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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by ExxonMobil

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


NYT'S MIKE SHEAR (@shearm): "Odd day - Russian journalist says he faked his own death; Kim Kardashian is at the WH meeting with the president's senior adviser; @realDonaldTrump is obsessing again about his crowd size; the maker of a drug has to deny that racism is a side effect. And it's only 10:40 a.m."

... ADDING TO THAT: The president of the United States has said that he wishes he didn't select Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general.

160 DAYS until Election Day.

Good Wednesday afternoon. WILDEST STORY OF THE DAY ... AP/MOSCOW: "'I'm alive': Russian reporter, Ukraine police faked killing": "A Russian journalist who was reportedly gunned down in Ukraine's capital strolled into a news conference that authorities called Wednesday to discuss the investigation of his death, revealing that the slaying had been staged to foil an alleged Kremlin hit plot.

"'I'm still alive,' Arkady Babchenko, 41, told startled fellow reporters at the news conference held less than 24 hours after police reported he had been shot and killed at his Kiev apartment building. ...

"Before ushering Babchenko into the room, [Vasyl Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service] said investigators had identified a Ukrainian citizen who allegedly was paid $40,000 by the Russian security service to organize and carry out the hit. The unidentified Ukrainian man in turn allegedly hired an acquaintance to be the gunman, Gritsak said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e44c3327c7233e898f367e1ff3b5270b290c08ae136f748473eb97529daee9bff96eff43b1cdf44d0

SANOFI -- the maker of Ambien -- on ROSEANNE BARR blaming her racist comment on using the drug: "People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."

BUYER'S REMORSE -- TRUMP SAYS HE WISHES HE PICKED SOMEONE ELSE FOR AG! -- @realDonaldTrump at 8:46 a.m.: "Rep.Trey Gowdy, 'I don't think so, I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country's...."

... at 8:47 a.m.: "....chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, 'oh by the way I'm not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too...and that's how I read that -- Senator Sessions, why didn't you tell me before I picked you....."

... also at 8:47 a.m.: "....There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!' And I wish I did!"

-- THIS IS PROBABLY AS FAR as Trump has gone publicly in dumping on his attorney general.

MATTHEW MILLER, former DOJ spokesman (@matthewamiller): "It's not the main thing, but worth pointing out that if the WH was minimally competent, Trump would've known Sessions was going to have to recuse. It wasn't a discretionary act -- the rules are literally written to cover investigations into campaigns."

REP. TREY GOWDY (R-S.C.) ALSO SAID ON "CBS THIS MORNING" "spy" is not a term he's ever used in the "criminal justice system." "I've never heard the term spy used." ... Gowdy also suggested the president sit down with Bob Mueller. CBS clip http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e1a94f19015105af028c5684bb4428f620bb8255a37801669bec37fd9fad8ac60282bd8607c071144

-- GOOD TRIVIA: Gowdy said he has never met or talked to the president.

DAILY BEAST'S LACHLAN MARKAY: "Former Trump Aide Michael Caputo Wants to Give Roseanne Reboot a New Home": "Less than 24 hours after the 'Roseanne' reboot was canceled, former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo began plotting ways to get her back on air.

"Caputo is the chief marketing officer of an online streaming TV startup called Bond, which aims to fund film and television programming through 'crowd-investing.' He told The Daily Beast that he and his colleagues plan 'to reach out to Roseanne [Barr] immediately' in the wake of the cancellation of her ABC show on Tuesday over a series of racist and anti-Semitic tweets." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e5cafd5f542b46d084924c068d49bcc99ce10b8e295b401997e3f954875315ed9b609fa119e259ae5

-- NYT's Sopan Deb: "Roseanne Barr's Tweets Didn't Come Out of Nowhere" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ea14a5863e5e71da62aa95f0c057fb44c7144e11f9b14bcb574c4c2ae5071877093f1c066a8fa6dd2

-- @realDonaldTrump at 11:31 a.m.: "Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that 'ABC does not tolerate comments like those' made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn't get the call?"

MICHAEL CROWLEY in POLITICO MAGAZINE: "The White House Official Trump Says Doesn't Exist: Meet Matthew Pottinger, the former journalist who became the president's top Asia hand": "As the national security council's director for Asia, the sandy-haired and boyish-looking 45-year-old is the president's top adviser on North Korea and China. He organized Trump's 12-day trip to Asia last fall, during which he was rarely far from the president's side. He has played a central role in coordinating Trump's North Korea policy since early last year -- one reason he was among a handful of U.S. officials to fly into Pyongyang earlier this month with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And he has been in the
thick of White House preparations for a possible summit with Kim.

