Subject: Playbook PM: Dems push culture of corruption message
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2018 10:52:16 -0600
List-Id: <1376319.xt.local>

Presented by AARP: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington             Aug 08, 2018 View in browser                   
 By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Daniel Lippman, Eli Okun and Akela Lacy 
             
Presented by
             
THE BIG PICTURE FROM COLUMBUS, OHIO ... A "CORRUPTION ELECTION"? ... FOR MONTHS, Democrats have tried to find ways to paint House Republicans as creatures of the Washington swamp, corrupt political figures who are taking advantage of their station in public life.

AND NOW, WITH 90 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY, Democrats seem to be getting handed that theme on a silver platter -- just like they were when they took the House in 2006 on the heels of the Jack Abramoff scandal. 

CONSIDER THIS ... 

 -- NEW YORK REP. CHRIS COLLINS, an ally to and surrogate of PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, was arrested on a massive insider trading scheme, that accused him of passing non-public information from an Australian pharmaceutical company to his son, who then traded on those tips. He got a call that led to the charges while at the White House picnic. He was on the board of Innate Immunotherapeutics, the company at question. To make it worse, a number of House Republicans were invested in the company -- some at Collins' urging. It doesn't seem at this point that Collins is long for Congress. SPEAKER PAUL RYAN removed him from the Energy and Commerce Committee for now. 

-- FORMER HHS SECRETARY TOM PRICE was one of the investors. He was later pushed out of the president's cabinet for pricey travel habits. Trump's EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt also left his post after an endless stream of stories detailed his penchant for the luxe life.

-- PROPUBLICA'S ISAAC ARNSDORF has a jaw-dropping story about Trump's rich Mar-a-Lago friends exerting a stunning level of influence over the Veterans Affairs department.

-- TRUMP'S campaign manager -- Paul Manafort -- is on trial, and being accused of illegal business practices and hiding taxable money while working as a political consultant overseas. 

OF COURSE, each House race is its own discrete contest. But put together, Democrats could have an opportunity to paint in broad strokes just as they did in 2006. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER NANCY PELOSI seized on this already, saying in a news release that "The charges against Congressman Collins show the rampant culture of corruption and self-enrichment among Republicans in Washington today." 

THE DETAILS ... "GOP Rep. Collins indicted, charged with securities fraud," by Kyle Cheney and Jimmy Vielkind: "He was charged, along with his son, with securities fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to the FBI.

"Collins had been under scrutiny from the Office of Congressional Ethics for his connection to the biotech company, Innate Immunotherapeutics. He was the company's largest shareholder and sat on its board. Now, prosecutors say he passed inside information to his son, who then passed it to another alleged conspirator. The three avoided about $768,000 in losses as a result of the information, prosecutors allege.

"Collins' attorneys rejected the allegations, which were brought by prosecutors in the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York." POLITICO
       
A message from AARP:
 
Will Arizona swing blue this election and what is the role of Hispanic voters over 50? The latest issue of "The Deciders," looks at Maricopa County Arizona to ask if voter turnout or identity politics will decide the day? Visit politico.com/thedeciders to learn more.
         
FLASHBACK, PLAYBOOK, Jan. 11, 2017: "OVERHEARD IN THE CAPITOL -- NEW YORK REP. CHRIS COLLINS talking loudly into a phone just off the House floor, bragging about how many 'millionaires I've made in Buffalo' in the last month. He was bragging about a stock tip he had shared with people."

-- THE NEXT DAY, OKLAHOMA REP. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R) bought between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of the company's stock.

-- REPUBLICANS bought a ton of Immuno stock in January of 2017. LATER THAT MONTH, COLORADO GOP REP. DOUG LAMBORN and his spouse bought between $15,000 and $30,000 in Immuno stock. He sold at least part of it for less than $1,000. He said he took a bath on the stock. "[Collins] wasn't pushing it," Lamborn told POLITICO in an interview earlier this summer before the indictment. "If asked about it, it was in the media, first of all. If asked about it, he would respond to questions. He wasn't being pushy. And I figure I'm a big boy and I can make my own decisions. Even if they're wrong decisions." 

-- TEXAS REP. MICHAEL CONAWAY (R) bought between $2,000 and $30,000 in January and February of 2017.

-- MISSOURI REP. BILLY LONG (R) bought between $15,000 and $50,000 on Jan. 25, 2017. 

-- TEXAS REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R) reported that he bought between $1,000 and $15,000 in January 2017, and sold it for the same range in early June. 

THE STOCK is now practically worthless. No other members of Congress have been implicated.

THE SHADOW CABINET ... PROPUBLICA'S ISAAC ARNSDORF: AFTERNOON READ -- "The Shadow Rulers of the VA: How Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter and two other Mar-a-Lago cronies are secretly shaping the Trump administration's veterans policies": "Last February, shortly after Peter O'Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. 'Received,' O'Rourke replied. 'I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.'

