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Presented by PhRMA: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington Oct 03, 2018 View in browser
By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
TRUMP'S PACKAGE TO THE HILL ... THE PRESIDENT sent a letter -- and a package of clips -- to Capitol Hill Wednesday, his first outreach on the trade pact he cut with Mexico and Canada. The letter -- on White House stationery -- says: "The trade deal, USMCA, has received fantastic reviews. It will go down as one of the best ever made, and it will also benefit Mexico and Canada!"

-- THE LETTER CAME WITH a New York Post opinion piece and Wall Street Journal news story. Check out the Trump care package here

-- HEY, MR. PRESIDENT ... If you want members of Congress to be wowed by the coverage of your trade deal, pull local clips for lawmakers that show support across the country. The New York delegation is about the only group of people that will care about the Post's coverage of your trade deal! But, it's good to start reaching out.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK ... THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND, the House GOP super PAC, has raised $132 MILLION this cycle, and $40 MILLION since July 1. The super PAC -- led by Corry Bliss -- has $45 million in the bank for the last 34 DAYS until Election Day. CLF will file its report Oct. 15, so then we'll be able to see who is stroking the massive checks to try to save the GOP majority.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT ... AP'S ZEKE MILLER in Southaven, Miss.: "In Mississippi, Trump mocks Ford's claims against Kavanaugh": "President Donald Trump ignited a crowd at a campaign rally in Mississippi on Tuesday by mocking a woman who has claimed she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh decades ago.

"The audience laughed as Trump ran through a list of what he described as holes in Christine Blasey Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She testified that Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, tried to take off her clothes and covered her mouth in the early 1980s, when the two were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied Ford's allegations.

"How did you get home? 'I don't remember,'' Trump said at the rally in Southaven. 'How did you get there? 'I don't remember.' Where is the place? 'I don't remember.' How many years ago was it? 'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.''

"Imitating Ford, he added, 'But I had one beer - that's the only thing I remember.' It marked the sharpest criticism by Trump of Ford since she came forward publicly with the allegation last month. He had previously called Ford a "very credible witness." AP

-- @MSNBC: "WATCH: President Trump mocks Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Trump's Supreme Court pick Judge Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, during rally in Mississippi." 1-min. video

BEHIND THE SCENES ... THE STUNNING PART OF THIS: Almost every conversation we have with Republicans looking to save the House revolves around their trouble attracting educated women.

ANDREW RESTUCCIA: "Trump the teetotaler forced to defend Kavanaugh's drinking"

THE MONSTER STORY ... NYT "SPECIAL INVESTIGATION" ... 14,218 WORDS ... "Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father," by David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Ross Buettner: "President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

"Mr. Trump won the presidency proclaiming himself a self-made billionaire, and he has long insisted that his father, the legendary New York City builder Fred C. Trump, provided almost no financial help.

"But The Times's investigation, based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, reveals that Mr. Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father's real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day." NYT

-- TL;DR? -- "11 Takeaways From The Times's Investigation Into Trump's Wealth"

-- @SamDolnick: "True fact: the @nytimes had to schedule extra workers at the printing factory to publish the monster Trump taxes investigation. Eight pages of the paper."

-- Jon Passantino (@passantino): "'The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,' New York State Department of Tax and Finance spox tells @ClaudiaKoerner @BuzzFeedNews."

WAPO'S BOB COSTA: "Michael Bloomberg jolts Senate battle with $20 million for Democrats": "Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City who is considering a 2020 presidential campaign, will give $20 million to the main Democratic Senate super PAC this week - jolting the national battle for control of the chamber just five weeks away from the midterm elections.

"Bloomberg's intervention bolsters the Democrats' Senate chances by infusing significant late-season capital into the Senate Majority PAC, a group that had $29 million on hand at the end of August and has been purchasing advertising in expensive media markets.

"Bloomberg - a former Republican and declared political independent- says the emotional national debate over sexual-assault allegations against President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh has energized Democratic voters and provides an opening for the party to be more competitive in rallying women and swing voters, his advisers said Tuesday, adding that he sees last week's contentious hearings as a tipping point." WaPo

-- BLOOMBERG also said at a dinner last night in New York that he would double his commitment to the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund to $5 million. He won a lifetime achievement award from the group last night.

