Subject: POLITICO Playbook, presented by Postmates: ‘THE TRUMP SLUMP’
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2018 04:37:49 -0600
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Today's POLITICO Playbook presented by Postmates 
            
By ANNA PALMER ([email-masked]; @apalmerdc), JAKE SHERMAN ([email-masked]; @JakeSherman) and DANIEL LIPPMAN ([email-masked]; @dlippman)
        
Listen to today's Audio Briefing | Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Visit the online home of Playbook
                  Driving the Day         
BREAKING OVERNIGHT ... CNN'S KATELYN POLANTZ: "Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government": "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told special counsel Robert Mueller in a classified August 2, 2017, memo that he should investigate allegations that President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was 'colluding with Russian government officials' to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, prosecutors in the Russia probe revealed late Monday night.

"Mueller was also empowered by Rosenstein to investigate Manafort's payments from Ukrainian politicians, a cornerstone of the Trump adviser's decades-long lobbying career that has resulted in several financial criminal charges so far.

"The revelation of the August 2 memo comes amid a broader court filing from Mueller's prosecutors that offers a full-throated defense of their investigative powers and indictments thus far. In the filing, the special counsel's office argues that a federal judge should not throw out Manafort's case. Manafort has sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that the charges against him are outside of Mueller's authority." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d800f642f7aedbb05c0496f97479df539dfe5123f1e10011e00ff6bd649e4c425da9214f625a0fec7a1 

THE NEW NARRATIVE ... NYT: 'THE TRUMP SLUMP' ... "The Trump Bump is becoming the Trump Slump. ... The plunge continued Monday, with the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index sinking 2.2 percent. ... 

"Monday's decline left stocks down more than 4 percent so far in 2018. They are now down more than 10 percent from their peak in late January. That means the market has entered a so-called correction - a term used to indicate that the downward trend is more severe and lasting than simply a few days of bearish trading.

"The stock market is still up more than 20 percent since Nov. 8, 2016, the day Mr. Trump won the White House - a roller-coaster ride driven in part by expectations about what a Trump presidency could bring to Washington." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d801f80a0931493d3163e6b5f570d64c121b7ab5b0659205dea809f24273c3c91f21b61c1f69feaac76 

-- CONSIDER THIS ... Since Gary Cohn quit and PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP announced his plan to institute a new round of tariffs, the S&P 500 is down roughly 5%. 

WHY INVESTORS ARE SPOOKED: FT: "Traders said anxieties were being exacerbated by Donald Trump's tweets and trade policies. A fresh presidential Twitter swipe against Amazon sent its shares down 5.2 per cent. Tyson Foods, a leading US meat producer, fell 6.2 per cent as China placed tariffs on U.S. pork imports in retaliation for Mr Trump's duties on steel and aluminium." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80e8716005f19b56f465efbc85d9fc1151d6457fe300c731c9c5e67a8aa47f22c68fe36f1b7ec3adb7 

-- TRUMP crowed when the market was sharply up. He hasn't addressed the nose dive. 

Good Tuesday morning. HOW LONG WILL PRESIDENT TRUMP PUT UP WITH THESE HEADLINES ON SCOTT PRUITT? ... 

-- THE ATLANTIC'S ELAINA PLOTT and ROBINSON MEYER: "Scott Pruitt Bypassed the White House to Give Big Raises to Favorite Aides": "In early March, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt approached the White House with a request: He wanted substantial pay raises for two of his closest aides. ... Because both women [senior counsel Sarah Greenwalt and scheduling director Millan Hupp] were political appointees, he needed the White House to sign-off on their new pay. 

"According to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting, held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, staffers from the Presidential Personnel Office dismissed Pruitt's application. The White House, the source said, declined to approve the raises.

"So Pruitt found another way. A provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act allows the EPA administrator to hire up to 30 people into the agency, without White House or congressional approval. The provision, meant to help expedite the hiring of experts and allow for more flexible staffing, became law in 1996. In past administrations, it has been used to hire specialists into custom-made roles in especially stressed offices, according to Bob Perciasepe, a former acting EPA administrator." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d802844e102608543c533559b3ab17f9dea1c24d3e7ee4c12c625a7b1dd763609cb765f229d128fa753 

-- "EPA explored private jet lease for Pruitt's travels last year," by WaPo's Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis: "Aides to [EPA] Administrator Scott Pruitt last year considered leasing a private jet on a month-to-month basis to accommodate his travel needs, according to current and former agency officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the agency ultimately did not move forward with the plan because it would have been prohibitively expensive.

