Playbook scoop: Trump-aligned political group spending 1M to push red-state Dems to back Haspel Presented by Amazon

America First Policies, an outside group aligned with President Donald Trump, is spending nearly $1 million to pressure red state Democrats into voting for Gina Haspel as CIA director. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Driving the Day

NEW … END OF AN ERA … BOB BAUER, long-time top Democratic political law expert, is leaving Perkins Coie. He has been with the law firm for more than 35 years. The former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama plans to do more teaching at the New York University School of Law and continue his writing and speaking about constitutional law, legal ethics and political reform. He will still continue to represent a number of clients as a solo practitioner and will co-counsel with Perkins Coie for some of those clients.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK … AMERICA FIRST POLICIES, the political group designed to boost President Donald Trump’s policies, is spending nearly $1 million on TV and digital ads to try to pressure Democratic senators to vote to confirm Gina Haspel as CIA director.

THE SENATORS that are being targeted are CLAIRE MCCASKILL in Missouri, HEIDI HEITKAMP in North Dakota and DOUG JONES in Alabama -- all senators from red states. They were going to go up in Indiana, but Joe Donnelly announced he would vote for Haspel’s nomination.

THE AD SCRIPT: “ISIS, al Qaeda, foreign adversaries. To combat America’s enemies, we need proven leadership at the CIA. That’s why President Trump nominated Gina Haspel, a decorated intelligence officer admired by allies around the globe. With bipartisan support, Gina Haspel is the leader our clandestine service needs. Because she has the experience to defend America in a dangerous world. Call Senator McCaskill, tell her to support Gina Haspel for CIA director.” The 30-second spot http://bit.ly/2IdirAa

THE GROUP is estimating it will spend $255,850 on TV, digital and phone calls in North Dakota (Bismarck and Fargo markets) … $314,000 in Alabama (Birmingham and Huntsville) … and $364,500 in Missouri (St. Louis and Kansas City.)

BRIAN O. WALSH, the president of America First Policies: “At this point, Senators Heitkamp, McCaskill and Jones can join their bipartisan colleagues in supporting Gina Haspel, a qualified nominee that will put America’s security first, or side with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in opposing her.”

Playbook PM Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

MORE SPENDING IN W.VA … SENATE MAJORITY PAC just disclosed $492,700 on a media buy in West Virginia to boost Joe Manchin. They’ve spent $2.3 million there already.

Good Tuesday morning. The New York Yankees come to town for a two-game set against the Nationals. The first game is tonight at 7:05 p.m. It’s supposed to rain all week -- let’s hope they can get these games in. Nats have won eight of their last 10 games.

AND HAPPY PRIMARY DAY -- “POLITICO’s guide to Tuesday’s primary elections,” by Steven Shepard, Elena Schneider, and Daniel Strauss: https://politi.co/2wHIf23

MUST READ … ALEX ISENSTADT in Fenton, Missouri: “GOP golden boy mails it in”: “As GOP Rep. Ann Wagner prepared to introduce candidates in a Republican Senate debate here Friday, she took a pointed jab at one contender who didn’t make it — front-runner Josh Hawley.

“‘I try not to tell candidates how to run their races. I don’t know where some of the other candidates are,’ she told POLITICO before taking the stage in a high school auditorium, referring specifically to Hawley. ‘Perhaps they have conflicts. But you gotta show up to win. And I’m going to tell that to the crowd tonight.’

“Moments later, Wagner followed through, declaring to the raucous applause of Republican voters on hand that ‘showing up matters.’ The scene encapsulated widespread concerns about Hawley. Star-struck Senate Republican leaders anointed the 38-year-old, Stanford-and-Yale educated state attorney general as their top recruit of 2018 – a squeaky-clean figure they saw as the future of the party and an ideal opponent to take on the endangered Democratic incumbent, Sen. Claire McCaskill.