A message from PhRMA:

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THE 2018 MIDTERMS ... VP MIKE PENCE headed to Spokane, Wash., for an event for HOUSE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE CHAIRWOMAN CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS, who has a tough re-elect. Pence is the first VP to stop in Spokane since Dick Cheney in 2006. (Pence was also House Republican Conference chair.)

-- THE SPOKESMAN REVIEW'S KIP HILL: "Vice President Mike Pence urged Eastern Washington voters to retain U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in a stump speech Tuesday afternoon to push the administration's economic policies and continue its momentum. Retaining Republican majorities in the House and Senate would enable the White House to continue pushing for conservative judges like embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Pence said.

"'I'm here for one reason and one reason only,' the vice president told an assembled late-lunch crowd of 900-plus that filled an auditorium at the Spokane Convention Center. 'Washington and Washington, D.C., need Cathy McMorris Rodgers back.'

"In a 30-minute speech to donors that had gifted at least $125 to McMorris Rodgers in her re-election campaign against Lisa Brown, Pence credited Republican majorities in both chambers for eliminating bureaucratic regulations and passing President Donald Trump's signature tax bill. He called McMorris Rodgers 'one of the most important voices in Washington, D.C.'" Spokesman Review

FIRST FAMILY -- "Trump Jr. to campaign in North Carolina, Georgia," by McClatchy's Katie Glueck: "Donald Trump Jr., the son of President Donald Trump, is headed to Charlotte next week to support Mark Harris, a conservative congressional candidate running in North Carolina's unexpectedly competitive Ninth District. ... The event will be held at City Club Charlotte, according to an invitation and other details shared with McClatchy. Tickets start at $1,000 and go up to $10,000 per person. Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. will then head to Athens, Ga., that evening for a fundraiser to boost Brian Kemp, the GOP candidate for governor, who is running in a tight, high-profile race against Democrat Stacey
Abrams. Tickets to the Kemp fundraiser start at $50 and go up to $1,000, according to another invitation." McClatchy

SCOOP -- WAPO'S JOSH ROGIN, "Days before trade deal, Trump said Canada's foreign minister 'hates America'": "'She hates America,' Trump said [at a Sept. 27 private fundraiser], referring to Canada's negotiator without using [Chrystia] Freeland's name. He was in the midst of a 10-minute riff on Canada and the then-ongoing trade negotiations, not dissimilar to remarks he gave at the previous day's news conference in New York.

"In those public remarks, Trump said, 'We don't like their representative very much,' again without saying Freeland's name but referring to her directly. Inside the Trump hotel fundraising event, Trump also asserted that the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, 'hates America.'

"Trump then said this was a shame because female leaders are often better than male leaders; all the more the pity, he declared, that these two women hate America. A White House spokesman declined to comment on Trump's remarks as related by the two attendees, but did say: 'It was a highly successful night and the president had the crowd in great spirits.'" WaPo

THE INVESTIGATIONS -- "Mueller 'downsizing' with departure of 2 prosecutors," by Darren Samuelsohn: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is shrinking by two in the wake of its successful prosecution of Paul Manafort and amid signs the Russia investigation may be nearing its final stages.

"Brandon Van Grack and Kyle Freeny - government lawyers with key roles in bringing the case against the former Trump campaign chairman over tax evasion, bank fraud and failure to register as a foreign agent for his lobbying work in Ukraine - are going back to their prior posts at the Justice Department, according to Mueller spokesman Peter Carr." POLITICO

-- KYLE CHENEY: "Rosenstein to meet with House Republicans on Oct. 11"

THE LATEST ON BRETT KAVANAUGH ...

-- SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY.) told reporters yesterday that the FBI will wrap up its probe this week, and the Senate will vote.

-- BURGESS EVERETT: "GOP senators use Kavanaugh to beat back primary challengers in 2020": "These senators, many of whom won for the first time in 2014, say they are merely reflecting the intensity of conservative voters who are outraged at what they view as Kavanaugh's unfair treatment by liberal Democrats and the media. While many will face token challengers at a minimum, the key is to make sure they are aligned with Trump on key issues - and perhaps nothing is bigger going into the next election cycle than defending Trump's beleaguered nominee. ...

"Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who took a Democratic seat in 2014, said that his class of a dozen Republican senators - called the 'bear den' within the Senate - views its mandate as confirming right-leaning judges and changing the direction of the Supreme Court and lower courts. A loss on Kavanaugh would be seen as a black mark by their voters.

"'If we don't do a good job and we don't do everything we can to [confirm] good, solid conservative judges, yeah, they're going to be mad at us. And they see Judge Kavanaugh as being conservative' Rounds said. 'A lot of them think we're being played by the Democrats.' ...

"For [Susan] Collins, how she comes down on Kavanaugh could sink her in a GOP primary in 2020 or infuriate liberals so much that she draws a credible general election opponent. In an interview Tuesday, Collins said she will decide whether to run for reelection next year and is fixated in the meantime on making sure she makes the right decision on what could be the biggest vote of her career.

"'All I can do is cast the vote I think is correct. If I try to do a political assessment on this vote, it would be wrong given that we're talking about a Supreme Court nominee,' she said. 'No matter how I vote, there will be people who are very unhappy with it.'" POLITICO

-- WAPO'S DEVLIN BARRETT, MATT ZAPOTOSKY, CAROL LEONNIG and TOM HAMBURGER: "FBI navigates political minefield and deadline in Kavanaugh inquiry": "FBI agents have completed a first batch of interviews of four individuals closest to the alleged events, and the White House has given the bureau a green light to conduct some further interviews, according to the people familiar with the matter.

"On Tuesday, the FBI moved beyond those initial four people, interviewing Tim Gaudette, a Georgetown Preparatory School classmate of Kavanaugh. Gaudette's attorney, Kenneth Eichner, said an FBI interview took place but declined to comment further. Gaudette's home was the site of a July 1, 1982, party that Kavanaugh references on his calendar and has become the focus of lawmakers' concerns.

"FBI agents have also interviewed Mark Judge, a key Kavanaugh high school friend who has denied any knowledge of a teenage gathering like the one described by Kavanaugh's first accuser.

"In the interview, Judge also denied recent allegations leveled by Julie Swetnick, saying he had no knowledge of anything like what she had claimed - that he, Kavanaugh or other male friends tried at house parties to get girls drunk in order to take advantage of them, according to two people familiar with the interview. ...

"In many background checks, interviews will be conducted by a single agent, but the Kavanaugh matter is anything but a standard inquiry. When the FBI met one of Kavanaugh's accusers, Deborah Ramirez, in Boulder, Colo., this past weekend, they sent two agents, and a supervisory agent waited in an adjoining room, according to people familiar with the matter." WaPo

-- NYT'S KATE KELLY and DAVID ENRICH: "Kavanaugh's 1983 Letter Offers Inside Look at High School Clique": "The beachfront property was rented, the guests were invited and an ever-organized Brett M. Kavanaugh had some advice for the seven Georgetown Preparatory School classmates who would be joining him for the weeklong escapade. In a 1983 letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times, the young Judge Kavanaugh warned his friends of the danger of eviction from an Ocean City, Md., condo.

"In a neatly written postscript, he added: Whoever arrived first at the condo should 'warn the neighbors that we're loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us. Advise them to go about 30 miles...' More than three decades later, the elite, privileged high school world that Judge Kavanaugh inhabited is the focus of international attention. He has been accused of sexual assault during his time at Georgetown Prep - claims that have delayed, and threatened to derail, his confirmation to the Supreme Court." NYT

-- HUFFPOST'S JEN BENDERY: "2 Of Brett Kavanaugh's Former Classmates Withdraw Support For Him": "Two former law school classmates of Brett Kavanaugh's who previously vouched for him wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to say they are withdrawing their support for him because of 'the nature' of his recent testimony.