"Pruitt's aides had contacted NetJets, a well-known firm that leases such planes, and received a cost estimate of roughly $100,000 a month, the officials said. The idea was quickly scuttled after some top advisers objected, according to these individuals. Aides were discussing the arrangement before Tom Price resigned as secretary of health and human services amid revelations about costly flights he had taken aboard chartered planes."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80947b00d137eec93e6132cc6df178f65697425a2464171e68a414b516ccfb715f110039a10019ee36

-- "Pruitt Had a $50-a-Day Condo Linked to Lobbyists. Their Client's Project Got Approved," by NYT's Eric Lipton: "The [EPA] signed off last March on a Canadian energy company's pipeline-expansion plan at the same time that the E.P.A. chief, Scott Pruitt, was renting a condominium linked to the energy company's powerful Washington lobbying firm. Both the E.P.A. and the lobbying firm dispute that there was any connection between the agency's action and the condo rental, for which Mr. Pruitt was paying $50 a night. 'Any attempt to draw that link is patently false,' Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for Mr. Pruitt, said in a written statement.

"Nevertheless, government ethics experts said that the correlation between the E.P.A.'s action and Mr. Pruitt's lease arrangement - he was renting from the wife of the head of the lobbying firm Williams & Jensen -- illustrates why such ties to industry players can generate questions for public officials: 

"Even if no specific favors were asked for or granted, it can create an appearance of a conflict. 'Entering into this arrangement causes a reasonable person to question the integrity of the E.P.A. decision,' said Don Fox, who served as general counsel of the Office of Government Ethics during parts of the Obama and George W. Bush administrations." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8060148c38e3ca406a9f6713b923b8a2315123b7e8256b5a4c05177a5fd6a7d7e225ceba5e73e00721 

... PERHAPS IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME: -- "White House considered firing Pruitt," by Eliana Johnson, Alex Guill&eacute;n, and Andrew Restuccia: "White House chief of staff John Kelly has weighed seeking the firing of embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt in the coming months as part of a wave of ousters of top officials causing headaches for the president, a senior administration official told POLITICO.

"Pruitt is still hanging on for now, in part because Kelly wanted to wait for an upcoming EPA inspector general's report into his expensive travels, the senior official said. Another possible reason: Pruitt is doing the job President Donald Trump wants - including an announcement Monday that the agency will reverse the Obama administration's attempt to tighten fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80a1123dc23f8595f26e6ebf1868208daf6a98e7963ae69657e1f3675e283c9bff22ecd0302bfba97d

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REMEMBER HIM? -- "How Perry survives in a troubled Cabinet," by Anthony Adragna: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry once called for abolishing the agency he now runs - though he forgot its name. His biggest policy initiative of the past year went down in resounding defeat. And he was photographed in a bear hug with a coal magnate seeking a special break from the White House. But that still makes the former Texas governor a success by the standards of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, where several of his peers have been swimming against a flood of ethical and spending scandals. ...

"Perry -- generally not seen as a policy wonk -- has even won praise from Congress for his leadership of the department that oversees upkeep of the nation's nuclear arsenal, a network of national labs and cyber defenses for energy infrastructure." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8021e885fd9f60f66541b9f2e637ab2aacf6597cdec72f1cb2811265c2384e6a825b03623e3287419e

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT ASSOCIATION AWARDS ... Aldo Beckman Award: NYT's Maggie Haberman for "her deep understanding of what makes President Trump tick.... Her reporting was nuanced, contextual and multi-dimensional, with rich detail and authoritative sourcing. She often conveyed the feeling of being a fly on the wall of the White House. She also was a generous colleague who shared the fruits of her reporting with others at the Times." ... 

... Merriman Smith Award (broadcast): CNN'S Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper and Carl Bernstein: "These four journalists and a number of other CNN reporters broke the story that the intelligence community had briefed President Barack Obama and then-President elect Donald Trump that Russia had compromising information about Trump. The CNN team later reported that then-FBI Director James Comey personally briefed Trump about the dossier. Thanks to this CNN investigation, 'the dossier' is now part of the lexicon." ... 

