POLITICO Playbook PM: Bolton just tore up the impeachment script Presented by

John Bolton’s manuscript has undoubtedly scrambled the impeachment proceedings, leaving the once cocksure Republican Party scratching their collective heads at what comes next. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

AFTER A MORNING IN THE CAPITOL, here’s what we can say for sure: The NYT story about JOHN BOLTON’S manuscript has undoubtedly scrambled the impeachment proceedings, leaving the once cocksure Republican Party scratching their collective heads at what comes next. The body language and the rhetoric have changed -- but to what end, we’re not certain at this moment.

OVER THE WEEKEND, REPUBLICANS WERE QUITE SURE that the impeachment trial of President DONALD TRUMP would be over by this weekend. Now there’s a distinct sense of confusion about when and how this will all end.

RIGHT NOW, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY for sure whether the Senate will call BOLTON to testify. Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) told BURGESS EVERETT that it is “increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton. … I have spoken with others who have opined upon this. It’s important to be able to hear from John Bolton for us to be able to make an impartial judgment.” Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) said this will “strengthen the case” for witnesses.” The Burgess, Marianne LeVine and John Bresnahan story

BUT ROMNEY and COLLINS are two people, meaning Democrats seem to be somewhat close to halfway to debating and voting on witnesses. Read the above story to hear from Republican senators like ROY BLUNT of Missouri, who are saying nothing new, nothing to see, this is a dangerous precedent. ALTHOUGH, important to note, Blunt allows that the Senate might feel compelled to step in at this point.

AT THE MOMENT, SENATE GOP LEADERSHIP SOURCES tell us they are still pushing against witnesses -- but they acknowledge the situation is fluid, and say it could change. For now, they are talking a lot about executive privilege, and how it is the House’s responsibility to do the investigating.

OTHERS HAVE SAID the Iowa caucuses are drawing near, so voters should decide. HOUSE REPUBLICANS tried at their news conference to cast doubt on whether the manuscript was real -- even though that’s not even really a question at this point. Rep. DEBBIE LESKO (R-Ariz.) said reporters are “gullible.” Many Republicans are falling into line to defend the White House position, saying the House should’ve handled this, it’s an eleventh-hour accusation designed to drag this out and Ukraine got aid, so this whole thing is bunk. We’ve heard these lines throughout the process.

THIS WILL BE KEY TO LOOK FOR: Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL’S position has not changed -- but, if past is precedent, if he feels the wind blowing in his face, he’ll shift courses and take control of the witness process.

THE LINE OF THE DAY: Sen. JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.) urged everyone to take a breath, because witness votes won’t happen until Friday. Sen. JOHN KENNEDY (R-La.) suggested reporters take Zoloft, because the trial is only halfway through.

HERE’S SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER from this morning: “How can Senate Republicans not vote to call [Bolton] and request his documents? Anyone who says the House case lacks eyewitnesses and then votes to prevent eyewitnesses from testifying is talking out of both sides of his mouth.”

REMEMBER: If the Senate decides to call witnesses, the trial will almost certainly bump into the State of the Union, which is slated for Feb. 4. During the Clinton impeachment, witnesses were interviewed privately and senators could view the videotape.

MEANWHILE … TRUMP said this morning that he and Israeli leaders will announce their peace plan Tuesday at noon. The White House does not appear to be making any effort to bring the Palestinians on board.

Good Monday afternoon. Retired Gen. Joseph Dunford is joining the board of directors at Lockheed Martin. He previously was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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HEADS UP -- “Prince Andrew Offers ‘Zero Cooperation’ in Epstein Case, Prosecutor Says,” by NYT’s Nicole Hong: “Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. have sought to interview Prince Andrew about Jeffrey Epstein, but he has provided ‘zero cooperation,’ the United States attorney in Manhattan said on Monday.

“Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney, revealed Prince Andrew’s lack of cooperation in response to a reporter’s question during a news conference outside Mr. Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion about victims of human and sex trafficking.”

AP/KABUL: “Taliban say mystery crash in Afghanistan was U.S. aircraft,” by Rahim Faiez and Kathy Gannon: “A U.S. military aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, a Taliban spokesman and Afghan journalist affiliated with the militant group said. Tariq Ghazniwal, a journalist in the area, said that he saw the burning aircraft. In an exchange on Twitter, he told The Associated Press that he saw two bodies and the front of the aircraft was badly burned.