"'Under the current circumstances, we fear that partisanship has injected itself into Judge Kavanaugh's candidacy,' Michael J. Proctor and Mark Osler say in a letter to Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee's chairman and ranking member, respectively. 'That, and the lack of judicial temperament displayed on September 27 hearing, cause us to withdraw our support.'" HuffPost

-- CNN'S ELIZABETH LANDERS (@ElizLanders): ".@SenFeinstein indicates that the FBI report on Kavanaugh should NOT be made public: 'It would seem to me that if people are going to be identified this ought to be held very close and not.' 'I think the investigation ought to be closely held,' she reiterated."

-- John Clune (@CluneEsq), the lawyer for Deborah Ramirez: "Debbie Ramirez spoke to the FBI for over two hours this past Sunday. It was a detailed and productive interview, and the agents were clearly motivated to investigate the matter in any way they were permitted. Ms. Ramirez identified a number of witnesses, and, 1/ ... at the end of the interview, her lawyers provided the FBI the names and known contact information of additional witnesses (totaling more than 20) who may have corroborating information.

"Although we do not know the status of the investigation, 2/ ... we are not aware of the FBI affirmatively reaching out to any of those witnesses. Though we appreciated the agents who responded on Sunday, we have great concern that the FBI is not conducting-or not being permitted to conduct-a serious investigation."

-- ELANA SCHOR and BURGESS EVERETT: "Ford demands interview in FBI probe": "Christine Blasey Ford's attorneys on Tuesday implored the FBI to interview her and act on investigative leads they have provided for its inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. 'It is inconceivable that the FBI could conduct a thorough investigation of Dr. Ford's allegations without interviewing her, Judge Kavanaugh, or the witnesses we have identified in our letters to you,' attorneys Debra Katz and Michael Bromwich wrote to top FBI officials in a letter obtained by POLITICO. The bureau is expected to wrap up its time-limited probe of the allegations against President Donald Trump's
Supreme Court nominee as soon as Wednesday, teeing up a final Senate vote on Kavanaugh later this week as planned by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. ...

"As the time frame for completion of the inquiry draws nearer, Ford's attorneys sought a call later Tuesday with bureau officials to discuss the investigation. Katz and Bromwich noted in their letter that they had furnished 'a series of emails and letters in which we identified witnesses and evidence that would likely assist the FBI in its investigation,' but have yet to hear back." POLITICO

-- @ShannonBream: "BREAKING: Fox's @johnrobertsFox obtains letter from Ford ex-boyfriend alleging: dated for 6 yrs, never told of sex assault, Ford coached friend on taking polygraph, flew frequently w/o expressing any fear of flying/tight spaces/limited exits. Doesn't want to b/c 'involved.'" The letter

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TRUMP'S WEDNESDAY -- The president is having lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He will meet with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 1:45 p.m.

CLICKER -- "See Christian Bale's Incredible Dick Cheney Transformation in First Vice Photo: The Oscar-winning actor has shape-shifted again, this time to play the U.S. vice president in Adam McKay's edgy biopic, out this Christmas," by Julie Miller in Vanity Fair.

PLAYBOOK ELECTION CHALLENGE -- Cast your vote and see who's polling ahead in each race among the thousands of voters currently playing. Vote now
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waves as she arrives at The Atlantic Festival on Tuesday. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

NEW WOMEN RULE PODCAST -- ANNA spoke with JENNIFER SIEBEL NEWSOM in the latest "Women Rule" Podcast. Siebel Newsom, who is married to Gavin Newsom, said being called first "partner," not first lady, of California might be a more apt term if her husband is successful in his bid to become governor. Her reasoning: "because we're going to have a female governor someday soon." And, she added, "it opens up the opportunity for any couple to really step in, and that's exciting to me." Listen and subscribe to the podcast

ELI'S DISPATCH FROM THE ATLANTIC FESTIVAL ... HILLARY CLINTON BEGAN HER conversation with Jeff Goldberg by laughing at Brett Kavanaugh's contention that allegations against him were "revenge on behalf of the Clintons." CLINTON: "I thought it was just part of the whole of his very defensive and unconvincing presentation."

-- SHE SOUNDED THE ALARM on what she sees as Trump's attacks on the rule of law -- and the government's failure to protect the upcoming midterms from Russian or other foreign interference. "We don't know what's happening right now," she said. "I wish we did."

