EMAIL DETAILS

By Rachael Bade (
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

ON OBAMA'S TRADE PACT, THE FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB APPLIES: You do not talk about Fight Club - or, in this case, the trade deal. Turns out, these classified briefings in the dark basement rooms of Capitol Hill make Democrats more than a little squeamish. POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere: "If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you've got to be a member of Congress, and you've got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door."

"If you're a member who wants to read the text, you've got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving. And no matter what, you can't discuss the details of what you've read. 'It's like being in kindergarten,' said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who's become the leader of the opposition to President Barack Obama's trade agenda. 'You give back the toys at the end.'

"For those out to sink Obama's free trade push, highlighting the lack of public information is becoming central to their opposition strategy."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269fa688eadc49d50524ff3e9f47cd2ed57567f10e099110953
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269fa688eadc49d50524ff3e9f47cd2ed57567f10e099110953

Boehner to Obama: Enlist Hillary On Trade. If Obama can't deliver, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says its time he reach out to Hillary Clinton to get the needed Democrats aboard to pas the trade deal. Here's Jennifer Bendery for Huffington Post:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269b67b407657b7b56abe70d303327062736a46e03db0d0735c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269b67b407657b7b56abe70d303327062736a46e03db0d0735c

U.S. TO CHANGE STANCE ON SECRET PHONE TRACKING. Devlin Barrett scoops for the Wall Street Journal: "The Justice Department will start revealing more about the government's use of secret cellphone tracking devices and has launched a wide-ranging review into how law-enforcement agencies deploy the technology, according to Justice officials. In recent months, the [FBI] has begun getting search warrants from judges to use the devices, which hunt criminal suspects by locating their cellphones, the officials said. For years, FBI agents didn't get warrants to use the tracking devices."

"Senior officials have also decided they must be more forthcoming about how and why the devices are used-although there isn't yet agreement within the Justice Department about how much to reveal or how quickly. The move comes amid growing controversy over the Justice Department's use of such devices, some versions of which, as The Wall Street Journal reported last year, are deployed in airplanes and scan data from thousands of phones used by Americans who aren't targets of investigations."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269589e7a0ca649814ebd8fd95c7b918826cc6a1bbfb6b27b2d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269589e7a0ca649814ebd8fd95c7b918826cc6a1bbfb6b27b2d

JUST IN TIME 'CAUSE...

LIBERALS, CONSERVATIVES UNITE VS. NSA SPYING. Just a few weeks before Congress takes up the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, POLITICO's Lauren French and Kate Tummarello report that two traditionally opposing teams have united to influence the debate: "With key provisions of the controversial post-9/11 law set to expire at the end of the month, including authority for the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records, critics in both parties are preparing to strike. Among those on hand for the meeting were Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, a card-carrying ACLU member from the liberal mecca of Madison, Wisconsin, and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, a tea party adherent from
Kentucky...."

"...Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.). Several lawmakers at the meeting argued that the compromise measure - which passed the House Judiciary Committee on a 25-2 vote last week and has the support of House GOP leaders - doesn't go far enough. ...There's no set plan yet on how to proceed. Lawmakers haven't decided whether they want to introduce new legislation or rally behind amendments to the Judiciary-approved bill."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362696b3a9d242e6862c1583405334a41f9bd1e1b4146605f847a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362696b3a9d242e6862c1583405334a41f9bd1e1b4146605f847a

MEET ONE OF THEM: TOM MASSIE, BIPARTISAN 'CRUNCHY-CON.' Kate Nocera has a BuzzFeed profile on the Kentucky Republican who will be a vocal PATRIOT Act reformist: "Shortly after Thomas Massie arrived in Congress, the freshman Republican sought out Zoe Lofgren - a liberal from California - on the House floor. He wanted to know if electric car company Tesla was in her district because he proudly owned one and he charged his car solar panels at his home... The pair struck up an unlikely friendship after Lofgren pitched him on several technology bills... They've continued to be some of the loudest (and at times effective) voices in Congress on curbing surveillance programs."

"Increasingly... Massie has become a go-to member of the Republican conference for Democratic members looking for a GOP member to sponsor legislation on everything from surveillance, to industrial hemp, to cell-phone unlocking legislation. Some Democrats have also teamed up with him on a raw-milk bill he recently introduced in Congress. ...Massie, a self-described 'crunchy con,' arrived in the House with the reputation for being the kind of Tea Party Republican liberals revile. He's an ardent supporter of gun rights and has several times introduced legislation to undo some of the District of Columbia's gun laws. He regularly votes against government spending and has a near perfect voting
score from both FreedomWorks and Heritage Action."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e484a9ecf482b1b411a0ae6e75b88b6d7cf40d4fb56cb5f3
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e484a9ecf482b1b411a0ae6e75b88b6d7cf40d4fb56cb5f3

IT'S MONDAY, May 4, 2015. And someone outta get this guy - er, Secretary of State John Kerry - a selfie stick:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e6aa09aadb6ddce1e386dce6f11e211fa83f111a6a1d61d1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e6aa09aadb6ddce1e386dce6f11e211fa83f111a6a1d61d1 . Thanks for reading Huddle. Send you news tips, juicy scoops and fresh story ideas here, where I'll be hosting Huddle all week:
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com , or Tweet me: @RachaelMBade.

