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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by Charter Communications

By JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER (anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc), DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman) and ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro)


WHAT A STEAL!, via Washingtonian's Andrew Beaujon: "The purchase price [for the Washington City Paper] was not revealed publicly, but I'm reliably informed [D.C. businessman Mark] Ein paid $50,000 and agreed to assume the paper's lease. Asked about that price, Ein declined to comment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915fefe73a1b1c381ad9340e83b57a4511dbb2b02b6fdcc4aeca75bcd9a6f1d2f106ea4d56b4c9dde3f

Good Friday afternoon. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP signed the tax bill, a short-term government funding bill and a missile defense bill into law in the Oval Office before departing for Palm Beach, Florida, for the holidays. The bill signing was done in front of the White House pool.

POOL REPORT: "Trump said he wanted to sign the tax cut bill quickly because 'every one of the networks said, 'Will he keep his promise?' and do so by Christmas," emails Steven Nelson of the Washington Examiner. Trump also said "Corporations are literally going wild," he said.

-- ON THE TIMING OF THE TAX BILL SIGNING: "I didn't want you folks to say I wasn't keeping my promise. ... We did a rush job today and it wasn't fancy ... We expected a formal ceremony in two weeks."

-- ON OBAMACARE: Trump told reporters "I think Obamacare is over" and that "we have essentially repealed Obamacare."

-- FAKE NEWS?: Trump handed out signing pens to reporters, telling them they "worked very hard" and "very fairly." "I particularly like the boomholders ... and the cameramen," he said.

-- AND A BOB KRAFT SHOUT OUT!: Trump said the New England Patriots owner called him and that he is going to build "a tremendous paper mill" because of the tax bill.

WHAT'S ON TRUMP'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 11:46 a.m.: "95% of Americans will pay less or, at worst, the same amount of taxes (mostly far less). The Dems only want to raise your taxes!" ... at 10:07 a.m.: "Will be signing the biggest ever Tax Cut and Reform Bill in 30 minutes in Oval Office. Will also be signing a much needed 4 billion dollar missile defense bill." ... at 10:05 a.m.: "With all my Administration has done on Legislative Approvals (broke Harry Truman's Record), Regulation Cutting, Judicial Appointments, Building Military, VA, TAX CUTS & REFORM, Record Economy/Stock Market and so much more, I am sure great credit will be given by mainstream news?"

... at 9:17 a.m.: "'The President has accomplished some absolutely historic things during this past year.' Thank you Charlie Kirk of Turning Points USA. Sadly, the Fake Mainstream Media will NEVER talk about our accomplishments in their end of year reviews. We are compiling a long & beautiful list." ... at 8:05 a.m.: "At some point, and for the good of the country, I predict we will start working with the Democrats in a Bipartisan fashion. Infrastructure would be a perfect place to start. After having foolishly spent $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is time to start rebuilding our country!" ... at 7:47 a.m.: "Our big and very popular Tax Cut and Reform Bill has taken on an unexpected new
source of 'love' - that is big companies and corporations showering their workers with bonuses. This is a phenomenon that nobody even thought of, and now it is the rage. Merry Christmas!"

PROGRAMMING NOTE -- Playbook publishes 365 days a year, so we'll be here all month. But the P.M. edition will take a vacation on Christmas and will return Jan. 2 -- unless something wild happens. Enjoy the holidays!

ABOUT THAT TAX BILL -- "Companies that tie announcements to tax bill earn goodwill with Trump," by WaPo's Phil Rucker: "Some companies are trying to help Trump sell an unpopular tax bill by crediting their internal spending strategies to the savings they expect from the legislation, which decreases the corporate income rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. The company moves may have been long-planned and inspired by unrelated reasons. Still, tying the announcements to the tax bill helps the companies receive maximum media attention and engender goodwill with Trump and his administration.

"'It's an extremely clever way to get the president's attention,' said Scott Reed, the chief political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 'It reinforces his signature legislative success, and it probably gets them some good points inside the White House.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099156be4f6754721c710123af202d580a01f7e307768904b2ce9629fe256f2f3cdcc89c88d746537be59

SPOTTED: Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) in economy plus on a United flight Friday morning from Dulles to Los Angeles. ... Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) at DCA Friday morning.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT FILES -- "Poll: Most say sex misconduct victims are underprotected," by AP's Laurie Kellman and Emily Swanson: "Most Americans say sexual misconduct is a major problem and that too little is being done to protect victims, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But some -- particularly Republican men -- are concerned about the rights of the accused.

