PAUL RYAN said “attacks on our voting system really need to stop, in my opinion” and that TRUMP’S lawyers are offering “baseless conspiracy theories.” He also offered that divided government would be more fruitful for JOE BIDEN. The latest in Playbook PM:
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: CNN's
@abbydphillip
--> What’s a trend going on that doesn’t get enough attention? “I do not think we are paying enough attention to what is happening to our kids, especially the ones who were most in need before the pandemic."
MITCH MCCONNELL is set to pour gasoline on a CHUCK SCHUMER/Supreme Court controversy by addressing it on the Senate floor during his opening remarks this morning.
The latest in Playbook:
Trump’s campaign has turned impeachment into an organizing tool for supporters primed to back a president they see as under siege. TODAY’S TOP READ, via
@politicoalex
:
After a group of lawmakers were evacuated from the House chamber on Jan. 6, Rep. JIM JORDAN was joined by Rep. MATT GAETZ for a call during which they implored DONALD TRUMP to tell his supporters to stand down. Plus, the latest on Afghanistan in Playbook:
DONALD TRUMP, the former president and the most likely GOP presidential nominee in 2024, today on Truth Social called for the suspension of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election.
The latest in Playbook:
Moments ago, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of "Morning Joe" became the latest voices at NBCUniversal News Group to criticize their company’s hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.
The latest in Playbook:
After avoiding the media for neigh on her whole campaign, Kamala Harris is … still largely avoiding the media. The VP is set for a series of interviews that likely won't press her on tough issues, even as voters want more specifics.
More in Playbook:
Despite Rep. STEPHANIE MURPHY's (D-Fla.) rising-star status, she is calling it quits at age 43. Why? What she told us should be a giant, flashing “warning” sign for Democrats heading into the 2022 elections. More in Playbook:
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- DONALD TRUMP JR. and KIM GUILFOYLE go to Phoenix for 3 events to boost Martha McSally on Thursday. On Friday: Nevada: They’ll rally with Sen. Dean Heller and Adam Laxalt, Cresent Hardy and Danny Tarkanian. More in Playbook PM:
Many of the (plausible) outcomes predicted by top GOP officials didn’t materialize: There was no red wave. And once again, Biden defied expectations at the moment he seemed destined for a catastrophic loss. More midterms takeaways in today's Playbook:
The DOJ has revealed that former Trump attorney Justin Clark interviewed with the FBI two weeks ago, a significant development that could reverberate in multiple investigations facing Trump’s inner circle.
More in TODAY's TOP READ via
@kyledcheney
:
LARRY LINDSEY said he enlisted two psychiatrists to analyze the president from afar. China views President DONALD TRUMP as a “total narcissist” – “a 10-out-of-10 narcissist,” he said.
The latest in Playbook PM:
WAPO’S PHIL RUCKER and CAROL LEONNIG will follow up their No. 1 NYT bestseller “A Very Stable Genius” with a book about President DONALD TRUMP’S final year in office. Penguin is the publisher. The latest in Playbook:
The bashing of former President BARACK OBAMA'S birthday bash is having a chilling effect on the D.C. party scene as (especially Democratic) pols and their staffers scramble to figure out when and where — or even if — they can party again. More in Playbook:
Dems yesterday began taking sides on whether Bob Menendez should leave the Senate in the wake of a stunning federal bribery indictment, and it is becoming clear that his well of support might be running dry. More in Playbook:
The last of Donald Trump’s rivals in the GOP primary, Nikki Haley is unloading on the former president — proceeding without any real caution for the first time in her campaign.
Today's TOP READ:
After Tuesday's public hearing, it's clear the the members of the Jan. 6 select committee are mapping out a potential criminal case against former president Donald Trump.
The latest in Playbook:
The attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad raises the obvious specter of a Benghazi-style disaster -- and raises doubts about the future of the American presence in Iraq.
The latest in Playbook:
The history-making spectacle that played out on the House floor Tuesday amounted to ���stepping on a rake” heading into an election year, as one Republican lawmaker put it.
Today's TOP READ:
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY:
@TiffanyDCross
, co-founder and managing editor of The Beat DC --> A fun fact about you? “I love, love, LOVE pit bulls. … They are big love bugs and have such a horrible and undeserved reputation.”
New polling: The vast majority of Americans dismiss the fantasy of Trump being reinstated as president … but a third of Republicans still believe it.
