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DRIVING THE DAY
NEW POLLING … House Democratic leadership has been fond of saying that they are not at all focused on the political impact of impeachment, and they bristle at the suggestion that it should be a concern.
WELL, IT IS, because on Capitol Hill, everything -- even matters of "conscience" and "duty" -- is conducted in a political world. While Democrats pursue impeachment, Republicans are spending millions of dollars and getting prepared to spend millions more in districts where they believe impeachment is incredibly unpopular.
REPUBLICANS’ THEORY, generally speaking, is that national polling for impeachment matters very little when it comes to control of the House. Look instead, they say, at the polling in the dozens of districts that President DONALD TRUMP won that are currently held by Democrats.
THE AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK -- one of the main House GOP outside groups -- is one of the entities that is spending piles of cash to drive that point home. A few weeks ago, we told you that AAN was spending $7 MILLION on television in an effort to brand the impeachment as politically motivated, and hampering Congress’ work in other critical areas. One of those ads is here
THE GROUP checked up on its investment on Sunday and Monday with polling, and says those ads are having a pretty significant impact.
AAN polled in the swing districts of Reps. SUSIE LEE (D-Nev.) and ANTHONY BRINDISI (D-N.Y.) and the very heavily Trump district represented by Rep. KENDRA HORN (D-Okla.).
HERE’S THE TOPLINE: IMPEACHMENT APPEARS -- at this point, according to this polling -- to be a liability. In BRINDISI’S and LEE’S districts, 53% of voters are less likely to vote for them if they support impeachment. 48% of voters are less likely to vote for HORN -- whose district is quite conservative.
THIS IS NOTABLE TOO … MORE THAN 60% in each of these districts say they believe voters, not the impeachment process, should decide whether to keep Trump in office.
POLITICIANS ARE VERY FOND OF SAYING that impeachment simply isn’t breaking through back home, but this poll shows that’s BS. 64% of LEE’S constituents have seen, read or heard about their representative on impeachment, 78% of BRINDISI’S and 79% of HORN’S. The four-page polling memo
HMM … TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER BRAD PARSCALE tweeted a poll Thursday of HORN’S district that showed 45% of her district is for impeachment. WAPO’S MIKE DEBONIS pointed out that that’s quite strong for Democrats. He’s right.
-- WAPO'S @mikedebonis: “If you are telling Dem strategists that OK-05 (Trump+14, Romney+19) is 45% pro-impeach, I'm guessing they are going to feel pretty darn good about holding the majority.”
PELOSI, FROM 30,000 FT. … SARAH FERRIS, JOHN BRESNAHAN and HEATHER CAYGLE: “Pelosi goes it alone on impeachment”: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi never wanted to impeach President Donald Trump. But now that it’s happening, she’s doing it her own way — in four inch heels and with an iron grip. Pelosi has tightly scripted every step of the House’s march toward impeachment.
“All the key decisions — whether to move forward with an inquiry, who will be in charge of the probe, and whether to begin drafting impeachment articles — have been made solely by Pelosi, then conveyed afterwards to her 12-member leadership team, according to multiple lawmakers and aides who are regularly in contact with her.
“Even her top committee chairmen — including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), head of the panel charged with drafting articles of impeachment against Trump — have been cast in supporting roles at times, learning details about Pelosi’s plans after she’s made them. Pelosi, long known for her top-down leadership style, has taken it to extremes these last few weeks as the House nears the final stages of the impeachment inquiry.” POLITICO
-- MORE ON PELOSI … NYT’S SHERYL GAY STOLBERG: “Pelosi’s Leap on Impeachment: From No Go to No Choice” … WAPO’S RACHAEL BADE and MIKE DEBONIS: “‘The president gave us no choice’: Pelosi resisted Trump’s impeachment, now she’s the public face”
WHAT PELOSI TOLD JAKE TAPPER … TAPPER: “If a Democrat wins in 2020, would you feel free to go home because Obamacare would be protected? Or not?” PELOSI: “Well, I’ll see. “I’m not on a timetable. I’m on a mission.”
-- BTW: The reason Pelosi’s not on a timetable is because Democrats never passed term limits for the speakership, which Pelosi supported during the leadership election!