"O'Rourke treated the email as an order, but Moskowitz is not his boss. In fact, he is not even a government official. Moskowitz is a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service 'concierge' medical care. More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago ... 
 
"The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump's. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government. Yet from a thousand miles away, they have leaned on VA officials and steered policies affecting millions of Americans. They have remained hidden except to a few VA insiders, who have come to call them 'the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.' ... In a statement, they downplayed their influence, insisting that nobody is obligated to act on their counsel." ProPublica

... FALLOUT FROM THE STORY -- @AdamWeinstein: "Some personal news: I just resigned as acting EIC of [Task & Purpose] after our publisher reamed us out for his investigation and demanded the headline be changed, the latest in a series of such demands over our editorial content." Task & Purpose, a military/veterans news site, had reposted the ProPublica story Wednesday morning.

THE LATEST VOTE TALLIES -- TROY BALDERSON is up 101,574 to 99,820 over DANNY O'CONNOR in Ohio's 12th district special election, with more than 3,300 provisional and absentee ballots outstanding. In the Kansas Republican gubernatorial primary, KRIS KOBACH leads incumbent JEFF COLYER 126,257 to 126,066. Neither race has been called yet. Detailed results in Ohio ... Kansas

Good Wednesday afternoon. WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 10:31 a.m.: "5 for 5!"

... at 11:14 a.m.: "The Republicans have now won 8 out of 9 House Seats, yet if you listen to the Fake News Media you would think we are being clobbered. Why can't they play it straight, so unfair to the Republican Party and in particular, your favorite President!"

... at 11:25 a.m.: "As long as I campaign and/or support Senate and House candidates (within reason), they will win! I LOVE the people, & they certainly seem to like the job I'm doing. If I find the time, in between China, Iran, the Economy and much more, which I must, we will have a giant Red Wave!"

TRADE WARS WITH CHINA ... 

-- ANNIE KARNI: "Trump rails against China during dinner with executives": "Trump told the executives that Chinese President Xi Jinping's 'One Belt One Road Initiative,' China's economic plan that has the potential to disrupt trade worldwide, was 'insulting' and that he didn't want it, according to a person in the room. Trump said he had told Xi as much to his face. ... 

"At one point during the dinner, Trump noted of an unnamed country that the attendee said was clearly China, 'almost every student that comes over to this country is a spy.'" POLITICO

 -- "China retaliates with tariffs on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports after Trump's latest trade hit," by WaPo's Amanda Erickson: "The 25 percent tariffs will go into effect Aug. 23, targeting cars, crude oil, natural gas and coal. ... 

"China's announcement is a direct response to new duties on Chinese goods imported into the United States, announced Tuesday in Washington. Those new tariffs, totaling $16 billion, will be levied against 279 products ... After months of escalation, business communities in both countries are wondering when and how the trade confrontation will end." WaPo

-- NYT'S KEITH BRADSHER in Beijing: "Trump's Tariffs Are Changing Trade With China. Here Are 2 Emerging Endgames": "[B]eneath the acrimony, two potential paths for China seem to be emerging, according to participants in the trade negotiations and their advisers. Both would deliver trade wins for President Trump and his more moderate advisers, while also letting President Xi Jinping of China push ahead with his ambitious industrial plan to build national champions in cutting-edge technologies.

"A stalemate appears the most likely endgame, with new American and Chinese tariffs staying in place for months or even years. ... A negotiated truce is also possible. Although the two sides remain far apart, Beijing has made subtle shifts to a more conciliatory position." NYT

NYT MAGAZINE'S C.J. CHIVERS: "War Without End: The Pentagon's failed campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan left a generation of soldiers with little to fight for but one another," adapted from his new book, "The Fighters": "On one matter there can be no argument: The policies that sent these men and women abroad, with their emphasis on military action and their visions of reordering nations and cultures, have not succeeded. It is beyond honest dispute that the wars did not achieve what their organizers promised, no matter the party in power or the generals in command.

"Astonishingly expensive, strategically incoherent, sold by a shifting slate of senior officers and politicians and editorial-page hawks, the wars have continued in varied forms and under different rationales each and every year since passenger jets struck the World Trade Center in 2001. They continue today without an end in sight, reauthorized in Pentagon budgets almost as if distant war is a presumed government action. ... 

"Across these years, hundreds of thousands of young men and women signed on in good faith and served in the lower and middle ranks. They did not make policy. They lived within it." NYT Magazine

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... "'It's Fantastic!' Trump Warms to Rosenstein," by WSJ's Mike Bender and Sadie Gurman: "Mr. Rosenstein has steadily developed a stable relationship with the president that suggests he has more staying power than either his supporters or detractors suspect. ... 

