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08/30/2018 07:55 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

With an assist from Elana Schor

TRUMP LOBBIES GOP SENATORS AGAINST SESSIONS -- President Donald Trump is venting about Attorney General Jeff Sessions to "any senator who will listen," according to a Republican Senate aide. Trump in recent days has personally lobbied Senate Republicans to flip on Sessions. "The president ... finally got traction on Capitol Hill thanks to the growing frustration of a handful of GOP senators with their former colleague -- most importantly, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, who have been irritated by Sessions' opposition to a criminal justice reform bill they support," Eliana Johnson and Elana report.

Trump raised the prospect of firing Sessions last week in a phone call with Graham, who encouraged him to hold off until the midterms. Grassley (R-Iowa) hasn't received a similar call from the White House. Trump has repeatedly castigated Sessions over his recusal from a Russia probe investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow in the 2016 election. His recusal led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. But recusal isn't the president's only issue with Sessions, whom Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) expressed "total confidence" in Tuesday.

"Trump has come to resent him for other reasons," they write, "griping to aides and lawmakers that the attorney general doesn't have the Ivy League pedigree the president prefers, that he can't stand his Southern accent and that Sessions isn't a capable defender of the president on television -- in part because he 'talks like he has marbles in his mouth,'" the president has told aides." White House aides say the impetus for Trump's latest push to oust Sessions was last week's dual convictions of former lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c30c2d2edf2b0794ed65c333b55d517e17291c14ab2f2661ab84c0e157dfb95c0b6202334070290e77

SENATE REPUBLICANS SAD TO SEE MCGAHN GO -- Senior Republicans lavished praise on White House counsel Don McGahn, whom President Donald Trump tweeted would be leaving in the fall after Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court. "Don is the most impressive White House counsel during my time in Washington, and I've known them all," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement. "His departure from the White House, whenever that may be, would be a big loss for the Trump Administration and the country." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) added that he hoped the news wasn't true, urging the president not to let McGahn leave.

"Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn's work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president's record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies," Grassley spokesman George Hartmann added. "From Senator Grassley's perspective, there's not been any White House counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman's office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges." McGahn's relationship in the White House with the president, however, has become increasingly strained. McGahn is expected to return to the Jones Day law firm, and White House lawyer Emmet Flood is expected to succeed McGahn. Inside Trump and McGahn's deteriorating relationship:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c3319dacc6b65cf4b480e39066a255efa142ef78396307639cefc816bd3187edb25d2776798828cae9

Related: Three of McGahn's deputies have left the White House, and a fourth is leaving Friday, according to The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c346410e95b4b8a3aaf1b9e83ef8a3bc6215fc764a9f3f720f2ca99e03a31aa862e073b3ef1e25745f

MCCAIN'S PARTING SHOT -- The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) planned out his farewell tour before his death. Soon after learning of his terminal brain cancer last summer, he began holding weekly meetings in his Capitol Hill office with trusted aides to discuss his funeral. "He obsessed over the music, selecting the Irish ballad 'Danny Boy' and several patriotic hymns," The New York Times' Michael D. Shear and Katie Rogers report. "He choreographed the movement of his coffin from Arizona, his home state, to Washington. And in April, when he knew the end was coming, he began reaching out to Republicans, Democrats and even a Russian dissident with requests that they deliver eulogies and serve
as pallbearers."

"By the time he died on Saturday, Mr. McCain had carefully stage-managed a four-day celebration of his life -- but what was also an unmistakable rebuke to President Trump and his agenda," they continue. "In death, Mr. McCain found a way to have the last word, even quietly making it clear through friends that Mr. Trump was not welcome at the services." McCain's memorial events began this week. He lay in state at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday. A memorial is scheduled at North Phoenix Baptist Church today. Then his casket will fly to Washington, D.C., where McCain will lie in state inside the Capitol's rotunda

McCain's closest friends say he had little respect for Trump but didn't hold a personal grudge against him. That lack of respect, however, was mutual. McCain requested that Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama speak at his funeral, while Trump wasn't invited. "Inside the White House, the president's aides briefly considered the optics of hosting events -- including Thursday's [campaign] rally [in Indiana] just as the senator's body is scheduled to be in transit to Washington -- but decided that they could not hold up White House proceedings for several days," they write. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c316a2c0cf49b2f7ee7acf9b11af6e0f1e31d747c04d1ead6e66d58abcc0d4cc831032bc6df2f1b656

Related reads: "John McCain Memorial to Feature Tributes From Biden and Other Friends," from The New York Times' Jonathan Martin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c35beb0f5226e80b4a8ea59b25b79af621bc2b1cef284514e270176bdf1a9b1c15819a0d7b14a340be and "Arizona bids farewell to 'favorite adopted son,'" via Bryan Bender: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c3e0654bf39691b1a8e3b1eb5a48d0409fa0e13502329ed33bb5a859a4d3818e75070feb9607b65520

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Aug. 30.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Roll Call's report on what you need to know to pay your respects to the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the Capitol on Friday was the winner.

THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF THE CANADA-U.S. TRADE RELATIONSHIP. POLITICO Pro Canada, launching Sept. 12, will provide news and analysis on the impact of U.S policy to the Canada-U.S. economic and trade relationship. Pro's binational reporting team will deliver must-read policy intelligence for business and policy professionals with cross-border interests. Learn more.

FIRST IN HUDDLE: RAND HELPS ROLL OUT NEW CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM POLL -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is set to join criminal justice reform advocates today to release new polling that highlights the issue's popularity in his home state -- which he shares with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has vowed to move ahead on the issue after the midterms if a whip count reveals that a bipartisan deal can clear the Senate. Huddle got a first look at the poll, sponsored by Justice Action Network and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, which shows that 70 percent of Kentucky voters support bringing any Trump-backed deal on prison and sentencing changes to a Senate vote, with majorities in
all partisan affiliations giving no pushback to McConnell on the issue. Key findings: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c34d7a8fa7c8c73ad0f1c6bddc5ae838a85b4e0de7dc3322f76d6f9e5979f1db528e235cae6c3b8d20

AHEAD OF ITS TIME -- The Senate isn't set on the best way to honor its late colleague, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). But Google Maps apparently went along with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) proposal to rename the Russell Senate Office Building after the Arizona Republican: The building appeared on Google Maps as the McCain Senate Office Building on Wednesday. "It appears that the change occurred due to Google's policy of allowing users to improve its map service by suggesting edits," Rebecca Morin writes. A Google spokesperson acknowledged that "occasional inaccuracies or premature changes" are sometimes reflected in the maps app but said it was resolving the issue of the
building's name. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c30350582ed85de566c9b05dc729b6fd2b06a585f0040e4977126d9bd405f419f7d385b4ead4fcec4a

HOLD THE PHONE -- Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) personally phoned a constituent who accused his reelection campaign of forging voters' signatures, pressuring the woman to withdraw her allegation. "It was an unusually personal intervention from a congressman whose campaign staffers have since been accused of 59 signature forgeries and counting ... including from the families of four dead voters whose signatures nonetheless appear on petition sheets collected by Taylor's staffers," Talking Points Memo's Matt Shuham writes. "The congressman has consistently claimed ignorance of any improprieties that occurred, though he's acknowledged that he knew his staffers were collecting signatures for
[independent candidate Shaun] Brown." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c365451961130b80bbb22b227457e9a438c494d6ce540013baf999f5385b83d23e881c582d3e1edfd7

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING -- Forget about President Donald Trump. Barbara L'Italien wants to impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. "L'Italien, a state senator running in a crowded field to replace retiring Rep. Niki Tsongas, is declaring her intention to file an impeachment resolution against Thomas as part of an effort to address sexual assault if elected to Congress," Stephanie Murray reports. L'Italien's spokesman says the Massachusetts Democrat is the first candidate to advocate for Thomas' impeachment. She's also calling for congressional hearings into the president's alleged sexual misconduct. "Two of the most powerful men in the country have been credibly accused of sexual
crimes and gotten away with it," L'Italien said. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c3e6f0c561f8afb6b1ec7e9e495c344bc23514bf0e9d2777036b7e6242aad5781933906fa66cc72397

ACCESS DENIED -- The West Virginia Supreme Court denied former GOP Senate candidate Don Blankenship's bid to get on the ballot in November as a Constitution Party candidate following his third-place primary finish in May. "Blankenship's effort could have shaken up the battleground race between Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee, siphoning critical votes from Morrisey as he seeks to oust the incumbent," Zach Montellaro and James Arkin report. "But West Virginia has a 'sore loser' law preventing major-party primary losers from running on another ticket in November."

Morrisey celebrated the end of Blankenship's sideshow, relishing the opportunity to face Manchin without any distractions. Morrisey, however, trails Manchin in polling and fundraising, though Republicans are optimistic he can close the gap. In a statement, Blankenship said he will evaluate his next steps with his attorneys but lamented that "the Republican Party can now slander a candidate throughout the Primary, effectively denying that candidate an equal opportunity to win the nomination, and simultaneously pass a law in the middle of an election cycle which prohibits the slandered person from being on the General election ballot." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8234c045340180c357fc9762099991750d44ae1cd517dc3e590a997a76582b9939c3ebe64d92e262787b826fd6cb91e9

TRANSITIONS -- Yasmeen Hussain is heading home to Seattle. Her last day in the office of Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), where she was the American Association for the Advancement of Science congressional science and technology policy fellow, was Wednesday.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Logan Ferree was first to correctly guess that John Osborne is the former House member who wore a pair of boots made of human skin to his inauguration as Wyoming's governor. He died in Rawlins, Wyoming.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Logan: When is the last time the congressional baseball game ended with a walk-off, and who was the member with the game-winning hit? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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