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Presented by the BlueCross BlueShield Association: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington Feb 16, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
THE LATEST ON THE WALL -- SARAH FERRIS: "Democrats vow full assault on Trump's 'power grab'": "President Donald Trump's attempt to circumvent Congress to fund his border wall has set off an intense scramble by Democratic leaders to rebuke the move - with efforts to halt his emergency declaration set to come in Congress and the courts.

"The Democratic-controlled House plans to pursue that two-track approach immediately. Plans for legislative action are already underway: By early Friday afternoon, more than 50 House Democrats had asked to put their names on a measure to formally condemn the move, according to an aide familiar with the planning.

"That first legislative step, which is expected within weeks, involves a vote to formally end the presidential emergency, which Democrats dubbed a 'power grab.' The move will force Republicans in both chambers to go on the record on the White House's largely unprecedented move." POLITICO

-- CONNOR O'BRIEN: "Trump's raid on Pentagon funds draws bipartisan Hill fire"

TICK TOCK -- "How President Trump came to declare a national emergency to fund his border wall," by WaPo's Matt Zapotosky and Josh Dawsey: "President Trump knew that lawmakers were unlikely to ever give him the billions of dollars he wanted to build a wall on the southern border, so in early 2018, he gave aides a directive: Find a way to do it without Congress.

"It was hardly an easy assignment. The White House had some flexibility to spend money the way it wanted, but could not move the necessary billions at will. Trump could declare a national emergency, but White House attorneys repeatedly warned him the risk of failure in court was high. On Friday, Trump did it anyway." WaPo

THE LEGAL FIGHT -- "Trump Declared a Border Emergency. Let the Legal Battles Begin," by NYT's Simon Romero in Albuquerque: "Citing a dearth of evidence for a border crisis and fears over what is shaping into a colossal seizure of private property by the federal government, the Texas county of El Paso, together with human rights and pro-democracy groups, said on Friday that they planned to file a lawsuit almost immediately seeking to block the declaration.

"The groups argue that communities along the border would be harmed, not saved, by the construction of the wall, and that Mr. Trump had no legal basis for declaring an emergency. Theirs would be the first in an array of legal challenges already coalescing in an effort to thwart Mr. Trump's plan." NYT

-- "Trump border wall could bypass competitive bids under emergency declaration, experts say," by WaPo's Tracy Jan, Mark Berman and Andrew Ba Tran: "The most extreme scenario, contracting experts say, is one in which Trump flexes his presidential powers, channels his background as a real estate mogul, and selects a winner as if hosting 'The Apprentice.'

"'The president does have the prerogative to circumvent all of the competitive requirements by claiming a national emergency,' said D. Kent Goodger, a retired federal contracting officer. 'He can go right to a favored source to build a fence.'" WaPo

MICHAEL KRUSE in POLITICO Magazine, "Can Trump Spin a Wall From Nothing?: Powerful political forces make it much harder for him to employ his businessman's flair for self-promotion under any circumstance."

Good Saturday morning. MARKET WATCH -- WSJ: "Nasdaq Exits Bear Market as Stocks Rally"

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "Trump taps Jeffrey Byard as new FEMA head," by Brent D. Griffiths


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THE NEW HOUSE MAJORITY -- "Dems prepare to force Trump to reveal private talks with Putin," by Andrew Desiderio: "House Democrats are taking their first real steps to force President Donald Trump to divulge information about his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting up an extraordinary clash with the White House over Congress' oversight authority.

"Rep. Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, told POLITICO they are actively consulting with House General Counsel Douglas Letter about the best way to legally compel the Trump administration to turn over documents or other information related to the president's one-on-one discussions with the Russian leader." POLITICO

ROGER STONE WATCH -- "Judge gags Roger Stone from Mueller comments around D.C. courthouse," by Darren Samuelsohn: "Stone remains free to talk about Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation, just not in and around the Washington, D.C., courthouse where the longtime Donald Trump associate is fighting the special counsel's charges he lied to Congress and obstructed its Russia investigation. That's the end result from a four-page order issued Friday from a federal judge who had been considering a complete gag order on Stone in the wake of his full-on media blitz since his arrest last month in south Florida.

"Also Friday, Mueller's team released a filing in the case that included a tantalizing nugget suggesting federal prosecutors might have obtained 'Stone's communications' with WikiLeaks, the website that dumped stolen Democratic emails during the election. While the language was somewhat vague, legal watchers quickly noted that it might represent a jarring new revelation, as previously Stone had only conceded to trying to connect with WikiLeaks via intermediaries." POLITICO

-- MORE FROM DARREN - "Mueller: Manafort deserves 19.5 to 24.5 years in prison for Virginia convictions": "Robert Mueller's team told a federal judge Friday that federal guidelines call for Paul Manafort to get as long as 24-and-a-half years in prison for his conviction last summer for financial malfeasance.