"The sheer speed with which an accusation of sexual misconduct can sink a career rattles some men, and not just Republicans. ... The poll shows that nearly 6 in 10 Americans think there is too little protection for the rights of people who have been victims of workplace sexual misconduct. By contrast, just 37 percent think there's too little protection for people accused of sexual misconduct, 35 percent think there's the right amount and 26 percent think there's too much." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915123b291055b5387a52d8bfbc9410ef9074cea72bb44e34187463d0485ca5321b0ece48b9064eeafd

-- "Ex-Farenthold aide told House Ethics Committee she was pressured to perform campaign duties," by CNN's MJ Lee: "A former aide to GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold contacted the House Ethics Committee last week to detail what she said were regular requests from the congressman and his chief of staff to perform campaign-related duties even though she was never paid by or volunteered with his congressional campaign. Elizabeth Peace, who was Farenthold's communications director from May 2015 to March 2017, told committee lawyers last Wednesday that while she worked for the Texas lawmaker, she was pressured to, and at least on one occasion, yelled at by Farenthold's chief of staff to help with
campaign efforts ...

"Peace alleged to the lawyers that the campaign-related duties she was repeatedly asked to handle included answering media inquiries that were explicitly about Farenthold's 2016 re-election campaign and making fliers, this source said. She also claimed that such requests were sometimes sent directly to her official House email account, and on more than one occasion, she was asked to perform these duties when she was physically at Farenthold's congressional office on Capitol Hill during regular work hours." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099157f129c18a959dcfdbf58575e4e42ad195a4be9311a1acd591d52eec52f28de735605092100fdea93

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- "Exclusive: State Department tells refugee agencies to downsize U.S. operations," by Reuters' Yeganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg: "The U.S. State Department has told refugee agencies it will sharply pare back the number of offices across the country authorized to resettle people in 2018 as President Donald Trump cuts the number of refugees allowed into the United States. The announcement was made at a Dec. 1 meeting in Washington with State Department officials and representatives from nine major refugee agencies, several executives of the agencies said.

"Advocates said the decision is likely to lead to the closure of dozens of resettlement offices around the country, potentially leaving some refugees without access to services that help them integrate into American life. Several state refugee coordinators said they had also been made aware of the closures." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099151c06ae2c064ff3f5258c450e8e1cf9cda75dbd0be966e621dba8ffe7998189b892d02c2a7013de25


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POLITICO MAGAZINE FRIDAY COVER -- SUSAN GLASSER, "Trump, Putin and the New Cold War: The conflict is back. But this time, only one side is fighting": "The debate over the new Cold War, like the use of the term itself, has come and gone several times. But even those who promote the idea have usually adhered to the view that today's Cold War is less deadly than the original: it may be dangerous, but it could never lead to actual war. This view combines alarm with reassurance. I must confess that, these days, it looks to me like a state of denial. Increasingly, I find myself wondering about the logic of the belief that since war is unthinkable, it cannot happen. Modern history is littered with
unthinkable things that came to pass. ...

"However, there is also another school of thought, according to which today's Cold War may be even worse than the original. This is not so much because it could end in nuclear annihilation, but because the world in which we now live is more dangerously interconnected, increasing the risks of crisis between the two powers and multiplying the possible fields of confrontation. It is certainly the case that our technological environment has created massive new vulnerabilities, and new possibilities for mischief and accident." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915c33ef48bb350b6f16dac7ff9290df37de7a6d2954dabef8bb528cefbbf3a0bd0e3c6c8fd0e0d6c38

CARLOS LOZADA in WaPo's Outlook section, "The presidency survived the Watergate, Iran-contra and Clinton scandals. Trump will exact a higher toll: Histories of past presidential scandals reveal common threads and turning points -- but also show how Trump stands alone": "With Trump, we've already seen it, and we already know it. His tweets are his Nixon tapes; the 'Access Hollywood' recording his Starr report; his heedlessness for checks, balances and the rule of law his Iran-contra affair. Offending does not destroy his mandate, it fulfills it. The expectation of integrity has given way to a cynical acceptance of deceit. As much as anything Mueller uncovers, this is the scandal of our
time." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915676bc9348cb31a9a5c38af17dc747598e4851c87feea185dfd6980b7f0e9d07a356c6c878bc9ffa9