TODAY IN CONGRESS: The House is on recess this week, but the Senate returns at 3 p.m. to continue work on the so-called Congressional Review Act on Ambush Elections. Votes at 5:30 p.m. Looking ahead, the Senate is expected to approve the budget deal it struck with the House, continue work on the Iran deal and nominations, then turn to the trade pact.

NEW OUT THIS A.M.-

GILLIBRAND: PENTAGON WITHHELD SEX CRIMES INFO. AP's Richard Lardner: "The number of sex-related crimes occurring in U.S. military communities is far greater than the Defense Department has publicly reported, a U.S. senator said Monday in a scathing critique that asserts the Pentagon has refused to provide her information about sexual assaults at several major bases. The spouses of service members and civilian women who live or work near military facilities are especially vulnerable to being sexually assaulted, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a report. Yet they 'remain in the shadows' because neither is counted in surveys conducted by the Defense Department to determine the
prevalence of sexual assaults within the ranks, the report said..."

"'I don't think the military is being honest about the problem,' Gillibrand said in an interview. The senator said her analysis of 107 sexual assault cases found punishments that were too lenient and the word of the alleged assailant was more likely to be believed than the victim. Less than a quarter of the cases went to trial and just 11 resulted in conviction for a sex crime. Female civilians were the victims in more than half the cases, according to Gillibrand, an outspoken advocate for an overhaul of the military justice system."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd43626905200a75fa80c47c06bd497899783f7f9c2239e5d20e7df8
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd43626905200a75fa80c47c06bd497899783f7f9c2239e5d20e7df8

RUBIO, COTTON FACE DEFEAT ON IRAN. Burgess Everett reports that the Senate is likely to shutdown debate, clearing the bipartisan Iran deal for passage - sans votes on the duo's poison-pill amendments: "[L]awmakers in both parties agree debate on the measure has run its course, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is widely expected to wrap up consideration of the time-sensitive bill and free it from parliamentary gridlock..."

"In a bid to pressure President Barack Obama to take a tougher negotiating line with Tehran, [Tom] Cotton (R-Ark.) made a surprise move Thursday to try and force a vote on his amendment, which would require Iran to disclose the history of its nuclear program and shutter all its nuclear facilities, and a proposal from Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio that would require Tehran to recognize Israel's statehood...Rather than securing those votes, Cotton's tactics drove Democrats away from negotiating over any more GOP amendments that would draw opposition from the White House. To preserve the bipartisan coalition backing the bill, GOP leaders are expected to shut off debate and the chance to amend
the bill."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269cdc84bf6f00fd805bcafc74ad4cd034d3c8f896c9e2879b4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269cdc84bf6f00fd805bcafc74ad4cd034d3c8f896c9e2879b4

THE PAIR = A NEW 'CHECK' ON MCCONNEL? Alexander Bolton for The Hill: "The power play reflects Cotton's emerging Senate role as a conservative check on McConnell, who many on the right suspect is too much of a dealmaker for his own good. It also highlighted the tension between McConnell and his conservative critics... Conservatives want to push bold proposals that highlight differences between the parties. In this instance, they want to force Democrats to take a stand on picking between recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and a tentative deal with Iran."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362696fc886449305cdd0dd8be6286a873e743a6f69c5a7a51b5a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362696fc886449305cdd0dd8be6286a873e743a6f69c5a7a51b5a

THUNE'S PANEL QUESTIONS W.H. BREACH. Reuters with the readout: "The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has written President Barack Obama over concerns that a recently reported data breach on the White House computer system might have compromised the personal information of many Americans. 'Just like any entity that handles personally-identifiable information, the White House has a responsibility to notify Americans if the recent, or any future breach, results in a compromise,' the committee chairman, John Thune, said in a statement on Sunday accompanying the letter. 'If such information has been lost, the White House still has a responsibility to victims even if it believes the hack was
perpetrated by foreign spies and not cyber thieves,' Thune added."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362697f9eb3d74cc0d15b736f1c45634ae072ee904655c55dd850
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362697f9eb3d74cc0d15b736f1c45634ae072ee904655c55dd850

...AND EX-CIA OFFICIAL QUESTIONS THE GOP ON BENGHAZI. David E. Sanger for the New York Times: "The former deputy director of the C.I.A. asserts in a forthcoming book that Republicans, in their eagerness to politicize the killing of the American ambassador to Libya, repeatedly distorted the agency's analysis of events. But he also argues that the C.I.A. should get out of the business of providing "talking points" for administration officials in national security events that quickly become partisan, as happened after the Benghazi attack in 2012."

