POLITICO Playbook: What Republicans are saying privately about impeachment Presented by Amazon

There’s rising GOP alarm with how the Trump administration is handling impeachment. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

DRIVING THE DAY

WE’RE GOING TO LOS ANGELES!!!!! … LET’S GO NATS! BEAT L.A.!!!

SIREN … REPUBLICAN CONCERN RISING WITH TRUMP’S REACTION TO IMPEACHMENT …

ON TUESDAY NIGHT, a very seasoned and well-known GOP operative sent us this stunning note, underscoring GOP alarm with how the Trump administration is handling impeachment:

-- “GOP lawmakers and operatives are concerned at what appears to be a lack of urgency from the Trump administration in forming an organized, unified response engine to the Democratic impeachment threat. There is either a failure to fully appreciate the gravity of the situation; or an inability to protect the president like they did his Supreme Court nominees with a centralized war room that has credibility with stakeholders across the party.

“Nobody wants to look like [Kevin] McCarthy did on ‘60 Minutes’ and right now they’ll duck and cover until they’re on firmer footing. The Trump administration has blazed their own communications path up to this point, but there is deep skepticism that the late-night Fox lineup will have any credibility with rank-and-file Republicans that are necessary to prosecute this argument against House Democrats.

“The case needs to be made that today’s Democratic Party and their allies in the media have planned this since Election Day 2016 and they would be moving to impeach any Republican president under any circumstances. A hesitation to confront this threat with full force is forever waving a white flag. Unlike the Mueller probe, this is a political battle -- not a legal one. They need rapid response and credible, respected Republican voices, and they needed both yesterday.”

EXAMPLES OF TWO TYPES OF REACTION THAT ALARM REPUBLICANS …

-- THE PRESIDENT’S TWEET, around 7:40 p.m.: “As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the........People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!”

-- THE ATLANTIC’S ELAINA PLOTT (@efplott): “Rudy Giuliani says he is looking to sue The Swamp.” Rudy’s text message, saying he’s going to sue “the swamp” in federal court

NEW … POLITICO/MORNING CONSULT POLL: “Support for impeaching Trump hits new high,” by Steven Shepard: “A batch of recent polling confirms the Democratic impeachment push is gaining steam — including a new POLITICO/Morning Consult survey that shows for the first time that more voters support than oppose proceedings to remove Trump from office. The uptick is primarily among Democrats, as Republican voters surveyed continue to have Trump's back.

“In the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 46 percent of voters said Congress should begin impeachment proceedings vs. 43 percent who said they should not. Eleven percent had no opinion. That support represented a 3-point bump from last week, when voters were evenly split.” POLITICO

HAPPENING THIS A.M.: Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold a press conference at 10:45 a.m., along with House Intel Chairman ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.). … HAPPENING THURSDAY: Kurt Volker will testify in front of House Intel, Foreign Affairs and Oversight. NBC

HMM … ABC: “State Dept inspector general requests ‘urgent’ Ukraine briefing on Capitol Hill,” by Conor Finnegan and Katherine Faulders: “The State Department’s inspector general is expected to give an ‘urgent’ briefing to staffers from several House and Senate committees on Wednesday afternoon about documents obtained from the department’s Office of the Legal Adviser related to the State Department and Ukraine, sources familiar with the planned briefing told ABC News.” ABC

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… TRUMP’S DHS SECRETARY POPS OFF -- WAPO’S NICK MIROFF: “Acting homeland security chief frustrated and isolated — even as he delivers what Trump wants at the border”: “Nearly six months after taking over the Department of Homeland Security as acting secretary, Kevin McAleenan has guided the United States out of a crisis at the southern border, but he also says he has lost command of the public messaging from his department and lacks some of the authority he was promised when he took the job.

“Increasingly isolated within the administration and overshadowed by others who are more effusive in their praise for President Trump, McAleenan said he retains ‘operational’ control of DHS — mainly the ability to coordinate work at the border among U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“But he acknowledged that he is losing the battle to keep DHS, which he views as a neutral law enforcement agency, from being used as a powerful tool for a partisan immigration agenda. ‘What I don’t have control over is the tone, the message, the public face and approach of the department in an increasingly polarized time,’ he said in an interview with The Washington Post. ‘That’s uncomfortable, as the accountable, senior figure.’” WaPo

… TEXAS INFIGHTING -- TEXAS TRIBUNE: “Pete Sessions surfaces as potential candidate for open Bill Flores seat,” by Patrick Svitek and Abby Livingston: “Former Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions may be considering a comeback attempt — but not in his old Dallas-based district.

