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Presented by Salesforce: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington Oct 18, 2018 View in browser
By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
NEWS ... THE WHITE HOUSE is gearing up to launch a public push for Congress to pass a farm bill with work requirements for food stamps ahead of Election Day. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has enlisted VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE to lead the push, alongside Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue.

THE FARM BILL - which includes renewal of food stamps alongside agricultural policy - is currently stalled in negotiations between the House and Senate.

THE WHITE HOUSE is expected to make the case that there are jobs that need to be filled in America, so Democrats should accede to work requirements for food stamps -- something that they say has doomed the usually bipartisan farm-policy legislation.

TRUMP is expected to pick up this message in his stump speeches: House Democrats voted against the farm bill and vulnerable Senate Democrats have held it up in negotiations.

CONGRESS is out until after Election Day, which makes the immediate renewal impossible. But the administration believes this to be a poignant political issue with 19 DAYS until Election Day.

Good Thursday morning. AS THE WORLD TURNS ... CHICAGO TRIBUNE: "Republican U.S. Rep. Scalise's visit to Naperville highlights national importance of Chicago-area race": "Steve Scalise, the No. 3 leader in the U.S. House who was wounded in a shooting at a Congressional baseball practice last year, lent a hand to U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam on Wednesday evening, hosting a fundraising reception for the incumbent Republican as he tries to hold onto his seat in Illinois' 6th Congressional District." Tribune

-- ROSKAM AND SCALISE ran against each other in a competitive race for whip in 2014 -- a race that propelled Scalise toward the top of the party.

STEVEN SHEPARD: "POLITICO race ratings: Democrats blaze Midwestern path"

MIAMI HERALD: "Pelosi touts gun control in Broward visit with Parkland parents," by Martin Vassolo and Alex Daugherty: "Democrats may be wary of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in other parts of the country, but she's welcome in South Florida.

"With the midterm elections just weeks away, Parkland students and parents convened Wednesday with Pelosi in Coral Springs to game plan for November. The round table discussion focused on gun control, moderated by U.S. Rep Ted Deutch, was equal parts emotional venting and strategizing.

"Pelosi called the activists and parents a 'blessing to our country,' and said because of the energy coming out of Parkland, the issue of gun control would top the Democratic Party's agenda in the House of Representatives if they take control. 'I admire you so much,' she said. 'You have the purpose, the generosity of spirit. You have the marchers - you have people who will go out there to make a difference - and you just have a relentless, persistent, dissatisfied approach.'" Miami Herald

-- MARC CAPUTO: "Shalala walks into anti-Castro buzzsaw": "There's a simple rule in running for Congress in Miami: don't campaign with someone who praised Fidel Castro and fought sanctions against Venezuela's dictatorial regime. But Donna Shalala didn't figure it out until it was too late.

"In a district filled with Castro-hating Cuban-Americans and Venezuelan exiles, Shalala's campaign committed an egregious gaffe - and set off a round of Democratic finger-pointing - by posting an announcement that she would hold a campaign event Wednesday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Californian, Rep. Barbara Lee.

"In 2016, Lee had said Castro's death should be mourned. Lee's visit was ultimately canceled, but not before Shalala was savaged in a debate by her Republican opponent. Shalala and Pelosi were also protested by Republicans, some of whom pounded on the door outside and shouted 'go back to Cuba!' 'commie!' and 'witches!'" POLITICO

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS FOR NAVY YARD'ERS ... WHOLE FOODS in Navy Yard (100 H St, SE) opens today.

BIG HEIDI CRUZ PROFILE ... THE ATLANTIC'S ELAINA PLOTT: "Heidi Cruz Didn't Plan for This: She had her whole future mapped out when she met Ted Cruz, starting with her dream job in Washington. This is the story of what came after."

"'You know, Ted is up for a tough reelection. I don't know the future. I think he's gonna win,' she mused, breezing through the sentences as if she were talking about anything other than her husband's political survival. She's rooting for the team, sure ('I really hope he wins his reelection'), but with her hectic work schedule, she doesn't think much about it beyond that ('I help out on the weekends where I can').

"It may be Heidi's way of avoiding one truth she's learned as a political spouse: that this life only gets harder as it goes on. Another term in the Senate means six more years her husband won't live at home. It means more family conversations about why Dad can't make it to school on Wednesday for the meet and greet with Caroline's new teachers. It means Heidi is working 70-hour weeks not only because she wants to, but also because she has to.