PELOSI on a shutdown: “I don’t think we're headed for a shutdown. I don’t think anybody wants that. I think the president and the Republicans learned in the last shutdown that it just wasn’t -- there was no upside to it, even though the president has said I’ll take pride in shutting down government. I don't think he’s going to take pride in shutting it down again.
“WE WOULD HOPE TO BE FINISHED BY THE 21ST. And we’re on a good path. If we’re not, we will just go to a continuing resolution until a couple -- you know, until after Christmas. But I hope we don’t have to do that. But I don’t think anybody wants to see a shutdown.”
AUDIENCE QUESTION … “This impeachment process is historical. How do you want to be remembered as a part of it?” PELOSI: “As part of it? No, I want to be part -- remembered as part of the Affordable Care Act, about -- I want to be … I have to admit that today was quite historic. It was taking us -- crossing a threshold on this that we just had no choice. I do hope that it would be remembered in a way that honors the vision of our founders, of what they had in mind for establishing a democracy, first time it ever was established in the history of the world.”
-- SHADE: TAPPER asked about her exchange with Sinclair reporter James Rosen, who asked if she hated Trump. PELOSI: “Yes, Sinclair -- is that a news source?”
As CNN's Oliver Darcy notes, this isn’t the first time Pelosi has tangled with Rosen, whom she previously called “Mr. Republican Talking Points.” But a Sinclair spox told Darcy that Rosen meant "no disrespect" by Thursday’s question.
CRITICAL READING FOR THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE … “Senate Republicans puncture House GOP dreams for impeachment trial,” by Melanie Zanona and Burgess Everett: “On Wednesday, a conservative backbencher in the House issued an explosive request to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham: Subpoena the phone records of House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff. On Thursday, Graham had a succinct response: ‘We’re not going to do that.’
“The demand from Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) reflects House Republicans’ eagerness to see Democrats squirm once impeachment moves to the GOP-controlled Senate and out of the ‘sham’ process they’ve derided in the House. ‘I’m talking to my Senate colleagues: here are the witnesses you should call and here are the questions you should ask,’ said Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah). ‘It’s going to cast us in a different very light. This is a chance to tell the other side of the story.’
“President Donald Trump has joined in as well, tweeting on Thursday that he wants to call Schiff, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Bidens as witnesses in his impeachment trial. But Senate Republicans are beginning to deliver a reality check to the president and House Republicans that there are limits to what they can do.
“‘You got two different bodies here,’ Graham, a stalwart Trump ally, told reporters on Thursday. ‘Are we going to start calling House members over here when we don’t like what they say or do? I don’t think so.’” POLITICO
THE WHITE HOUSE SCHIFF PUSHBACK …
-- NYT’S MAGGIE HABERMAN and NICK FANDOS: “Trump Officials Dispute Some Giuliani Call Logs in Bid to Weaken Democrats’ Case”: “As part of its portrait of Mr. Trump’s campaign of pressure on Ukraine, the committee’s report released this week listed several calls between Mr. Giuliani and White House phone numbers, including one ‘associated with’ the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, cited in the report simply as ‘O.M.B. number.’
“Such calls suggested contact between Mr. Giuliani and key officials at significant moments during Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. The budget office was involved in the administration’s freeze on $391 million in security aid for Ukraine, a key lever in the president’s pressure campaign.
“But the phone number is a generic White House switchboard number, ‘202) 395-0000,’ people familiar with the phone records said, making it difficult to tell whose desk it came from. While government directories list it as associated with the budget office, they also show the number as associated with offices in other parts of the White House, including the upper floors of the West Wing and the National Security Council.” NYT
-- WSJ: “Doubts Surface Over Giuliani-White House Budget Office Calls,” by Andrew Restuccia and Rebecca Ballhaus
Good Friday morning. UGH … NBC SPORTS: “Nationals owner Mark Lerner says team can’t afford Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon”
OPSEC WARNING! … “Phone logs in impeachment report renew concern about security of Trump communications,” by WaPo’s Paul Sonne, Josh Dawsey, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller: “President Trump has routinely communicated with his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and other individuals speaking on cellphones vulnerable to monitoring by Russian and other foreign intelligence services, current and former U.S. officials said.