"Pottinger, says former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, is 'one of the most significant people in the entire U.S. government.'

"That comforts friends and admirers who say Pottinger is among the most grounded and thoughtful - 'sane,' as more than one shorthanded it -- people in Trump's orbit. 'I have found him variously to be smart, insightful, inquisitive and not dogmatic,' said the Harvard professor and national security strategist Graham Allison, who has discussed China policy with Pottinger. 'He is loyal to the team -- but listening.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e7c86c501519f30c03259f1fbbd731981c7e4c60bfaf9f719c33ec958aa0ed46b9bf7a765c5b2ec1d

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WELL OILED MACHINE -- "Trump Aides Brutally Turn on Each Other in War on Leaks," by The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng: "Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk, watching the drama unfold in real time. The meeting [where Kelly Sadler accused Mercedes Schlapp of being a leaker, which has been previously reported] adjourned shortly after the tense -- even for the Trump White House -- exchange. But the drama didn't end there. Two sources recounted that Schlapp remained heated, saying that in separate conversations detailing what happened in the Oval, she referred to Sadler as 'a b***h.'

"Schlapp vehemently denied saying the word and insinuated that any suggestion she had done so was, itself, a malicious leak designed to undermine her. ... Whether or not an epithet was used, for some inside the administration, is of secondary concern. Far more important was the chaos that the episode illuminated about the state of the president's communications staff. After weeks of trying to patch together a coherent operation, the framework appears to be falling utterly apart. Leaks, chief among them the one involving Sadler's McCain comments, have decimated morale. But factionalism was the real poison, with aides growing more and more convinced that enemies within are spreading gossip
and innuendo to enhance their own standing." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e309b8295c23bb7d4a4dbfba289fb8ba9cc35fae857326c4eaf4dcd0475c4b4e8749fcb8e0d877b93

-- "Navarro swipes at Mnuchin for 'unfortunate soundbite,'" by Louis Nelson: "How would [Peter] Navarro characterize the escalating economic tensions between Washington and Beijing? 'It's a trade dispute, plain and simple.'

"'That was an unfortunate soundbite, basically for two reasons,' Navarro said of [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin's statement earlier this month that the Trump administration was 'putting the trade war on hold' amid negotiations with China. 'One is that what we're having with China is a trade dispute, plain and simple. They engage in a whole range of unfair trade practices.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e384b9b71a75fad7539811110e8c7bb73a851be1f7721a40621caf0400c2f567d189fffbc0d203ff6 ... The full NPR interview http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e3a3cf3e1ceb760ee6509bf829ed759f1b0fcc2beaa628d82444d54faa8f4d463cef5876403fcc365

AFTERNOON READ -- "For 'Columbiners,' School Shootings Have a Deadly Allure," by NYT's Manny Fernandez, Julie Turkewitz and Jess Bidgood: "Investigators say school shootings have become the American equivalent of suicide bombings -- not just a tactic, but an ideology. Young men, many of them depressed, alienated or mentally disturbed, are drawn to the Columbine subculture because they see it as a way to lash out at the world and to get the attention of a society that they believe bullies, ignores or misunderstands them." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e45ba9669e48cc21223d8bc0094863b22bb5cc437a3e95bffdc5a3953cbefd85231bc75c1ed88c3ac

2018 WATCH -- "'Bitcoin's candidate' takes heat for cryptocurrency donations," by Colin Wilhelm: "Since announcing his candidacy last year for a Southern California seat, Brian Forde has embraced cryptocurrency donations more wholeheartedly than any candidate before him. According to FEC records, Forde's campaign has raised nearly $400,000 through virtual currencies, including more than $10,000 from his own stash.

