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10/30/2017 07:55 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

MUELLER INDICTMENT LOOMS LARGE - Publicly, Republicans on the Hill are prepping a big tax reform push this week, with House tax-writers planning to unveil their highly anticipated bill on Wednesday. But privately, all of the chatter is about who is facing charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian meddling probe. The grand jury approved the first charges in the case Friday CNN scooped, with one (or more) people expected to be taken into custody as soon as today.

President Donald Trump, who's expected to unveil his Federal Reserve pick this week and leaves for a big Asia trip Friday, spent the weekend angrily tweeting about ongoing Russia investigations, pointing the finger at Democrats and deeming it a "witch hunt." Matt Nussbaum with the week-ahead preview: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8fa29d163de79c4cd33f5a557bcbdc822d74c0831a3285ce4ebbfe2a767c707fb4f8bae57c870a6772e2c043fa37f272

So who is charged in the Mueller probe? Well nobody knows, yet. Several attorneys in touch with lawyers for Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn said over the weekend they had not been notified of an indictment, Darren Samuelsohn reports. But the charges could target family members or associates of Flynn or Manafort in an attempt to pressure the men to cooperate with investigators. Or the probe could be focusing on someone else entirely. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8fa29d163de79c4c54d003b6a188c9a129c1d1f5a23156562c28d810dd63172ed98aee0893bbbd62b2b88a5812256edc

SPEAKING OF TAX REFORM... House Republican leaders spent the weekend trying to quell concerns from their rank-and-file, who are increasingly alarmed by the secrecy shrouding the tax bill, Seung Min and Aaron Lorenzo report. GOP lawmakers are expected to be briefed on the bill Wednesday, the same day it's publicly released. Republican leaders took a step over the weekend to partly pare back their plan to eliminate the state and local tax deduction after lawmakers from high-tax states like New York and New Jersey threatened revolt.

But the move meant House tax writers reversed course on another compromise option to add a homeowner's tax credit to their framework, prompting outcry from the National Association of Home Builders, a key lobbying group in the upcoming fight. "All the resources we were going to put into supporting [the bill] are now going to go into opposing the plan," NAHB Chief Executive Officer Jerry Howard told our Lorraine Woellert over the weekend.

FIRST in Huddle: In response to NAHB's opposition, Heritage Action is out with a letter signed by nearly 150 real estate professionals backing the GOP's tax bill. "We specifically encourage you to keep the proposal to double the standard deduction and repeal the state and local tax (SALT) deduction," they write. Read more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8fa29d163de79c4ca8a33df1e0ab80edd38f645958978f448773f14e5fff482704eb140e1ae25a0a1c23801e12cd271c

Rich Rubin sums it up: "The plan is to keep the tough trade-offs in the bill secret until after Halloween, then reach Thanksgiving with bills passed by the House and Senate and hit New Year's Day with a bill on Mr. Trump's desk. That's close to financial-crisis speed, pushing Congress into a kind of emergency lawmaking mode it typically uses only when inaction means cataclysm." The Wall Street Journal: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8fa29d163de79c4c51bdde067934b2763269f064b30a50a5a2662cfe987674d3010a66ea42784bf23dedd6aa39706028

Related: "House GOP tosses conservative playbook in bid for tax reform," via Brian Faler this weekend. Read: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8be52978cc4f3e8d8769c1bf9eb1de636a752a4b077bd2ae23c71344939edde06927f5eae1a6863fdc2

DON'T MISS IT: BOEHNER UNCHAINED - Tim Alberta's masterful profile of former Speaker John Boehner is a must-read. Boehner reflects on his time leading the House as he looks for his next mission, predicts his speakership will be viewed by historians as the beginning of the end of the two-party system and says Republicans don't have a leader of their party - if their party even exists anymore. "Donald Trump's not a Republican. He's not a Democrat. He's a populist," Boehner tells Alberta in a series of interviews conducted over several months back home in Ohio, here in Washington and in Green Bay.

