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Presented by the National Retail Federation: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington Sep 09, 2018 View in browser
By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
IF YOU LISTEN TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, Republicans are poised to win big in the midterms, keep control in Washington and win in a landslide in 2020. Nothing to worry about, folks.

BUT THAT'S A STARK CONTRAST to the vast majority of Republican operatives who are increasingly raising the alarm bells that Republicans could lose control not only of the House but, potentially, the Senate.

VETERAN POLITICAL HANDICAPPERS like Stu Rothenberg this week have begun to publicly muse that Democrats have a pathway to win the majority based on recent polling in states like Missouri, Indiana and Tennessee. Even typically sure things like Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas is causing Republicans heartburn with Beto O'Rourke making the Lone Star State surprisingly competitive.


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Hardworking American families should not be forced to pay the price for other countries' unfair trade practices. Tariffs are B-A-D Economics that will raise prices. Visit tariffsarebad.com to learn more.

THERE IS A GROWING FEAR among GOP political operatives that Trump could depress turnout in the midterms by constantly telling his supporters that Republicans are going to do well in November and not ringing the alarm bells that they need to stave off a blue wave.

ADDING TO THE CONCERN: There's an increasing sense that the midterms could become a referendum on Trump's governing style which could lead to a blowout for Republicans. WAPO's Ashley Parker and Phil Rucker: "Trump colors the fall campaign landscape: 'He's been the only thing that matters'"

CASE IN POINT -- @realDonalTrump at 9:47 p.m.: "The Dems have tried every trick in the playbook-call me everything under the sun. But if I'm all of those terrible things, how come I beat them so badly, 306-223? Maybe they're just not very good! The fact is they are going CRAZY only because they know they can't beat me in 2020!"

... at 9:38 p.m.: "Republicans are doing really well with the Senate Midterms. Races that we were not even thinking about winning are now very close, or even leading. Election night will be very interesting indeed!"

... at 10:42 a.m.: "Wow, NFL first game ratings are way down over an already really bad last year comparison. Viewership declined 13%, the lowest in over a decade. If the players stood proudly for our Flag and Anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings could come back? Otherwise worse!"

SIREN -- "Top Trump Adviser Says Ted Cruz Could Lose Texas Senate Race," by NYT's Alex Burns and Ken Vogel: "A pair of top Republicans acknowledged in a private meeting on Saturday that the party was battling serious vulnerabilities in the midterm elections, including what one described as widespread 'hate' for President Trump, and raised the prospect that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas could lose his bid for re-election because he is not seen as 'likable' enough. The two Republican leaders, Mick Mulvaney, the federal budget director, and Ronna McDaniel, the [RNC] chairwoman, assured party officials and donors at a closed-door event in New York City that the right would ultimately turn back a
purported 'blue wave' in November.

"Mr. Mulvaney also questioned whether Democrats could marshal support from outside the left, criticizing them as a party defined solely by opposition to Mr. Trump. But Mr. Mulvaney and Ms. McDaniel also offered an unusually raw assessment of their own party's strengths and weaknesses in the midterm elections. They pointed to the burning energy among Democratic voters and the dozens of open House seats, where Republican incumbents decided not to seek re-election, as fearsome obstacles to retaining control of Congress. And Mr. Mulvaney suggested Republicans would fare better if they could 'subtract' the president's divisive persona from voters' minds, and stress instead that the country is in
a 'pretty good' condition.

"'You may hate the president, and there's a lot of people who do, but they certainly like the way the country is going,' Mr. Mulvaney said, adding of voters: 'If you figure out a way to subtract from that equation how they feel about the president, the numbers go up dramatically.' Their comments were captured in an audio recording that was obtained by The New York Times from a person who attended the party meeting." NYT

-- "Sasse: 'Every morning' I consider leaving the GOP," by Connor O'Brien: "Sen. Ben Sasse lambasted nasty rhetoric and partisanship between Republicans and Democrats on Sunday and said he's considered leaving the Republican Party. 'I probably think about it every morning when I wake up, and I figure out why am I flying away from Nebraska to go to D.C. this week,' said Sasse, who tweeted Saturday that he had considered leaving the GOP. 'Are we gonna get real stuff done?'" POLITICO

TRUMP'S WEEK AHEAD: MONDAY: The president will have lunch with VP Mike Pence. TUESDAY: Trump and first lady Melania Trump will participate in a Flight 93 Sept. 11 memorial service. The president is meeting with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. WEDNESDAY: Trump is having lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

SUNDAY BEST -- THE ANONYMOUS NYT OP-ED EDITION ...