“Phone records released this week by the House Intelligence Committee revealed extensive communications between Giuliani, unidentified people at the White House and others involved in the campaign to pressure Ukraine, with no indication that those calls were encrypted or otherwise shielded from foreign surveillance.
“The revelations raise the possibility that Moscow was able to learn about aspects of Trump’s attempt to get Ukraine to investigate a political rival months before that effort was exposed by a whistleblower report and the impeachment inquiry, officials said.” WaPo
WILL HE OR WON’T HE? -- “Exclusive: Pompeo had off-the-books meeting with Republican donors in London this week,” by CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz and Kylie Atwood: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended an off-the-books sit-down meeting with a conservative group that included a small number of wealthy Republican donors, which was not on his official schedule while he was in London to attend this week's NATO Summit.
“The gathering, hosted by the Hamilton Society, conveniently took place in the hotel where Pompeo was staying, situated in a small events space on the second floor. Pompeo slipped into the meeting, without the State Department alerting the press traveling with him about where he was headed or who he was going to meet.
“CNN reviewed a copy of the meeting invitation and spoke to multiple people who attended. The Hamilton Society is a group of right-leaning American and British business professionals who often invite guest speakers to meet them.” CNN
BURGESS EVERETT and JAMES ARKIN: “Democrats woo Bullock for Senate. They’re over Beto”: “Washington Democrats are no longer pining for Beto O’Rourke. They’re far more infatuated with another ousted presidential candidate: Steve Bullock.
“O’Rourke has just three days before the Texas filing deadline to decide if he wants to run against incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn. Yet many Senate Democrats aren’t sure O’Rourke would even be the strongest Senate candidate at this point after running to the left in his presidential run, so they’re largely laying off the guy who gave Ted Cruz a run for his money in 2018.
“Instead, Democrats are all about Bullock, even though the Montana governor has tried to squash talk of a Senate run every chance he gets — the latest on Wednesday when he said in Montana, ‘that’s just not what I want to do.’” POLITICO
2020 WATCH -- NYT’S “THE LONG RUN” SERIES … “When Pete Buttigieg Was One of McKinsey’s ‘Whiz Kids,’” by Michael Forsythe
-- NYT ed board chimes in: “Buttigieg’s Untenable Vow of Silence”
SUNDAY SO FAR …
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“Fox News Sunday” (airing live from the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, Calif.): Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) … Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Panel: Michèle Flournoy, Sam Nunn, Karl Rove and Jennifer Griffin. Power Player: Keith Melton of the Spy Museum.
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“Face the Nation”: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) … Neal Katyal.
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“This Week”: Panel: Rahm Emanuel, Chris Christie, Yvette Simpson and Alice Stewart.
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“Meet the Press”: Panel: Bob Costa, Carlos Curbelo, Stephanie Cutter and Kristen Welker.
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“America This Week with Eric Bolling”: Rudy Giuliani … Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) … acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli … Austan Goolsbee … Sebastian Gorka.
TRUMP’S FRIDAY -- The president will participate in a roundtable on small business and “red tape reduction accomplishments” in the Roosevelt Room. He and first lady Melania Trump will participate in a Christmas reception at 3:15 p.m. in the Grand Foyer.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE ATLANTIC’S DAVID FRUM: “Trump’s Supporters Are Displaying the Will to Win. Democrats Are Not.”
THE LATEST ON DRUG PRICING -- “House leaders water down key liberal language in drug pricing bill,” by Sarah Karlin-Smith and Adam Cancryn: “House Democratic leaders plan to weaken language progressives inserted in a sweeping drug price bill to discourage sharp cost increases ahead of a floor vote on the legislation next week, three people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.
“The move is likely to prompt fierce backlash from Democrats’ liberal wing, and put progressive support for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile bill at risk. Liberal lawmakers had touted the provision authored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) as essential to shoring up their support for legislation that they otherwise found too soft on the industry. It would direct the federal government to examine how to require drug makers to refund money to employer-sponsored health plans when the companies raised prices above the rate of inflation.
