Subject: Playbook PM: NEW: Avenatti hangs with Scaramucci in NYC, gives explosive interview to Time
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2018 12:07:02 -0600
List-Id: <1376319.xt.local>

Presented by Google: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington                Oct 25, 2018 View in browser                   
 By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun 
             
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FIRST IN PLAYBOOK ... A lawyer representing THE GUARDIAN'S BEN JACOBS sent a letter to REP. GREG GIANFORTE -- the Montana Republican who assaulted him last year -- warning him that he might seek to exit their settlement agreement if the congressman continues to misrepresent the incident.

GIANFORTE told the Missoulian recently that he told the police the truth about the incident, and he was bound by an agreement with Jacobs not to talk about the incident. But in their settlement last year -- in which Gianforte agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists -- Gianforte admitted that he assaulted Jacobs, the opposite of what he told the police. Furthermore, the two did not agree to a confidentiality agreement.

-- JACOBS' LAWYER TO GIANFORTE: "Rep. Gianforte's continued lying this month has greatly aggravated the severe harm that Rep. Gianforte previously caused to Ben and Ben's reputation. The continued lying is unacceptable and actionable. Please advise your client that he and his spokespersons need to stop -- immediately and forever -- telling lies about the assault, about their own prior lies, about your client's 'settlement agreement' with Ben, or about any other aspect of this matter. Ben reserves all rights, including the right to seek rescission of the General Release on the ground of Rep. Gianforte's fraudulent inducement." Gianforte's office did not respond to a request for comment by
 deadline. The letter

NOT A GREAT DAY FOR MICHAEL AVENATTI ... 

-- CNN'S ARIANE DE VOGUE and MANU RAJU: "Judiciary chairman refers Swetnick, Avenatti to Justice Department"

-- UHH ... AVENATTI told TIME'S MOLLY BALL and ALANA ABRAMSON this: "When it comes to the party's presidential nominee in 2020, Avenatti thinks in different terms. 'I think it better be a white male,' he says. 

"He hastens to add that he wishes it weren't so, but it's undeniable that people listen to white men more than they do others; it's why he's been successful representing Daniels and immigrant mothers, he says. 'When you have a white male making the arguments, they carry more weight,' he says. 'Should they carry more weight? Absolutely not. But do they? Yes.'" Time

BUT, BUT, BUT ... MR. PRESIDENT, YOUR ALLY? ... SPOTTED: ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI having a drink with AVENATTI and several others at Rao's in New York City last night. 

-- ASKED ABOUT THE ENCOUNTER: AVENATTI texted Playbook, "Anthony is a great source of information on Trump as I decide on whether to take him on in 2020. Know thy enemy." 

-- ASKED FOR COMMENT ABOUT AVENATTI'S TAKE: SCARAMUCCI told us: "I would say I pride myself with being friends with a lot of different people and as I have gotten to know Michael I have grown fond of him. He is a fierce competitor and shouldn't be underestimated." Pic

AVENATTI also told Playbook this: "We should never again elect a president that never drinks and doesn't like dogs."

MORE PACKAGES ... NBC: "Two packages sent to Joe Biden, one to Robert De Niro match other mailed pipe bombs," by Jonathan Dienst, Adam Edelman and Elisha Fieldstadt: "One package addressed to Biden was discovered at a postal facility in New Castle, Delaware, and another was found at a postal facility in Wilmington, Delaware, officials said. They suspected Wednesday that a package addressed to Biden was somewhere within the postal system. A building worker in New York called authorities around 4 a.m. about the package addressed to De Niro, an official said." NBC 

ON THE BORDER ... CNN'S BARBARA STARR: "Mattis expected to send 800 more troops to southern border": "It is not yet clear if all or part of the new deployment will be federally activated National Guard forces or active duty troops.