“Sessions, who lost reelection last year, has emerged as a potential candidate for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan. Flores has been meeting with potential candidates and sought feedback Tuesday from district activists on a potential Sessions run, according to an email obtained by The Texas Tribune Flores' 17th District includes Waco and is about 80 miles south of Sessions' old 32nd District. The 17th District is a much safer Republican district as well.

“‘A former Texas congressman and someone who I consider a friend (Pete Sessions), has been asked by some Republican donors to consider running in TX17 district,’ Flores wrote. The incumbent added that ‘while Pete has not called to ask for my thoughts,’ he wanted to get feedback on Sessions’ interest in the race.

“Flores emailed the Tribune on Tuesday night that the feedback ‘has not been positive.’ ‘Pete is a friend of mine, but I wish he’d called me first,’ he said. ‘I could have provided some valuable feedback to him.’ ‘The conservative leaders and community leaders in the district who are aware of Pete’s intentions have told me they would prefer someone who currently lives, works, and serves in our communities,’ he added. ‘They strongly believe that we have ample talent here to serve as their next congressman or congresswoman.’” Texas Tribune

Good Wednesday morning. THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS will play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 8:37 p.m. Eastern time Thursday. The first two games are in LA on Thursday and Friday, and they return to D.C. for a Sunday game.

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BIG PICTURE -- WAPO’S PHIL RUCKER and BOB COSTA: “‘A presidency of one’: Key federal agencies increasingly compelled to benefit Trump”: “As the impeachment drama has unfolded over the past week, a series of disclosures has illuminated President Trump’s command over key federal agencies, revealing how he has compelled them to pursue his personal and political goals, investigate his enemies and lend legitimacy to his theories about the 2016 election.

“The Justice Department has prioritized a probe that the president hopes will discredit a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him win. As part of that effort, Attorney General William P. Barr has met overseas with foreign intelligence officials to enlist their aid in ‘investigating the investigators,’ as the right’s rallying cry goes, and dig into the president’s suspicions.

“The State Department, meanwhile, has been investigating the email records of as many as 130 current and former department officials who sent messages to the private email account of Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Trump’s 2016 opponent. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defied Congress on Tuesday by attempting to block the depositions of five department employees called to testify in the impeachment inquiry.” WaPo

IMPEACHMENT CLIP PACKET …

-- BACKSTORY … WSJ: “Tense Relationship Between Barr and Giuliani Complicates Trump Impeachment Defense”

-- NYT’S CARL HULSE pens an “On Washington” piece: “Impeachment Rules Say Senate Must Act, but Its Act Might Be a Swift Dismissal”: “Senator Mitch McConnell’s comment this week that the Senate would be forced to ‘take up’ articles of impeachment from the House had the capital in a swirl, bracing for a full-blown Senate trial of President Trump. But as things now stand, any trial would likely be swift, ending in dismissal of the accusations.

“While the focus was on the statement by Mr. McConnell, the majority leader, that the Senate would have ‘no choice’ but to begin an impeachment proceeding, it was his next line that might have been more telling: ‘How long you are on it is a whole different matter.’

“The fusty rules of the Senate make clear that Republicans could not unilaterally stonewall articles of impeachment of Mr. Trump as they did the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick B. Garland. But Mr. McConnell’s declaration suggests the Republican-controlled Senate could move expeditiously to toss them out if Republicans conclude the House impeachment is meritless, or a strictly partisan affair.

“‘I don’t think they could just duck it,’ said Donald A. Ritchie, historian emeritus of the Senate. ‘It is a constitutional responsibility. When you look at the weight of history, I think they would feel they have to do something. They would have to decide how abbreviated they wanted to make it.’” NYT

PERRY GETS SOME ATTENTION … “Democrats turn eye to Rick Perry in Ukrainian probe,” by Anthony Adragna and Ben Lefebvre: “Democrats investigating a whistleblower’s allegations against President Donald Trump pressed Rick Perry on Tuesday for information about his May travels to Ukraine, opening a rare window into the energy secretary’s role as an emissary for some of the administration’s most sensitive international missions.

“Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey posed the questions in a letter to Perry as House Democrats push forward with their impeachment inquiry into whether Trump used a July 25 phone to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival former Vice President Joe Biden. It comes as a widening array of administration officials face questions about their potential role in the affair, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr.” POLITICO

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2020 WATCH …

-- “Trump and RNC raised massive $125 million in third quarter,” by Maggie Severns and Alex Isenstadt: “President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $125 million over the last three months, Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday — a massive total highlighting Trump’s head start in the 2020 election while Democrats compete in a slow-moving, expensive primary.