-- CHRIS WALLACE spoke with VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE on "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": WALLACE: "Do you think you know who Anonymous is?" PENCE: "I don't. I don't know. But I do know that they should resign and leave this administration." WALLACE: "Should all top officials take a lie detector test, and would you agree to take one?" PENCE: "I would agree to take it in a heartbeat and would submit to any review the administration ... wanted to do."

WALLACE: "The administration should do that?" PENCE: "Oh, that -- look, that'd be a decision for the president. But look, I think -- the honorable thing to do here is for this individual to recognize that they are -- they're literally violating an oath. If they are that senior administration official -- that they're violating an oath, not to the president, but to the Constitution."

-- MARGARET BRENNAN also spoke with PENCE on CBS' "FACE THE NATION": BRENNAN: "One of the claims made in the op-ed is that there had been discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment to even remove the president from office. Have you ever been part of a conversation about that?" PENCE: "No. Never. And why would we be Margaret? I mean the truth of the matter is over the last eight years despite what we heard from President Obama on Friday, I mean this country was struggling. I mean it was the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression."

-- JAKE TAPPER talked with KELLYANNE CONWAY on CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": TAPPER: "Don't you think that the White House, in the way that it has reacted to this op-ed, has also imbued the op-ed with a sense of credibility? For instance, I have no idea who wrote it. I mean, it could be an assistant director at the Mineral Mining Agency, for all I know. But, all of a sudden, you have the vice president denying it, Secretary of State Pompeo denying it. By the end of the day, every Cabinet secretary had denied it, either on camera or in an official statement. Didn't that rise to the level of the credibility, not to mention the oxygen?"

CONWAY: "So, I did say earlier this week I had a fairly different view than others, which is, why would we elevate somebody we don't even know? We also don't know what this person has said to try to get that op-ed in 'The New York Times' or what he or she has said to other people.

"So, to the president's point that there could be a national security risk at hand, he doesn't want this person in a meeting where he's discussing China, Russia, North Korea. Any president of the United States, Jake, should have the comfort and the freedom to speak with his national security team and not..."

TAPPER: "But why do you think it -- why does the president think it is a member of the national security..." CONWAY: "No, he's making the point that, if it is, if it is, that that raises true concerns, if it's somebody who has access to information."

-- CHUCK TODD also spoke with CONWAY on NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": TODD: "[Has Trump] ordered the investigation of who wrote this op-ed?" CONWAY: "I won't -- I won't talk about that. He has said publicly that he thinks that we should find out who this person is. I don't believe in giving this person so much elevation and oxygen ... but we all want to know who it is."

TODD: "So he's, so it's possible he's given an order to the Department of Justice to investigate this?" CONWAY: "He, he will, he has said publicly what he feels. You can roll the tape he said it several times." TODD: "I understand that. Should it be taken, should the Attorney General take it as an order?" CONWAY: "If the Attorney General, the Department of Justice and FBI feels like they have oversight over a matter like this then they will make that decision."


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BOB WOODWARD sat down with DAVID MARTIN on "CBS SUNDAY MORNING" and discussed the anonymous op-ed: WOODWARD: "I have no idea who it is. It's very important who it is. It's very important whether this is somebody who witnessed and participated -- and quite frankly if there was a person in the White House or in the administration who wanted to tell me what's in that Op-Ed piece I would say, 'OK, name me who was there. What is the specific incident? As you know from having read my book there are dates and times and participants. I wouldn't have used it."

MARTIN: "Too vague?" WOODWARD: "Well, too vague and not, does not meet the standards of trying to describe specific incidents. Specific incidents are the building blocks of journalism, as you well know."

Good Sunday morning. Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish new year - begins tonight at sundown.

WHAT'S ON PRESIDENT TRUMP'S MIND THIS MORNING -- @realDonaldTrump at 9:49 a.m.: "'Ford has abruptly killed a plan to sell a Chinese-made small vehicle in the U.S. because of the prospect of higher U.S. Tariffs.' CNBC. This is just the beginning. This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!"

... at 10:01 a.m.: "If the U.S. sells a car into China, there is a tax of 25%. If China sells a car into the U.S., there is a tax of 2%. Does anybody think that is FAIR? The days of the U.S. being ripped-off by other nations is OVER!"

... at 10:12 a.m.: "'Trump has set Economic Growth on fire. During his time in office, the economy has achieved feats most experts thought impossible. GDP is growing at a 3 percent-plus rate. The unemployment rate is near a 50 year low.' CNBC...Also, the Stock Market is up almost 50% since Election!"