"'I really feel mission-driven on what he's accomplishing,' she clarified. But 'it does take some supportiveness, you know. Six to seven years in it, with me being the primary breadwinner-it's like, 'Uh, yeah, this is when people say thank you. I'll now take that appreciation.' She laughed. 'Yeah, we're seven years into this, and we're not buying a second home anytime soon.'" The Atlantic

JOE BIDEN told NORAH O'DONNELL, in an interview for "CBS This Morning," that he hopes Democrats don't impeach DONALD TRUMP. CBS

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NYT'S KEN VOGEL on A15: "As Other Republican Candidates Struggle Financially, Trump Stockpiles Cash": "Reports filed this week show that President Trump sits atop a sophisticated data-driven fund-raising machine that has already brought in more than $106 million - a majority of which came from small donors, with none coming from Mr. Trump's own pocket - and has spent more on his 'Make America Great Again' hats, $2 million, than his 2016 effort had spent on the entire campaign in its first report. ...

"Even after the costly investments in digital advertising, data analytics and other tools of modern campaigning, the three committees that make up Mr. Trump's campaign apparatus entered this month with a remarkable $47 million in the bank, according to their filings with the Federal Election Commission. ...

"But the stockpiling has prompted grumbling among some Republican strategists, who contend - mostly in private - that the cash would be better allocated to the party's at-risk congressional candidates, many of whom are being drastically outraised by their Democratic opponents.

"Mr. Trump, they argue, does not need the money now as much as the party's congressional candidates, both because he will not face voters again for more than two years, and because he won his 2016 campaign more by relying on his megarallies and Twitter feed than on pricey campaign infrastructure." NYT

PRE-ELECTION-DAY DASH ... "Senate GOP midterm agenda: Judges, judges and more judges," by Burgess Everett and Elana Schor: "A handful of Republican senators did something unusual on Wednesday: With the Senate not even in session, and no Democrats in sight, they convened the Judiciary Committee to advance a half-dozen of Donald Trump's judicial nominees.

"For Republicans, there's nothing that matters more. They aren't pitching a big visionary agenda to persuade voters to return them to power next year - there's only passing mention in the midterms of repealing Obamacare, and little talk of making Trump's border wall a reality. It's all about the judiciary. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has given every indication that his primary focus - through Election Day and, assuming Republicans still control the Senate, in the two years to follow, will be the ongoing reshaping of the courts." POLITICO

THE LATEST ON KHASHOGGI ...

-- NYT'S JULIAN BARNES, MATT ROSENBERG and GARDINER HARRIS: "U.S. Spy Agencies Are Increasingly Convinced of Saudi Prince's Ties to Journalist's Disappearance": "American intelligence officials are increasingly convinced that Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia is culpable in the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an appraisal that poses challenges to a White House intent on maintaining a close relationship with the kingdom.

"Intelligence agencies have not yet been able to collect direct evidence of the prince's involvement, American and European officials said. They also have not been able to conclude whether Prince Mohammed directly ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, or whether his intention was to have Mr. Khashoggi captured and taken back to Saudi Arabia, according to one official.

"But intelligence agencies have growing circumstantial evidence of the prince's involvement - including the presence of members of his security detail and intercepts of Saudi officials discussing a possible plan to detain Mr. Khashoggi, according to American officials. Officials have also said the prince's complete control over the security services makes it highly unlikely that an operation would have been undertaken without his knowledge." NYT

-- NAHAL TOOSI: "'That grip and grin will come back to haunt him': Pompeo takes heat for friendly Saudi sit-down": "Just this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo published an essay arguing that one major reason President Donald Trump's foreign policy vision will succeed is its 'moral clarity.'

"But then there he was: The same Mike Pompeo, in the same week, smiling and chatting amiably with Saudi leaders suspected of orchestrating the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Pompeo expressed confidence that the Saudis will conduct a legitimate probe into the case and hold wrongdoers accountable - a stance many in Washington found hard to believe.

"Pompeo's performance can be chalked up to any number of factors, including the inevitable trade-offs most U.S. administrations find they must make in dealing with unsavory allies who happen to be key to American interests. But it was also an example of Pompeo - a former Army tank commander who loves tough talk - toeing the Trump line, even if it risks tarnishing his image." POLITICO

-- WAPO'S BOB COSTA, JOSH DAWSEY and PHIL RUCKER: "Amid global outrage over Khashoggi, Trump takes soft stance toward Saudis": "In days of private phone calls and Oval Office huddles, Trump has repeatedly reached for reasons to protect the U.S.-Saudi relationship, according to administration officials and presidential advisers.

"Trump has stressed Saudi Arabia's huge investment in U.S. weaponry and worries it could instead purchase arms from China or Russia. He has fretted about the oil-rich desert kingdom cutting off its supply of petroleum to the United States. He has warned against losing a key partner countering Iran's influence in the Middle East. He has argued that even if the United States tried to isolate the Saudis, the kingdom is too wealthy to ever be truly isolated.

