POLITICO Playbook PM: What House Dem leadership said about impeachment today Presented by Amazon

“I’m of the view that those hearings should commence immediately,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said of hearings to investigate obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

NEW … INCHING CLOSER? … REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-N.Y.), the No. 4 House Democrat, spoke to TOURÉ for his podcast about impeachment. The podcast will drop Wednesday. TOURÉ: “Should Trump be impeached?”

JEFFRIES: “The Judiciary Committee, on which I sit, should have hearings on three things: obstruction of justice, abuse of power and the culture of corruption that appears to exist at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I’m of the view that those hearings should commence immediately. And we need to present the information to the American people. What you call those hearings -- that is a decision that will ultimately be made by Chairman Nadler and Speaker Pelosi.”

TOURÉ: “Is the decision to not impeach based on politics and the 2020 election and how it would reflect on Dems?” JEFFRIES: “It would be dangerous for us to make a decision about impeachment anchored in politics either way. To either decide that we’re not going to impeach because it would be bad politically or that we’ll dive into impeachment because it’ll help politically.

“At the end of the day we’re charged with the solemn constitutional responsibility of trying to figure out, did this president commit high crimes and misdemeanors? The Mueller investigation has presented at least 11 different instances of serious obstruction of justice that could lead to that conclusion.” Download the podcast here Wednesday

TRUMP IN LONDON … (from the great pool reports by WaPo’s Anne Gearan): At Westminster: “Note that your pooler greeted former Pentagon spokesman and ABC White House reporter Geoff Morrell, who with his family was among a small group of people on hand for the visit. The Trumps left the abbey at 3:56 and we will shortly be rolling for Clarence House, home of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.” Morrell is now the group head for communications and external affairs at BP.

-- THE PRESIDENT and first lady were at Clarence House with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Gearan’s pool report: “Charles pointed out a few items on the walls of the small reception room where they posed before a scheduled tea that is closed to press. Their conversation was out of earshot. Trump greeted Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the U.S., and they shook hands. Trump said ‘thank you’ a few times, and Prince Charles laughed loudly as they arranged themselves.” Photo of the two couples

-- DAILY MIRROR’S DAN BLOOM: “Jeremy Corbyn to attend protest against Donald Trump’s UK State Visit”: “The Labour leader will speak at a demo that is expected to be attended by thousands of people in central London.” Daily Mail

-- TRUMPOLOGY … NYT’S ELLEN BARRY in London: “Trump’s Love Affair With the Royal Family Dates Back to His Mother”

Good Monday afternoon.

TRADE WARS -- “Mexico: Trump’s tariffs could worsen Central American immigration problem,” by Doug Palmer: “President Donald Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on Mexican goods will hurt both countries and weaken Mexico’s ability to help stop the flow of Central American immigrants seeking entry into the United States, top Mexican officials said Monday. …

“[Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo] Ebard highlighted the actions Mexico is already taking to deal with the stream of migrants crossing into his country from Guatemala. He also argued for a cooperative solution with the United States and other international partners to address the root causes of migration out of Central America, referring to high rates of gang violence and a lack of jobs in the region.” POLITICO

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING … “Hassett says White House departure ‘absolutely normal’ and not tied to Mexico tariffs,” by Caitlin Oprysko

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SCOTUS WATCH -- “Supreme Court Rejects Martoma, Won’t Curb Insider-Trading Cases,” by Bloomberg’s Greg Stohr: “The justices, without comment Monday, let stand a federal appeals court decision that upheld [Mathew] Martoma’s 2014 conviction for using tips to make $275 million for SAC on trades in two pharmaceutical stocks. Martoma is serving a nine-year sentence in a Miami prison following the largest insider-trading case ever brought against an individual.” Bloomberg

-- AP: “Supreme Court won’t get involved in Prophet Muhammad ad case”: “The Supreme Court is declining to get involved in a dispute that began when a group tried to have Washington transit officials display an ad with a provocative cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.” AP