Details in Playbook:
DONALD TRUMP has told his advisers that RON DESANTIS privately assured him that he won’t run if Trump does, but that’s not enough for the former president — he wants DeSantis to say it in public. The latest in Playbook:
A federal appeals court panel has scrapped former Pres. Donald Trump’s lawsuit aimed at derailing the FBI’s investigation of classified records stashed at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Today's TOP READ via
@joshgerstein
and
@kyledcheney
:
Almost all of the revelations we've learned about Jan. 6 strengthen the case that the Jan. 6 committee has been building about DONALD TRUMP’s (perhaps criminal) culpability that day. More about last night's primetime hearing in today's Playbook:
The Jan. 6 committee released its final report on Thursday night — an 845-page document drawn from nearly 1,200 witness interviews and reams of hard-won documents that places DONALD TRUMP at the center of the deadly assault. More takeaways in Playbook:
Democrats just spent two harrowing years navigating one of the tiniest majorities in House history. Now it’s the GOP’s turn — and things could get even worse.
Today's TOP READ via
@sarahnferris
:
Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER asked W.H. chief of staff MARK MEADOWS to have President DONALD TRUMP fully invoke the Defense Production Act, and appoint a czar to oversee every aspect of making and distributing equipment. The latest in Playbook:
The Donald Trump hush money trial heard from Stormy Daniels this morning in perhaps the most explosive testimony in the case thus far.
More in Playbook PM:
SCOOP: Nikki Haley is releasing all of her 97 delegates and urging them to vote for Donald Trump at next week’s Republican National Convention,
@meridithmcgraw
reports.
More in Playbook PM:
Tonight, VP Kamala Harris will board Air Force Two for the Munich Security Conference. It stands to be the most critical foreign trip of her vice presidency — at least since last year’s trip to Bavaria.
The latest in Playbook:
Kevin McCarthy’s reign as House speaker is finished. But the chaos and infighting that plagued his brief tenure isn’t. In fact, it might just be beginning.
The latest in Playbook:
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY:
@KatTimpf
, host of Fox Nation’s "Sincerely, Kat" --> How are you celebrating? “Keeping it low-key … Especially considering how extra I was last year, when I celebrated by throwing myself a funeral.”
Among the topics discussed in Palm Beach’s meetings: how to handle the thorny extradition issues that could arise if a Trump indictment moves forward.
Listen to today’s Daily Briefing, via
@Olivia_Reingold
:
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Pete Buttigieg’s campaign is bringing on Rachel Thomas as deputy communications director, Matt Corridoni as deputy rapid response communications director and Hasoni Pratts as national constituency director. More in Playbook:
The ramifications of NBC’s decision to part ways with Ronna McDaniel are just starting to shake out. But they could be expensive.
The latest in Playbook:
The TRUMP administration has opened an internal investigation to try to uncover who leaked intelligence about Russians paying the Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers.
The latest in Playbook:
It seems unlikely that anyone can gain traction in a GOP primary against this president. But maybe JOE WALSH might cause a little trouble for Donald Trump.
The latest in Playbook:
Scoops abound in PETER BAKER and SUSAN GLASSER's new book - like the time DONALD TRUMP’s friend, the cosmetics billionaire RONALD LAUDER, convinced him that the U.S. could buy Greenland. More tidbits from the book in today's Playbook:
Donald Trump's first two weeks as his party’s presumptive nominee have revealed old tendencies and new vulnerabilities that — taken in totality — amount to a rocky start to his general election campaign against Joe Biden.
Today's TOP READ:
SCOOP: Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) raised an eye-popping $2.94 million in Q1 of 2022, bringing her total haul for the cycle to more than $10 million. With four months left to go in the primary campaign, Cheney has $6.8 million on hand. More in Playbook:
Across party lines, those who lived through the 2011 debt ceiling showdown agree on one thing: This time feels different — and they are terrified that it will end with the country in financial ruin.
The latest in Playbook:
Last night in New Hampshire, gone was the sunny Donald Trump of Iowa caucus night who magnanimously praised his defeated rivals.