"The special counsel's submission is the opening move in what will be a two-step sentencing process for the 69-year-old former Trump campaign chairman, who appears to be on track to spend the rest of his life in prison absent a presidential pardon." POLITICO

-- LA TIMES' DEL QUENTIN WILBER (@DelWilber): "FMR Acting AG Matthew Whitaker has NOT left the building. He is serving as a senior counselor in the office of Associate AG. There is no associate AG or acting associate AG. Principal Deputy Associate AG Jesse Panuccio remains in his post. He had served as acting associate AG."

THE INVESTIGATIONS... NYT'S MAGGIE HABERMAN and SHARON LEFRANIERE: "New Jersey Attorney General Seeks Records From Trump Inaugural": "New Jersey's attorney general has stepped into the investigation of President Trump's $107 million presidential inaugural fund, issuing an administrative subpoena for the fund's financial records, including any that document fund-raising in the state. The action, taken last week by the state's consumer protection office, came on the heels of a subpoena issued this month by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Federal investigators are examining whether all donations to the fund were reported, as required, and whether any foreigners illegally contributed money
using Americans as straw donors.

"The New Jersey subpoena also demands records of any contributions made on behalf of foreigners, who are barred from contributing to inaugural funds, campaigns or political action committees in the United States. It also covers audits, contracts with vendors, documents related to the nonprofit organization's tax status, and any records of advertisements, direct mailings or fund-raising events in New Jersey." NYT

-- "Key House chairman: New documents contradict Trump attorneys' statements over hush-money payments," by CNN's Manu Raju, Lauren Fox and Kara Scannell: "House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings says that his panel has obtained information that calls into question previous statements made by attorneys representing President Donald Trump to federal officials about 2016 hush-money payments to keep an alleged Trump extramarital affair under wraps.

"In a Friday letter to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, Cummings says his committee has obtained new documents showing that Trump's personal attorney Sheri Dillon and Stefan Passantino, a former White House official who now represents the Trump Organization, 'may have provided false information' when they were questioned by federal ethics officials about hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels." CNN


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-- "Exclusive: WH press secretary Sarah Sanders interviewed by special counsel's office," by CNN's Pamela Brown and Alex Rogers

CLICKER - "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker - 12 funnies

TRUMP'S SATURDAY -- The president has nothing on his public schedule.

PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence lay flowers at a railway car once used to transport inmates at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial on Friday in Oswiecim, Poland. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

2020 WATCH -- "Harris hustles to lock down California en route to the nomination," by Chris Cadelago: "Kamala Harris is building a wall around California. The Democratic senator has been activating her forces on the home front since launching her White House bid last month - cornering some of the state's most prolific donors, locking down big endorsements and homing in on a statewide blueprint to rack up early delegates.

"California's Super Tuesday primary is foundational to Harris' plans to win the nomination. Her home-state advantage is an enormous asset, holding the promise of a huge haul of delegates early in the nomination fight. At the same time, a poor performance there could end her bid." POLITICO ... Cadelago on Gavin Newsom's endorsement

-- "Beto O'Rourke in talks with strategists ahead of likely 2020 bid," by David Siders: "Two Democratic campaign strategists told POLITICO on Friday that they are in discussions with O'Rourke and his team. One of the strategists described those conversations as moving to 'an operational level' after weeks of discussing 2020 in more theoretical terms. A source close to O'Rourke said Friday that the former Texas congressman is still considering a run and has not yet made a final decision.

"O'Rourke's advisers had been speaking with Democratic strategists for months about a potential campaign, but only at a relatively abstract level. ... [A]fter a massive rally in his hometown of El Paso this week, O'Rourke is now becoming personally involved in discussions about the shape of a 2020 campaign, the strategists said." POLITICO

-- "2020 Campaigns Are Prioritizing Sexual Harassment Policies In Response To #MeToo," by BuzzFeed's Tarini Parti: "President Donald Trump's campaign is creating a telephone hotline for its staffers as one of the ways they can report any allegations of harassment or inappropriate behavior. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has hired a top staffer who is certified as a professional in human resources.