"The troops will not engage in lethal operations to stop the migrants. Instead they are expected to provide fencing, wall materials and other technical support at several key points along the border where it is believed the migrants may try to cross. The troops will also provide tents and medical care for border authorities in those areas. ... The troops are expected to be in position next week." CNN

Good Thursday afternoon. STORY OF THE DAY ... NYT'S JONATHAN MARTIN with a Memphis dateline: "A Changing Tennessee Weighs a Moderate or Conservative for Senate": "In this year of liberal resistance, when Democratic passions are running high and Senate candidates like Beto O'Rourke of Texas are attempting to harness that energy, [Democrat Phil] Bredesen is doing just the opposite. He is hoping to lower temperatures, blur the lines between himself and Republicans, and run on local issues against Representative Marsha Blackburn in a state that Mr. Trump carried by 26 points.

"It is a throwback campaign, the sort that Southern Democrats used for years to distinguish themselves from their national party, in a region that has moved decisively away from its political roots. 

"But as Democrats eye winning back some of the South's fast-growing states, Mr. Bredesen's approach also represents a well-timed political science test of which strategy is more effective: his brand of political vanilla that reflects the history of the state, or the more unrepentant, and perhaps more inspiring, brand of liberalism on offer from Mr. O'Rourke." NYT
       
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HEADS UP -- WAPO'S ALLYSON CHIU, CHRIS MOONEY and JULIET EILPERIN: "Extreme Category 5 typhoon, the worst U.S. storm since 1935, leaves Northern Mariana Islands devastated"

WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 6:54 a.m.: "The so-called experts on Trump over at the New York Times wrote a long and boring article on my cellphone usage that is so incorrect I do not have time here to correct it. I only use Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone. Story is soooo wrong!" The original NYT story

... at 7:05 a.m.: "Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council is right when he says on @foxandfriends that the Democrat inspired laws make it tough for us to stop people at the Border. MUST BE CHANDED, but I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency. They will be stopped!"

... at 7:18 a.m.: "A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!"

... at 9:57 a.m.: "The New York Times has a new Fake Story that now the Russians and Chinese (glad they finally added China) are listening to all of my calls on cellphones. Except that I rarely use a cellphone, & when I do it's government authorized. I like Hard Lines. Just more made up Fake News!"

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST'S LI TAO: "China denies report it spies on Trump's iPhone, suggests he get a Huawei instead": "Hua Chunying, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, ... dismissed the report as another example of 'fake news.'" SCMP

TRADE WARS ... "U.S. Won't Resume Trade Talks Without Firm Proposal From a Wary China," by WSJ's Bob Davis in Washington and Lingling Wei in Beijing: "The U.S. is refusing to resume trade negotiations with China until Beijing comes up with a concrete proposal to address Washington's complaints about forced technology transfers and other economic issues, said officials on both sides of the Pacific.

"The impasse threatens to undermine a meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping scheduled for the end of November at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires. Both sides had hoped the gathering would ease the trade tensions. ... 

"For Beijing, making a formal offer presents a number of risks, according to individuals briefed by the Chinese. First, it would reveal their negotiating position. Second, Beijing fears that Mr. Trump could make any offer public in a tweet or statement as a way to lock in any concessions by China." WSJ 

2018 WATCH -- DEEP DIVE ... BEN WOFFORD in Vox, "The midterms are already hacked. You just don't know it yet": "Vox spent six months speaking with more than 100 people in the world of elections ... Their verdict is sobering: Since 2016, the country's election infrastructure has improved, but not by much, and things are going to get worse before they get better. ... From now on, these officials say, each aspect of elections is a national security target - and they will be for the next few decades, so we'd better get used to it now." Vox

THE LATEST ON KHASHOGGI -- LOUIS NELSON, "Saudi prosecutors: Khashoggi killing was premeditated": "'General Prosecution: Information from the Turkish side affirms that the suspects in Khashoggi's case premeditated their crime,' the Saudi Press Agency, which is controlled by the government, wrote on its English-language Twitter account Friday morning." POLITICO 

-- CNN'S ABBY PHILLIP (@abbydphillip): "New reporting from @eliselabottcnn: Khashoggi's son Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi has left Saudi Arabia after previously being prohibited from leaving the country. On Tuesday, the Crown Prince and his father King Salman were pictured shaking hands with Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi."