The latest in Playbook:
It is hard to imagine any other contemporary politician making the speech JOE BIDEN did Thursday night — both channeling our collective sorrow and reminding us that there is life after grief. The latest in Playbook:
The president is being sued by a porn star and waging a war with leaders of his own party over tariffs while his White House loses senior staff in droves and his party spends millions to try to save what is usually a safe seat. We live in crazy times
Surprisingly, as Donald Trump’s Jan. 6-related legal troubles have grown, former VP Mike Pence has leaned into his role in certifying the 2020 election and upholding democracy — especially this week in Iowa.
The latest in Playbook:
Biden is launching a new offensive against House Republicans, blasting the party for eyeing Medicare cuts in a bid to paint the GOP as trying to harm seniors.
The latest in Playbook:
This morning, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in two cases challenging the use of race in college admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
There is little mystery about the outcome.
The latest in Playbook:
As a matter of strategy, it’s hard to imagine how last night's State of the Union address could’ve gone much better for President Joe Biden.
The latest in Playbook:
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Former Rep. Liz Cheney is joining The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia as a professor of practice, the university is planning to announce today. More in Playbook PM:
NEW ... REP. MARK MEADOWS (R-N.C.), one of President DONALD TRUMP’S top allies, is not seeking re-election, and tells Playbook he could leave the House in the middle of this term to begin a new, yet presently undefined role helping TRUMP. The latest:
Progressives in Congress continue to speak out with serious warnings to the White House about the direction of budget negotiations.
The latest in Playbook:
McCarthy told Trump the House would vote to expunge the two impeachments against the former president. But several moderate House Republicans are loath to revisit Trump’s impeachments. More in today's Playbook:
Text messages provided to Playbook indicate that Stephanie Grisham was sympathetic to the efforts to stop Arizona's election certification and more aides say they have “receipts” that conflict with Grisham’s upcoming book. More in today's Daily Briefing:
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, the Democratic Party’s most prolific fundraiser, held 181 fundraisers in 54 cities -- continuing a breakneck pace for Democrats. The latest in Playbook:
Today’s House select committee hearing will focus on the details of the intense pressure campaign against then-VP Mike Pence on Jan. 6.
The latest in Playbook:
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Brad
@parscale
, Trump campaign manager --> A fun fact people might not know about you? “I have only gone on one job interview in my life ... They turned me down for not enough web experience. Because of that I started my own company.”
Two new polls out today contain generally good news for Dems in two of the tightest Senate races and similarly positive signs for Democrats in key gubernatorial races. More in Playbook PM:
Democrats believe they can make the case to voters that, despite years of shouting about the crisis at the border, Republicans are the ones sitting on their hands — all because they are beholden to Donald Trump.
The latest in Playbook:
LIZ CHENEY "will be launching an organization to educate the American people about the ongoing threat to our Republic, and to mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president,” a spokesperson exclusively told Playbook. Read more:
Lawmakers have ripped the administration’s bungled handling of the outbreak. But some now wonder if there’s more they could have done when it might have made a difference.
TODAY’S TOP READ, via
@NatashaBertrand
&
@MaggieSeverns
:
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP tweeted at 12:27 p.m. that he was reviewing the bill with his team. THE SENATE will vote in the late afternoon. THE HOUSE comes in for votes at about 6:30 p.m., and expects a vote in the 9 p.m. hour. The latest in Playbook PM:
New reporting from The Detroit News shows that former President Donald Trump's campaign “directly orchestrated” the signatures of 16 Michigan Republicans on a false certificate declaring he had won the state’s election in 2020.
The latest in Playbook PM:
In the 24 hours leading up to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' much-anticipated meeting with GOP lawmakers, two members from his own state endorsed Trump. It’s a troubling sign for DeSantis if he can’t convince more Republican lawmakers. More in Playbook:
Imagine if President DONALD TRUMP had swallowed his pride and personally told congressional leaders what he told BOB WOODWARD about the coronavirus.
The latest in Playbook:
Donald Trump's press conference yesterday was meant to give him a fresh start after his campaign struggled to respond to the new Democratic ticket. But most of the event was false claims and unfocused attacks on his opponent.
The latest in Playbook:
Speaker NANCY PELOSI has called the chamber back in a rare move during the August recess to force a vote that would provide $25 BILLION to the postal service and prohibit any operational changes ahead of the November election. The latest in Playbook:
Last week, many asked whether the assault on the Capitol was the start of something or an end.
It is neither, of course. It is a moment when we each get to decide how we want to proceed, guest author
@KenBurns
writes in today's Playbook: