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By Scott Wong (
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)

GAVEL GRAB BEGINS - POLITICO has a pair of stories this morning about the jostling for plum committee chairmanships and leadership posts. Jake Sherman reports on the House: "Because of committee term limits, seven House panels will get new chairmen next Congress, putting new policy players atop committees that oversee everything from the financial sector to immigration to the nation's roads and bridges. It puts a fresh set of lawmakers center stage as Congress wrestles with the national debt, a shrinking military, louder calls for entitlement reform - all with the likely backdrop of a divided government. Still, the demographics of committee chairs won't change much: White men will be
replaced by white men and, as Republicans try to show they're the party for women, there will still just be one female lawmaker atop a House committee. ...

-- "Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus of Alabama is likely to be replaced by Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling. Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida probably will be swapped with Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey. Homeland Security Chairman Peter King of New York will hand over his gavel to Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan. Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas will almost certainly be replaced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia. Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Shuster will take the gavel from Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica of Florida. Science, Space and Technology Chairman Ralph Hall of Texas is all but sure to be replaced by Smith of the Judiciary
Committee. Veteran Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, who chaired the panel from 1997 to 2001, also is making a play for that committee."
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SENATE SHUFFLE: GRASSLEY FOR FINANCE CHAIR? - Manu Raju and Seung Min Kim report: "If Republicans win back the Senate in November, [Sen. Charles] Grassley could seek the chairmanship of the panel that would be tasked with rewriting the Tax Code, overhauling entitlement programs and leading the charge to repeal the sweeping health care law. While Grassley said in an interview that he's leaning toward assuming the Judiciary Committee chairmanship instead, he refused to rule out a bid for the Finance Committee gavel that seemed all but certain to go to [Sen. Orrin] Hatch. ...

-- "The Finance Committee intrigue is part of a larger scramble for power that's already under way but will kick into high gear after the election. Senators are angling for plum committee chairmanships and seats in hopes of boosting their clout and capitalizing on their seniority. ... The open spots include running the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Jockeying has also begun for the Senate GOP whip spot, the No. 2 job, with Texas Sen. John Cornyn gaining the inside track. ... Some senior Republicans privately hope that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will make a bid for chairmanship of the NRSC, giving the influential committee significant
star power for its efforts to raise and spend millions of dollars on behalf of Senate GOP candidates."
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REPORTS: RIVERA RAN SECRET CAMPAIGN - Manny Garcia and Marc Caputo report on A1 of the Miami Herald: "Justin Lamar Sternad, whose failed congressional campaign became the subject of a federal grand-jury investigation, has told the FBI that U.S. Rep. David Rivera was secretly behind his run for office, The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald have learned. Sternad, 35, also told authorities that his campaign manager, Ana Sol Alliegro, acted as the conduit between the campaign and Rivera, who allegedly steered unreported cash to the Democrat's campaign, according to sources familiar with the investigation and records shared with The Herald. Sternad said Alliegro referred to the congressman by his
initials, 'D.R.,' and called him by the nickname, 'The Gangster.'

-- "'We will respond when these so-called 'sources' are willing to go on the record,' said attorney Michael R. Band, who represents Rivera. 'We are not going to respond to unfounded rumors and innuendo. My client is in the middle of an election and it's unfair for us to be shadow-boxing with unnamed sources.' Sternad's account to federal authorities supports what two campaign vendors told The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald: that the congressman was the driver behind a botched attempt to plant a candidate in the District 26 congressional primary.

-- Sternad said he never met Rivera. "But Sternad - using Facebook and Twitter - found pictures of Alliegro and Rivera together and determined that Rivera was the mystery 'investor' so enthralled with his candidacy. The political newcomer - a night-time hotel worker - said he continued with the scheme because Alliegro told him that 'D.R.' would get him a better job to support his wife and five kids if he lost. Now, instead of a better job, Sternad is facing a possible indictment."
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GOP BEGINS TO COALESCE AROUND AKIN AFTER DROP-OUT DEADLINE PASSES - Steve Kraske reports for the Kansas City Star: "Republicans in Missouri and across the country started moving back toward supporting Todd Akin's Senate bid as the candidate declared yet again Tuesday that he was still in the race. The Missouri Republican Party, which had been noticeably silent in the weeks after Akin's comments about rape victims, issued a statement Tuesday in which party chairman David Cole declared the party "will do everything we can" to help the six-term U.S. House member from the St. Louis area. ... Akin's announcement Tuesday came on the final day he could officially withdraw from the race without his
name appearing on the Nov. 6 ballot.

-- "On Tuesday evening, Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri issued a statement saying he'd also work for Akin's election. A month ago Blunt called on Akin to step aside. Blunt's statement said he and Akin 'don't agree on everything, but he and I agree the Senate majority must change.' ... In addition, the independent Freedom's Defense Fund committee announced it was committing $250,000 for TV commercials and other help related to Akin's campaign."
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-- One reason more Republicans aren't rushing to Akin's side? Just watch this satire sketch video titled "Legitimate Rape Pharmaceutical Ad."
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TRANSITIONS: NELSON AIDE TO NRDC - With Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) retiring at the end of the year, his communications director, Jake Thompson, has joined the federal communications team at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Jake's arrival further strengthens both a federal communications team that is already unrivaled in Washington's advocacy world and NRDC's work to protect our natural resources, public health and the environment," said Phil Gutis, NRDC's communications director. A former reporter for two decades, Thompson authored "Bob Dole: The Republicans' Man for All Seasons." The University of Kansas alum has won a number of journalism awards while reporting from Washington for
the Omaha World-Herald and the Kansas City Star.

CODA FOR WATERS CASE - POLITICO's John Bresnahan reports: "The long saga of the Maxine Waters ethics investigation is a chronicle of mistakes, partisan and intraparty squabbles, allegations of racism, bitter personal rivalries and failed attempts to bring the investigation to a close months and even years before it ended. The Ethics Committee's probe of the California congresswoman's dealings with a minority-owned bank in which her husband held stock dragged on 38 months and consumed probably millions in legal fees - far more than the roughly $350,000 investment that Waters's husband, Sidney Williams, was in danger of losing if OneUnited Bank collapsed during the 2008 U.S. financial crisis.
... On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee issued its final report in the case. Waters will not be charged with any violations of House ethics rules. That decision is a big win for the California Democrat and clears the way for her to seek the ranking member post on the Financial Services Committee next year."
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CONSERVATIVES MAY BLOCK SEQUESTER FIX - Jonathan Allen reports for the hometown paper: "Not everyone in Washington is so desperate to avoid sequestration. A handful of Senate conservatives have been gaming out ways to block a deal, if they consider it a bad one - even if it means letting billions in across-the-board cuts go through, according to GOP sources on Capitol Hill. The issue: Republican budget hard-liners fear that the White House, congressional Democrats and their own party leaders will try to replace or forestall the cuts with budget gimmickry or new taxes. They worry that 'fake' cuts - savings that would have happened anyway or other accounting tricks - will become increasingly
popular, even for moderate Republicans, as the zero hour approaches for the Defense Department. In private sessions, these Republicans have begun laying plans to block a big, bipartisan agreement, either by pressuring GOP leaders not to give ground or using the congressional rulebook to slow-walk the process."
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RACIAL POLITICS: BROWN AIDES TAUNT WARREN WITH 'TOMAHAWK CHOPS' - WCVB-TV in Boston reports: "Some staffers for Sen. Scott Brown chanted Indian 'war whoops' and made 'tomahawk chops' during a rally for the Republican senator this week in Boston. In a video posted on YouTube that was shot by a state Democratic Party staffer, members of Brown's staff are seen holding campaign signs near the Erie Pub. The main person in the video has been identified as Brad Garnett, a field coordinator for the Massachusetts GOP. He is seen making tomahawk chopping motions and making whooping sounds, presumably in reference to Elizabeth Warren's claims of Cherokee heritage. Jack Richard, Brown's
Constituent Service Counsel is also seen making tomahawk chop motions. Jerry McDermott, Brown's State Director and Jennifer Franks, Special Assistant to Senator Scott Brown were also shown in the video at the rally, NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu confirmed.

-- "'It is certainly something that I don't condone,' said Brown when asked about the video. 'The real offense is that (Warren) said she was white and then checked the box saying she is Native American, and then she changed her profile in the law directory once she made her tenure.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce326f5c847d925e35515ab33b2786d3d90ccea73b98991e324b8b0e4476de8a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce326f5c847d925e35515ab33b2786d3d90ccea73b98991e324b8b0e4476de8a Boston Globe, A1:
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-- The original YouTube video had nearly 100,000 views by Wednesday morning. Watch here:
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TEEN CONFESSES TO VANDALIZING GRIMM'S OFFICE - The AP: "A teenager with a guilty conscience has complicated a New York congressman's claim that there was a politically motivated break-in at his campaign office. The eighth-grader confessed to a guidance counselor at his school on Tuesday that he and a friend were the ones who smashed windows over the weekend at the Staten Island campaign office of Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, said New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. ...

