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08/12/2016 07:54 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

With assistance from Daniel Lippman

GOP HUDDLES AS DOWN-BALLOT PRESSURE BUILDS- As the Republican National Committee faces intensified pressure to pull the plug on funding Donald Trump's campaign and shift those dollars down ballot to the House and Senate, party leaders are sitting down with the GOP nominee's campaign today in Orlando to try and hash things out, report Marc Caputo, Ben Schreckinger and Ken Vogel. A campaign source dismissed the huddle as a "typical gathering" but others described it as an "emergency" and a "come to Jesus" meeting. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a15b0b87b84744e6553f3c2553c12abb2630c545308a3cef1

So where's all this down-ballot pressure coming from within the GOP? Keep reading:

REPUBLICANS PLEAD WITH RNC-In a move that would be crazy any other election year, a coalition of more than 70 Republicans are pleading with the RNC to cut off the campaign spigot flowing to Trump and funnel that money into House and Senate races they think are winnable in November. "The letter comes as a number of Republican senators and high-profile GOP national security officials have come forward saying they cannot vote for Trump," reports Playbook co-host Anna Palmer.

'Drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor': "We believe that Donald Trump's divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck," they write.

Who's who: "Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire and former Reps. Chris Shays of Connecticut, Tom Coleman of Missouri and Vin Weber of Minnesota are among the Republicans lending their name to the letter. Close to 20 of the co-signers are former RNC staffers... Republican Andrew Weinstein, a vocal anti-Trump Republican, is one of the operatives organizing the letter, which began circulating earlier this week and is expected to be sent next week." Anna with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297afe2ef0717dd706d9c2a80416258be90c9bc307e6675d9b62

BIG DOLLAR DONORS LOOK DOWN BALLOT- The RNC letter isn't the only sign that Republicans are starting to abandon Trump. With the tornado of controversy that surrounds the GOP nominee not abating, wealthy Republicans are directing their dollars elsewhere. Big dollar donors "are targeting Senate and House races around the country, hoping a financial firewall will protect the party's congressional majorities on Nov. 8," report the Washington Post's Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy.

A little help in the House: Donors aren't just focusing their energies on key Senate races, although plenty of money is being funneled into battleground campaigns in places like Ohio. They're also giving a big boost to House Republicans after a request from House Speaker Paul Ryan. "Republican donors have taken notice of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan's warnings that his chamber's majority cannot be taken for granted, and they have flocked to his allied super PAC, which has seen a burst of first-time contributors, officials said." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a2f68f328d9c15c850249dd029fd16bcf19147fedd9a7871b

'ELECTRONIC WATERGATE'- House Democratic leaders are ratcheting up criticism of the cyberattack on Democratic campaign networks and saying anyone that uses the leaked information to their advantage should share blame for the crime. "I do know that this is a Watergate-like electronic break in. And anyone who would exploit for the purpose of embarrassment or something like that is an accomplice to that," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said. More from yours truly: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a3c042e0f2e3d8440c98fca5684a6b49613bec5cb6f065024

Classic Reid quip: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid later weighed in on a conference call, telling reporters that his "emails are so boring. No one, even Putin, would want to read those" tweeted Roll Call's Bridget Bowman.

Related click: The DNC is creating a cybersecurity advisory board, reports Nolan McCaskill. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a53e72f04e506eaea38c9a660556e5d64a14040a214a9a650

FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY. Welcome to August 12. You're reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Your Huddle host is coming to you live from beautiful Tampa, Fla., where I'm looking forward to a weekend of fun, sun and a little time on the campaign trail.

Friday fun fact: Scientists think they've found a lady shark that's at least 270 years old! USA Today: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a70e7ab7a51d09ae097bd469046e3d982ce07c25b0edb9377

TODAY IN CONGRESS - Capitol Hill gets moving again in 25 days.

AROUND THE HILL- Bipartisan Macarena dance party at the House triangle starting at 2 p.m. Refresh yourself here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a6d1e748a00afeacd5a67bfc6b4cac73f2c992fa9b284dff0

OBAMACARE JUST DOESN'T PLAY THE SAME WAY- The GOP's "repeal Obamacare" rallying cry is losing some fire on the campaign trail, at least when it comes to moderate House Republicans fighting for the political lives in districts that seem more focused on the economy and national security, reports Jennifer Haberkorn. Don't miss her story, landing this morning: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a656eaf8335b2791b0d0289df18298766f794207e690edbc7

WILLIAMS' ETHICS INVESTIGATION EXTENDED-- The House Ethics Committee is extending its investigation into allegations that Rep. Roger Williams, who owns a Texas car dealership, added an amendment to last year's highway bill for personal benefit. The amendment essentially added one word to the bill, which became law, exempting car dealers from new auto recall provisions.

