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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by Chevron

By JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER (anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc), DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman) and ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro)


BREAKING: MCCONNELL CALLS ON MOORE TO DROP OUT -- SEUNG MIN KIM: "MCCONNNELL: 'I BELIEVE THE WOMEN' ACCUSING ROY MOORE": "'I think he should step aside,' McConnell told reporters in Louisville. He had previously said Moore should leave the race if the allegations were true. 'I believe the women, yes,' McConnell said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040ffb13404918fe644a3615cee2444d2323a51cbb01fe804dfa351ca50b80d02e05b25f7fdb08b5505

-- @gdebenedetti: "More Roy Moore news coming: A new accuser -- 'who alleges that Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was a minor in Alabama' -- is set to appear with Gloria Allred in NYC at 2:30."

-- REPUBLICANS WE TALK TO do not think Moore will drop out. He's running against McConnell and has threatened to sue the Washington Post. He's positioning this as an establishment war against his candidacy. They are also concerned that this situation is spiraling out of control, with more and more women accusing Moore of misconduct. This is not what Republicans want to be talking about, or having to defend. MCCONNELL'S position, though, does raise the prospect that the Senate might move to remove him.

-- @MooreSenate: "The person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell. He has failed conservatives and must be replaced. #DrainTheSwamp"

THE NEXT HHS PICK -- @realDonaldTrump at 9:57 a.m.: "Happy to announce, I am nominating Alex Azar to be the next HHS Secretary. He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!"

Good Monday afternoon. BEHIND THE SCENES -- THE LATEST ON TAX REFORM -- House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and the Whip's office are hosting another "deeper dive" for members on the tax overhaul package at 3:40 p.m.

-- @realDonaldTrump at 10:06 a.m. (11:06 p.m. in the Philippines, but the tweet says it was sent from Pennsylvania): "I am proud of the Rep. House & Senate for working so hard on cutting taxes {& reform.} We're getting close! Now, how about ending the unfair & highly unpopular Indiv Mandate in OCare & reducing taxes even further? Cut top rate to 35% w/all of the rest going to middle income cuts?"

IT'S WORTH NOTING: Neither the House or Senate bill includes the individual mandate as part of its tax reform package. House GOP leaders have said they don't expect any major changes to the bill before they vote on it later this week. ALSO: Trump is calling for a change in the top rate -- a big tax cut for the wealthy. This is something Republicans have been actively trying to avoid.

WAPO'S DAVID NAKAMURA in Manila: "President Trump personally asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to help resolve the case of three UCLA men's basketball players who were arrested for shoplifting while in Hangzhou for a tournament last week, people familiar with the situation said Monday.

"Trump raised the arrests during a two-day state visit to Beijing, arriving a day after the three freshman players were accused of stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel. Guard LiAngelo Ball, brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Lonzo Ball, and forwards Cody Riley and Jalen Hill did not play in the team's victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday in Shanghai." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040b9969238ed45a0af04bb5fa7b7af9c6dd9d47814872d9f67dd87a9e91349a4664e8fa6a4522ab14c

BIDEN MAKING THE ROUNDS -- MEGYN KELLY spoke with JOE BIDEN on NBC'S "Megyn Kelly Today" about a potential 2020 bid: KELLY: "The critics will say, you are too old - you are going to be 77 in 2020 - you wouldn't have any new ideas, you have already run twice and lost, you would have to promise it would be one term only and that the blue collar rust belters, who you would need to get elected already love Donald Trump." BIDEN: "They love me more. But they are right about all the first parts, correct. I am not sure I can overcome the front end but I understand the rust belt. Donald Trump has no notion of what those people are going through."

HE'S BACK -- @RandPaul: "Kelley and I want to thank everyone once again for your thoughts and prayers for my recovery. While I'm still in a good deal of pain, I will be returning to work in the Senate today, ready to fight for liberty and help move forward with tax cuts in the coming days and weeks."

DOWN IN P.R. -- "The Lineman Got $63 an Hour. The Utility Was Billed $319 an Hour," by NYT's Frances Robles: "The small energy outfit from Montana that won a $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico's tattered power grid had few employees of its own, so it did what the Puerto Rican authorities could have done: It turned to Florida for workers.

"For their trouble, the six electrical workers from Kissimmee are earning $42 an hour, plus overtime. The senior power linemen from Lakeland are earning $63 an hour working in Puerto Rico, the Florida utility said. Their 40 co-workers from Jacksonville, also linemen, are making up to $100 earning double time, public records show.