"That has led one of his opponents, fellow Democrat Dave Min -- a onetime enforcement lawyer at the SEC -- to paint him as beholden to an upstart industry that still carries the stigma of illegality for its use in drug deals. ... According to Forde campaign manager Eric Taylor, the campaign has raised an additional $130,000 in cryptocurrency donations since Min began attacking Forde for the practice on social media several weeks ago, suggesting the maneuver may have backfired." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ec2a5c33ddaa05d90433aec5b5a27e18d32eba08c52f11f90fda74cba2296d21b2739861c001ab921

MEDIAWATCH -- Cristiano Lima will take over the Morning Tech newsletter at POLITICO. He was previously a breaking news reporter here. Subscribe to Morning Tech http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ed42460adc8cf33d4ac5bb0749376121b11d986b193772e146289eed10bd419055da9d992657bf33b

-- Eduardo Porter will no longer write the "Economic Scene" column for The New York Times and will move to a yet-undefined role at the paper. More from TalkingBizNews http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257edcced5b4a8b848c27087969ca0f50e5b53df4b3c9728df7b84d02d8f36ababc6c499e7f72d0f0c29

-- Christian Datoc is now night news editor at the Washington Examiner. He previously was the breaking news editor at the Daily Caller.

SPOTTED: Ed Rogers and his wife, Patti Rogers, having dinner at Tosca on Tuesday night with two former prime ministers of Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra ... Denis McDonough on Tuesday at the South Dupont Starbucks ... Cornel West leaving the Hyatt Regency yesterday ... Corey Lewandowski on a Tuesday JetBlue flight from Boston to Washington

TRANSITIONS -- Matt Oczkowski, who helped on the Trump campaign's data efforts, was head of product at Cambridge Analytica and is a Scott Walker alum, has started a new data company called Data Propria, that is working with both corporate and political clients. More from Wired's Issie Lapowsky http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e863fc1973b85007a4b973b413cc25046ab81f3751e179639aea1c125b7bd6b9b7c7583cb0904a38c

WEEKEND WEDDINGS - OBAMA ALUMNI: Katherine "Kat" Kennedy Townsend, executive director at Open Data Collaboratives LLC and a USAID and State alum, on Saturday married Tyson Sharbaugh, a video editor at PBS. The wedding and celebration took place at Smokey Glen Farm in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Pics by Event Photography Group http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e49f98d0815d8098b067e2680ad93373944256b2c6570f0190b87e5cb1c5eff62052ecdce12170647 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ead496d207ea9c933f16df05e14875524593d13ad06b92504464be7aea00a2fdf5f61117743af9120 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e4a33eabfe1e552f83a662231774099bb6b19cbd7f4456347845cb791ebbcdc251bc65800249a4894

SPOTTED: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, David Townsend, Maeve Kennedy McKean, Kerry Kennedy Townsend, Ethel Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines, Bobby Kennedy III, Chris and Sheila Kennedy, Doug and Molly Kennedy, Connecticut State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. and wife Kiki, David McKean, Mark Bailey and Rory Kennedy, Marina and Joe McCarthy, Conchita Sarnoff, Alan Fleischmann and Dafna Tapiero, and Pradeep Ramamurthy.

-- Alma Acosta, executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and alum of Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), married Daniel Lind, safety compliance engineer with NHTSA. The wedding was at the Sheraton Tysons Hotel in Tyson's Corner, Va. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ec2c83878df4d0df0b67b7f0939afac390ce7bdb3d1c547ccadfc65369c2e24b1d0752a33bfc51c8a

-- Richard Palacio, founder of the political consulting firm Palacio Strategies Group, managing partner of the Majority Institute, and former chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, married Graham Kaltenbach, a residential real estate broker at Coldwell Banker. Wedding pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ec8260722e7292e2f82c3ff2f5221d7ecffd1551a770228d56f4bddbca24b50406f9a7ec8f9f9f30c ... NYT announcement http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e9562dae3daf17e6b3c7511be26acd8bbcc1209a3a6e0b74fb2ab199f4eb53037b9c935ccafa96e87

ENGAGED -- Adam Sieff, a litigation associate at Latham & Watkins and a lecturer in law at USC, proposed to Madeleine McKenna, a litigation associate at Gibson, Dunn. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257eea28c8d6a4b07280159081c837f070d1f56d77fa79c957f3b1fe79610a65c7011b4aa4cac3ba26bc ... The ring http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257e695565266c07685c418173856ad328e2ec055de024dde65f1bf5f29837edadb8f3a05f4aaa83ec24

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic, and Annie Coppins recently welcomed a baby girl. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d5bb144b8d79257ef053821982dafb8243122d4f0df04b624ed9704c1fef0cfbd579e1e33b4822d8cfdbd0526ec04db9

BONUS BIRTHDAYS: Monica Cummings, chief public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Athens (hat tip: Ben Chang) ... (was Sunday): Andrew Tabler of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

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