"The official, Michael J. Morell, dismisses the allegation that the United States military and C.I.A. officers 'were ordered to stand down and not come to the rescue of their comrades,' and he says there is 'no evidence' to support the charge that 'there was a conspiracy between C.I.A. and the White House to spin the Benghazi story in a way that would protect the political interests of the president and Secretary Clinton,' referring to the secretary of state at the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e370c78efcfbe9c3252e29b22994c4e083707eeadcc562e2
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e370c78efcfbe9c3252e29b22994c4e083707eeadcc562e2

"IN CONGRESS, INCOME INEQUALITY COMES WITH BREAKFAST." A rare AP Capitol Hill campus story, written just days after Hill cafeteria workers walked out on their jobs in protest of pay: "Many of the Capitol's food servers, who make the meals, bus the tables and run the cash registers in the restaurants and carryouts that serve lawmakers, earn less than $11 an hour. Some make nothing at all when Congress is in recess. Members of the House and Senate collect their $174,000 annual salaries whether Congress is making laws, taking a break or causing a partial government shutdown."

"'This is the most important building in the world,' said Sontia Bailey, who works the cash register and stocks the shelves at the 'Refectory' takeout on the Capitol's Senate side. 'You'd think our wages would be better.'" Bailey, 34, makes $10.33 an hour, a hair above the $10.10 hourly minimum for federal contractors. She had to move from her apartment to a rented room when the 2013 temporary government shutdown interrupted her income, she said. KFC pays her better. Bailey works weekends and two evenings a week there, making $12 an hour. In the Capitol food service world, she said, 'everybody has second jobs.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362697e612e223db920d9723c53780662410855d3a409f462246a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362697e612e223db920d9723c53780662410855d3a409f462246a

SUNDAY SHOW FLYAROUND -

--House Speaker John Boehner on NBC's "Meet the Press" said there's a national crisis erupting between police officers and black men - just a few days after the House Judiciary Committee announced it'd host a hearing on the matter. He "called the alleged actions of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray 'outrageous and unacceptable.' 'Public servants should not violate the law... If these charges are true, it's outrageous and it's unacceptable.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362699a52015563c9b13c19521c40fb4702b5401dc86d2488e25a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362699a52015563c9b13c19521c40fb4702b5401dc86d2488e25a

-- Also on Baltimore: Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, called police-community relations "the civil rights cause for this generation" on CBS's "Face the Nation.""'A lot of people are very, very frustrated as to trying to figure out what happened here and its very upsetting.' ....But he said he lauded the citizens of Baltimore for the mostly-restrained protests ... 'The fact is that for the most part it could have been worse.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e21581776377d5c3265a056df24e21b283e850ccdc1f0e22
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269e21581776377d5c3265a056df24e21b283e850ccdc1f0e22

-- Meanwhile, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the GOP's anti-poverty go-to guy, said on the same show that Baltimore and the recent crises demonstrate a need for welfare reform, "not to save money, but to save lives."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269de2d5064cf1dd51bfaede245fcd90a10c3f334fc3b6685c8
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd436269de2d5064cf1dd51bfaede245fcd90a10c3f334fc3b6685c8

-- And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose taking on Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidency, had one message for America on ABC's "This Week": "Don't underestimate me."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362691e1c73e16eddc147b4039aed43506c00cfa07a9f3d978ca7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9dc6d94dcd4362691e1c73e16eddc147b4039aed43506c00cfa07a9f3d978ca7

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER. Patrick Boland, spokesman for House Intelligence Ranking Democrat Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), was the first to write that it was Teddy Roosevelt who couldn't play football at Harvard due to nearsightedness.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: What two presidents were arrested on horse-related charges - the first for running over an old woman with his horse, and the second for speeding while driving a horse and buggy.Email
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com .

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says 'Sign Up.'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=55142210fd400c335945efac8c797545216c589691c5e5b28dfed73b8d61d83b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=55142210fd400c335945efac8c797545216c589691c5e5b28dfed73b8d61d83b .


Go to POLITICO Huddle Now >> http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=55142210fd400c334318066543e51b737de5263c0bad6ae9ffe17d5e38f44ae0

Go to this edition >> http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=55142210fd400c3339de23c8338e93bd504277850ea8bfa7b53c08c128f7b044

=================================

2015 POLITICO, LLC

POLITICO Huddle.

To unsubscribe, http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=55142210fd400c3368938f89f09fb838c38394cde8c881fd0c7c33474e6fe473

=================================