SPOTTED IN NANTUCKET: Bill and Hillary Clinton having lunch on Saturday with Terry and Dorothy McAuliffe and Huma Abedin at Cru oyster bar on Nantucket. "Bill got up at the end to shake a couple of hands and literally kiss a baby but other than that it was pretty low key," per a tipster. Bill and Terry were earlier seen by another tipster walking down Main Street together on the island.

WHAT AMERICA IS READING -- Front pages from across the U.S. -- INDIANAPOLIS STAR: "Indianapolis dad helps expose Russian trolls" ... ORLANDO SENTINEL: "Red tide, green slime: Florida faces an epic, statewide battle with algae and its toxic effects" ... ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS: "Farm bill stirs worries that Alaskans could lose food stamps benefits" ... KANSAS CITY STAR: "Lethal Inaction: Fatal truck crashes surge, but U.S. government won't make an easy fix" ... MIAMI HERALD: "Tens of thousands still face insurance 'nightmares' after Irma" ...

... SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS: "Harris, Booker shine at hearings" ... L.A. TIMES: "Ties to S.F.'s elite served Newsom well" ... STAR TRIBUNE of MINNEAPOLIS: "Tariffs leave farmers bracing for big losses" ... THE DESERT SUN of PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.: "Cannabis colossus: Massive marijuana growing facility taking shape in Cathedral City"

TAX REFORM 2.0? -- "At-risk House Republicans say no to new tax bill," by Nancy Cook and Bernie Becker: "The White House and top congressional Republicans want to push for a House vote on a second round of tax cuts ahead of the midterms in hopes of bolstering their economic pitch to voters - but they're running into opposition within their own party.

"GOP leaders conceived of the second tax bill as a messaging win that would put Democrats on their heels ahead of the midterms, forcing them to vote against tax relief for the middle class. But the concerns over the bill are largely flowing from the Republican side, mainly from members fighting to keep hold of seats in suburban districts where President Donald Trump is most unpopular - and that are key to the GOP's hopes of keeping their majority.

"A dozen House Republicans, all but one of them from the high-tax states of California, New Jersey and New York, voted against the tax law in December because it capped state and local tax deductions, which they said would lead to tax increases on too many of their constituents. Some of those GOP lawmakers have openly said they would prefer to leave the tax issue alone as Congress also grapples with how to fund the government and the House potentially votes on health care measures that might be more politically beneficial to vulnerable incumbents." POLITICO

KATC'S JORDAN LIPPINCOTT: "Donald Trump Jr. hunts gators with Rep. Steve Scalise in Louisiana"

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- "N. Korea stages huge parade, holds back on advanced missiles," by AP's Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang: "North Korea rolled out some of its latest tanks and marched its best-trained goose-stepping units through Kim Il Sung Square in a major military parade on Sunday to mark its 70th anniversary, but held back its most advanced missiles and devoted nearly half of the event to civilian efforts to build the domestic economy.

"The strong emphasis on the economy underscores leader Kim Jong Un's new strategy of putting economic development front and center. ... Kim attended the morning parade but did not address the assembled crowd, which included the head of the Chinese parliament and high-level delegations from countries that have friendly ties with the North." AP

2018 WATCH -- DAVID SIDERS in Anaheim, California: "Obama rallies California Dems as state GOP licks its chops": "Barack Obama's plunge into the midterm elections on Saturday served its central purpose: For Democrats in critical House races - many of them new to politics - appearing with the former president lent their campaigns urgency and credibility.

"'If we don't step up, things can get worse,' Obama told cheering activists who gathered in a crowded ballroom at a rally for seven Democrats running in Republican-held House districts. 'In two months, we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics.'

"But Republicans see Obama's return as a chance to step up, too. As the liberal hero begins to stump for fellow Democrats this fall, his stop in this one-time bastion of conservatism comes with political risk. Republicans for years used Obama to energize voters, yoking down-ticket Democrats to a president reviled by the GOP. That's a formula Republicans here think they can repeat." POLITICO

ISAAC DOVERE: "Booker heading to Iowa in October": "2020 just got a little closer. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will be the featured speaker at the Iowa Democrats' fall gala, party chairman Troy Price announced Saturday. It will be the first Iowa event for one of the prospective presidential candidates with top name recognition since Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders stopped through for a brief campaign swing earlier this year.