... Merriman Smith Award (print): Josh Dawsey of POLITICO for his "story about the resignation of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer grabs the reader from the opening sentence. Dawsey hustled to find a wide assortment of sources and wove a narrative that conveyed the drama of the resignation and held the reader's attention. While the resignation story was widely covered, Dawsey reported details others simply did not have. Beautifully reported and written."

... The Edgar A. Poe Award: Jason Szep, Peter Eisler, Tim Reid, Lisa Girion, Grant Smith and team from Reuters for "Shock Tactics": "The series involved impressive reporting from multiple angles, revealing the risks of a [Taser] ... is not supposed to be lethal, but often is."

HONORABLE MENTIONS for Edgar A. Poe Award: CBS News' Norah O'Donnell for a report on sexual assault in the military ... POLITICO'S Dan Diamond and Rachana Pradhan for their report on Tom Price's jet travel.
 
THE BIG QUESTION -- "Trump's correspondents' dinner decision gets complicated," by Michael Calderone: "If President Donald Trump attends this month's White House Correspondents' Association dinner, he'll be on stage as journalists from a network he routinely calls 'fake news' are honored for reporting on intelligence findings that were partly based on a dossier he also calls 'fake.' ... The announcement on Monday of CNN's victory -- along with a trove of other awards to various outlets for largely critical coverage of Trump and his administration - appeared complicate the WHCA's invitation to Trump to attend this year's dinner, a symbolically important gesture of mutual respect.

 "White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not respond to a question as to whether Trump has yet made up his mind. The correspondents' organization hasn't gotten any word yet either, according to Margaret Talev, a Bloomberg correspondent and the organization's president." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d808399fac3e054fdfe103d3f28713ed5433992ce8c7755863e0f69029a711f5b149d302f65246d55bb

FOR YOUR RADAR -- WSJ: "Fox Says Disney Could Buy U.K.'s Sky News" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d804ea467c6b9c7e57f65b1dc42beab75df4c428e0ee844506df6159c9bf1019b6abeaa45a67f94b238 

MORE STORMY FALLOUT -- "Trump moves to force Stormy Daniels suit into arbitration," by Josh Gerstein: "Lawyers for President Donald Trump are asking a federal judge to order that an arbitrator resolve a dispute with Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress, over an alleged 'hush money' agreement reached weeks before the 2016 presidential election as she shopped a story about an alleged sexual liaison with Trump a decade earlier. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed suit against Trump in a state court in Los Angeles last month and asked that a judge declare the $130,000 deal null and void because Trump never signed it.

"Lawyers for Trump and a company that his personal attorney Michael Cohen set up to facilitate the payment quickly moved the case to federal court. In a new court filing on Monday afternoon, they asked U.S. District Court Judge James Otero to require Daniels to pursue any disagreements in arbitration, as the agreement provides." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8047b17ea4278b69ef4650ee123e5efffddde06cbd92e1607df92aa0143144d720999d7eee9aa67d2e

NEW FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "New Quotas for Immigration Judges as Trump Administration Seeks Faster Deportations," by WSJ's Laura Meckler: "The Justice Department has notified immigration judges that it will begin evaluating their job performance based on how quickly they close cases, aiming to speed deportation decisions and reduce a lengthy backlog. The new quotas for judges to meet-laid out in a memo sent Friday to immigration judges-follow other directives by the department to expedite handling of cases. 

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that the backlog at the immigration courts allows people who should be deported to linger inside the U.S. The union representing immigration judges counters that the metrics are a threat to their judicial independence, while lawyers warn they will unduly influence judge's decisions." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80c5a5f759878da88311cbbd951d1fc5bfb1240c2eac2c849c382beb80c1cc0844b0edd8d85f8a1dee

-- @realDonaldTrump at 8 p.m.: "As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS" ...

... at 8:12 p.m.: "Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!"