"And he has emphasized that although Khashoggi had been living in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post, the dissident journalist is a Saudi citizen - the implication being that the disappearance is not necessarily the United States' problem." WaPo

KHASHOGGI'S LAST COLUMN -- Karen Attiah, WaPo's global opinions editor writes: "I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi's translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul. The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together. Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen. This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post. This column perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for." "Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression"

MCGAHN OUT -- "McGahn exits as White House counsel," by Brent D. Griffiths and Nancy Cook: "White House counsel Don McGahn departed the the Trump administration on Wednesday, leaving the counsel's office without a head as the midterms approach and the prospect of a deluge of subpoenas from a new House Democratic majority looms.

"McGahn, who had a contentious relationship with the president, met with Trump Wednesday for about 20 minutes, according to a source familiar with the exchange, who described it as a respectful but not friendly gathering. While the president has said he favors Washington attorney Pat Cipollone as McGahn's successor, Cipollone is still going through his background check and that process could take weeks, meaning there may not be anyone in the post immediately or through the election next month." POLITICO

-- NANCY COOK in POLITICO Magazine, "Don McGahn Leaves Trump With Big Wins - And Big Risks: The White House's top lawyer leaves behind a legacy of conservative judges and regulatory rollback. But critics say he also left the president exposed to a Democratic reckoning in November." POLITICO

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THE INVESTIGATIONS ...

-- CNN'S ERICA ORDEN: "Michael Cohen meets with prosecutors investigating Trump's family business, charity": "Michael Cohen and his attorney met Wednesday with a group of state and federal law enforcement officials investigating various aspects of President Donald Trump's family business and charitable organization, according to people familiar with the meeting.

"The group, which included the federal prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York who charged Cohen in August and officials from the New York Attorney General's office, met at the Midtown New York City office of Cohen's attorney, Guy Petrillo, these people said. CNN observed Cohen leaving Petrillo's office building Wednesday afternoon. Assistant US Attorney Tom McKay, the lead prosecutor on the Cohen case, had entered the building earlier in the day." CNN

-- "Special counsel pushing Paul Manafort for information on Roger Stone: Sources," by ABC News' John Santucci, Katherine Faulders and Ali Dukakis: "Prosecutors from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office have been asking former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort - their newest cooperating witness - about his friend and former business associate Roger Stone, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

"Stone, a longtime political adviser to President Donald Trump and onetime partner of Manafort's at the lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, has come under increasing scrutiny from the special counsel in recent months. Nearly a dozen individuals close to Stone have been brought in for interviews with the Mueller team, and many of those same individuals have also appeared before a federal grand jury." ABC

-- DARREN SAMUELSOHN: "Judge orders Manafort to court in prison clothing": "A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Paul Manafort's request to wear a professional suit during a hearing later this week about his sentence, noting the former Trump campaign chairman is now a convicted felon who has lost the right to wear street clothing in all his court proceedings. ...

"The decision and its tone signal Manafort may be facing a very different environment when he returns Friday to the same Alexandria, Va., courtroom for a hearing to discuss his ongoing cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller and to begin the process of setting a sentencing date." POLITICO

TRUMP'S THURSDAY -- The president is meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 10 a.m. in the Oval Office. At 2 p.m., he will meet with the South Carolina delegation in the Roosevelt Room. Trump will then leave for Missoula, Montana. At 6:30 p.m. (MDT), Trump will attend a political rally in Montana. Afterward, he will fly to Phoenix, Arizona.
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Turkish forensic officers arrive at the Saudi consulate to conduct a new search regarding the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi on Thursday. | Emrah Gurel/AP Photo

HUFFPO'S MATT FULLER talks about NANCY PELOSI with Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Heather Caygle, Pelosi deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill, Doug Heye and the Washington Examiner's Laura Barron-Lopez. The podcast

2018 WATCH -- ALEX ISENSTADT: "Mitt makes his move": "A sleepy Utah Senate race was always a small playing field for a former presidential nominee. Now, Mitt Romney is going national again.

"After spending most of the past year quietly tending to his own race, Romney is using his formidable national profile and expansive political network to elect embattled Republicans across the country. Weeks before his virtually assured election to the Senate, the 2012 Republican standard bearer is issuing endorsements, appearing in TV ads, and fundraising for hopefuls up and down the ballot." POLITICO

-- "Dem challenger says Feinstein 'on the sidelines' in fight against Trump," by Carla Marinucci in San Francisco: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, facing an unexpectedly contentious Democrat-on-Democrat battle for a fifth full term, faced attacks on Wednesday from her progressive challenger, Kevin de León, who argued that California's coming battles against President Donald Trump on immigration reform and climate change would need aggressive Washington leadership 'on the frontlines, not the sidelines.'" POLITICO

-- BRENT D. GRIFFITHS: "Nick Saban, Jerry West and Bob Huggins endorse Joe Manchin"


BORDER TALES -- "ICE subpoenas immigration lawyer in leak hunt," by San Francisco Chronicle's Tal Kopan: "The Trump administration has subpoenaed an immigration attorney in an attempt to determine who leaked an internal memo that laid out how Immigration and Customs Enforcement should implement Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to restrict political asylum for victims of domestic violence and gang crimes. The attorney said he doesn't intend to reveal his sources or any other information about how he obtained the memo.