"[I]n recent months, their relationship has improved. The two men talk once or twice a week, and Mr. Trump calls Mr. Rosenstein on his cellphone to discuss such issues as immigration, according to one person familiar with the matter. Mr. Rosenstein consistently prepares the president's team ahead of major news, officials said. And he visits the White House as often as three times a week." WSJ

-- "Why Trump really wants his Mueller interview," by Annie Karni: "Now, as Trump continues to push to sit down with special counsel Robert Mueller - against the advice of his attorneys - the president is putting to use his same old box of tools developed during a lifetime of legal squabbles in New York City: trying to talk or cooperate his way out of things. But while he's using the old tactics he once employed over a real estate fight, he's also on unfamiliar turf, where the stakes of the investigation stretch far beyond any barrier he ever encountered in his business life.

"What remains, however, is Trump's belief in his central self-created myth: that he can convince anyone of anything, if he's simply given the opportunity to get them in a room alone." POLITICO

-- @wikileaks: "BREAKING: US Senate Intelligence Committee calls editor @JulianAssange to testify. Letter delivered via US embassy in London. WikiLeaks' legal team say they are 'considering the offer but testimony must conform to a high ethical standard'."

RUSSIA WATCH -- "Rand Paul delivers letter from Trump to Putin," by Rebecca Morin: POLITICO

2018 WATCH -- NATASHA KORECKI: "Poll: Trump's overseas 'chaos' gives Democrats an edge in midterms": "A majority of respondents to the survey, commissioned by the nonprofit group National Security Action and first provided to POLITICO, believe the president has diminished America's standing in the world and that he's made the country less safe. Party strategists say the findings point to a new opening on national security and foreign policy for Democrats in the midterms. Those have traditionally been areas of strength for the GOP." POLITICO

WSJ'S CAMERON MCWHIRTER: "A Year After Charlottesville, the Alt-Right Movement Frays": "Infighting, lawsuits and a social-media crackdown are hampering white nationalist and other right-wing groups, the groups' leaders and people who track extremist groups say. Some white-supremacist groups have been blocked by financial companies that refuse to process credit-card transactions and mainstream social-media platforms like Twitter and Facebook that remove their posts, making it difficult to spread their message, find new recruits and raise funds." WSJ

WHAT MIKE POMPEO IS READING -- "Trump's refugee crackdown plans put Pompeo on the spot," by Nahal Toosi: "President Donald Trump's top diplomat could side with Trump and other anti-immigration hardliners and agree to proposals that slash the number of refugees the United States admits and gut the State Department bureau that deals with them. But in doing so, he could alienate many State Department employees who strongly oppose those moves, while disappointing foreign governments." POLITICO

ON THE BORDER -- "Border arrest data suggest Trump's push to split migrant families had little deterrent effect," by WaPo's Nick Miroff: "The number of migrant families taken into custody along the U.S. border with Mexico remained nearly unchanged from June to July ... [S]ome of the policy's defenders have argued the separations would have had a stronger deterrent effect if allowed more time. They insist its true impact would not be apparent until word of the crackdown had spread to rural Central America ...

"But the July arrest totals released Wednesday suggest the separations made little difference." WaPo

TRUMP INC. -- "Trump's D.C. hotel, a clubhouse for his fans, may also be a 5-star conflict of interest," by NBC's Anna Schecter, Rich Gardella and Cynthia McFadden: "[A]n NBC News analysis of public filings and social media indicates substantial spending at the hotel by federal agencies, Trump's political allies and foreign governments. ... 

"PACs and Republican campaigns have spent more than a million dollars at the hotel. Religious groups and lobbyists for the petroleum and banking industries have held events there, as has the Turkish American Business Council ... [A]lmost $56,000 taxpayer dollars have been spent at the hotel, more than $29,000 of which were spent by the Department of Defense." NBC

DRIP DRIP -- "A Republican Congressman Seeking Reelection Once Compared Gay People To 'Rapists' And Other Criminals," by BuzzFeed's Dominic Holden: "[Jason] Lewis promoted extreme opinions about gays and lesbians on his radio show, comparing them to rapists, criminals, and polygamists. He contended that gay rights activists were "shredding the Constitution" and that same-sex parents 'could harm the kid.'" BuzzFeed

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- HEADLINE OF THE DAY: "Abandon hope, all ye who use Metro: With two weeks of single-tracking and shutdowns, agency urges riders to ditch the system," by WaPo's Martine Powers: WaPo

MEDIAWATCH -- Zachary Fryer-Biggs will be a national security reporter at the Center for Public Integrity. He most recently was a staff writer at Newsweek. ... Shan Wang will be newsletters editor at The Atlantic. She previously covered media at Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab.

MILESTONE -- "The President is Missing," Bill Clinton and James Patterson's novel, has hit 1 million copies sold, per its publishers.

SPOTTED: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on a JetBlue flight from Nantucket to JFK on Tuesday (h/t Ed Thompson) 

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - OBAMA ALUMNI: Adam Frankel, who heads up executive communications and communications strategy and planning at PepsiCo and is an Obama WH alum, and Stephanie Psaki, deputy director of the GIRL Center at Population Council, welcomed Gabriel Emet Frankel. Pic ... Another pic
           
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What issues matter most to Hispanic voters over 50. Visit politico.com/thedeciders to read the latest editorial package.
                        
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