Doug Collins shoots down talk of DNI job Presented by

With an assist from Melanie Zanona

GRENELL GETS EARLY GOP SUPPORT: Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence, has early support from two key members of GOP leadership — Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). But it’s not clear if most Republicans, particularly on the Senate Intelligence Committee, are comfortable with Trump’s choice to replace the current acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire. (Trump said Thursday he would soon be nominating a permanent replacement.)


While Democrats have ripped Grenell for his absence of experience at a U.S. intelligence agency, the Republicans who have spoken up so far don’t seem concerned. Grenell is the current ambassador to Germany and a fierce Trump ally. “If you’re ambassador for some time in a country like Germany, you have a lot of exposure to intel activities and daily briefings and other things and he’s a very smart, capable guy,” Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and GOP leadership, said in a brief interview Thursday. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has yet to comment on the choice. More from your guest Huddle host: https://politi.co/2PbHAwu

Trump named Grenell to the post after a senior U.S. intelligence official told House lawmakers in a classified briefing that Russia wanted Trump to win re-election. The analysis angered Trump, who scolded Maguire, according to the New York Times’ Adam Goldman, Julian Barnes, Maggie Haberman and Nicholas Fandos. Some administration officials insist the timing was a coincidence.

Trump was particularly aggravated that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff was at the briefing. Following the Times’ reporting, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there would be an election security briefing for members on March 10. More from the Times here: https://nyti.ms/2V8I9Lv and from the Washington Post here: https://wapo.st/2SL9XUD

Related read: “NSC aide who helped discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post,” by Daniel Lippman: https://politi.co/2uhhG3j

COLLINS SHOOTS DOWN TALK OF DNI JOB: Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) shot down Friday any suggestion that he would take on the job as permanent director of national intelligence in an interview on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business. Trump told reporters Thursday night on Air Force One that Collins is among the people he is considering nominating for the role. But Collins, a strong Trump ally, is now pushing back against the idea. “This is not a job that’s of interest to me, and at this time it’s not one that I’d accept,” Collins said.

The Georgia House member is running for Senate against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to replace retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is vehemently behind Loeffler. By appointing Collins to become director of national intelligence, Trump could have helped avoid an intra-party fight over the Senate seat. Another potential candidate for DNI is former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who is the current ambassador to the Netherlands.

HAPPY FRIDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this February 21, where I am filling in for your host Mel and wondering where this week’s recess went. Mel will return Tuesday.



THURSDAY’S MOST CLICKED: POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn’s story on “What would make William Barr quit?” was the big winner.

GOP EMBRACES ‘PRESIDENT SANDERS’ TO WIN BACK SUBURBS: Republicans are more than happy to see Sen. Bernie Sanders’ rise in the polls — and are already invoking the Vermont Independent in a bid to win back college-educated suburban voters. Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) has an ad titled “Bernie Bro” that ties her Democratic opponent Mark Kelly to Sanders, after he said he would support whoever the Democratic nominee is.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is also up for re-election, went on Facebook after Wednesday’s debate to highlight that Sanders had “doubled down on his embrace of socialism.” And in Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is up for re-election, the conservative group Better Future Michigan has tried to tie Peters to “Medicare for All.” Peters has not backed the idea of a single national insurance plan. More from POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt: https://politi.co/2T2nSVp

AOC TO ENDORSE SLATE OF PROGRESSIVE CHALLENGERS: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will endorse several female progressive candidates Friday, via her new political action committee Courage to Change, the New York Times’ Catie Edmondson reports. “One of our primary goals is to reward political courage in Congress and also to help elect a progressive majority in the House of Representatives,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Times in an interview.

Among the congressional candidates Ocasio-Cortez is endorsing is Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, who is running against the DSCC-endorsed MJ Hegar in the Senate Democratic primary in Texas. The winner will take on Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Ocasio-Cortez is also backing Teresa Fernandez in New Mexico, Samelys López in New York, and Georgette Gómez in California who are all running for open seats in blue districts. More here: https://nyti.ms/3bVSJLI

NO REGRETS: Former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) says she has no regrets about leaving Congress. "I strongly feel that I made the right call in stepping down, for several reasons,” Hill told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired Thursday on Good Morning America. She added that among the reasons she stepped down was that she” did not want to be a liability” to her colleagues. Hill resigned from Congress late last year, after facing allegations of inappropriate relationships with staffers in her office and on her campaign. In her ABC interview, Hill continued to deny that she ever had a relationship with one of her congressional staffers.