"The subpoena was sent to Colorado-based immigration attorney Daniel Kowalski, who is also the editor of Bender's Immigration Bulletin, an immigration law journal published by LexisNexis. It demands that Kowalski hand over 'all information' related to the memo he posted in July, including when, how and where he got it. The summons asks for 'contact information for the source of the document.'" SF Chronicle

DAN DIAMOND spoke with PETER ORSZAG in the latest PULSE CHECK podcast. Listen and subscribe
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday morning going through the Carne y Arena installation in D.C., the virtual reality exhibition by Academy Award winning filmmaker Alejandro Inarritu, and supported by the Emerson Collective. The exhibit is closing at the end of the month ... Rudy Giuliani at Salt Lake City airport. "He was hanging in the SkyClub with an ominous security guy," said our tipster ... Toby Keith yesterday in the lobby of the Trump Hotel.

SPOTTED at CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett's book party for "Mr. Trump's Wild Ride" last night at Joe's -- $18.89 on Amazon (pix): Phil Rucker, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Zeke Miller, Jeff Zeleny, Kaitlan Collins, Abby Phillip, Chris Isham, Ward Sloane, Weijia Jiang, Ed O'Keefe, Bret Baier, Jeremy Diamond, Steven Portnoy, Paula Reid, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Jackie Alemany, Annie Clark and Matt Whitlock.

-- SPOTTED at Toolbox Art Studio to celebrate Betsy Fischer Martin's appointment as the executive director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University: Dean Vicky Wilkins, daughter Ella, sister Julie McCarter, Jonathan Martin, Nicole Nason, Wolf Blitzer, Jeff Zeleny, John Harris, Hilary Rosen, Tammy Haddad, Evan Thomas, Charlie Cook, Bob Costa, Anita Dunn, Jeremy and Robyn Bash, Heather Podesta, Anita McBride, Abby Livingston, Jane Hall, Brooke Brower, Ken Vogel, former Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.), Gwen Holliday, AB Stoddard, Christina Reynolds, Ann Stock, Shawna Thomas, Jessica Dean and Bill Nichols.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Marion Smith, executive director of Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and chairman of the National Civic Art Society. A trend he thinks deserves more attention: "Anticommunism, of course. It's back, and mostly because communists are back. And if you think that's hyperbole, Jeremy Corbyn, Ortega, Maduro, and Xi Jinping have got a surprise for you. There's rapid growth of new organizations, memorials, and museums all over the world dedicated to learning from the failures of communism in 40 nations since 1917, as well as an increasing number of human rights and dissident groups confronting Communist Parties in power today." Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Caitlin Conant, political director of CBS News (hat tips: Alex Conant, Lisa Leonard and Michele Perez Exner) ... Annie LeHardy, of the First Lady's office, is 26 ... Julia Ioffe ... Politico's Annie Karni, Margaret Stewart and James Bush ... Michael Krempasky, partner at Brunswick Group ... Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) is 59 ... Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) is 64 ... Makese Motley ... Daniel Scarvalone of Bully Pulpit Interactive ... Colorado State Rep. Dan Pabon is 41 ... Jan Simmons ... Troy Appel ... Joshua Sinai ... Babs Chase, president and founder of Chase Magnolia Partners ... Bill Evers, research fellow at the Hoover Institution ... Colleen Sullivan ... Valeria Boucas ...
Katherine Lyons Hahn ...

... DOT's Marianne McInerney (h/t Todd Inman) ... Erik Abate ... Alex Miehls, producer for Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum" in NY and a Boehner alum (h/t Brianna Ehley) ... Kiki Reginato ... Amazon's Theresa (Lepow) Dugan, who recently got married to Tom Dugan -- pic ... Amanda Robinson ... Rachael Parry ... Jordyn Gottlieb ... Jake Loft, client services associate for Targeted Victory (h/ts Zac, Lenny and Logan) ... Fox News' Jon Decker is 52 ... Jonathan Tasini ... Edelman's Trisch Smith ... Bloomberg's Cas Holloway ... Sarah Cannon ... Steve Whitmer ... Flavia Colgan ... Karen Smith Murphy ... Martha Burk ... Richard Lobo ... former Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) is 73 (h/t Katie
Levinson Burke) ... former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) is 62 ... Mason Wiggins ... Anne Summers (h/t Teresa Vilmain)

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