“He added that the aircraft’s body and tail were hardly damaged. His information could not be independently verified. … Ghazniwal said the crash site was about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from a U.S. military base. Local Taliban have deployed to protect the crash site, he said, and several other militants were combing the nearby village for two people they say survived the crash.” AP

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(SORTA) GOOD NEWS FOR THE GOP … WAPO’S SCOTT CLEMENT and DAN BALZ: “President Trump begins his reelection year in a more competitive position than he was last fall against potential Democratic challengers, aided by rising approval for his handling of the economy, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. … Neither Trump nor [any of the top six] Democrats hold a statistically significant advantage in any matchup.” WaPo … The poll

ONE WEEK TO IOWA -- “How record-high turnout in Iowa could upend the 2020 race,” by David Siders, Natasha Korecki, Elena Schneider and Maya King: “The Iowa Democratic Party has been preparing for record-breaking turnout for more than a year, driven both by Democrats’ angst about President Donald Trump and by an unusually large field of candidates — many of them with their own significant, independent turnout operations.

“The state party chairman, Troy Price, said the party is anticipating more caucus-goers than in 2008, which set a record when 239,000 Democratic voters participated, lifting Obama to victory. … [T]wo strategists familiar with campaigns in Iowa said multiple campaigns were urging supporters in at least some areas of the state not to register until the day of the caucuses — a ploy to prevent other campaigns from targeting them ahead of caucus day.” POLITICO

KNIVES OUT AS SANDERS RISES -- “‘They let him get away with murder’: Dems tormented over how to stop Bernie,” by Natasha Korecki: “They fear a repeat of 2016 is in the making — when mainstream Republicans scoffed at the idea that Donald Trump could ever win the nomination, until he became unstoppable — only this time from the left. … Many Democrats say they respect the support behind Sanders but fear a self-described Democratic socialist would cede must-win battlegrounds to Trump. …

“But the Democratic establishment is caught in a catch-22: Attack Sanders and risk galvanizing his supporters and turning him into a martyr of the far-left. Or leave him alone and watch him continue to gather momentum.” POLITICO

-- “Bernie Sanders and His Internet Army: At the start of his 2020 bid, the Vermont senator told his supporters that he condemned bullying. Is it his problem if many don’t seem to listen?” by NYT’s Matt Flegenheimer, Rebecca Ruiz and Nellie Bowles: NYT

ENDORSEMENT ROUNDUP -- “Rep. Seth Moulton Endorses Joe Biden for President,” by WSJ’s Ben Kesling: “‘The most important task for Democrats in 2020 is to get Donald Trump out of the White House and Vice President Biden is the best candidate to do that,’ said Mr. Moulton in an interview. ‘Biden has the most experience and the widest appeal to the broadest swath of voters in the places we need to win this November.’”

-- REP. SCOTT PETERS (D-Calif.) is backing Mike Bloomberg, his fifth congressional endorsement. POLITICO

-- ELIZABETH WARREN is receiving more than 3,000 new endorsements from “elected leaders, movement leaders, top economists, and other activists and influencers,” according to the Warren-aligned Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Working Families Party and Black Womxn For.

WHY BIDEN MIGHT LOSE IOWA … THE UPSHOT: “Biden’s Iowa Problem: Our Poll Suggests His Voters Aren’t the Caucusing Type”: “With one week to go until the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden finds himself in a seemingly unimaginable position: needing to mobilize older voters who are usually the most consistent voters. …

“One-third of people who participated in a recent Iowa Democratic primary — usually considered all but certain voters — said they weren’t likely to caucus, and these voters backed Mr. Biden by 11 points in the Times/Siena poll.” NYT

WHY WARREN STILL HAS A SHOT -- “Elizabeth Warren bet big on Iowa. Will her elaborate organization be enough?” by WaPo’s Annie Linskey and Holly Bailey in Muscatine, Iowa: “That ‘year of organizing’ will have its ultimate test in one week. And it has been almost microscopic. The campaign made a detailed study of almost all of the state’s more than 1,600 precincts to determine how to maximize support. It divided Iowa into nine zones and made an early investment deploying numerous operatives in each one, including remote towns and areas unlikely to support Warren.” WaPo

DEMS AIN’T THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN … “Trump Campaign Targets Iowa to Show Strength, Boost GOP Caucus Turnout,” by WSJ’s Catherine Lucey: “For the Feb. 3 caucuses, the Trump campaign is planning an ambitious show of force around the state, with over 80 surrogates expected to campaign at caucus locations. … [T]he campaign sees the night as an opportunity to test its organizational muscle across the state’s 99 counties.” WSJ

THE POLICY PRIMARY -- MIKE BLOOMBERG in the ORLANDO SENTINEL: “A new future for Puerto Rico includes making it our 51st state”: “I’ll state it clearly: I support statehood for Puerto Rico. And as president, I will work to pass a bill making it a reality, subject to approval by the people of Puerto Rico — who will make the ultimate decision. …

“We believe taking Puerto Rican voters seriously starts in the Democratic primary, and that’s why I’m opening up an office in San Juan and building a ground operation — because the best way to stop Puerto Rico from being ignored in the future is to stop ignoring it right now.” Orlando Sentinel