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... "Text Messages Show Roger Stone Was Working to Get a Pardon for Julian Assange," by Mother Jones' Dan Friedman: "In early January, Roger Stone ... sent a text message to an associate stating that he was actively seeking a presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange-and felt optimistic about his chances. 'I am working with others to get JA a blanket pardon,' Stone wrote, in a January 6 exchange of text messages obtained by Mother Jones. 'It's very real and very possible. Don't f--- it up.' ...

"The recipient of the messages was Randy Credico, a New York-based comedian and left-leaning political activist who Stone has identified as his backchannel to WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign-a claim Credico strongly denies. ... As Mueller's team zeroes in on Stone, they have examined his push for an Assange pardon-which could be seen as an attempt to interfere with the Russia probe-and have questioned at least one of Stone's associates about the effort." Mother Jones 

WAPO'S JOSH ROGIN: "How $100,000 of pay-for-play access changed U.S. Syria policy": "In the Trump era, foreign policy lobbying is about one thing: getting to President Trump himself, no matter what the cost. ... But one Syrian American activist found the ultimate loophole. [Rim Al-Bezem] spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at Republican fundraisers for brief moments of direct access to the president - and persuaded him to change U.S. Syria policy. ... 

"But although Al-Bezem's pay-for-play efforts may have helped avert a slaughter (for the time being), the fact that she was able to so easily change the course of U.S. foreign policy reveals a huge vulnerability in the Trump administration's national security policymaking system. If $100,000 can buy time to push a good policy to an impressionable president, it could also be used to push a bad one." WaPo 

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "Treasury Official Accused of Leaks Had Bureaucratic Complaints About Another Unit," by WSJ's Aruna Viswanatha and Rebecca Davis O'Brien: "The employee accused of the leaks-Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior adviser at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN-is a supporter of President Trump who believed, along with some colleagues, that another Treasury unit was mishandling sensitive data, according to people familiar with the matter.

"Ms. Edwards was charged with giving a reporter at BuzzFeed News ... information about dozens of transactions that financial institutions flagged as suspicious. Many were related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election." WSJ 

AFTERNOON READ -- POLITICO INVESTIGATION ... JUSTIN GEORGE in POLITICO Magazine: "President Trump Says He Wants to Reform Prisons. His Attorney General Has Other Ideas"

TRAILER DU JOUR: "Outside the Bubble," a documentary about Trump voters' lives directed by Alexandra Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi's daughter), premieres on HBO on Monday. The trailer ... NYT article

HOT JOBS -- "The Washington Post today announced plans to expand its technology coverage, adding 11 new positions for reporters, editors and videographers. The initiative will mean significant growth for The Post's San Francisco bureau, where two technology reporters and one editor are now based. The bureau also will now house a video studio. Positions also will be added in Seattle and Washington, D.C." The postings

MEDIAWATCH -- Alexandra Alper will be Reuters' new White House correspondent. She has most recently been a senior correspondent in Rio de Janeiro.

SPOTTED: Ivanka Trump on a Delta flight this morning to Atlanta from DCA.

TRANSITIONS -- Tom Cochran will be general manager for digital and integrated marketing at Edelman. He was previously a director of new media technologies in the Obama administration. ... Himamauli Das is now a senior adviser at Crowell & Moring International. He is a Treasury, NSC and State alum.

SPOTTED at a book party last night for Steve Weisman, author of "The Chosen Wars: How Judaism Became an American Religion" ($18.66 on Amazon), hosted by Cathy Sulzberger and Joe Perpich at their Chevy Chase home: Elisabeth Bumiller, Maureen Dowd, Bill Plante, Bob Deans, James Rosen, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, Leon Wieseltier, Sally Quinn, David Gregory, Lanny Davis, Dan Yergin and Angela Stent, Shelby Coffey, Rory MacFarquhar, Ken Adelman, Neil Lewis, Fred Hiatt and Pooh Shapiro, James Mann, Jeffrey Goldberg and Pamela Reeves, Judy Woodruff, David Leonhart and Margaret Carlson.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- OBAMA ALUMNI: Rachel Racusen, director of communications at Snap and an Obama WH alum, and Max Gleischman, a VP at Glover Park Group and a Samantha Power and Dick Durbin alum, welcomed Lilly Roo Gleischman. Pic ... Another pic

                        
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