"William's amendment limited the provision - included in the must-pass legislation after two Californian sisters died in a crashed rental car under recall - to companies that are 'primarily' engaged in the car rental business. That means car dealerships that happen to rent cars as well as sell and fix them - like William's company did at the time - could continue the practice," Rachael Bade reports.

Possible headaches ahead: "Should Ethics pursue the matter, it could become headache for Williams, who has made no secret of his aspirations to succeed Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) as NRCC chairman. He's already squaring off with Ohio Republican Steve Stivers, who's favored for the position, but this could complicate matters." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297ace7c5b97dd37fb0f8689103a4d932d08e80a312d707fd591

CORNYN DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM DOJ- Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn is demanding answers from the Department of Justice on why it didn't pursue an investigation into the Clinton Foundation despite an FBI request, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner's Sarah Westwood. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a29de44fa5c706114bceb28bde9e1bb77730a35104c289598

CONGRESS STILL FIGHTING OVER ZIKA, FUNDS RUNNING LOW-- "The Obama administration on Thursday said it was shifting $81 million away from biomedical research and antipoverty and health care programs to pay for the development of a Zika vaccine, resorting to extraordinary measures because Congress has failed to approve new funding to combat the virus," writes Julie Hirschfeld Davis for the New York Times. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297af88e0c0274e13c7d8eb5fccf31e9efbb36ee7dcfb0c5a2d6

Related: It's getting a lil' personal- "Hammering GOP leaders for tying funding for the Zika virus to restrictions on Planned Parenthood clinics, [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi on Thursday wondered aloud how many Republicans abstain from using contraception," reports the Hill's Mike Lillis. "'I wonder how many of their homes - I wonder this a lot - how many of the families of our Republican colleagues are not practicing birth control?' she asked. 'How come they don't have many more children? How come they don't have five children in six years the way I did?'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297aec4c1ca784127eb1a814d456330dfecd3031d96a73fa7579

And don't miss Rep. Rosa DeLauro's face when she realizes what's going down (via the Huffington Post's John Rieger): http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297abf0c480f2a20aea0401efca0c1c77c94c25c708d2f81192d

REID MULLS HARDBALL TACTICS FOR GARLAND- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid-who has been in full YOLO mode since announcing his retirement-said he hasn't ruled out hardball tactics to force some kind of vote on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. "I've been in touch with some of my senators during the break to determine that," he told reporters on a Thursday conference call. Louis Nelson with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a61d120866941d214698ad1e87f08b52063c07d1fe0b997da

SANDERS STRATEGISTS DITCH CANOVA CAMPAIGN- "Less than two weeks after publicly signing on to help the campaign of ousted Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's challenger, Bernie Sanders' top political and media strategists are no longer working for Tim Canova," another sign the election is likely going the longtime Florida congresswoman's way, reports Gabriel Debenedetti. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a162c5a2a9658e4ac94479798f584b4113d16bdcd5fa004ca

CAPITOL HILL JESUS LADY SOLDIERS ON- Rita Warren is a familiar face on Capitol Hill. Nearly every Thursday, rain, shine or recess, she's perched on the House side of the Capitol as the robes of her life-size Jesus mannequin billow in the breeze and Christian gospel blasts from her boombox. She was back on the Hill Thursday after about a month-long absence, due in part to a heart attack and new regulations from Capitol Police that prevent her from driving up onto the plaza, reports Roll Call's Rema Rahman.

But Warren, who's now in her late eighties and feeling better, has vowed to carry on the weekly ritual. "'Even a heart attack, thank God, did not stop me,' Warren said in an interview Wednesday." Roll Call: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a1e0c51540f36eaeb0b4550dd5483a5dfb4c82c1a24010c73

DEPARTURE LOUNGE-- Jasmine Mora is leaving her job as communications director for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for a new gig back home in L.A. working for Airbnb, where she'll be their press person for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Joe Bookman was the first to correctly guess that 1972 was the year for split-ticket voting. That year 190 districts voted for GOP presidential candidate Richard Nixon while also electing Democratic representatives, according to Pew. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed978f19c44b297a9fad1b1343dd97d4693300762dc6d20afd090a4a2a554e32

TODAY'S TRIVIA - I'll take today's question: The ex-wife of a famous statesman, this woman also had connections to Patrick Henry, Benedict Arnold and her house was George Washington's headquarters during a brief period in the early days of the Revolutionary War.Who is she and who was her famous former husband? The first person to correctly answer gets a shout-out in Monday's Huddle. Email me: hcaygle@politico.com

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