“The government would have to issue regulations based on its study — a key element that Jayapal said would force federal agencies to further rein in drug prices. But in a meeting with advocacy groups this afternoon, top Democratic leadership and committee staffers said the final bill would drop the mandate that the government impose new regulations — only requiring it to only conduct a study, multiple people in the room said.” POLITICO
UPDATE -- “Trump pulled into feud between top health officials,” by Dan Diamond, Rachana Pradhan and Adam Cancryn: “President Donald Trump has personally tried to settle the long-running feud between his two top health appointees, telling his health secretary to fix the relationship with his Medicare chief, said three individuals with knowledge of the situation.
“Trump and Seema Verma, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, privately met in mid-November amid escalating tensions between her and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. Around the same time, Trump instructed Azar to smooth things over. Those conversations came shortly before POLITICO first reported on the souring relationship between Azar and Verma, whose agency sits within HHS.
“Days after the POLITICO report, Verma also met one-on-one with Vice President Mike Pence, one of her strongest backers in the White House. The meeting was unusually publicized, appearing on Pence's official schedule. Axios first reported Trump’s involvement. The White House didn’t respond to request for comment. HHS and CMS declined to comment.” POLITICO
ACROSS THE POND -- “4 Brexit Party MEPs ditch Nigel Farage and back Conservatives,” by Emilio Casalicchio in London: “The Brexit Party was plunged into chaos when four of its MEPs resigned to back the Conservative Party in the general election.
“The rebels, led by Yorkshire and the Humber MEP John Longworth, condemned Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage over his electoral strategy at a press conference in Westminster on Thursday, and called on him to stand candidates down in scores of Conservative target seats ahead of the December 12 ballot. ...
“A party official said: ‘We are here to keep the f*ckers [the Tories] honest. How can we keep the f*ckers honest if we stand down?’” POLITICO Europe
-- HAPPENING TODAY … SIX DAYS OUT … ANNABELLE DICKSON: “Jeremy Corbyn will this evening face Boris Johnson for the final time before next week’s election in what will be one of his last chances to shift the dial and close the poll gap on his rival. The pair will go head-to-head in an hour-long BBC debate in Kent.
“With less than a week to go before polling day, the election is reaching the business end, and the undecided voters who will ultimately shape the outcome of the election are starting to tune in. Both candidates know tonight is not the moment for an election-defining gaffe.” London Playbook
NEW WORLD ORDER -- “World Bank adopts $1 billion-plus annual China lending plan over U.S. objections,” by Reuters’ David Lawder: “The World Bank on Thursday adopted a plan to aid China with $1 billion to $1.5 billion in low-interest loans annually through June 2025, despite the objections of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“Mnuchin told a House Financial Services Committee hearing that the Treasury’s representative on the bank’s board had objected to the plan on Wednesday, adding he wanted the World Bank to ‘graduate’ China from its concessional loan programs for low- and middle-income countries.” Reuters … The plan
MEDIAWATCH -- JOSH OWENS for NYT MAG: “I Worked for Alex Jones. I Regret It.”: “Over time, I came to learn that keeping Jones from getting angry was a big part of the job, though it was impossible to predict his outbursts. Stories abounded among my co-workers: The blinds stuck, so he ripped them off the wall. A water cooler had mold in it, so he grabbed a large knife, stabbed the plastic base wildly and smashed it on the ground. Headlines weren’t strong enough; the news wasn’t being covered the way he wanted; reporters didn’t know how to dress properly.
“Once a co-worker stopped by the office with a pet fish he was taking home to his niece. It swam in circles in a small, transparent bag. When Jones saw the bag balanced upright on a desk in the conference room, he emptied it into a garbage can. On one occasion, he threatened to send out a memo banning laughter in the office. ‘We’re in a war,’ he said, and he wanted people to act accordingly.” NYT Magazine
-- The Pulitzer Prizes are adding a new category: Audio Reporting. Announcement
-- John Yearwood will be deputy editor for agriculture and trade at POLITICO Pro. He most recently was president of Yearwood Media and previously was a longtime world editor at the Miami Herald. … Leah Nylen will be an antitrust and investigations reporter for POLITICO Pro’s technology team. She previously covered antitrust for MLex.