-- "When the damage was discovered Sunday, Grimm released a statement calling it a 'politically motivated crime.' He claimed that police believed the broken windows were a 'cover-up' for a burglary in which someone had erased the hard drives on the campaign's computer server. Grimm's account of deleted campaign records drew extra media scrutiny because they came as the FBI is investigating whether he received illegal donations from followers of an Israeli rabbi during his successful 2010 campaign. ... On Tuesday, Grimm released a statement calling for leniency for the vandals and expressing relief that the vandalism was not political. ... As for his initial claim that a burglar had
sabotaged the campaign's computers, Grimm said 'it is possible that a volunteer could have inadvertently compromised the computer and failed to report it.'
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TAX QUESTIONS TRIP UP TIERNEY, TISEI -- Michael Rezendes has the lead story on A1 of the Boston Globe: "As US Representative John F. Tierney and Richard R. Tisei gear up for their first debate on Thursday in a bruising congressional campaign, each is facing potentially embarrassing questions about his personal tax returns. Tisei, the former Republican minority leader of the state Senate, paid no federal income taxes in 2006 or 2008, after reporting losses from his Lynnfield real estate firm and two rental properties, according to 10 years of tax returns he provided at the request of the Globe. Tierney, meanwhile, has resisted disclosing any of his returns despite a public pledge to do so,
numerous requests by the Globe, and new questions about whether he and his wife should have reported to the IRS at least some portion of the $200,000 that federal prosecutors say his wife received from a brother's illegal gambling business, from 2003 to 2010.

-- "Late Tuesday afternoon ... an attorney for Tierney offered to show the congressman's tax returns to the newspaper in his office on Thursday morning - too late for the Globe to publish a newspaper story before the first scheduled debate Thursday afternoon. He did not promise to give the Globe copies of the returns so that they could be analyzed by outside experts."
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QUICK READS

John Kerry, who is playing Mitt Romney in debate prep, is having trouble figuring out what Romney's positions are on foreign policy:
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GOP senators are asking Secretary Hillary Clinton to see diplomatic cables before Libya Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed:
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Rep. Tim Griffin accused President Obama of running a "lockout" of foreign leaders and his own jobs council:
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John McCain blasted fellow Vietnam war vet Richard Carmona for suggesting Republican rival Jeff Flake doesn't support veterans:
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GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 26, 2012, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include but are not limited to @FormasForever and @kathyparknews.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - Both the House and Senate are out on the campaign trail and won't return until after the Nov. 6 election.

ANOTHER STORY ABOUT GOP'S DIMINISHING CHANCES TO SEIZE THE SENATE - Naftali Bendavid writes on A1 of the Wall Street Journal from Indianapolis: "Republicans are making a late move to shore up their party's Senate candidate here, the latest indication they are finding the sledding tougher than expected in their battle to win control of the chamber. Handicappers from both parties had predicted Indiana would be an easy win for Republicans, but the race is now a tossup. The surprisingly close contest adds to the challenges for a party once considered likely to regain a Senate majority, but now facing a number of setbacks. In the latest volley, a pro-GOP group on Tuesday committed to spend
$1 million in Indiana.

-- "Republicans entered this election season expecting to pick up enough Senate seats to overcome the Democrats' 53-47 majority. ... But a string of surprising developments-including Republican Olympia Snowe giving up her Maine seat and Indiana's Dick Lugar losing in a GOP primary-have made many races unexpectedly competitive. Some Democratic candidates are rising in tandem with President Barack Obama's standing in polls, while Democrats in more conservative states are successfully distancing themselves from the president. ... Nebraska is now the only state where a Republican is clearly favored to win a Democratic seat, a notable turnaround from earlier this year."
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L.A. Times, A1, "GOP bid for Senate control fading," By Lisa Mascaro:
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NRCC LEAVING WALSH, GUINTA, BARTLETT HANGING? - Cameron Joseph reports for The Hill: "The National Republican Congressional Committee has no airtime reserved for three of its most vulnerable incumbents, a sign they may think Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) are beyond saving at this point. Walsh and Guinta share media markets with other embattled GOP candidates that the NRCC have recently begun to air ads for, leaving no ad time for their races. Bartlett's district was not included in any of the group's original air reservations. The information was provided to The Hill by a Democrat who tracks ad buys."
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LAWMAKERS FRUSTRATED BY OFFICE BREAK-INS -- Emma Dumain reports for Roll Call: "It's been several months since news first surfaced that House Members' offices were becoming targets of after-hours thefts, but Capitol Hill law enforcement has still not identified a culprit. Now, with reports that more burglaries are hitting the halls of Congress, lawmakers and staffers are getting antsy. 'It's one thing to have your office broken into. It's another thing to have your office broken into after this has been 'business as usual' for a long time,' said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), whose Washington office was raided over the weekend. Another Member whose office was
targeted earlier this year isn't too pleased, either. 'He's frustrated that the efforts by Capitol Police have not led to solving the original break-ins,' said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) There have been at least three thefts in the past month in the Rayburn House Office Building, according to statistics released by Capitol Police. Gallegly's Rayburn office is among them."
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TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Michael Kotler, who is teaching English in Joetsu, Japan, was first to correctly answer that the original first amendment proposed by the First Federal Congress dealt with how many constituents would be represented by each representative. That amendment was rejected.

And Barry Scanlon emailed to predictTeddy will win his first Presidents Race on Opening Day 2013, after the Nationals Win the World Series. I'm hoping it happens sooner!

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Brad Fitch has today's question: Which senator is credited with creating the first Senate website? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com .

WEATHER - Spotty rain and thundershowers today, according to ABC7's Adam Caskey.

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