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10/26/2018 07:59 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

CAN TRUMP SAVE FLORIDA? -- President Donald Trump is planning at least two trips to Florida, which could also see visits from Cabinet members, before Election Day. "Presidential text messages are being sent to Floridians who still haven't cast their absentee ballots," Alex Isenstadt reports. "And discussions are underway about blanketing the state with robocalls from Trump." Vice President Mike Pence and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway were in Florida on Thursday in support of gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis and Gov. Rick Scott. And the president raised money for GOP House candidate Ross Spano.

"It is both my hope and my expectation that the president will be in Florida so much between now and the election that Floridians will be hearing 'Hail to the Chief' in their dreams," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said. White House aides have been in touch with top Florida Republicans almost daily. The White House fears a DeSantis loss could undermine their efforts to win Florida's 29 electoral votes in 2020. "Aides to DeSantis and Scott insist they're ahead and point out that early vote numbers are favorable," Isenstadt writes. "But they concede the races are close." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8b2da14fa495e4db907ad3c7121885a45fd2376e632631de8b204d8d2ee82fb27feab1d2e110c27cc

Related: "Soaring confidence -- and few liberal protesters -- inside Trump's midterm campaign rallies," by Ben Schreckinger: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8db501768764e0b052ee493bb60d4f497c8e7e6adfc8ff95bf2658bc542f32869a653d0f9addfe4a7

CONFIDENCE GROWS IN SENATE GOP MAJORITY -- The president met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to review private polling at the White House days after Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court. It showed a Kavanaugh bump, one that McConnell told Trump only the president could sustain. "Since that conversation... Trump has held a series of rallies in Senate battleground states -- with plans for at least 10 in the final six days of the campaign up and down the ballot -- and Republicans have grown increasingly confident about their prospects in the Nov. 6 midterm elections," The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan reports.

"McConnell has been telling associates that Republicans are in a strong position to hold the Senate and could pad their narrow 51-to-49 advantage by a couple of seats," he adds. Republicans believe they're well positioned to win in North Dakota and closing in on a victory in Missouri. They're worried about Florida, but GOP strategists think they have the upper hand in Texas and Tennessee and see seats in Arizona and Nevada as vulnerable but winnable. "The president's political team is trying to remain flexible on his schedule for as long as possible to allow polling, early voting and other emerging data to identify ... races where he can maximize his impact," Sullivan writes. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8274f1bdef16b1ac388d186723cdf3d3f713cfdfddb7f0113ac8be9aa7f51d7881b2a2cb19b6c7cd3

Related read: "Democratic groups outraise Republicans in October in wake of Kavanaugh fight," from Maggie Severns and Lorraine Woellert: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8129f1b1c02e91aeaa55533dda1062fd3aee01f24e3d977963703fb8cf038e48c85fc23716ed9e5e1

ACTBLUE ALTERNATIVE -- House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent an email to the House GOP Conference praising "an innovative new website" that Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) launched this week: StopSpeakerPelosi.com. "During the last conference call, we spoke about helping each other to respond to the monster haul ActBlue brought in last quarter," McCarthy wrote, referring to the Democratic fundraising platform. The new site's aim is clear: The goal is to preserve House Republicans' majority through small-dollar donations to candidates in toss-up races, denying Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a chance to become speaker. It has raised more than $65,000 in the first 48 hours.
More on the website: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e83ddb14740f5699b0d1d492b8d9c5993395a84857f425a9950b4248ac89b985b7d4abf9847efa5367

Related: "How ActBlue is trying to turn small donations into a blue wave," via The Center for Public Integrity's Carrie Levine and Chris Zubak-Skees: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e845c149ade241512909ddf76944eb7b52cdc3aed9941c121939c712f219f07bae116163a74a069016

HAPPY FRIDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Oct. 26.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: National Journal's report on the first ever race for assistant Democratic leader was by far the big winner.

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ACCESS LIMITED -- The Trump administration is dramatically curbing Congress' access to intelligence reports on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Only Republican and Democratic House and Senate leaders and the chairs and ranking members of foreign relations and intelligence committees receive direct access to the reports. "It is a drastic change from previous distribution of North Korea related intelligence reports which, for the most part, gave access to the entire committees and the staffers on those committees," CBS News' Kylie Atwood reports. "The fear on Capitol Hill is that the limited distribution ... will leave Congress largely in the dark when it comes to what U.S. intelligence
has collected about North Korea's motivations and nuclear developments."

One senior Senate staffer called the crackdown "problematic." "There are North Korea briefings made available to members of Congress in small groups, particularly Republican members who have a close relationship with the White House," Atwood adds. "Yet Republicans and Democrats alike are frustrated by the move, which they say will inhibit Congress' role in the high-stakes diplomacy being orchestrated by the White House and the State Department." According to an administration official, the move is part of an effort to limit leaks, which the administration fears could complicate diplomatic efforts or imperil intelligence collection efforts. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e82a636eab4785ef0bbf2bb3517f5c48c830fd84a471c4de0d9544db4b2081d89853246748bb5bee0e

GRASSLEY REFERS AVENATTI TO DOJ FOR CRIMINAL PROBE -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is seeking a federal investigation into whether Democratic lawyer Michael Avenatti and his client, Julie Swetnick, made false statements to the panel during its confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "When charlatans make false claims to the Committee -- claims that may earn them short-term media exposure and financial gain, but which hinder the Committee's ability to do its job -- there should be consequences," Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray. "These laws exist to ensure there are."