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE -- “NRCC hires new senior adviser amid 2020 worries,” by Alex Isenstadt: “The National Republican Congressional Committee has tapped GOP strategist Jon Reedy to serve as senior adviser, a shakeup that comes amid mounting concerns about the party’s prospects of winning back the House majority. … It is unusual for a party committee to bring on a senior-level staffer mid-way through an election cycle.” POLITICO

2024 WATCH -- ““I Would Have Her Be President”: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Winning Over Iowa,” by BuzzFeed’s Nidhi Prakash in Ames, Iowa

VALLEY TALK -- “Tech Giants’ New Appeal to Governments: Please Regulate Us,” by WSJ’s Sebastian Herrera: “Facing antitrust investigations and a growing backlash over privacy, encryption, artificial intelligence and content monitoring, leaders at tech giants including Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc. are now calling for new laws on a range of issues—even though some have worked to torpedo others designed to restrict their activities.

“Their push to join in the policy debate, which was on display at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, is motivated in part by a sense that a wave of new regulation is inevitable. Top executives want to help steer the outcome as much as possible, and many also fear the impact of a patchwork of laws around the world.” WSJ

WAR POWERS LATEST -- “McCarthy pushes Dems to abandon procedural strategy sidelining GOP,” by Melanie Zanona

THE NEW YORKER is launching a new series on “The Future of Democracy,” running until the election. The first pieces include Jill Lepore on democracy’s struggle to survive the 1930s and Charles Bethea on what happens when local news disappears in a community (in this case Jones County, N.C.). Editors’ introduction

BIG WSJ READ … ‘A FOREIGN-POLICY DEBACLE’ -- “How Putin Outfoxed Trump in Venezuela,” by WSJ’s Jessica Donati, Andrew Restuccia and Ian Talley: “U.S. envoy Elliott Abrams arrived at the Westin Excelsior hotel hoping to persuade Russia to withdraw its support for Mr. Maduro and to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov instead demanded the U.S. back down from military threats and lift the economic sanctions intended to force Mr. Maduro’s hand.

“In the months that followed, the U.S. campaign spiraled into a foreign-policy debacle, thwarted by familiar adversaries, Russia and Cuba, as well as allies, Turkey and India—all countries that one way or another helped Venezuela sidestep U.S. sanctions, according to current and former U.S. officials and Venezuelan opposition activists. The European Union watched from the sidelines.

“The Trump administration, confident Mr. Maduro would fall, didn’t foresee Russia leading the way for other countries to eclipse the sanctions. In turn, administration reluctance to impose sanctions on Russian enterprises and others kept Venezuela’s oil and gold flowing to buyers.” WSJ

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MEDIAWATCH -- “New media outlet covering the intersection of women and politics launches as 2020 election kicks off,” by WaPo’s Sarah Ellison: “[Emily] Ramshaw and [Amanda] Zamora are launching the 19th … with nearly $5 million in the bank from funders such as Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Kathryn Murdoch, a climate change activist and philanthropist. ‘This isn’t the day’s news but pink. This is unique, original coverage about the roles of gender in politics and policy,’ said Ramshaw … ‘We are not doing turn-of-the-screw reporting, but rather what that turn of the screw means for different parts of the women’s electorate.’ …

“The organization is launching with a single reporter in the field, Errin Haines, who previously covered race and ethnicity for the Associated Press. She will cover the 2020 race. A bare-bones site is launching Monday. Until 19thnews.org is fully built later this year, the 19th’s articles will publish on The Washington Post’s website.” WaPo … The 19th

-- Lauren Morello will be deputy health care editor for POLITICO Pro. She currently is Americas bureau chief and chief of correspondents at Nature magazine.

-- Jose Del Real is returning to WaPo to work on the national desk’s political enterprise and investigations team. He currently is a national correspondent for the NYT. The announcement

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Keith Smith, SVP of public affairs and mobilization at the National Association of Manufacturers, and Sarah Smith, COO at the American Action Forum, welcomed Hale Robert Smith on Saturday. He came in at 8 lbs, 3 oz and 20.5 inches. Pic

-- Rachel Millard, deputy director of public affairs at the CFTC, and Andrew Millard, product manager at Aetna, on Friday welcomed Evelyn Lorraine Millard. She came in at 7 lbs, 9 oz. Pic … Another pic

BIRTHWEEK (was Saturday): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned 42

BONUS BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Matt Bassett, former assistant HHS secretary for legislation. What he’s reading: “Ed Henry’s book ‘42 Faith’ on Jackie Robinson that he shared with me. It should be on everyone’s ‘must read’ list. Why? Clearly I am sucking up so he will have me on his show (but my favorite Hill correspondent is and always will be Mike Emanuel).” Playbook Q&A

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