Boehner holds nothing back in the wide-ranging write up, calling former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan a "legislative terrorist," using very salty language to describe Jason Chaffetz and recalling the time Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) held a knife to his throat outside the House chamber. Boehner on Sen. Ted Cruz: "Do you feel badly about calling him Lucifer, I ask? 'No!' Boehner snorts. 'He's the most miserable son of a bitch I've ever had to work with.'" Much, much more (there are so many good nuggets): http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8be96071582bf63f9821a0b192597bf441e643a82ef80ee1308297dee4c42d769c03243fd25c1e4ccf2

HAVE A BOO-TIFUL MONDAY. Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO's Huddle on Oct. 30, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Both the AP's Tom LoBianco (via email) and BNA's Jonathan Nicholson (via Twitter) correctly guessed that your Huddle host and her hubby dressed up as Hall and Oates this weekend (although some Millennials had no idea who we were supposed to be!). Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8be86c10bc50e420c8993d5c35095169de535551ab4ee25799f812c9bfd3cd31b356c0f241d2ba0c39e


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FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Dallas Morning News' op-ed criticizing Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for endorsing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (specifically calling it a betrayal) was the end-of-the-week winner.

TAX REFORM 101: How does our tax system really work? Who pays what-and how does it all add up? And how does the American system compare to international competitors? POLITICO's new explainer video series has you covered. Tax Reform with Bernie Becker is the first of an issue based animated video series that pairs expert reporters with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Matt Wuerker to provide you with a new way of digesting the news. Click HERE to watch.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE SPOTLIGHT - Facebook, Twitter and Google will be in the hot seat this week as multiple congressional committees grill the social media giants about Russian attempts to influence the election using their sites last year. Representatives from the three companies will face questions about the thousands of Russian-bought ads purchased on their sites last year. And "some lawmakers are already pressing for more details about so-called organic content, including unpaid posts from thousands of fake, automated and hijacked user accounts," Steven Overly, Li Zhou and Josh Meyer report. The three companies will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee
Tuesday and at separate House and Senate Intel hearings Wednesday. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8be31cbc058462a5487c2024cd64d0776570431a2fed94ac597a1d546bf45f17ca4ed88f177aa9f5aaf

WON'T BACK DOWN - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi isn't going anywhere anytime soon. But whether that hurts or helps her party - which struggled to win over working-class voters in the last election - is an open question. "After three decades in Congress, Pelosi, 77, makes an unlikely general to lead the troops into another change election," Michael Scherer reports for the Washington Post. "But rather than shrink from the spotlight, Pelosi is once again in control - her party's top fundraiser, senior midterm election strategist and top legislative negotiator... 'There are a lot of ways to skin a cat,' Pelosi likes to joke about the president. 'And he is skinning himself.'" More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8bec4585093f52ac3ca35066b5663f5abf8f947fc8a8680a957b1ff2d5d43046b413e4a945b617545fc

MENENDEZ SEEKS MISTRIAL - Lawyers for Sen. Bob Menendez will seek a mistrial, they formally declared in a new court filing Sunday. In the filing, Menendez's lawyers claimed the judge overseeing the case is biased and has prevented the New Jersey Democrat, who is facing bribery and federal corruption charges, from presenting his case, Bres reports. "Menendez and [co-defendant Salomon] Melgen's attorneys, however, are clearly setting up grounds for an appeal if they are convicted at the end of this trial. Arguments over the defense motion will take place this week." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8befe377acd626440eff9651d2ec9cf03d7cd40a494c62e7d02a65100644a7166c95ab22aca911db706

COMING ATTRACTIONS: EX-IM NOMINATION - The Senate Banking Committee will meet Wednesday to consider former Rep. Scott Garrett's nomination to lead the Ex-Im Bank. Garrett is a controversial nominee given his longstanding opposition to the bank as a member of Congress. Republican Sen. Tim Scott, normally a reliable White House ally on nominations, is considering voting against Garrett, Emma Dumain reports. "In an interview with McClatchy, Scott actually suggested that wading into the public discourse on a controversy such as Charlottesville was actually a bit easier than opposing a presidential nominee, something he hasn't done yet." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a74152eb1302e8be15400d3e62dc803e00c4633a2a653610f7964643d4b316f470abdc75b6263b569d41b33ecf6ca44b

HE'S RUNNING? Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took a long pause when asked by NBC's Kasie Hunt about the possibility that another Republican challenges Trump in 2020. "I think no one can stop primaries from happening and there could well be a primary that happens," Paul responded. "At this point I can't see myself supporting anybody but President Trump."