-- EVEN ON THE NEW TRADE AGREEMENT, where she acknowledged that "it's not like everything he does all day is bad," she said much of the credit should actually go to the Obama administration. "He took the much-reviled Trans-Pacific Partnership act, and he took elements out of it that the Obama administration had negotiated and stuck them into what is the latest iteration, NAFTA 2.0."

KELLYANNE CONWAY took an aggressive tack against her critics and a sometimes skeptical audience, saying, "I pray for those people because I have no idea what could possibly make people so negative and acerbic toward a stranger." She said Trump opponents don't want her on TV because "they know I'm effective and they know I'm accessible and they know I can not speak with marbles in my mouth, as some others do." Rebecca Morin on the response to Conway's disclosure of being sexually assaulted

-- IS THE PRESIDENT CHAOTIC? "No. And he's lots of fun. And he's a great boss, particularly to women in the White House. And those who don't want to believe that don't have to, but it doesn't change the fact that he is. Why else would I be there?"

-- CONWAY SAID SHE WISHED people would take off their partisan glasses in evaluating the Trump administration's work on nonpartisan issues like the opioid crisis and veterans' affairs. She said Trump promised to be president for all Americans, including those who didn't vote for him, and "we have to make good on that every day. That's what public service entails."

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Nearly 1 in 5 hospitals mark up medicine prices 700 percent or more.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "DeVos' security detail projected to cost up to $7.7M during the next year," by Caitlin Emma: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' security detail is projected to cost up to $7.74 million from now through the end of September 2019, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service told POLITICO on Tuesday night. That's more than the $6.54 million officials estimated last year as the maximum for fiscal 2018, which the Education Department at that time deemed a 'high water mark' that the agency didn't plan to exceed.

"The final cost of DeVos' security detail for fiscal 2018 was not provided by the Marshals Service and could not be determined Tuesday night. The Education Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. An agreement between the Education Department and the Marshals Service governing DeVos' protective detail was just renewed for fiscal 2019, which began on Monday.

"DeVos' security detail is provided around the clock by the Marshals Service, which is highly unusual - the past four Education secretaries have been protected by the Education Department's own small security force." POLITICO

-- "Experts say Trump's EPA moving to loosen radiation limits," by AP's Ellen Knickmeyer: "The EPA is pursuing rule changes that experts say would weaken the way radiation exposure is regulated, turning to scientific outliers who argue that a bit of radiation damage is actually good for you - like a little bit of sunlight. The government's current, decades-old guidance says that any exposure to harmful radiation is a cancer risk. And critics say the proposed change could lead to higher levels of exposure for workers at nuclear installations and oil and gas drilling sites, medical workers doing X-rays and CT scans, people living next to Superfund sites and any members of the public who one
day might find themselves exposed to a radiation release." AP

SURPRISE OF THE DAY ... "Jason Kander ends campaign for Kansas City mayor to focus on depression, PTSD," by Kansas City Star's Steve Vockrodt, Bill Turque and Mike Hendricks: "Jason Kander, citing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, is dropping out of the Kansas City mayor's race. Kander posted a message on his campaign website and Facebook page saying that in the 11 years since leaving Afghanistan as an Army intelligence officer, he has experienced depression, nightmares and suicidal thoughts. He said he needed to abandon the mayoral race, in which he was seen as a front-runner to win the 2019 contest, to focus on his mental health." KC Star
PLAYBOOKERS
MEDIAWATCH -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- Bari Weiss, the New York Times opinion writer and editor, is writing her first book, titled "The New Seven Dirty Words," which will focus on the new culture of censorship and make the pitch for how to bring back an open society. The book, which sold in auction, is due out in winter 2020 and will be published by Henry Holt.

K STREET FILES -- Per POLITICO Influence: "Shannon McGahn will start this month as senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Realtors, the first woman to hold the role, the trade association announced Tuesday. She was previously staff director for the House Financial Services Committee. Prior to that, she was counselor to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. ... She is married to White House Counsel Don McGahn."