SOMETHING TO WATCH -- "Female candidates take on taboos in new campaign ads," by Heather Caygle: "From breastfeeding on camera to sharing intimate stories of sexual abuse, women running for office are turning campaign norms - and long-held gender stereotypes - on their head with a flurry of new ads that highlight once taboo topics. With a historic number of women running for Congress or governor in 2018, many say it's long overdue that female candidates stop conforming to a 'winning' playbook written mostly by men." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8026e5d1bc0723baae0fa36aa16ca646b28d77e12507a8aafa5b2bbbe03f69a6df85f25c8da64df9df

THAT WAS QUICK -- "Rep. Esty won't seek reelection after mishandling harassment allegations," by Heather Caygle: "Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) announced Monday that she will not seek reelection after coming under fire for her handling of sexual harassment allegations against her former chief of staff. 'I have determined that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election,' she said in a Facebook post. 'Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace. In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d809308eb7d3578c0cc4c55cf277555404c29b25efb507a0f9d88fbc6382bc5d417fa1d5fc43afc5cfe

-- HARTFORD COURANT: "'Connecticut did not have a clearly competitive House race until this Esty story broke and now it probably does,' said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan newsletter produced by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

"On the Democratic side, possible contenders include Dan Roberti of Kent, who challenged Esty for the party's nomination in the 5th District in 2012, and whose father, Vin, is a powerful figure in Democratic circles.

"Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary, state Rep. Liz Linehan of Cheshire and former state Sen. Dante Bartolomeo of Meriden are also mentioned as potential aspirants to represent the sprawling district, which stretches from the Farmington Valley suburbs to the hill towns of Northwestern Connecticut and includes the cities of Danbury, Meriden, New Britain and portions of Torrington and Waterbury. ... 

"A top-tier GOP contender would be state Rep. William Petit. A Republican who became a public figure following the murder of his wife and two daughters in the family's Cheshire home in 2007, Petit had considered a run for the 5th District in 2014 but opted against it because he had just become a father again. Petit ran for state legislature in 2016 and toppled a Democrat who had served in the General Assembly for more than two decades." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8033ec4b6599a691701b9ea053115fbca5b6237373e68676d8417d2c6568f3bc94701e62c0c65b25b8 

TOP TALKER ... JEFFREY GOLDBERG in The Atlantic, "Saudi Crown Prince: Iran's Supreme Leader 'Makes Hitler Look Good'": "The prince, in my conversation with him, divided the Middle East into two warring camps: what he called the 'triangle of evil,' consisting of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sunni terror groups; and an alliance of self-described moderate states that includes Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman. About his b&ecirc;te noir, the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Prince Mohammed said, 'I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good. Hitler didn't do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. ...
 The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.'"

-- GETTING A LOT OF BUZZ: "Goldberg: 'Let's talk about the broader Middle East. Do you believe the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?'

"MbS: 'I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.'

"Goldberg: 'You have no religious-based objection to the existence of Israel?

"MbS: 'We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8093cda4f9ced87119448214a2995a6e9e51874d449c7a71e7cd19ddf19e2c90210d8454f9814036d9 

-- "Saudi Crown Prince Books Entire Four Seasons Hotel for L.A. Stay," by THR's Chris Gardner and Ramona Saviss: "Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his entourage are taking over the entire hotel this week for their stay, which includes a dinner with Rupert Murdoch. ... The star Doheny Drive property ... is fully booked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his entourage have reserved the entire hotel for their L.A. excursion, a visit that marks Salman's first trip to the city."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d809c4b5813613b96833fc81789cc9501571c065e26d14bd8399dc31a3e044414a399165fdd072e35f1

SURREAL ESTATE -- "Matt Lauer Lists Manhattan Apartment for $7.35 Million," by WSJ's Katherine Clarke: "Mr. Lauer bought the four-bedroom, 4&frac12;-bathroom co-op for $5.882 million in 2004, according to property records. Located on East 64th Street, less than three blocks from Central Park, the sprawling apartment features a long living room with three large windows, custom bookshelves and a fireplace, according to the listing. 

"There's also a corner library, a powder room with midnight blue Venetian plaster walls, a dining room and an entire bedroom wing. The master bedroom has two large dressing rooms, two marble master bathrooms and a sitting room ... Mr. Lauer also recently cut the price of his 25-acre Hamptons estate in Sag Harbor, N.Y., to $12.75 million, down from its original asking price of $18 million." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80584b2b833a60c7108bc46dc6e7b7b9f9fb53b7d5ac3c88154ef1523285e27cff5209475e25dd2f5d ... The listing  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8020bb6cf2256638e672f043547f3b7183914aaa2c06d3131fc50545de1245c968cf982c8fd4395205 

THE JUICE ... MAJORITY PAC dropped $402,050 on a media buy for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) ... THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND dropped another $65,000 on Debbie Lesko in the special election in Arizona 8. They have spent just north of $100,000 in this solidly Republican district.