"The announcement comes at the end of a week when Booker took center stage as a hero - according to his supporters, or as a grandstander, according to his critics - in the Democratic campaign against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

"The dinner will be October 6, a month ahead of elections for governor and several of the state's House districts that Democrats are hoping to win, but comes as presidential announcement speculation is beginning to spike." POLITICO

-- GUARDIAN'S BEN JACOBS: "Cory Booker places staff in Iowa ahead of potential 2020 White House run"

THE INVESTIGATIONS -- "Papadopoulos: 'My recollection differs from Jeff Sessions' on reaction to idea of Trump-Putin summit," by ABC News' Matthew Mosk and Kaitlyn Folmer: "George Papadopoulos says then-Sen. Jeff Sessions seemed interested during the 2016 campaign in pursuing a meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in contrast to what Sessions later told Congress.

"'All I can say is, my recollection differs from Sen. Sessions,' Papadopoulos told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on 'This Week' Sunday.

Papadopoulos said he floated the idea of a summit between then-candidate Trump and Putin at a campaign security team meeting on March 31, 2016. Sessions, now the Attorney General, later told Congress he shut down the idea of a summit at that meeting.

"But Papadopoulos said that at the meeting Trump nodded his head to suggest he was open to the idea of a summit with Putin but appeared to defer to Sessions." ABC

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-- "Prosecutors Admit They Wrongly Accused Russian of Offering Sex for Republican Access," by NYT's Sharon LaFraniere: "Federal prosecutors have admitted that they wrongly accused Maria Butina, a Russian citizen now in custody on charges of illegally acting as a foreign agent, of offering to trade sex for a job as part of a covert effort by Russian government officials to infiltrate Republican circles in the United States. In a court filing late Friday, prosecutors in the United States attorney's office in Washington acknowledged that they had been 'mistaken' in interpreting what were apparently joking text messages between Ms. Butina and a friend who had helped her renew her car insurance.
...

"Defense lawyers for Ms. Butina are arguing that the prosecutors' error is emblematic of a flawed federal case that has wrongly landed their client in pretrial custody. A federal judge is scheduled to review Ms. Butina's request that she be released from jail, as well as whether to impose a gag order, on Monday." NYT

TRUMP'S SUNDAY -- The president has no public events scheduled.

PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Former President Barack Obama, center, and congressional candidates, from left, Josh Harder, TJ Cox, Gil Cisneros, Katie Porter, Harley Rouda and Mike Levin wave to supporters as Obama campaigns in support of California congressional candidates on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Anaheim, Calif. | Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo

KNOWING TIM RYAN -- ERICK TRICKEY in Warren, Ohio, for POLITICO Magazine -- "'I'm Not Necessarily Some Soft Yoga Guy'": "Rep. Tim Ryan wants you to know: Just because he meditates doesn't mean he's soft. He's from Ohio's blue-collar Mahoning Valley, the steel valley, home of Youngstown, a district where 45,000 people voted for both him and Donald Trump.

"So if you've read that Congress' foremost advocate of mindfulness wants to run for president in 2020 by winning the 'yoga vote'-and if that seems risky against an incumbent with a Triumph-the-Insult-Comic-Dog attack style-well, that's only part of Ryan's story.

"'I think once you meet me, you realize I'm not necessarily some soft yoga guy,' says Ryan, a tall, well-built former high-school quarterback. 'I've been on the picket line. I've been in the union halls. I'll drink a Miller Lite with you.'" POLITICO

THE ADMINISTRATION -- "With a shrinking EPA, Trump delivers on his promise to cut government," by WaPo's Brady Dennis, Juliet Eilperin and Andrew Ba Tran: "On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to dismantle the [EPA] 'in almost every form. We're going to have little tidbits left, but we're going to take a tremendous amount out.' As president, he is making headway on that promise. During the first 18 months of the Trump administration, records show, nearly 1,600 workers left the EPA, while fewer than 400 were hired. The exodus has shrunk the agency's workforce by 8 percent, to levels not seen since the Reagan administration. ...