"But the Montana company that hired the workers, Whitefish Energy Holdings, had a contract that allowed it to bill the Puerto Rican public power company, known as Prepa, $319 an hour for linemen, a rate that industry experts said was far above the norm even for emergency work -- and almost 17 times the average salary of their counterparts in Puerto Rico. A spokesman for Whitefish, Chris Chiames, defended the costs, saying that 'simply looking at the rate differential does not take into account Whitefish's overhead costs,' which were built into the rate." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040bfedb651be6bdd028d515e653e0f05c0d4e717ce95a5847be136f094a3b68de04e17d1a3627f7e84

ACROSS THE POND -- @christopherhope: "BREAKING Britain will leave the EU without a deal if MPs vote down final deal, David Davis said. MPs in the House of Commons audibly gasped."

PALACE INTRIGUE -- "No One Knows What Omarosa Is Doing in the White House -- Even Omarosa," by Elaina Plott in the Daily Beast: "After the abrupt end to our day in March, I called a Republican source in constant contact with the White House and asked what they thought Omarosa's job entailed. 'No clue,' the source said. I told the source about our whirlwind of a morning. 'Wait, Hope [Hicks] let you follow [Omarosa] around?' the source asked. No, I hadn't spoken with Hope, who now serves formally as the White House communications director. 'So Sean [Spicer] let you?' Ditto. 'Christ,' the source said. 'No one in the comms department knew a random reporter was walking around the West Wing. This
is why people think we're a shit show.'

"Ultimately, in my quest to better understand what, exactly, Omarosa does each day, I learned little more than the fact that she was getting married. I reached out to then deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders to find out more about the bridal luncheon -- whether it was normal, in the middle of a workday, for a staffer to use the White House for a personal event? Did taxpayers, or Omarosa herself foot the bill? 'I have no idea... I will try to track her down,' Sanders responded. On Friday, a senior White House official emailed: 'She did not have a bridal lunch but did invite her bridesmaids to have lunch with her in the navy mess which all commissioned officers are allowed to do.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040b61cbdbaae56da5256c8a26c5a1693ebf594da4e34618ba89127c7b0f4362261e2a6f876e31341b0

****** A message from Chevron: When an endangered butterfly was found near a Chevron refinery, we protected the habitat and still plant the only thing they eat-buckwheat. Watch the video: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040265739004bede382c0d3e8a0ff5ae8f628272a2ffb017f90048cb2f5bca6ec4927fe4f29f91521f0 ******

ANOTHER ALLEGATION -- "Woman Says George H.W. Bush Groped Her When She Was 16: 'I Was a Child'," by TIME's Aric Jenkins: "Roslyn Corrigan was sixteen years old when she got a chance to meet George H.W. Bush, excited to be introduced to a former president having grown up dreaming of going into politics. But Corrigan was crushed by her encounter: Bush, then 79 years old, groped her buttocks at a November 2003 event in The Woodlands, Texas, office of the Central Intelligence Agency where Corrigan's father gathered with fellow intelligence officers and family members to meet Bush, Corrigan said. Corrigan is the sixth woman since Oct. 24 to accuse Bush publicly of grabbing her buttocks without
consent." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040385e6b5f459e26ee2ac4baa04a1c5d996bfcec0735a5bc51a7bf50fc91bd9f264aebd3dc6667901e

TODAY'S BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- New York Democrats rally against GOP tax plan -- Warren holds 16th town hall of the year http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040dd0bd30a3d3eab8953508e75d0ab88a9cc8758f905490ce9eeab91dbd81d35549cedd142c031f682

-- "'One of the most secretive, dark states': What is Kansas trying to hide?," by the Kansas City Star's Laura Bauer, Judy Thomas and Max Londberg: "Kansas runs one of the most secretive state governments in the nation, and its secrecy permeates nearly every aspect of service, The Star found in a months-long investigation. From the governor's office to state agencies, from police departments to business relationships to health care, on the floors of the House and Senate, a veil has descended over the years and through administrations on both sides of the political aisle." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040b911dde1890f03acfb82b7cb7bbb12617bf2accfa54042ab8a253979e3a5c87fbea945e901749146

WHOA -- "Green Beret Discovered SEALs' Illicit Cash. Then He Was Killed," by the Daily Beast's Kevin Maurer and Spencer Ackerman: "Logan Melgar hadn't had a drink on June 4. The Green Beret sergeant's dry day became a key to unraveling the narrative spun by the elite Navy commandos whom military investigators now suspect killed him, officials familiar with the case said. Melgar, a staff sergeant in the Army's 3rd Special Forces Group, was specifically selected for an intelligence operation in the West African nation of Mali. He was well respected by the American Embassy staff and the partner forces there, a former U.S. Africa Command official said.