TRUMP'S TUESDAY -- The president is meeting and holding a working lunch with the Baltic States heads of government. Trump will also hold a joint press conference with them at 1:35 p.m.

SPORTS BLINK -- "Villanova beats Michigan to cap NCAA tournament of surprises with a dominant show," by WaPo's Chuck Culpepper and Roman Stubbs: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80e0ded58782457c16b465cccb411c36137b619b5182979b3a39936ab4d3b3a1d63ea7d85304e76f4e

          Playbook Reads         

PHOTO DU JOUR: Villanova players celebrate with the trophy after beating Michigan 79-62 in the championship game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament on April 2 in San Antonio, Texas. It is the Wildcats' second national championship in three years. | David J. Phillip/AP Photo

WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE - "New Trump White House aide has Cambridge Analytica ties," by Josh Meyer: "A newly appointed Trump national security council aide and longtime behavioral change analyst worked until recently for the parent of Cambridge Analytica ... Kirsten Fontenrose joined the Trump White House in March as the NSC senior director for Gulf Affairs. There is no indication that Fontenrose, who also has worked for the State Department and U.S. military, was involved in Cambridge's election effort or any other activities that have come under scrutiny by investigators." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80eaa1dcd06fca3dcab56dabbe37f4531ae658c27167fc64e2639ab37982d7aae7ca341bf126bdeb16

BREAKING HER SILENCE ... WAPO: "Jill McCabe: The president attacked my reputation. It's time to set the record straight": "I am an emergency room pediatrician and an accidental politician - someone who never thought much about politics until I was recruited to run for state office after making a statement about the importance of expanding Medicaid. That decision - plus some twisted reporting and presidential tweets - ended up costing my husband, Andrew, his job and our family a significant portion of his pension my husband had worked hard for over 21 years of federal service. For the past year and a half of this nightmare, I have not been free to speak out about what happened. Now that
 Andrew has been fired, I am. ...

"He consulted with the ethics experts at the FBI and committed to follow their advice. We tried to go even beyond what the rules required - Andrew kept himself separate from my campaign. When the kids and I went door-knocking, he did not participate; he wouldn't even drive us. He could have attended one of my fundraisers but never did. ...

"Nothing can prepare you for what happens when your life is turned upside down by current events. Nothing prepares you for conversations you have to have with your teenage children. Nothing prepares you for the news crews staking out your house, your back yard, your place of business. Nothing prepares you for the fear you feel every time you receive a package from a stranger.

"I have spent countless hours trying to understand how the president and so many others can share such destructive lies about me. Ultimately I believe it somehow never occurred to them that I could be a serious, independent-minded physician who wanted to run for office for legitimate reasons. They rapidly jumped to the conclusion that I must be corrupt, as part of what I believe to be an effort to vilify us to suit their needs." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8047275b260de470010a9960470a5809c2e399be9ca7f4867b9ec00190d4fabfcbfa50caf866cbac47

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 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fe2d40c7aadb6b09f4d3723729ea3bab52ab933dd49f5dae3d7a3bf7cd1cb009e06d62e3becc8cfb82386d3e6f04c78c ******

MARC CAPUTO and MATT DIXON in Tallahassee: "Trump headwinds lash Florida GOP congressman": "In a tough season for the GOP, Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan this week will start running the first television ads of his reelection campaign, an earlier-than-usual move that underscores the challenges ahead for the six-term incumbent as Democrats target his seat." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8084a04038a774fd541f1486bd4505fe6df4d2313fb18c7dd9a3ea0ca55630785dfef5634bd5ecb7cc 

OK ... "Scott Walker Is Quietly Keeping His National Profile Alive," by BuzzFeed's Henry J. Gomez: "His RGA chairmanship is over, but Walker's efforts to influence races outside Wisconsin continue. Already in 2018 he has headlined a fundraiser for Rep. Steve Pearce's bid for governor in New Mexico, picked a favorite in Michigan's heated gubernatorial primary, and chosen sides in a combative Senate primary in West Virginia by endorsing Patrick Morrisey. This month he will headline a fundraiser for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, who survived a close primary and has perhaps the steepest challenge of any governor up for reelection this year." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80cca243d1da3744e26cece10d7b1ff39e9cb86fc77f55d4c2fbf2243a7288cdd828d382d3bba6041d 