“Yet as the campaign season kicks into high gear, many Republicans worry that Hawley — who openly admits he had no intention of running for Senate until he was pressured into it — is squandering his shot.” https://politi.co/2L3b0cI

TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN? -- “Trump puts Pence in a corner,” by Matt Nussbaum: “President Donald Trump wasn’t planning to attend the recent [NRA] convention – that is, until he learned that Vice President Mike Pence would be giving the keynote address. That led to a change of plans in the West Wing, according to two people familiar with the arrangement, and nearly a week after the NRA announced Pence would speak, the president was added to the schedule to speak moments after Pence.

“It wasn’t the first time Trump has changed his plans to one-up the veep. It was originally Pence, not Trump, who planned to travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But upon seeing who else would be attending, Trump decided to make the trip himself instead, bumping Pence off the schedule, according to a person familiar with the matter. A White House official said that neither scheduling decision was based on the vice president’s plans.” https://politi.co/2IhJU3Q

-- V.P. MIKE PENCE is headlining a fundraiser Friday in Indianapolis honoring Mike Braun, the GOP candidate for the Senate in Indiana; Josh Hawley, the GOP senate candidate in Missouri and Rep. Jim Renacci, who won the primary to run against Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio. For $25,000, you’ll get a spot at a roundtable, a photo with Pence and four tickets to the reception.

-- CHAIRMEN OF THE FUNDRAISER: David Bockorny, Bob Grand, John Hammond, Danny Huston, Jeff Miller, Marty Obst and Victor Smith. HOSTS include August Busch III, Ambassador Sam Fox, Majida Mourad, and Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield.

THE LATEST IN ISRAEL …

NYT JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF DAVID HALBFINGER: “Death in Gaza, New Embassy in Jerusalem, and Peace as Distant as Ever”: “Across the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, loudspeakers on minarets urged Palestinians to rush the fence bordering Israel, where they were met by army snipers. At least 58 were killed and thousands injured, local officials said — the worst day of carnage there since Israel invaded Gaza in 2014.

“Hours later, a beaming Ivanka Trump helped unveil a stone marker etched with her father’s name on the new American Embassy in Jerusalem, keeping his campaign promise to officially acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. An audience of 800 religious conservatives and right-wing politicians from both countries sang Hallelujah.’

“‘What a glorious day,’ exulted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two scenes, only an hour’s drive apart, illustrated the chasm dividing Israelis and Palestinians more than at any moment in recent history.” https://nyti.ms/2wJ1Izz

-- Michelle Kosinski (@MichLKosinski): “When we asked SecState Pompeo if he had anything to say – anything -- on the violence in Israel right now... he turned his back, and walked away.”

SPOTTED AT THE DAVID CITADEL HOTEL IN JERUSALEM at a reception hosted by Christians United for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition following the dedication ceremony of the new U.S. Embassy: U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Joe Lieberman, Sheldon Adelson, Jason Greenblatt, Alan Dershowitz, Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.), Steve Knight (R-Calif.), Jody Hice (R-Ga.), Scott Taylor (R-Va.) George Holding (R-N.C.), Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), Mario Diaz Balart (R-Fla.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Mike Huckabee, Michael Oren, Daniel Ayalon, Israeli Ministers Naftali Bennett, Haim Katz, Ze’ev Elkin and Yuval Steinitz, Gregg Roman, Josh Block, Mark Levin, Ralph Reed and Jay Sekulow.



A message from Amazon: Retail is a thriving, competitive, and highly-fragmented market where both buyers and small sellers have more choices than ever before. At Amazon, we welcome this competition. It sharpens our focus, feeds our creativity, and fuels our drive to innovate for customers. Learn more.

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “As U.S. Demands Nuclear Disarmament, It Moves to Expand Its Own Arsenal,” by NYT’s David E. Sanger and William J. Broad: “For the White House, these have been dramatic days for nuclear disarmament: First President Trump exited the Iran deal, demanding that Tehran sign a new agreement that forever cuts off its path to making a bomb, then the administration announced a first-ever meeting with the leader of North Korea about ridding his nation of nuclear weapons.