"That staffer got recertified, specifically to be up to date on best practices in sexual harassment trainings and policies, just before joining her 2020 team. And Sen. Cory Booker's team is designing several mandatory employee trainings on different workplace issues." BuzzFeed


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FOR YOUR RADAR -- AP'S FRANCES D'EMILIO and NICOLE WINFIELD in Vatican City: "Vatican defrocks former U.S. cardinal McCarrick over sex abuse": "Pope Francis has defrocked former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after Vatican officials found him guilty of soliciting for sex while hearing confession and sexual crimes against minors and adults, the Holy See said Saturday.

"McCarrick, 88, is the highest-ranking churchman to be laicized, as the process is called. It means he can no longer celebrate Mass or other sacraments, wear clerical vestments or be addressed by any religious title." AP

GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Panama City, Panama:

-- "How Trump's Swamp Works Now," by Rolling Stone's Andy Kroll: "The new Washington, D.C., is awash in foreign money and shady lobbyists - and Elliott Broidy fits right in." Rolling Stone

-- "No, You Can't Ignore Email. It's Rude," by Adam Grant in the NYT: "When researchers compiled a huge database of the digital habits of teams at Microsoft, they found that the clearest warning sign of an ineffective manager was being slow to answer emails. Responding in a timely manner shows that you are conscientious - organized, dependable and hardworking. And that matters." NYT

-- "How Student Debt Dragged A Generation Down - And What We Can Do About It," by BuzzFeed's Anne Helen Petersen: "A social and financial divide is forming - between those who have student debt, and those who do not - that will have ramifications for decades to come." BuzzFeed (h/t Longreads.com)

-- "Preserving the Traces of Egypt's Lost Jews," by WSJ's Lucette Lagnado, author of "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit": "Today, many younger Egyptians don't know that, in the early 20th century, the country was home to some 80,000 Jews, who lived alongside Christians and Muslims in a flourishing multicultural society. ... Today, there are fewer than a dozen Jews living in Egypt, by some estimates." WSJ ... $14.99 on Amazon

-- "A Judge on the Injustice of America's Extreme Prison Sentences," by Morris Hoffman in WSJ: "The duty to punish criminals comes with an obligation not to punish them more than they deserve." WSJ

-- "AR Will Sparks the Next Big Tech Platform - Call It Mirrorworld," by Kevin Kelly in Wired - per TheBrowser.com's description: "Sweeping, hyperbolic take on what might follow when every physical object and place in the world has been mapped, scanned and tagged. The sum of all data will be a virtual 'mirror' world which is in most respects a functional substitute for the real world." Wired

-- "What Happened When I Bought a House With Solar Panels," by Esmé E. Deprez in Bloomberg Businessweek: "Third-party ownership and decades-long contracts can create real headaches." Bloomberg Businessweek

-- "Let Me Tell You About My Friend Maria Butina - Who Might Be A Russian Spy," by Elena Nicolaou in Refinery29: "In 2015, my friend and I went to Disney World. Three years later, she went on a solo trip to prison." Refinery29 (h/t Longform.org)

-- "Scientists Are Totally Rethinking Animal Cognition," by The Atlantic's Ross Andersen - per TheBrowser.com's description: "Jainism forbids violence towards humans and animals alike. The West would seem to have much to learn from Jainism; science is progressively recognising signs of conscious thought in more and more classes of animal. All mammals are now generally considered conscious; fish react to pain; insects make plans. The human fixation on language as a marker of thought seems increasingly arbitrary." The Atlantic

-- "The Devil Drives Tesla," by Alice Lloyd in American Consequences: "'There's a striking amount of ends-justify-the-means people at Tesla,' [said one former Tesla communications employee]. ... At one point, he was asked to redirect blame for the Tesla Model S's repeated, and virtually inextinguishable, battery fires away from the cars themselves - and heap scrutiny on the firefighters who'd rush to the scene of a flaming Tesla." American Consequences

-- "The Tech Whiz Behind Vine and HQ Trivia Made Millions in His 20s. He Was Dead by 34," by WSJ's Shalini Ramachandran, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Yoree Koh: "Self-taught coder Colin Kroll shot to startup fame, allowing him to live life in a fast lane." WSJ

PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Joe Biden on Friday having lunch at Cafe Milano ... Stacy Abrams yesterday at Hotel Dupont -- pic ... Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on a Southwest flight to Louisville from BWI ... Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the 6 p.m. Delta flight 5936 from Reagan to LGA. She was the last to board and sat in back of coach, according to our tipster.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) and Alexandra Eber, an attorney, welcomed son Jordan. Pic

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): George Bamford, a member of the White House NSC staff (hat tip: Ed Cash)