"Those who have resigned or retired include some of the agency's most experienced veterans, as well as young environmental experts who traditionally would have replaced them - stirring fears about brain drain at the EPA. The sheer number of departures also has prompted concerns over what sort of work is falling by the wayside, from enforcement investigations to environmental research. According to data released under the Freedom of Information Act and analyzed by The Washington Post, at least 260 scientists, 185 'environmental protection specialists' and 106 engineers are gone." WaPo

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Trump to provide written answers under oath in Summer Zervos defamation lawsuit," by WaPo's Elise Viebeck: "President Trump will provide written answers under oath in the defamation lawsuit brought by former 'Apprentice' contestant Summer Zervos, who claims Trump sexually assaulted her in 2007, a new court filing stated. Lawyers for Trump and Zervos agreed this week to exchange 'written answers and objections' to formal written questions by Sept. 28, according to a document filed Friday with the New York State Supreme Court. ... Zervos sued Trump for defamation in early 2017 after he called her a liar for claiming he had groped and forcibly kissed her 10 years prior.
Trump denies wrongdoing in the case." WaPo

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Tariffs are B-A-D Economics. They don't work. Tariffs not only hurt consumers but have a significantly negative impact on retail small businesses. Washington needs a lesson: Tariffs are B-A-D Economics! Watch the campaign to stop tariffs at tariffsarebad.com.

SPORTS BLINK - WAPO'S SALLY JENKINS: "At U.S. Open, power of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka is overshadowed by an umpire's power play": "Chair umpire Carlos Ramos managed to rob not one but two players in the women's U.S. Open final. Nobody has ever seen anything like it: An umpire so wrecked a big occasion that both players, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams alike, wound up distraught with tears streaming down their faces during the trophy presentation and an incensed crowd screamed boos at the court. Ramos took what began as a minor infraction and turned it into one of the nastiest and most emotional controversies in the history of tennis, all because he couldn't take a woman speaking
sharply to him." WaPo

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from New York City:

-- "The Big Lie," by Jack Stripling and Megan Zahneis in the Chronicle of Higher Ed: "A professor schemed to get a raise and win his department's respect. Instead, he wrecked his career." Chronicle

-- "The Other Political Correctness," by Isaac Stone Fish in TNR: "Why are America's elite universities censoring themselves on China?" TNR

-- "The American Nightmare," by Desiree Stennett and Lisa Rowan in The Penny Hoarder: "Ten Years Ago, The economy was imploding. In late 2017, we asked readers to tell us their foreclosure stories. More than 50 people responded. Over and over, they used the same word." Penny Hoarder

-- "Becoming a Woman Who Yells at Her Children," by Lydia Kiesling in The Cut - per Longreads.com's description: "If yelling is the new spanking, where does that leave the progressive, occasionally voice-raising parent?" The Cut

-- "Musical pleasures," by Roger Mathew Grant in Aeon: "Can a melody provide us with pleasure? Plato certainly thought so, as do many today. But it's incredibly difficult to discern just how this comes to pass. Is it something about the flow and shape of a tune that encourages you to predict its direction and follow along? Perhaps music can sound something like a passionate utterance, which might in turn be pleasurable to hear and enjoy. One can imagine a melody as a distant echo of something more primal." Aeon (h/t TheBrowser.com)

-- "The mystery of Tucker Carlson," by Lyz Lenz in CJR: CJR

-- "The Incredible, Rage-Inducing Inside Story of America's Student Debt Machine," by Ryann Liebenthal in the Sept./Oct. issue of Mother Jones: "Why is the nation's flagship loan forgiveness program failing the people it's supposed to help?" Mother Jones

-- "Was She J.D. Salinger's Predator or His Prey?" by Joyce Maynard in the NYT Book Review: "In the spring of 1972, following the publication in The Times Magazine of an essay of mine accompanied by a particularly guileless photograph of me (bluejeans, scruffy hair, no makeup), I had received a letter from J.D. Salinger in which he offered his admiration, friendship, mentorship and spiritual guidance - and, in subsequent letters and phone calls, urged me to leave college, come live with him (have babies, collaborate on plays we would perform together in London's West End) and be (I truly believed this) his partner forever." NYT

-- "The Second Chechen War: Testimony of an Eyewitness," by Abdul Itslayev in Open Democracy: "Chechen journalist Abdul Itslayev lived out the Second Chechen War in his native village. Against a backdrop of rocket attacks, murder and robbery, he tried to piece together what, in fact, was happening." Open Democracy

-- "The Salena Zito controversy, explained," by Vox's Dylan Matthews: "A chronicler of heartland Trump voters stands accused of shoddy journalism." Vox

-- "Above It All: How the Court Got So Supreme," by David A. Kaplan, author of "The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court's Assault on the Constitution," in Longreads: "Critics disparaged the Court building as 'the marble palace' - which set a world record at the time for marble content. When the doors opened in 1935, several justices refused to leave the Capitol to move in." Longreads ... $22.25 on Amazon