MEDIAWATCH -- @TreyYingst: "Connie Lawn, longest-serving member of the White House press corps, has died at age 73, according to her husband." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80cc2edb09360174a607057738e6f6db769541a7485300e5e3732c9254c634aa063ac266a900407a75 

-- FROM IAN KULLGREN in MORNING SHIFT: "The president of the International Cinematographers Guild on Monday criticized Sinclair Broadcasting Group's for requiring local anchors to read pro-Trump text on air - the latest backlash after a video went viral last weekend showed dozens of local news stations reading the same paragraph of conservative propaganda. ... SAG-AFTRA, which represents news anchors, was much more tepid. In an email to Morning Shift, a spokeswoman made a point of not criticizing Sinclair directly.

                  Playbookers         
SPOTTED: Eric Holder in seat 2A on a Delta flight from Atlanta to DCA Monday evening. ... on the 4 p.m. Acela from New York to D.C.: "Nikki Haley, seated at four top with two security and one aide....and in the row in front of her, Jim Lehrer, formerly of PBS NewsHour..." per our tipster.

WEEKEND WEDDING -- Renuka Rayasam, POLITICO's Austin-based health care reporter, and Ricardo Gilb, a University of Texas law student from El Paso, got married on Sunday in a civil ceremony at Austin's Travis County Courthouse with Ricardo's family in attendance. "The official nuptials follow a religious ceremony at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, in Renu's hometown with her family. The couple met nearly two years ago in Austin, where Renu returned after six years in Berlin and Ricardo landed after a decade living in California and New York. They fell in love during a summer that included a lot of hiking, live music and central Texas road trips. They had a small celebration with friends on
 Sunday evening and are planning a bigger bash next summer." Pics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80868d3e2111eeffe21607d93d151d39068d66fa780111564cace45675605c73148c07229dd0b8f8f0 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d80b124de99fe5759a950c330e38e5e0c8673b4a65a2c70d300e9a7243f91626ce3c1c3b9fb893f0cc6 

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Jonathan "JMart" Martin, NYT national political correspondent. How he's celebrating: "At the final four in San Antonio with Betsy and Bean. We try to make it every year -- it's usually around my birthday -- and we were thrilled to be able to mix some Austin and LBJ Ranch time in with hoops this time. And, natch, plenty of BBQ and Tex-Mex." Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7a143eb73ba52d8098b68a83c8ef8436563960c8b0191aac9cdc251be7321e9549e26b54dd4af7f34c2e2cef49e38d65 

BIRTHDAYS: NYT's Alex Burns is 32 ... Susannah Wellford, president and founder of Running Start ... Chanse Jones, Sen. Deb Fischer's press secretary (hat tip: Brianna Puccini) ... Politico's Katherine Landergan ... NBC News' political booker Greg Martin ... Hope Goins, minority staff director for the House Committee on Homeland Security (h/t Tiffany Brown) ... Emily Spitzer ... Tegan Carr ... Gina Glantz (h/ts Jon Haber) ... Mario Ruiz ... Barbara Powers Allen ... Travis Lowe ... Patrick Muncie of Tusk Strategies and former spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney ... Greg Jenkins, principal at North Bay Strategies ... Bush 43 HHS alum Eric Cole ... Tripp Looser ... RALLY principal
 Hillary Moglen ... 

... Ed Cash, founder and president of Frontier Security Strategies and a Bush 43 DHS alum ... Alexander Jivov ... Ed Morrissey, senior editor of HotAir, is 55 ... Alejandro Rodriguez is 36 ... Greg Honan, research assistant for David Gergen ... Molly Thomas ... Teddy MacKenzie ... Melissa Hopkins ... Charlotte (Baker) Huffaker of ExxonMobil and a House E&C alum ... Troy McCurry of the Gober Group ... Jeff Forbes ... Taylor Woodhouse ... Keith Norman ... Dave Wedd ... Dan Coleman ... Eric Yaverbaum ... Jean Hudson Card ... Colin James Nagy is 37 ... Zack Dareshori ... Kristin Syde ... Brian Zuzenak, partner at Moxie Media ... Michael Lussier ... Robert Mons ... Darcy Luoma ... Larry Marx ...
 Michael Pitts ... Mona Pasquil (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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