“The two committees ended September with more than $156 million cash on hand, they announced. They did not disclose individual totals for the Trump campaign or the Republican National Committee, which will be reported later this month.” POLITICO

-- CNN’S REBECCA BERG: “Cory Booker risked his presidential campaign on a 10-day fundraising push. Here's how it played out”

TRUMP’S WEDNESDAY -- The president will participate in the arrival of Finnish President Sauli Niinistö at noon. The two will meet followed by an expanded working lunch at 12:45 p.m. in the Cabinet Room. Trump will participate in a joint press conference at 2 p.m. in the East Room.

PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: Doves soar above Tiananmen Square during a parade Tuesday celebrating Communist China’s 70th anniversary. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo

ICYMI, SOMEHOW -- “Shoot Them in the Legs, Trump Suggested: Inside His Border War,” by NYT’s Michael Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis: “Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That’s not allowed either, they told him.”

-- TRUMP TO JARED: “All you care about is your friends in Mexico.”

DANIEL LIPPMAN and NATASHA BERTRAND: “White House ordered top-secret system upgraded to prevent leaks”: “The Trump White House upgraded the security of the National Security Council’s top-secret codeword system in the spring of 2018, according to two former Trump White House officials familiar with the matter, as part of an effort to ferret out and deter leaks.

“That highly classified system is being newly scrutinized in light of a whistleblower complaint alleging that national security officials used the system—meant for storing information classified at the highest level—to conceal politically embarrassing conversations, including a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25 in which President Donald Trump urged Zelensky to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.” POLITICO

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DEEP DIVE -- “The story of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and how the world looked the other way,” by Evan Ratliff for Insider

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “North Korea fires missile days before resuming U.S. talks,” by AP’s Kim Tong-Hyung and Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea: “North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, a suggestion that it may have tested an underwater-launched missile for the first time in three years ahead of a resumption of nuclear talks with the United States this weekend.” AP

HONG KONG LATEST -- “Anger Grows in Hong Kong Over Shooting of Teenage Protester,” by NYT’s Mike Ives and Elaine Yu: “The question now is whether the shooting will further incite a protest movement that was already seething with grievances, and which has been driven by young people who see the city’s pro-Beijing leaders as illegitimate.” NYT

ACROSS THE POND -- “U.K. to set out ‘final offer’ Brexit plans,” by Charlie Cooper: “Boris Johnson will tell Conservative party conference his new proposal is a ‘fair and reasonable compromise.’” POLITICO Europe … London Playbook

WOWZA -- “DeVos’ security detail cost $6.24M during the past year,” by Nicole Gaudiano and Caitlin Emma: “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ security detail is projected to cost $7.87 million from now through the end of September 2020, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told POLITICO today.

“The Marshals Service said the final cost of protecting DeVos in fiscal 2019, which ended Monday, was $6.24 million. That’s down from $6.79 million in fiscal 2018 and less than the service’s projection last year — $7.74 million — for fiscal 2019.” POLITICO

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MEGATREND -- “The Seven-Year Auto Loan: America’s Middle Class Can’t Afford Its Cars,” by WSJ’s Ben Eisen and Adrienne Roberts: “Incomes have risen at a sluggish pace in the past decade, but car prices have grown rapidly. New technological and safety features, such as larger and more sophisticated multimedia displays, have made even the most basic cars more expensive. U.S. consumers have also veered toward pricier rides such as sport-utility vehicles that tend to dominate auto showrooms. The result is that consumers are seeking bigger loans than ever to purchase a car.

“A lending machine has revved up in response, making it possible for more Americans to procure a vehicle by spreading the debt over longer periods. Wall Street investors snap up these loans, which are bundled into bonds. Dealers now make more money on the loans their customers take than on the cars they sell.” WSJ

HILLARY SPEAKS … TO NOWTHISNEWS: “It’s a witch hunt, and it’s a real one, unlike the kind of things that Trump talks about … This is crazy, but it's crazy like a fox, because, you know, if the Republicans and Trump and his supporters in the media can muddy the waters and raise all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories, then maybe people won’t pay attention to the danger he poses to our country." NowThis … WaPo on the revived State Dept. probe of her emails

STAT DU JOUR: “Just over 6-in-10 Americans (62%) believe it is likely that Trump mentioned the possibility of an investigation into Biden during his call with Zelenskiy, while 15% say he probably did not do this and 23% are unsure. ...