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "E.P.A. Officials, Disheartened by Agency's Direction, Are Leaving in Droves," by NYT's Lisa Friedman, Marina Affo and Derek Kravitz: "More than 700 people have left the [EPA] since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration. ... [M]ore than 200 are scientists. An additional 96 are environmental protection specialists ... The departures reflect poor morale and a sense of grievance at the agency, which has been criticized by President Trump and top Republicans in Congress as bloated and guilty of regulatory
overreach." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915488878aace56333fa5fb3c31c8be31cb1cfdfffbb4351a2442bf3940a86275891110ffd8d930a4c6

--"AP finds climate change risk for 327 toxic Superfund sites," by Jason Dearen, Michael Biesecker and Angeliki Kastanis: "[N]early 2 million people in the U.S. ... live within a mile of 327 Superfund sites in areas prone to flooding or vulnerable to sea-level rise caused by climate change, according to an Associated Press analysis of flood zone maps, census data and U.S. [EPA] records. This year's historic hurricane season exposed a little-known public health threat: Highly polluted sites that can be inundated by floodwaters, potentially spreading toxic contamination. ... The vulnerable sites highlighted by AP's review are scattered across the nation, but Florida, New Jersey and California
have the most, and the most people living near them. They are in largely low-income, heavily minority neighborhoods." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099153655df191d277a866c6cb3d01f933879f7195783fbc38a6a24a5189b11227e44b13ef4c9a1747b49

BUFFETT 2.0 -- "A Buffett-Run Firm Is on a Roll, but Warren Has Nothing to Do With It," by WSJ's Nicole Friedman: "Investors are always looking for the next Warren Buffett. Some are hoping they have found him in the same family tree. Shares in a small company tied to Mr. Buffett's grandnephew Alex Buffett Rozek have nearly doubled since listing on the Nasdaq in June, outpacing the S&P 500's 10% gain during that time. Boston Omaha Corp. BOMN +7.23% based in Omaha, Neb., sells billboard advertising and surety insurance, and Mr. Rozek is the co-chief executive.

"Mr. Rozek and his business partner Adam Peterson say they get no help from Mr. Buffett or his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Boston Omaha doesn't advertise the connection, and the name Buffett doesn't appear in the company's annual letters or news releases. Mr. Rozek said he wants the company and its results to stand on their own." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915d13f28361a5d8eedb8b9cb91c085b930d95be6059a25edbe8ec70bcbda1acbcefcdee20ec4d27cdd

FUTURECAST -- "Future Warming Could Worsen Europe's Refugee Crisis," by Michael Greshko in NatGeo: "[A] new study says that if all else were to remain equal-a necessary but major if-the stresses of climate change could drive more migrants into the European Union in future years. As warming worsens, these influxes would accelerate. Under one scenario where warming stabilizes by 2100, asylum applications could increase by some 28 percent. But in a scenario with 'business-as-usual' warming, applications could nearly triple, to more than a million asylum seekers per year." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca0991548375d3c95574be4b2ebd6e08d569df172931f4688299deb399776b09b7c453496e04f6142f06161

NEW NY MAG COVER - "100 Days of Darkness," by Mattathias Schwartz: "Hurricane Maria was a natural catastrophe. The aftermath in Puerto Rico is even worse. Writer Mattathias Schwartz and photojournalist Matt Black tell the full story of the 100 days Puerto Rico has been without power-a sustained crisis that began with Maria, will continue for months to come, and has led to a rising body count that could overtake Hurricane Katrina's." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099157ec642b56a8bff916b00fb3794daae8ef7b2fb4d06570ad9a8fef65c11c559b51515d490914dba50 ... The cover http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915d794cedc60a60e86d88ddfe4709ad657ba158b20f1022b7865d12e78c398ac4f3d1b283ef800d2c0

