, David and Kellie Urban, Paula Dobriansky, Robert Pullen and Luke Frazier, Capricia and Robert Marshall, Paige Ennis, Julie Kent and Victor Barbee, Jim and Cathy French, Jason Marczak, Jane Hartley and Ralph Schlosstein.

2020 HIRES -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: John McCarthy has joined the Biden campaign as deputy political director. He previously was COS for Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.).

-- Sara Kenigsberg is joining the Bernie Sanders campaign as a supervising producer. She previously was a senior video producer for MoveOn.

TRANSITIONS -- Anne DeCesaro is now working at USDA in the Office of the Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. She most recently was staff director for the House Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee for ranking member Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Anne Horak, a Broadway actress, got married this weekend. Pool report: “The newlyweds were joined by their closest friends and family for an intimate ceremony and reception in Green Bay. The pair looks forward to starting a life filled with love, happiness and Packer Super Bowls.” Pic

-- Brendan Sullivan, CEO of Weymouth Strategies and an Obama alum, and Ashley Patton, an international policy analyst at PCAOB, got married Saturday at Walden Hall in Reva, Va. … SPOTTED: Alex Friendly, Clark Jennings, Will Jennings, John McComb, Karly Satkowiak, Nat Kaine, Hallie Ruvin, Pete Selfridge, Dave Cusack, Zaina Javaid, Ben Shannon, Matt Harney, Jesse Sendroff, Kaitlin Gaughran, Gabrielle DeFranceschi, Tucker Minor, Alan Bray, Cole Randle and Maju Varghese.

-- Shelby Wagenseller, director of special projects for the 2020 Democratic National Convention Committee and a Signal Group alum, and Nolan Canter of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the incoming director of community engagement for the 2020 Democratic Convention Host Committee, got married on Saturday in Easton, Md. … SPOTTED: Andrew Deerin, Elizabeth Northrup, John Procter, Michelle Baker, Noe Garcia and Thomas Mathiasen. Pic

-- Amanda Thayer, deputy national communications director at NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Eric Heidenberger, partner/owner at DC Restaurant Group at Historic Rosemont Manor, got married in Berryville, Va. … SPOTTED: Kate Hansen, Meredith Kelly, Ronald Allen, Travis Brimm, Kaylie Hanson Long, John Moffett and Cuffe Owens. Pic

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Hildy Kuryk, founder of Artemis Strategies. A trend she thinks doesn’t get enough attention: “As the public’s faith in its institutions are sinking, they are forcing brands -- who before had been concerned with being seen as partisan -- to stand up for what they believe in. It is no longer acceptable to stand on the sidelines of what previously had been ‘controversial’ issues -- climate change, immigration, etc. It’s exciting to watch people of all ages take to the streets to demand what they see are their basic rights. Companies are no longer allowed to be passive observers.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Craig Minassian is 49 … Ari Shapiro, host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” … FiveThirtyEight’s Perry Bacon Jr. ... Greg Mecher … Nate Tibbits, SVP of global government affairs and public affairs at Qualcomm … Conor Maguire … POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg and Brendan MacArthur … POLITICO Europe’s David Herszenhorn ... Stefanie Mohler ... Jake Yunker … Felix Schein is 43 ... Ben Voelkel, comms director for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), is 33 ... AP legal affairs writer Curt Anderson ... former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is 59 ... former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert is 74 ... Iowa Republican operative Grant Young ... WSJ’s Steve Russolillo … Michael O’Connor, senior director of state government affairs at Eli Lilly … Edelman’s Emily Lippard … LaRhonda Burley … Natalie Rossetti … Bobby Donachie … Sue Andres … Bradley Akubuiro, director of corporate communications and public affairs at United Technologies …

… Mike Henry, chief of staff to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Rachel Trello of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (hat tip: the ITIF team) … Anastasia Goodstein, SVP at the Ad Council ... Maggie Rousseau, comms director for Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) … Alyssa Cass, director of politics for Future Now and Future Now Fund (h/t Michelle Kuppersmith) … Charlotte Dillon Ross ... Caroline Cirillo … Arthi Yerramilli … Cynthia McCabe … Sam Lozier, senior national campaigns lead at NGP VAN ... Nathan Thornburgh, co-founder of Roads and Kingdoms … JJ Mitchell (h/t cousin Daniel Lippman) ... Courtney Sanders Felts of the U.S. Chamber … Gerardo Interiano … Maria Cereghino ... Mark Drapeau ... Phillip Martin ... Alan Eason ... Adam Hudson ... Joshua Hoyos, assignment editor at ABC News ... Kitty Eisele … Carolina Hewell (h/t Jon Haber) … Mike Milligan … Aaron Pickrell … Mary Triick (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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