-- Anne Rumsey Gearan is joining MSNBC as a contributor. She’ll remain a White House correspondent at WaPo.
-- Summer Delaney is now a digital video reporter at “Inside Edition.” She previously was a digital host and reporter at WPIX, where she will continue freelance hosting, and is a Yahoo News alum.
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) at the Prime Rib Thursday.
HOLIDAY PARTY CIRCUIT -- SPOTTED at Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ann Scott’s Christmas parties Tuesday and Wednesday nights at their Capitol Hill townhouse: Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), USTR Robert Lighthizer, Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.), Linda McMahon, Amber Athey, Paul Bedard, Guy Benson and Adam Wise, Diane Black, Shannon Bream, Harris Faulkner, Stephanie Hamill, Ann Marie Hauser, James Hohmann, Zack Hunter, Henry Rodgers and David Drucker.
-- SPOTTED at Washington Monthly’s 50th anniversary holiday party Thursday night: David Ignatius, Sidney Blumenthal, James Fallows, Jamie Merisotis, Kevin Carey, John Harris, Matthew Cooper, Gilad Edelman, Anne Kim, Anthony Shop and Adam Shapiro.
-- SPOTTED at USTelecom – The BroadBAND Association’s holiday party Thursday night at Union Stage, featuring a performance by the tech policy geek band Harmful Interference: Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Filemon Vela (D-Texas) and Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Jonathan Spalter, Allison Remsen, Mignon Clyburn and Gigi Sohn. Pic of the band
TRANSITIONS -- Kindred Motes is joining the Wallace Global Fund as senior officer for communications and strategic engagement. He most recently was digital strategy director at the Vera Institute of Justice. … Annie Humphrey will be a legislative assistant for Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). She is currently a legislative aide for Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.).
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: CNN contributor and former Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) is 44. What people might not know about her: “When I was in Congress and away from home often, I found the best quality family time was in the kitchen baking with my kids. As a result, I’ve become pretty good at baking cupcakes and cakes. I’m also a professionally trained singer.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is 62 … JoAnna Richard … Jeff Mayers (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is 74, celebrating in Peoria with family and friends (h/t Jill Zuckman) … Julian Zelizer, a Princeton professor and CNN political analyst, is 5-0, celebrating with a party thrown by wife Meg Jacobs at Bustan NYC … Cogan Schneier … Dave Lugar … Eric Boehlert … former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), now chairman and CEO of the Nickles Group, is 71 … Hugo Gurdon, editor-in-chief of the Washington Examiner … Maia Johnson … Mike Scotto … Meg Little Reilly … Angelica Annino, scheduling director for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) (h/t Joe Walsh) … Maria Stainer … Mike Johnson … Nickie Titus … Cynné Simpson … Michael Beresik, managing director and head of public affairs for the Americas at Standard Chartered Bank (h/t wife Beth Brummel) … Greg Butler … Joe Florio …
… Nancy Brinker (h/t Michael Greenwald) … Justin Melvin, deputy COS for Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) (h/t Tyler Threadgill) … Roy Milan Schultheis (h/t wife Ruth Guerra) … Michael Greenstone, an economist at the University of Chicago and a former chief economist at the Council of Economic Advisers … Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is 67 … Dana Brisbane … Antoniya Puleva … Oriana Henry … Edelman’s Brendan Daley … Dan Levitan of BerlinRosen … MSNBC’s Natalie Johnson ... WSJ’s Sara Germano … John Dogero ... Steve Carey … Bill Greene … Trav Robertson … Francis Brennan is 3-0 ... Evelyn Chang ... Rouben Gregorian … Peg Bailey … Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current … Jack Gocke … VOA’s Jamie Dettmer ... Amy Well ... Oliver Willis … Ryan Sellinger … Emily Barocas Carruth ... Jeff Parcher ... Kimberlin Love ... Luke Letlow ... Jerad Reimers ... Glenn Rushing ... Sera Alptekin ... J.D. Stier
2019-12-06 10:58:00Z
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