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "China won't arrest two fentanyl kingpins wanted by U.S.," by VICE News' Keegan Hamilton: "When the Department of Justice announced the first-ever indictments of two Chinese nationals accused of shipping massive amounts of fentanyl through the mail to customers in the United States, it was major news. Flanked by top law enforcement officials, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein touted the cases at an October press conference as a 'milestone in our battle to stop deadly fentanyl from entering the United States.' But when Rosenstein was asked whether the two alleged kingpins, Xiaobing Yan and Jian Zhang, were in custody, he declined to comment. VICE News found out why:
Chinese authorities have so far declined to apprehend the men, with one top official claiming that the U.S. overstepped its authority and failed to provide enough evidence to justify their arrest." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099157b12c4681f3f23c1cd5a278117ea4a8bf286aa619c3078908d04357d6b0ed4b569085c269c70e412

TRAILER OF THE DAY - "Silicon Valley: The Untold Story" premieres Jan. 28 on the Science Channel: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca0991559728a0e1b6f679b49b672519132a027a6f4918b797659222c12346505e484273057a6c431d22cbf


CLICKERS - "55 Ways Donald Trump Structurally Changed America in 2017: These are the concrete actions his administration has taken to alter how the country works," by Nick Tabor in NYMag: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915556952ee39771b68778f256d31248c9bc699ccc2e594875b2b1b8add5dfed3f8c7558d8272e9c20c

-- Brookings has produced an interactive version of the new National Security Strategy with annotated comments from more than 30 Brookings fellows: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915ad1b8d6f179a9eb0f4d3423065072f8453ad04f5bc9b03178943a84d1010c730650f214a0766e137

WHAT WALL STREET IS READING -- "Goldman Is Setting Up a Cryptocurrency Trading Desk," by Bloomberg's Hugh Son, Dakin Campbell, and Sonali Basak: "At least one of Wall Street's biggest firms is growing more comfortable with cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is setting up a trading desk to make markets in digital currencies such as bitcoin, according to people with knowledge of the strategy. The bank aims to get the business running by the end of June, if not earlier ... The move positions Goldman Sachs to become the first large Wall Street firm to make markets in cryptocurrencies." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca0991553ed05f095bbd0d9fa66807f67777c586271eb56325b878762ab601774ea694f88ff381729c7d465

MEDIAWATCH -- DAVID REMNICK on NewYorker.com, "A Conversation with A. G. Sulzberger, the New Leader of the New York Times": http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915acd262c9ee1035d26aa661a6982f9205a1d6e30f51c2a9585c9e64cd10f817590e519a93afd80b82

--ANGELA GREILING KEANE is joining POLITICO's States team as deputy editor. She most recently has been deputy editor for POLITICO Pro's tech team.

--"After Reuters arrests, some Myanmar reporters fear 'it could've been me'" - Reuters/Yangon: "Myanmar has detained at least 29 journalists in the 20 months since Suu Kyi came to power. While most have since been released on bail, the frequency of arrests -- along with the detention last week of two Reuters reporters -- has rekindled worries among some journalists trying to cover violence in Rakhine State." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca0991502c50f8e8c830c32c5e8fd6413c0eee2bb338716654e5f2fbe1d02a947ac63bc472914e98f0eb318

TRANSITION - Rebecca Coffman is now digital director at In Pursuit Of, the Koch Network's marketing and communications agency. She was previously communications director at Concerned Veterans for America and is an alum of Freedom Partners and GenOpp.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - Kristin Fisher, a Fox News correspondent covering the White House, and Walker Forehand, chief of staff and corporate strategy director at Promontory, on Tuesday welcomed Clara Fisher Forehand. "She clocked in at 8 pounds, 0 ounces, and she was 20 inches long." Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca09915e170c5523e19bc274e95e904cc42559b52e4a405a78633b94db8778444abcae5ecd75523b5265ed5


-- @FoxFriendsFirst: "Congratulations to @JackieibanezFNC! A new member of our Fox Family!" Ibanez, a Fox News anchor, on Tuesday welcomed Vince Bo. 38-second video from the show http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7335ff28ca099156acaf2db0248d58c935710b307b051d701609d24ecbe422eb1e13bf2a9950a9c05e2abe3d1e7614f

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