“But for the American arsenal, the initiatives are all going in the opposite direction, with a series of little-noticed announcements to spend billions of dollars building the factories needed to rejuvenate and expand America’s nuclear capacity. The contrast has been striking. On Thursday evening, hours after Mr. Trump announced that his meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, would take place on June 12 in Singapore, the Pentagon and the Energy Department announced plans to begin building critical components for next-generation nuclear weapons at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.” https://nyti.ms/2wH5c5x

THE STORY THAT THE W.H. REFUSES TO STOP -- “Senate GOP chides Trump over McCain treatment,” by Burgess Everett and Eliana Johnson: “Senate Republicans are openly seething over the White House’s treatment of John McCain, casting a pall over the party ahead of a rare lunch with President Donald Trump the caucus is hosting on Tuesday.

“The White House’s refusal to apologize for an aide joking about the Arizona senator’s failing health is threatening to undermine what should be a feel-good moment for the caucus. ‘Just out of common decency they should apologize. And the person who said it should apologize. It’s wrong,’ said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

“With a potential deal with North Korea in the works, the economy humming and Trump following through on his vow to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, Republicans were feeling more upbeat about the administration than they had in months. But the morbid joke by communications aide Kelly Sadler last week, delivered at a staff meeting and promptly leaked to the press, made them wonder when the administration is going to start treating McCain with more respect.” https://politi.co/2Ijx6dl

-- SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (@SenateMajLdr): “This weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling to the beautiful hills outside Sedona, Arizona and spending time with John and Cindy McCain on their back porch. I shared my gratitude -- all of our gratitude -- for his service and his sacrifice. … We all know John McCain doesn’t exactly have a relaxed bone in his body. He still had plenty to say about work, I assure you. He misses his colleagues. He misses the Senate. And we sure miss him.”

NEW WIRED COVER STORY -- GARRETT GRAFF, “The Making of Robert Mueller: The untold story of the special counsel’s time in combat, and how it prepared him to take on the digital saboteurs of American democracy”: “[T]he face-off between Special Counsel Robert Mueller and President Donald Trump stands out, amid the black comedy of Trump’s Washington, as an epic tale of diverging American elites: a story of two men—born just two years apart, raised in similar wealthy backgrounds in Northeastern cities, both deeply influenced by their fathers, both star prep school athletes, both Ivy League educated—who now find themselves playing very different roles in a riveting national drama about political corruption and Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

“The two men have lived their lives in pursuit of almost diametrically opposed goals—Mueller a life of patrician public service, Trump a life of private profit.” http://bit.ly/2ImnpXx

THE INVESTIGATIONS – “Ukrainian politician behind controversial peace proposal to appear in Mueller probe,” by David Stern in Kiev and Josh Meyer: “A Ukrainian politician who communicated with Trump associates about a controversial plan to resolve Ukraine’s conflict with Kremlin-backed rebels said Monday that he has been called to testify before a grand jury connected to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

“Andrii Artemenko said he could not provide details of his upcoming appearance before the grand jury, which he said is scheduled for Friday. But he said he assumed he would be asked about the peace plan, about which he communicated with Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney, in early 2017.

“‘I received the subpoena last week,’ Artemenko told POLITICO by telephone, adding that he intended to comply with the request. He said he would appear in person.” https://politi.co/2jXEUmb

-- “Michael Avenatti is using Trump tactics to battle Trump, a strategy that comes with risks,” by WaPo’s Emma Brown and Beth Reinhard: “To become one of Trump’s chief adversaries, Avenatti has carved a Trumpian path. He taunts his opponents. He uses Twitter to make explosive accusations. And he is omnipresent on cable news. Yet Avenatti’s tactics and visibility may carry risks that could undermine his ability to represent his client, who is suing longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen and the president to be released from a non-disclosure agreement.