CLARIFICATION: In Friday's Huddle, we mentioned efforts lawmakers are pursuing to combat sexual harassment on Capitol Hill but didn't fully explain the dual tracks being pursued. Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) introduced a bill last week that would require mandatory sexual harassment training for congressional staffers every two years. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) is working on separate legislation, to be introduced this week, that would mandate training for members and staff every year, reform the office that handles harassment claims and institute a survey to better understand the scope of the problem.

WEEKEND WEDDINGS - Tyler Daniel, political director for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, married Lila Nelson, a speech-language pathologist at Carriage Hill in Bethesda, on Saturday in Shreveport at St. Mark's Cathedral. The couple met at Ole Miss while Tyler was getting his MBA and Lila was an undergrad. Pics: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d6b0b9f11c958add8a1f5db057bc4a9095c0a272b1c8e3115e42f0cbe9c82c643944b7b9fe5e80016c47c57cd6389ad6 and the couple with Scalise: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d6b0b9f11c958add10d966e5e9eea7cbb0875eb0797ea2896f36b2501ac5388ffaa3c71f6269ac2dccb963bd56601588

-- Sacha Haworth, communications director for Arizona Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema's campaign for Senate, on Saturday married Will Mitchell, legislative director for Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.). The ceremony and celebration were held at Woodend Audubon Mansion and Sanctuary in Chevy Chase, MD. Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d6b0b9f11c958add1908d23eb692bf08e3e352eaaf54bd81859e6baa7004173b3ee131c844c08bcaa7a2d3e7003f277a

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate gavels in at 3 p.m. with roll call votes related to two judicial nominees at 5:30 p.m. More info: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d6b0b9f11c958add54676de6ecb965e61cea8af42b787bb7d01f9f0fbc637d8552709cc3d1c2f3a1eb69c902b88ae802 The House will be back tomorrow.

AROUND THE HILL - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) hold a press conference on Amy Barrett, judicial nominee to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, at 4 p.m. in S-211. Related: McConnell writes about Barrett and other judicial nominees teed up for a vote in National Review. Read: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e925e1ce46b3bc426e29f14bfbace45284a061ff8c85b1e0e84b27a0dfb6a5d3fffbc1714e695df7619e061aacf62c8d

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) will hold an on-the-record pen and pad in the Senate Press Gallery (S-316) at 4:15 p.m. to discuss the Senate Foreign relations hearing this evening with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis (focused on the AUMF) and U.S. military operations in Africa.

FLASH BRIEFING on Facebook, Google Hearings: Don't have time for full day of testimony? We have you covered. POLITICO and The Information are partnering to offer an insider flash briefing and Q&A for real-time analysis, key takeaways, and the impact that congressional testimony about Russian involvement in the 2016 Election by executives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter will have.

A conversation hosted by Jessica Lessin, POLITICO's Nancy Scola and The Information's Cory Weinberg will detail how the hearings will impact the Honest Ads Act, take you inside the latest intel about possible connections to the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and outline how these tech giants are responding to Russian propaganda arms like RT. Sign up for the Flash Briefing here and sign up for POLITICO's Morning Tech for the latest tech news in your inbox each morning here.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Kevin Cain was first to guess that Sen. Isaac Stephenson (R-Wis.) gave President William Howard Taft a new cow after the family pet, Mooly Wooly, died suddenly in 2010. The new cow, Pauline Wayne, also served a practical purpose, supplying the first family with dairy products including fresh milk.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - This former lawmaker and president is still rumored to haunt the Capitol, including one room in particular. Name the person in question and the Capitol area his ghost supposedly fancies. Send your best guess my way: hcaygle@politico.com. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle.

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