-- “Supreme Court Takes Blackbeard Ship Case in Test of Immunity,” by Bloomberg’s Greg Stohr: “The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to use a case involving the wreckage of the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship to decide whether states can be sued for copyright infringement. The case will test a series of high court rulings in recent decades that have broadened the sovereign immunity of states in other contexts.” Bloomberg

THE NEWEST CHINA FRONTS -- WAPO’S ANNA FIFIELD in Beijing: “China warned students on Monday to think about the ‘risks’ associated with attending college in the United States, an apparent sign that the authorities in Beijing are expanding the boundaries of the trade war to include educational exchanges. …

“Xu Yongji, an official from the Ministry of Education, said that the Trump administration and the U.S. Congress had ‘politicized some normal China-U.S. educational exchanges and cooperation activities.’ … [T]he rate at which they are being rejected for visas is concerning the authorities here.” WaPo

-- HALLEY TOOSI: “Pompeo blasts China on anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre”: “In a statement released at 12:01 a.m. Beijing time Tuesday to coincide with the anniversary, the top U.S. diplomat spoke wistfully of American hopes that China’s integration into the global economy would lead to a ‘more open, tolerant society.’

“‘Those hopes have been dashed,’ said Pompeo … The Communist Party leadership is ‘methodically attempting to strangle Uighur culture and stamp out the Islamic faith, including through the detention of more than 1 million members of Muslim minority groups,’ Pompeo added.” POLITICO

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NOT DEAD YET -- “Reportedly Purged North Korean Official Appears With Kim Jong Un,” by WSJ’s Dasl Yoon in Seoul: “A senior North Korean official, reportedly purged after nuclear talks soured with President Trump in Vietnam, appeared at a weekend musical performance with leader Kim Jong Un, according to Pyongyang’s state media. Kim Yong Chol, who was considered Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s counterpart, attended the Sunday event with 11 other North Korean officials, the report said.” WSJ

VALLEY TALK -- “FTC Gets Jurisdiction for Possible Facebook Antitrust Probe,” by WSJ’s Brent Kendall and John McKinnon: “While the Justice Department recently obtained the authority to investigate Alphabet Inc.’s Google, another government agency, the Federal Trade Commission, won jurisdiction over another high-profile player in the tech world: Facebook Inc.

“The FTC secured the rights to begin a potential investigation of Facebook and whether it has engaged in unlawful monopolistic practices as part of an agreement that allowed the DOJ to take the reins in a Google probe, according to people familiar with the matter. The FTC and DOJ share authority to enforce U.S. antitrust law and at times must work out turf arrangements regarding which agency will handle what issues.” WSJ

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- WAPO’S JOE DAVIDSON: “Whistleblower says there’s a secret VA wait list for care. The department says that’s not true”: “[Jereme] Whiteman, VA’s national director of clinic practice management and a former Marine, has accused the department under President Trump of having ‘a secret VA wait list’ for veterans seeking health care. …

“Whiteman said figures from internal reports indicate the actual number of veterans waiting for VA health care could be much higher than the numbers VA makes publicly available. Whiteman provided copies of the internal reports to The Washington Post. From May 1, 2018, through May 1, 2019, the monthly average on the department’s public electronic wait list (EWL) was 14,971. During that period, the monthly average on the internal electronic wait list was 44,478.” WaPo

THE DAILY BEAST’S LACHLAN MARKAY: “Feds: Puerto Rico Disaster Contractor Pocketed Millions in Taxpayer Cash”: “The owners of the Textile Corporation of America promised the federal government that they could deliver 1,000 new jobs to residents of Pikeville, Tennessee, and millions of dollars of supplies to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. And federal and state leaders lined up to support them, helping them secure millions of dollars in contracts and grants.