“Scrutiny of his business record and of his motives has provided grist for distracting headlines in recent days. And his publication last week of Cohen’s banking history — hard-to-get information touching on some of the most sensitive issues before the White House — could jeopardize his ability to represent [Stormy] Daniels in court, some experts say.” https://wapo.st/2wEdLxO

-- “Avenatti threatens conservative outlet,” by Jason Schwartz: https://politi.co/2GhA5gq

PRUITT FILES -- “White House, EPA headed off chemical pollution study,” by Annie Snider: “Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the White House sought to block publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis, after one Trump administration aide warned it would cause a ‘public relations nightmare,’ newly disclosed emails reveal.

“The intervention early this year — not previously disclosed — came as HHS' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was preparing to publish its assessment of a class of toxic chemicals that has contaminated water supplies near military bases, chemical plants and other sites from New York to Michigan to West Virginia.

“The study would show that the chemicals endanger human health at a far lower level than EPA has previously called safe, according to the emails.” https://politi.co/2Ikb0Y0

-- “Pruitt sought 24-7 security from first day, EPA watchdog says,” by Anthony Adragna and Alex Guillen: “Scott Pruitt sought round-the-clock security from his first day in office at EPA, the agency’s inspector general said on Monday, casting doubt on whether the EPA administrator had faced serious security threats before he received the expanded protection. In letters sent to two Senate Democrats, EPA IG Arthur Elkins also said the watchdog never conducted assessment of the security threats against Pruitt, despite his contention last month that the IG had justified his spending. …

“A separate set of emails obtained by POLITICO shows a Trump EPA transition official, Don Benton, was first to request 24/7 security for Pruitt in early February 2017 due to what he anticipated would be significant controversy stemming from several early policy announcements.” https://politi.co/2IfaiLA

CNN’S KATE BENNETT -- “Melania Trump undergoes kidney surgery at Walter Reed medical center”: “‘[Monday] morning, first lady Melania Trump underwent an embolization procedure to treat a benign kidney condition. The procedure was successful, and there were no complications,’ the first lady’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement. ‘Mrs. Trump is at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will likely remain there for the duration of the week.’” https://cnn.it/2wHyhOp

THE JUICE …

-- BARBRA STREISAND is heading to Capitol Hill today for the Women’s Heart Alliance, a group she co-founded to raise awareness about women’s heart health and cardiovascular disease. Streisand will meet with senators in the afternoon after she delivers a lecture at NIH.

-- SPOTTED at Bret Baier’s book party last night at the Marriott Marquis hosted by Carrie and David Marriott and Mae and Ande Grennan for “Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Union” -- ($19.28 on Amazon https://amzn.to/2ICVHsZ): Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his wife Mary, Larry Kudlow, Kellyanne Conway, Bill Marriott, Steve Hayes, Chris Wallace, Bob Cusack, Jennifer Griffin, Peter Doocy, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba and Abeer Al Otaiba, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, Azerbaijan Ambassador Elin Suleymanov, Guy Benson, Marie Harf, Robert and Dr. Elena Allbritton, Ryan Williams, Finley and Willee Lewis, Lauren Zelt, Katy Ricalde, Josh Randall, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Heather Podesta, Amy Baier and Mara Liasson.

-- ABOUT LAST NIGHT … Hillblazers, former members of Hillary Clinton’s national finance committee, headed to Esther Coopersmith’s house last night. Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Bob Casey (Pa.) and Reps. Ted Lieu (Calif.), Debbie Dingell (Mich.) all spoke. Interestingly -- one tipster told us -- Rep. Elizabeth Esty of Connecticut also spoke, even though she announced she would not run for reelection after questions arose about how she handled sexual harassment at the staff level.

TRUMP’S TUESDAY -- The president is heading to the Capitol this morning to speak at the 37th annual National Peace Officers’ memorial service. He will also attend the Senate Republican policy lunch.



Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR: A Palestinian boy holding his national flag looks at clashes with Israeli security forces near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel east of Gaza City on May 14. Gaza health officials said 58 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 injured. | Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

RACHAEL BADE: “Murphy vs. Saccone: Infamous Pennsylvania Republicans feud before primary”: “A disgraced former congressman and a Republican candidate despised by party leaders have been fighting a weekslong, behind-the-scenes battle ahead of Tuesday's primary for an open House seat in western Pennsylvania.