"But shortly before he died, Melgar told his wife that he had a bad feeling about two of his partners in that effort, both of whom were members of SEAL Team Six. Not wanting to say much more, Melgar informed his wife, Michelle, that he'd tell her the full story when he got back home, according to an official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing. ... Melgar, two special operations sources say, discovered the SEALs were pocketing some of the money from [an] informant fund. The SEALS offered to cut him in, but Melgar declined." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df1650409f605943029763d3f7fae4b26bd072ade31a54420a8df2899801abbefaae30e4a03930a83106565e

VALLEYTALK -- "The Tech Industry's Gender-Discrimination Problem," by The New Yorker's Sheelah Kolhatkar: "It's the imbalance of pay and power that puts men in a position to harass, that gives them unchecked control over the economic lives of women and, as a result, influence over their physical lives. These subtler forms of discrimination, familiar to almost any woman who has held a job, can in fact be especially insidious, since they are easier for companies, and even victims, to dismiss. This problem is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the technology industry." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040961686cb890575f1e4a3b2c74148c0abc0c73a2fb2c1b1bd4651dbeb4c2ee0d6a293be33092be279

AFTERNOON READ -- WASHINGTONIAN'S ANDREW BEAUJON -- "How a Trove of Nazi Art Wound Up Under Lock and Key on an Army Base in Virginia": "It's not easy to get to the Army's Nazi-art stash. My visit took months to arrange. The Center of Military History, which oversees the Army's art collection, does little to publicize the Nazi pieces in its possession. They've been loaned out only twice in the last decade. When I made this trip and finally got to the massive room that holds the artwork, an Army communications officer joked, 'The Ark of the Covenant is just down there.' ...

"For all the civics-class implications, however, the story of how a cache of Nazi propaganda wound up in a Woodbridge warehouse also involves some adventure, some bureaucracy, some litigation, and some unlikely characters. It begins with a real-life Indiana Jones, a professor from Oregon who did such a thorough job of stripping Germany of propaganda after World War II that the United States has spent decades wrestling with a collection of art that few want and even fewer ever get to see." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040e5da5957091045cbb52ef1697642944f7110e8e6171a7a3d8cd168fc989a1dfd08be6dfd1cd6824f

MEDIAWATCH -- "'Way too little, way too late': Facebook's factcheckers say effort is failing,"' by The Guardian's Sam Levin: "Journalists working for Facebook say the social media site's fact-checking tools have largely failed and that the company has exploited their labor for a PR campaign. Several fact checkers who work for independent news organizations and partner with Facebook told the Guardian that they feared their relationships with the technology corporation, some of which are paid, have created a conflict of interest, making it harder for the news outlets to scrutinize and criticize Facebook's role in spreading misinformation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df1650409b52c5ec5c8224a381dec2d561de3d19ef7cdcdf4c572434019b5bffcf2074dfd3d4f31c12827a18

-- @Drudge: "I've linked to @washingtonpost over 10,000X in 25 years of doing DRUDGEREPORT. I currently give them 37% of their referral traffic, according to http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df16504068764977efd0d531a8d5ba57d72e453a10109f5d9ee48266fc59d01df4f7b609bc1053464ea0665b . It's a brutal business. Not even a thank you. Instead: YOU'RE A RUSSIAN OPERATIVE!" Linking to a WaPo report analyzing how many times he linked to Infowars, RT and Sputnik http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040e64873fe7e958af1a37e8d967f26901be1c48c141e2ef915ecad7e28ab07a6d439977d451c47c1f5

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- "Coming Soon to Washington: An Anti-Trump Hotel for Liberals," by Bloomberg Pursuits' Nikki Ekstein: "In Trump's Washington, Eaton is planting a clear flag as a haven for Democrats. It's the world's first politically motivated hotel, the flagship for a global brand that's built around social activism and community engagement. And it comes with a pedigree: As the daughter of Ka Shui Lo, the creator and executive chairman of Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality Group Ltd., founder Katherine Lo knows a thing or two about luxury hotels and world-class service." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df1650406410aa8ff6c7e3353ccbf1b68a70106c0600b1505f049b25635c462dbd6e2bc526ed3f0b7dc3fcb8

SPOTTED -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Eli Miller, his chief of staff, with security in business class on a train to Philadelphia this morning. ... Rep. Dave Trott (R-Mich.) walking into the Duke University Chapel this morning before talking to the law school