“But two years later, the company is the subject of a federal criminal investigation alleging that its executives bilked taxpayers out of those millions. … No criminal charges have yet been filed, and the Justice Department declined to comment. But the allegations against the Sadruddin brothers go beyond a typical case of procurement fraud, given the roster of high-profile politicians who lent their support to their companies over the past two years.” Daily Beast

2019 WATCH … “GOP women’s super PAC hits male candidate in N.C. special election,” by Laura Barrón-López: “The Winning For Women Action Fund launched an ad buy Monday in the Republican runoff for North Carolina’s 3rd district, jumping into its first primary of the cycle on behalf of GOP female candidates.

“The six-figure ad buy seeks to boost Joan Perry, a pediatrician, by attacking her opponent in next month's Republican primary runoff, state Rep. Greg Murphy — the frontrunner in the special election to replace the late Rep. Walter Jones.” POLITICO … The ad

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DEEP DIVE -- NYT’S MATT FLEGENHEIMER: “Biden’s First Run for President Was a Calamity. Some Missteps Still Resonate”: “He was accused of plagiarizing in campaign speeches. He had inflated his academic record. Reporters began calling out his exaggerated youth activism. …

“[T]he central tensions and vulnerabilities laid bare during Biden ’88 remain the most urgent questions at the core of Biden 2020: Can he credibly present himself as a man in step with the times without sounding off-key or stretching the truth, as he did while gilding his 1960s-era biography? Can he win while mounting another campaign premised as much on personal characteristics — his decency, his integrity, his presumed electability — as any particular policy platform? …

“While many Democrats weary of Reagan-era Republicanism envisioned their party racing to the left, Mr. Biden chafed as some advisers nudged him toward a kind of zealous populism, an imperfect fit for the candidate’s within-the-system sensibility. “I wore sport coats,” Mr. Biden told reporters once, explaining his limited involvement in antiwar fervor. “I was not part of that.”” NYT

THE POLICY PRIMARY … TEXAS TRIBUNE’S PATRICK SVITEK: “Julián Castro unveils police reform plan”: “In the third policy proposal of his campaign, the former U.S. housing secretary and San Antonio mayor outlined three goals: end ‘over-aggressive policing’ that disproportionately targets racial minorities, do more to hold cops accountable in such cases and begin to bridge the divide between communities and law enforcement.” Texas Tribune … The plan

AFTERNOON READ -- POLITICO MAGAZINE’S MICHAEL KRUSE: “Can Trump Still Sue His Way Out of Trouble?: As a developer he loved taking his enemies to court. As president he’s still running the same aggressive playbook, and this time it’s writing history in real time.” POLITICO Magazine

MEDIAWATCH -- Cameron Joseph will be a senior politics reporter and Morgan Baskin will be a policy reporter at Vice. Joseph most recently was at Talking Points Memo, and Baskin was at Washington City Paper. Digiday

SPOTTED: Michelle Obama at The Wing D.C. today for a Valerie Jarrett book tour event. (hat tip: Hanna Trudo) … A Tulsi Gabbard billboard in South Carolina. Pic

TRANSITIONS -- Yuval Levin is now resident scholar and director of social, cultural and constitutional studies research at AEI. He is the founding editor of National Affairs, which will be housed at AEI starting in July. … Rich Masters will be EVP for public affairs at BIO. He is currently at Qorvis Communications. … Sanam Rastegar will be deputy states director for the DMV area for Joe Biden’s campaign. She previously was a senior associate at McLarty Associates.

ENGAGED -- Brielle Appelbaum, a Patrick Morrissey, RAGA and Joe Wilson alum who is now a partner at Inspire Capital and Development, got engaged to Reza Mian, an associate at AEA Investors and a Wells Fargo alum. Pic … Another pic

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Katherine Knight, VP of comms for AALU and a U.S. Chamber and Pat Roberts alum, on Saturday married Will Patterson, legislative assistant to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). Pool report: “During the ceremony, the bride wore a family gown dating back to the 1890s when her great great great great aunt was presented to Queen Victoria’s Royal Court in England.” Pic

-- Blair Walter, who is joining the law firm Gibson Dunn, on Saturday married Josh Gold, a former law clerk for Judge Royce Lamberth who will soon be an assistant U.S. attorney. Pic

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