“Former Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last October amid allegations that he asked his mistress to get an abortion, has been working quietly to sink Rick Saccone's bid for Congress. Saccone, who became a national Republican scapegoat after losing to Democrat Conor Lamb in the March special election to replace Murphy, is now running for the GOP nomination in a newly drawn, heavily Republican district that includes much of Murphy's old turf.

“The fight has gotten personal: Murphy has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars from his old campaign account to an outside group supporting Saccone's GOP primary opponent, state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler. Murphy also sent around a cropped video clip of Saccone that he believed would damage him.

“At one point, Murphy accidentally forwarded that link to Saccone while trying to send it to someone else. The inadvertent exchange about opioids triggered a nasty back-and-forth that ended with Murphy calling Saccone ‘heartless,’ while Saccone argued that his comments were taken out of context.” https://politi.co/2wFCNgj

THE SHOW ME STATE SAGA …

-- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: “Circuit attorney drops charge against Greitens; governor calls it ‘a great victory’”: “Prosecutors dismissed a criminal charge against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens after a judge ruled Monday that his lawyers could potentially call Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner as a witness.

“The circuit attorney’s office said it would refile the felony charge of invasion of privacy through a special prosecutor or by Gardner assigning it to one of her assistants. Lawyers for the governor said they do not think the charge will be refiled.

“‘The real reason why this case was dismissed was there was no evidence,’ said defense attorney Jim Bennett.” http://bit.ly/2IhEIgk

-- “Greitens admits using secret texting app with staff but says he didn’t violate laws,” by Kansas City Star’s Jason Hancock: “Gov. Eric Greitens used an app that erases text messages to communicate with his taxpayer-funded staff, although he denies any suggestion that doing so violated Missouri’s open records laws.

“The revelation comes in response to a lawsuit filed in December by two St. Louis attorneys over Greitens and his senior government staff using Confide, an app that allows someone to send a text message that automatically erases after it is read. ... While the governor refused to either confirm or deny that he still uses Confide, Greitens’ attorneys wrote that after Jan. 17, 2018, ‘any communications made using Confide did not concern public business.’” http://bit.ly/2GfEdgU



LOCAL GOV’T IS THE BEST! … “The Gun-Law Loophole That Entices Tycoons and Criminals to Play Cop,” by Bloomberg’s Zachary R. Mider and Zeke Faux: “James ‘J.D.’ Smith is a former Navy SEAL who worked as a CIA trainer and bodyguard for billionaire Charles Koch. But when he got pulled over in Arkansas a few years ago with what drug agents say was a vehicle full of marijuana, another credential helped him out of the jam: a police badge from the tiny town of Lake Arthur, New Mexico.

“Among his colleagues on the all-volunteer force: a Florida weapons instructor busted for paying a 16-year-old for sex; a North Carolina gun expert who accidentally shot his brother-in-law in the leg; and Robert Mercer, a 71-year-old New York hedge fund tycoon. Security guards for billionaires Elon Musk, Steve Wynn and the Koch brothers all carried Lake Arthur shields. The bizarre roster of this ersatz police department illustrates the unintended consequences of a 2004 federal law that granted nationwide concealed-carry privileges to cops, trumping local gun restrictions.” https://bloom.bg/2wJUPhe

MEDIAWATCH -- “Reacting to plunging revenues, Salt Lake Tribune lays off a third of its newsroom, cuts back print offerings,” by Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Semerad: “In a radical restructuring of Utah’s largest newspaper, owner Paul Huntsman proceeded Monday with cutting 34 Salt Lake Tribune employees from a newsroom staff of 90, along with the elimination of key print sections and some well-known writers who were read for generations.