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Laurent Crenshaw, director of public policy at Yelp and former LD for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), this weekend married Nikki Tuttle, community engagement manager at Uber. The ceremony was at Longview Art Gallery, where the couple was surrounded by family and friends."Like most great romances in the Internet age, Nikki and Laurent met through an app." Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040cfde74c4080c6ba672c703a4b6d63848e9be3f5e27649c54ac37d1ccd8b912f5c4ad5e428203e00e

SPOTTED: Rep. Darrell Issa, Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) and Debbie Farenthold, Kip Talley, Nika Nour, Michael O'Neill, Rebecca Mark, Amber Talley, Julian Leuthold, Michael Petricone, Austin Carson, Shannon Sorensen, Ellen Schrantz, Sonny M.F. Sinha, Mike McGeary, Gus Martinez, Jason Scism, Aya Kiy, David Grossman.

-- Abe Dyk, a partner at Democratic media firm MVAR Media and 3L at NYU Law, on Saturday married Christina Gagnier, a former candidate for Congress who now leads the internet, IP, and tech practice at Gagnier Margossian LLP and is also an adjunct faculty member at UC Irvine School of Law. The ceremony was at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia and the couple met at the DNC last year. Pics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df1650407a1b43ebc17f7de7513b2e31996ce6f72553784428549b98dd3a8a57d62cf002ce819f26e136937c ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040d2a0c28133ee8151adb2c608c4247c39b473298fa587cb999e2b63785faef96281e127608f61b1ce

SPOTTED: Sally Katzen, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), John Podesta, former Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), Anita Dunn, Jon Vogel, Ben Farley, Jayna Genti, Mat and Eugenia Pierson, Dave Hoffman, Lacey Morrison, Max Nacheman, Fabien Levy, Selina Maclaren, Jon and Abra Adrabi, Paul Bell, Chris Stelmarski, Brad Comar, Alexa Feldman, Daniel Barasch, Matt Mazonkey, Dean Levitan, Tricia Enright, Amanda Crumley, Tasha Cole, Matt Butler, Jason O'Malley, Ben Berkowitz, Scott Johnson, Lovisa Williams, and Jason Putorti.

-- OBAMA ALUMNI -- Bridget Bartol, media relations manager at Securing America's Future Energy and an Obama DOE and Dewey Square Group alum, married Dr. Keith Versteegden, an optometrist. The ceremony was at Josephine Butler Parks Center. Pics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df1650401426689b2cbbda058fd1da6433b3a15066d213789ef94ca41e987f6f95c1f3c5c382227ae4346df5 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040d5a5f299cd0f6c13da79b53712f0892f239e22b5461d0ed54b6f795b7211e02eb810decfa7d2c8cc

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - Tripp DeMoss, legislative counsel for Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), and Kate DeMoss, political science Ph.D. candidate at Tulane, "welcomed brand new Alabama Crimson Tide fan Robert L. 'Beau' DeMoss IV at Sibley Memorial Hospital on Friday at 8:17 p.m., weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces." Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df1650406678cebe59436b636049b3de2526382d80621751412cc7cef93596f8ee11484d82226729e44657a6

-- Michael Sewell, director of federal government affairs at Duke Energy, and Bridget Driggs Sewell, PAC director for Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, on Thursday welcomed James McGowen Sewell. "The proud parents honored their long time friend and recently passed DC lobbyist, Christopher McGowen, with their first child's middle name." Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040875e50bf3152aeb1b8e3f18271753cfa39ea03a5fb705338939542427bada542e53e85e2bc6fab76

TRANSITIONS - OBAMA ALUMNI: Suzi Emmerling is starting a new position as LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's communications director. She was most recently deputy chief of staff at DOT in the Obama administration. She's also an alum of CAP, Obama 2012 and the 2012 DNC. ...

... Debbie Weir has started at Everytown for Gun Safety as the managing director of organizing and engagement. She was previously the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. ... Rowhan Baptiste, former deputy press secretary for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), has joined APCO Worldwide's New York City office.

BONUS BIRTHDAY -- Judge Merrick Garland is 65.

****** A message from Chevron: This is a story about DOERS, butterflies, and buckwheat. In '75, the endangered El Segundo Blue butterfly was found near a Chevron refinery. We protected the habitat and planted the only thing they eat-buckwheat. We're still planting and keeping an eye on our littlest neighbor. Watch the video: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7591ea77df165040265739004bede382c0d3e8a0ff5ae8f628272a2ffb017f90048cb2f5bca6ec4927fe4f29f91521f0 ******

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