SPOTTED at David and Katherine Bradley's house last night for a dinner and an interview with Bob Woodward by Jeff Goldberg as part of the Atlantic Festival: Chris Christie, Kellyanne Conway, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Carl Hulse, Nancy Cordes, Jeff Goldberg, Margaret Carlson, Alan Patricof, Amy Walters, Mitch Landrieu, Laurene Powell Jobs, Sally Quinn, Jose Andres, Steve Clemons, Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), Dana Bash, Chuck Todd, Steve and Jean Case, Mary Louise Kelly, Bob Cohn, Michael Finnegan, Tara Westover, Anita Dunn, Dan Porterfield and Sena Fitzmaurice.

OUT AND ABOUT ... More than 100 people attended a book signing with former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson at BGR Group for his new book "Tommy: My Journey of a Lifetime." The event was hosted by former HHS Secretaries Tom Ridge and Mike Leavitt, former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Michigan Gov. John Engler and Haley Barbour. $20.04 on Amazon

-- SPOTTED: Tony Fauci, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Reince Priebus, Mia Heck, Kevin Keane, Bob Wood, Craig Stevens, Kevin Moley, William Steiger, Patty Conrad, Jay Hodes, Christina Pearson and William Pierce.

BIRTHWEEK (was Monday): Justin Hunter turned 5-0.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings and author of the new book "The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups from Death by Politics." How he got his start in politics: "[B]asically, I met Ed Rendell at the Democratic Convention in 1992, we chatted, he asked if I wanted an internship (he was mayor of Philly at the time and I went to college in Philly), I said yes, wrote him a letter but never heard back ... So when school started, for some reason I thought it'd be a good idea to just go see him. I showed up at City Hall ... and asked to see him.

"It was, in retrospect, a crazy thing to ask but the old ladies at the desk felt bad for me so they let me leave a note. I got back to the dorm, realized what an idiot I was, gave up my City Hall dreams, and then the phone rang. 'Bradley!' Rendell said. 'When are you coming to work?' I worked for him all through college and that was my start in politics." Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Sarah Feinberg, principal and CEO of Feinberg Strategies ... Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) is 65 ... Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) is 47 ... Asawin "Swin" Suebsaeng, a White House reporter at The Daily Beast (hat tip: Tim Mak) ... POLITICO's Eric Wolff and Emma Kinnucan ... J. Toscano, partner at 76 Words ... Katie Whelan ... Jonathan Lamy, RIAA's EVP for communications and marketing ... Pam Gilbert ... Sally Painter, co-founder and COO of Blue Star Strategies (h/ts Jon Haber) ... AP's Darlene Superville and Verena Dobnik ... Tim Albrecht, manager of strategic initiatives at Apple and a Kim Reynolds alum ... Betsey Apple ... Rev. Al Sharpton is 64 ... former Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)
is 75 ... Beth Jones ... Laura Brown ... Edie Emery ... former House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) is 8-0 ... Sean Gibbons ... Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner ... Nicholas Mellen (h/t Supriya Mazumdar) ...

... Cristóbal Alex ... Logan Dobson, director of data and analytics at the NRSC ... CNN's Maegan Vazquez (h/t Mallory Shelbourne) ... Chelsea Radler ... Maury Nolen ... Politico Europe's Margherita Florence Martinelli ... DISCUS' Eric Reller (h/t Ben Jenkins and Benny Johnson) ... Bianca Swalem ... Deloitte's Eden Joyner White ... Kevin Kelley ... Chris Michel ... Mark Hamrick ... former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley is 74 ... Peter Stegner ... Jennifer Bland ... Robert Allan Ford ... Megan Franko ... Nancy Gabriner ... Megan Franko ... Tess Di Martino ... Scott Richardson ... Ben Adler ... Josh Kinney is 3-0 ... Darrell Brock Jr. ... former Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) is 71 ... former
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) is 7-0 ... Joel Haubrich

A message from PhRMA:

Nearly one in five hospitals mark up medicine prices 700% or more, according to a new analysis. This means that if a hospital purchased a medicine for $150, a 700 percent markup could result in patients being billed $1,050 for that medicine. Even worse, 320 hospitals in the study marked up prices more than 1000%. These hospital markups lead to higher costs for everyone - patients, employers and payers. When hospitals mark up the cost of medicines...Patients pay the price.

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