-- "The Women Code Breakers Who Unmasked Soviet Spies," by Liza Mundy in the September issue of Smithsonian Magazine: "At the height of the Cold War, America's most secretive counterespionage effort set out to crack unbreakable ciphers." Smithsonian
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Michelle Obama having dinner with friends at San Lorenzo, the new Italian restaurant from Massimo Fabbri on 9th Street in Shaw ... Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brunching at Chez Billy Sud on Saturday ... David and Holly Petraeus having brunch on Saturday at Southgate bar and restaurant at the JW Marriott Essex House in Manhattan ... Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) at the Social Safeway on Wisconsin Ave. where he was buying bread flour for his wife Abby to make challah. They're in town to spend her holiday, Rosh Hashanah, with family -- pic

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Heidi Sommer, executive director of POLITICO Live, married Gordon Forrest, an analyst at DoD, at the Tenaya Lodge in Yosemite National Park in California. Pool report: "The ceremony was overlooking an amazing forest. Their flower dog Chelsea walked down the aisle -- soon followed by Gordon, and Heidi. The bride and groom wrote their own vows -- and didn't let anyone forget that their relationship started when Gordon was an intern, who had a huge crush on his boss. The ceremony was filled with speeches from friends and family, cheers, BBQ and a lot of love." Pic ... Another pic ... A third

SPOTTED: Meredith and Rich McPhillips, Jon and Britt Otto, James Pollock and Alexis Williams.

-- OBAMA ALUMNI -- "Huma Shah, Ardevan Yaghoubi" - N.Y. Times: "Ms. Shah, 28, works in Washington as the chief of staff to the president at FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice advocacy organization. She previously worked as the special assistant and policy adviser to Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama. Ms. Shah has also worked for the Department of Homeland Security as a special assistant in the Office of Public Affairs. ... Mr. Yaghoubi, also 28, is the founder of Heathcote Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm in New York." With a pic

-- "Juliana Brint, William Sommer" - N.Y. Times: "The couple met at Georgetown, from which each graduated, she magna cum laude. Ms. Brint, 29, is an associate for energy regulation and litigation at the New York-based law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; she works in the firm's Washington office. She received a law degree from Yale. ... Mr. Sommer, 30, is the technology and internet reporter in Washington for The Daily Beast. He also writes a weekly online newsletter, Right Richter, on trends and conspiracy theories in conservative media." With a pic

BIRTHDAYS: Jonathan Cohn, HuffPost's senior national correspondent ... Eric Draper ... Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is 55 ... Matt Boyle, Breitbart's Washington political editor (hat tip: Amanda House) ... Matt Bai, Yahoo News political columnist, is 5-0 ... journalist David Freedlander ... Aimee Steel ... CAP senior fellow Glen Fukushima ... Michael Greenwald, SVP for Tiedemann Advisors, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Fellow, and former U.S. Treasury attaché to Qatar and Kuwait, is 35. He's celebrating at the U.S. Open finals with friends (h/t Morgan Ortagus) ... Quincey Grieve ... Laura Cash ... former Rep. Glenn Nye (D-Va.), now president and CEO of the Center for the Study of the
Presidency and Congress, is 44 (h/t Ben Chang) ... Bill Sparks ... Christina Wagner ... Augusta (Mellon) Rhoades, on the comms team for Bloomberg Media, who recently got married to BuzzFeed's Logan Rhoades (pic) (h/t Ashley Bahnken) ... Kelly Schwartz (hubby tip: Roy) ...

... AP's Matt Lee (h/t Heather Nauert) ... Dan Brandt ... Ebony Meeks Laidley ... Emily Daly ... Ron Dotzauer ... Lauren Hackett, SVP of global communications at The Economist ... CNAS' Rachel Rizzo ... Meghan Fort ... Kara Voght ... Dwayne Carson ... Rob Biederman ... Dr. Judith Rodin ... Jason Denoncourt ... Henrique Ferreira ... Katelyn Israelski ... Tara Setmayer Love ... Nawaid Ladak ... Twitter's Greg Maxson ... Dan Brandt ... Javelin's Vanessa Oblinger-Santos (h/t Keith Urbahn) ... Ryan Wegman ... Jordan Bloom ... Allan Dodds Frank ... Diego Sanchez Gallardo ... Chris Cooks ... former Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) is 8-0 ... DOJ's Michael Harper ... Wendy Oscarson Kirchner ... Cherie
Harder, president of The Trinity Forum ... Jeff Weintraub ... Steve Raikin ... Karen Fawcett ... Andrew Morin ... Sophie Kurz-Cosgrove (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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