“Among all Republicans, though, just 40% believe that Trump mentioned the investigation during the call. This number goes up only to 50% among Republicans who have heard a lot about the call. Nearly 3-in-10 of all Republicans (29%) as well as the subset of Republicans who have heard a lot about the call (29%) say the investigation into Biden was probably not mentioned by Trump.” Monmouth poll

MEDIAWATCH -- Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is suing Hearst Magazines and reporter Ryan Lizza (now at POLITICO) for this September 2018 Esquire story, “Devin Nunes’ Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret.”

Via the Fresno Bee: “The complaint filed in an Iowa federal court is Nunes’ fifth lawsuit this year. It’s the fourth in which he alleges that groups conspired to damage his chances at re-election last year, and his second complaint against a news organization. … The complaint does not contest any facts in Lizza’s story, and it is not clear what act Nunes considers to be unlawful.”

-- QUOTE DU JOUR: Geraldo Rivera to Sean Hannity: “You know, if it wasn’t [for] your show, Sean, they would destroy him absolutely. You are the difference between Donald J. Trump and Richard Nixon.” Media Matters

-- Dave Levinthal is now editor-at-large for The Center for Public Integrity. He previously was a federal politics editor and senior reporter.

PLAYBOOKERS

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

SPOTTED at Tuesday night’s Nationals game against the Milwaukee Brewers: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, Don Baer, George Will, Parker Poling, David Gregory, Al Hunt, Jerry Seib, Luke Russert, Julius Genachowski, Richard Strauss, Paul Strauss, Paul Kane, Nu Wexler, Alex Moe Flowers, Jack Deschauer, Adam Connor, Scott Mulhauser, Reid Epstein, Jonathan Allen, Bob Davis, Peter Rubin, Nate Tamarin, Mona Mohib, John Scofield, Josh Alkin, Anna Weinstein, C.R. Wooters, Stacy Kerr and Matthew and Brendan Daly.

TRANSITIONS -- Rob Chamberlin, Jeff Markey and Sam Whitehorn are launching Elevate Government Affairs. They previously were managing directors at Signal Group. … James Manning will be executive director of the Presidents Forum. He previously was at the Penn Hill Group and is an Education Department alum.

-- “Robert Mueller Rejoins Law Firm to Conduct Corporate Investigations,” by NYT’s Noah Weiland: “On his first day back, Mr. Mueller had a somewhat simpler puzzle than determining whether a presidential campaign engaged in a sprawling criminal conspiracy with a foreign power.

“‘He’s just being refreshed on how to use the computers,’ [Robert T. Novick, a WilmerHale managing partner,] said. ‘If he’s doing any more than that, I’d be really impressed. I doubt it’s a highly revenue-generating day.’” NYT

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Lauren Belive, director of federal government relations at Lyft. What she’s been reading: “When the laptop finally closes and I take a break from emails, I like to read with my daughter, Zuzu. We are currently reading ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ one of my all-time favorite classics. It shows that a big imagination can change the world and help you see the true beauty in it.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is 65 … Doug Andres, press secretary for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is 35 … Cathy Isaacson … Barry Bennett, CEO and partner at Avenue Strategies … Dave Walker, former comptroller general of the U.S. and head of the GAO, is 68 … Courtney Hazlett … Ed Cox is 73 … POLITICO’s Shannon Young and Thomas Zhang … Lindsey Mertz … John Donnelly, COS for Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) … Marlena Baldacci … Alex Fullman … Bloomberg’s Lisa Fleisher … NYT’s Lynsea Garrison … former Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.), now VP at Winning Connections, is 58 (hat tip: Lindsay O’Keefe) … Mike Corbelle … Charles Savarin, president of Dominica ... POLITICO Europe’s Eddy Wax …

… David Gura, anchor and correspondent for MSNBC and NBC News … AP auto writer Tom Krisher is 62 … Taylor Berlin, ANC 3D07 commissioner (h/t sister Carley) … Greg Scanlon ... Ryan Stitzlein, deputy political director at NARAL (h/t Alex Floyd) … Danita Ng ... Annie Keating … Wells Fargo’s Emerson Eichler ... Joey Kalmin ... NYPIRG leader Blair Horner … Edelman alum Kristen Van Dusen … Ken Bazinet … GOP fundraiser Mackenzie Smith … Deanna Ballard ... Lauren Pfeifle Willis … Minhas Majeed Khan ... Jacklin Rhoads, deputy comms director for Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) … Scott Hochberg ... Andrew Weinstein is 5-0 ... Annie Leibovitz is 7-0 … Julie Burton, Women's Media Center president (h/t Jon Haber) ... David Wilhelm is 63 … Eric Cuoto … Emmett Beliveau (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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