She did, however, regret her relationship with a staff member on her campaign. "You're truly in the trenches with these — this very small team," she said. "Where I think I made the biggest mistake was not setting those boundaries from the very beginning." More here: https://gma.abc/2HGznN1

CAN TUBERVILLE BEAT SESSIONS? In his Alabama Senate campaign, Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach has to do something he’s not used to: win over Alabama fans. As ESPN’s Ivan Maisel put it: “He's running in a state where the Iron Bowl is contested 365 days a year, and he coached one side for 10 years.” But Tuberville’s role as Auburn coach also gives him instant name recognition in the state and he’s emphasized “there’s a difference between football and life.” Tuberville says that running for Senate is a way “to give back,” since he’s too old for the military. More from ESPN’s Maisel here: https://es.pn/2unmeW4

Alabama will hold its Republican primary March 3. According to a poll from Club for Growth PAC, released Thursday, Tuberville is now leading the race with 32 percent of the vote, followed by former Sen. Jeff Sessions with 29 percent and Rep. Bradley Byrne with 17 percent.

Related read: “Loeffler jet a Georgia campaign trail asset, but also fuel for critics” from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein: http://bit.ly/32bQRKw

REID: PLURALITY ISN’T ENOUGH FOR DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION: Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn’t think that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or any other candidate for president should become the Democratic nominee if they do not win the majority of delegates, the Washington Post’s Paul Kane reports.

“Here is how I feel about this: I do not think that anybody — Bernie Sanders or anyone else — should simply get the nomination because they have 30 percent of the delegates and no one else has that many,” Reid said. “I think that we have to let the system work its way out. I do not believe anyone should get the nomination unless they have 50-[percent]-plus-one.” The former Senate Majority Leader further suggested that moderates in the race could form a coalition before the July convention and help give the nomination to a different candidate. Reid’s comments come ahead of Saturday’s Nevada caucus. More here: https://wapo.st/39TE2aq

NY MAN ARRESTED AFTER THREATS TO SCHUMER, SCHIFF: Salvatore Lippa II of New York was arrested after allegedly threatening House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over the impeachment trial. Lippa faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and or a $250,000 fine. Schumer’s office in Albany received a voicemail with a death threat, just before the final impeachment vote, while Schiff’s office in D.C. also received one. More from Roll Call’s Chris Marquette: http://bit.ly/2HEtVKv

Related read: “'All traitors must die': Feds charge man for threatening whistleblower attorney” by POLITICO’s Natasha Bertrand: https://politi.co/32dPOtl

SCALISE TAKES ON THE BERNIE BROS: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) had something to say Thursday when former Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said he’d never seen evidence that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ supporters are “unusually mean and rude” and asked for an example of a Bernie Bro “being bad.” Scalise responded on Twitter: “I can think of an example,” a reference to when the Louisiana Republican was shot in 2017 during a baseball practice by James Hodgkinson, who volunteered for Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2016.

Upon learning of the shooting, Sanders said he was “sickened by this despicable act.” Scalise said in a 2018 interview that he does not view Sanders as responsible for the incident. More from The Hill’s Juliegrace Brufke: http://bit.ly/39RpdoD

WEEKLY WINNERS AND LOSERS:

Winner: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who raised more than $5 million in less than 24 hours since the start of Wednesday’s debate.

Loser: Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has faced slew of negative stories after he bombed Wednesday’s debate.





TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House and Senate are OUT.





AROUND THE HILL

Nada.

TRIVIA

THURSDAY’s WINNER: Vicki DiLeo was the first person to guess that three Vice Presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize: Charles Dawes, Al Gore and Teddy Roosevelt.

TODAY’S QUESTION: From Vicki: Which president had excerpts of his State of the Union address leaked to the New York Herald prior to its delivery to Congress and which resulted in a House investigation? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way at [email protected] .

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Follow us on Twitter Melanie Zanona @MZanona