"It is ironic that Senator Grassley now is interested in investigations," Avenatti tweeted. "He didn't care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life. We welcome the investigation as now we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh's lies and conduct." Kavanaugh has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct. Avenatti later said he would make Swetnick available for an interview and claimed he also has "9 other witnesses we want interviewed and specific documents we want requested." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8e932e0dc7d246a88fc399f08b4fdbe0158fbcc297501c1dc4d1d9064dd85ef24f1ebbf6825d44cf1

Related: "Michael Avenatti's Past Won't Stop Him From Running in 2020," by Time magazine's Molly Ball and Alana Abramson: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e890c596d2c1fb62bb645951959aeae23044788aa97c4cf3dfe13996427d97341f7b247272decf81cf and "Avenatti, wanting to fight Trump, takes some hits," from Natasha Korecki and Jesus Rodriguez: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8b7c2fff22deea3eb47b21261ac166c5d6206bf722824cc3d2c29fef9ffe8a2f7ab16ea20645abc71

GRASSLEY'S PITCH TO VOTERS -- Grassley isn't on the ballot this year, but the 85-year-old Judiciary Committee chairman noted that the person elected governor next month could determine who succeeds him in the Senate. Grassley cautioned he is "very, very healthy." But "something could happen to me in the next four years. I don't want a Democrat appointing my successor who would then be a Democrat, not a Republican. Keep that in mind when you work for Kim Reynolds." A recent poll showed Democrat Fred Hubbell narrowly leading Reynolds in Iowa's race for governor. Grassley, however, was easily reelected to the Senate in 2016. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8b91707dd1dbe831bb76ca93411ba95b654ce36d3b1d6578d449cb69e7ce5e2f72316d31fbac810ea

FORMER AIDE FILES COMPLAINT OVER FIRING -- Kristie Small has filed a complaint with the Office of Compliance, alleging that she was fired as Rep Henry Cuellar's (D-Texas) acting chief of staff last week because she was pregnant. "Small submitted a request for counseling Monday with ... the body that handles discrimination and harassment complaints in Congress," The Washington Post's Elise Viebeck reports. "Small said that when she asked the Texas lawmaker to meet to discuss plans for her maternity leave, he told her she was on a 90-day 'probation period' and set two new markers for her performance that he later claimed she had failed to meet."

"All of this started happening in response to my maternity-leave email," Small said. "It's 100 percent clear to me that had I not been pregnant, I would still be in this job." Cuellar's office declined to comment on Small's allegation but said its actions "were in compliance with the law and House rules." "The dispute highlights the latest claim of gender-related discrimination on Capitol Hill since a series of explosive #MeToo allegations raised concerns about male lawmakers' treatment of female aides," Viebeck writes. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prevents women from being "fired, rejected for a job or promotion, given lesser
assignments, or forced to take leave" over pregnancy. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e80aa940f9f0c7e3254c9b095d5c6f6649a3d43a3e40dbf2a683da88932f9bef8fe120040e5e62861c

LAWMAKERS INTERVIEW PAPADOPOULOS -- Three lawmakers -- two Republicans and one Democrat -- were on the Hill to interview former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. The Republicans said the closed-door interview further confirmed that there was no solid justification for special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) cast Papadopoulos as a cooperating witness who was simply "trying to understand how a 28-year-old campaign adviser who'd been on the job for less than a month has been embroiled in the highest-profile investigation in recent times." Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), however, reminded reporters that Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI,
calling into question his truthfulness.

"I see this whole thing as a footnote to a sideshow of a wild goose chase," Raskin said. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who expressed concern over how "a piece of paper that quite frankly is not based on facts" is the basis for the Mueller probe, said some DOJ and FBI staffers should be referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility "to determine whether proper protocol was followed." Meadows also acknowledged that a public hearing is unlikely but suggested the American people would side with Papadopoulos "regardless of party" if they heard what he did. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e87e7baceded8c77d6a51ee3ae383703986cae44047d000eaea10166049189205454b872cb7c41c718

LAWYER TELLS LAWMAKER: STOP LYING -- A lawyer representing Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs has warned Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) to stop mischaracterizing the details surrounding his assault of Jacobs last year. Gianforte told the Missoulian he told the police the truth about the incident but was bound by an agreement not to talk about what occurred. Gianforte pleaded guilty to the assault and is not bound by a confidentiality agreement. "The continued lying is unacceptable and actionable," the lawyer wrote. "Please advise your client that he and his spokespersons need to stop -- immediately and forever -- telling lies about the assault, about their own prior lies, about your client's
'settlement agreement' with Ben, or about any other aspect of this matter." The letter: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8302f0b9c6960b1e5ad739ef8bd7b653c6a23419ce5051f7f3d1704577c5001966ae06998e355a5d0

HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING EVACUATED -- Cannon House Office Building was evacuated Thursday morning after an alarm went off. The building was reopened more than hour later. "Capitol Police and the Architect of the Capitol investigated the issue [and] determined that a malfunctioning electrical panel was the cause," Roll Call's Alex Gangitano reports. "Staff were required to show their congressional ID to re-enter the building. IDs are not typically required to enter, which left dozens of staffers outside calling colleagues to deliver their IDs to them from inside." The House is in recess until after the midterm elections, so most lawmakers were in their districts. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10fe7d9b5c2976e8a33c1f2d644023b861b62d0f08d086d1ade09f8ef88bc59d2109849420288f5d7256a37bdd0517e2

TRANSITIONS -- Andrea Palermo is joining the Department of Homeland Security's public affairs office. She currently serves as press secretary for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- John Sullivan was first to correctly guess that the three female Republicans who were elected in 1992's record-setting "Year of the Woman" were Jennifer Dunn of Washington, Tillie Fowler of Florida and Deborah Pryce of Ohio.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From John: How many persons have been elected president? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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