“After sounding the alarm last Tuesday, Huntsman — whose wealthy father, philanthropist and Tribune champion Jon Huntsman Sr., died Feb. 2 — enacted a drastic reduction in costs at The Tribune in light of what he said were unexpectedly sharp declines in print circulation and advertising revenues since he bought the Salt Lake City-based publication in 2016.” http://bit.ly/2ImnZIY



Playbookers

SPOTTED: Speaker Paul Ryan sitting in coach on an American flight on Monday afternoon from Chicago to D.C. (h/t APCO’s Dan Meyers)

TRANSITION -- JENNIFER LORAINE, a former aide to Cory Gardner and an alum of the Energy Department, started yesterday in House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office as a policy adviser covering energy, natural resources, judiciary, transportation and infrastructure.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: former HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius, now CEO of Sebelius Resources, is 7-0. How she got her start in politics: “My political start was with my Dad, Jack Gilligan, in Ohio. He first ran for office when I was five, starting with the Cincinnati City Council, Congress, unsuccessful for U.S. Senate, the Governor of Ohio. We’re the only father/daughter governors in the history of U.S. I thought all families ran call banks and put up yard signs in the fall. I got a lot of good training on campaigns and governing from him.” Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: https://politi.co/2KoOXMB

BIRTHDAYS: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author of new bestselling book, “Fascism: A Warning,” is 81 ... Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times D.C. bureau chief and columnist (hat tips: Ben Chang) ... NYT’s Elisabeth Bumiller, Mark Mazzetti, and Nick Confessore ... Giselle Fernandez is 57 … Rachel Kelly, the pride of Fairfield and Rep. Jim Himes’ deputy chief of staff ... Ruth Marcus is 6-0 (h/t Jon Haber) ... WaPo’s Lisa Dubler, celebrating with a delayed honeymoon to Rome and the Amalfi Coast (hubby tip: Grant) ... WaPo’s Eli Saslow, author of the forthcoming “Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist,” is 36 ... Chloe Schama, senior editor at Vogue Magazine ... Jim Connaughton, president and CEO at Nautilus Data Technologies ... Jen Stout ... Rob Simms (h/t Zack Roday) … Eileen McMenamin ... Toni Bouchard ... Jenna Mason … Walter Dellinger, a partner at O’Melveny and Myers ... Anne Marie Malecha ... Holly Fournier ... Hannah Hess, communications for Rhodium Group ... Hillary Flynn ... Zach Ratner ... Jacqueline Cortese ... Scott Montgomery … Jay Hulings …

... Nick Papas, director of public affairs PR at Airbnb ... Cam Henderson, deputy director of protocol at State (h/t Matt Mowers) … Politico’s Tara Clinton ... NRCC’s David Watts ... Elliot LaVera ... Alejandro Gonzalez-Stewart ... Aaron Morrissey … Dan Rothschild, executive director at GMU’s Mercatus Center … Pamela Reeves ... James Glueck ... Philo Hall ... Kristine Simmons … Jennifer Jose ... Terry Godfrey ... Jessica Grounds (h/t Kelley McCormick) ... Diane Cullo ... Mason George … Brittany Hackett … WWF’s Abby Hehmeyer ... Tom Sneeringer … Mary Lucia Di Martino ... Daniel Carlson ... Tariq Mir ... Steve P. Goldenberg ... Jason Bogovich ... JoDee Winterhof ... Sanjay Bhutiani ... Jean Hessburg ... Debbie Tinnirello ... Juan Altamirano ... Shira Phelps ... Mimi Castaldi (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook http://politi.co/2lQswbh ... Playbook Power Briefing http://politi.co/2xuOiqh ... New York Playbook http://politi.co/1ON8bqW … Florida Playbook http://politi.co/1OypFe9 ... New Jersey Playbook http://politi.co/1HLKltF ... Massachusetts Playbook http://politi.co/1Nhtq5v … Illinois Playbook http://politi.co/1N7u5sb ... California Playbook http://politi.co/2bLvcPl ... London Playbook http://politi.co/2xfDPuK … Brussels Playbook http://politi.co/1FZeLcw ... All our political and policy tipsheets http://politi.co/1M75UbX

Follow us on Twitter Anna Palmer @apalmerdc



Jake Sherman @JakeSherman