BIRTHDAYS: Robert Allbritton ... Ed O'Keefe, entrepreneurship fellow at Harvard's Shorenstein Center and a CNN alum ... Dr. Jay Carson ... Carl Icahn is 83 ... Ty Trippet of Bloomberg ... Kent Talbert ... Jenn Crider, senior director of public affairs at Microsoft ... HuffPost's Kevin Robillard is 31 ... POLITICO's Cate Hansberry and Alexa Dragoumis ... Michelle Tuffin, general counsel for the U.S. Travel Association ... Rachel Rubenstein ... Jeff Eller (h/t Dick Keil) ... Adam Sharp, president and CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences ... NYT's Jennifer Steinhauer ... Susan Levine, deputy editor of WaPo's Talent Network ... Ben Kobren ... Matt Chayes, politics reporter
for Newsday ... Anna Tuman ... Sarah Bianchi ... David Copley is 35 ... Massachusetts First Lady Lauren Baker, celebrating in Florida with husband Gov. Charlie Baker ... Alicia Davis Downs (h/ts Ed Cash) ...

... Kate Constantini of Convergence Media ... Debbie Bruno (h/t Jon Haber) ... Nigel Cory of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (h/t the ITIF team) ... CNN's Mike Warren (h/ts Jen Lifhits and Alice Lloyd) ... Anastasia Jakabcin ... Robert A. Carpentier ... Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) is 64 (h/t Alex Schriver) ... Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) is 6-0 ... Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.) is 47 ... Meredith Fineman ... Strader Payton ... Meagan Murphy of Brunswick Group (h/t Ben Chang) ... BBC's Paul Blake ... Andrew Kirk, global comms. director at Global Citizen (h/t Will O'Connor) ... Bruce Harris (h/t Adrienne Elrod) ... Janet Holcomb, the First Lady of Indiana ... Facebook's David
Keating ... Anna Cook ... Janet Vestal Kelly ... Susan Platt ... Mark Walz ... Sonya Bernhardt ... Amy Morris ... TPM's Cameron Joseph ... Amy Kurtz ... Jim Conzelman, president and CEO of The Ripon Society.

THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:


NBC

"Meet the Press": Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) ... NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio ... Tom Perez. Panel: Eddie Glaude, Jr., Jonah Goldberg, Eliana Johnson and Amy Walter

CNN

"State of the Union": Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) ... Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.), Jennifer Granholm, Rick Santorum and Linda Chavez (guest host: Dana Bash)

ABC

"This Week": Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) ... Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) ... California Attorney General Xavier Becerra ... Bill Weld. Panel: Matthew Dowd, Molly Ball, Susan Ferrechio and Shawna Thomas

CBS

"Face the Nation": Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ... Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) ... Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) ... Terry McAuliffe. Panel: Rachael Bade, David Nakamura, Leslie Sanchez and Eugene Scott

Fox

"Fox News Sunday": Rush Limbaugh. Panel: Marc Short, Katie Pavlich, Bob Woodward and Charles Lane

Fox News

"Sunday Morning Futures": House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ... Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) ... Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) ... Michael Pillsbury

Fox News

"MediaBuzz": Ben Domenech ... Beverly Hallberg ... Philippe Reines ... Mara Liasson ... Catalina Magazine founding publisher Cathy Areu ... Emily Jashinsky ... Britt McHenry

CNN

"Inside Politics": Panel: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Josh Dawsey, Abby Phillip and Matt Viser (guest host: Phil Mattingly)

CNN

"Fareed Zakaria GPS": Bill Gates ... Daphne Koller

CNN

"Reliable Sources": Panel: Philip Bump, Caitlin Dickerson and Liz Plank ... Susan Hennessey and Julia Ioffe ... Maria Ressa

Univision

"Al Punto": Panel: Adolfo Franco and Fabian Núnez ... "El Chapo" attorney Eduardo Balarezo ... "Proceso" Magazine's Jesús Esquivel and Blanca Rosa Vílchez... undocumented employee fired from Trump Golf Club Gabriel Sedano and his attorney Anibal Romero ... musicians T3r Elemento (guest host: Felix de Bedout)

C-SPAN

"The Communicators": FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly ... "Newsmakers": Randi Weingarten, questioned by Michael Stratford and Lauren Camera ... "Q&A": Monica Norton

MSNBC

"Kasie DC": Julián Castro... Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) ... Xochitl Hinojosa ... Greg Miller ... Elena Nicolaou ... Shawna Thomas ... Susan Page ... Katty Kay ... Rick Tyler ... Guy Cecil ... John Harwood ... Ken Dilanian ... Carol Lee

Washington Times

"Mack on Politics" weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at MackOnPolitics.com): Noah Rothman ("Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America").

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