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Presented by Salesforce: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington Oct 17, 2018 View in browser
By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Daniel Lippman, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

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BEHIND THE SCENES ... FORMER VP JOE BIDEN joined a "heartland" call with DCCC CHAIRMAN BEN RAY LUJAN of New Mexico and Reps. Cheri Bustos of Illinois, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Denny Heck of Washington -- chairs of the red-to-blue effort.

BIDEN thanked the candidates on the "for stepping up to run, and urged them to thank their families," according to a source on the call. His advised the candidates to make the point that "this election is bigger than politics" on the campaign trail. The former vice president also provided a rallying cry with just 20 days left, telling them that winning these races could return the country to decency and honesty. "You can do this. Don't give up an inch. ... It's a sprint to the finish line here."

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CALIF.) and HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE (R-LA.) held a call with members today, on which they discussed the party's political prospects. Lawmakers in tough districts -- like Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder -- said their prospects were looking up, but there was a universal concern about cash.

Happy Wednesday afternoon. SPOTTED: Hillary Clinton headlining a fundraiser last night for the Democratic Attorneys General Association last night on the Upper West Side -- the event was for the 1881 Initiative, DAGA's effort to support and elect more female AGs: Massachusetts AG Maura Healey and Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum (who spoke alongside Clinton), New York AG Barbara Underwood, AG candidates Tish James (New York), Dana Nessel (Michigan), January Contreras (Arizona) and Constance Anastopoulo (South Carolina). Pic by Beatrice Moritz of Clinton and Healey ... Pic of Clinton, James and Underwood

ERIC GELLER: "Inside the race to hack-proof the Democratic Party": "The [DNC] has spent 14 months staffing up with tech talent from Silicon Valley, training staff to spot suspicious emails and giving the FBI someone to talk to if it spots signs of hackers targeting the party. The first concrete sign of success may come in a few weeks, if the Democrats make it through the November midterm elections unscathed.

"But Raffi Krikorian, the DNC's chief technology officer, is already pointing to one significant accomplishment - what he calls a massive overhaul of digital security at the committee and its sister organizations. ... Representatives of the bureau and other federal agencies have 'been in our building to ask how they can help or what information we might be able to coordinate on in the future.'" POLITICO

ON KHASHOGGI ... REBECCA MORIN: "Trump asks for audio, video evidence from Khashoggi investigation": "'We have asked for it if it exists,' the president said, adding that he is unsure whether any evidence exists. 'Probably does, possibly does,' he said, saying he will get a full report from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo." POLITICO

ANOTHER FOX BUSINESS INTERVIEW -- CNN'S ABBY PHILLIP (@abbydphillip): "Trump is asked if we're going to walk away from Saudi Arabia. He says 'No I don't want to do that.' 'They have a tremendous order' for weapons that he claims will create 500k jobs. 'I hope that the king and the crown prince didn't know about it. That's a big factor in my eyes.'"

NPR'S MICHELE KELEMEN (@michelekelemen): "Sec Pompeo, en route home from Riyadh and Ankara, says it is reasonable to give Saudis 'a handful of days more' to complete investigation into disappearance of Saudi journalist."

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE ... PRESIDENT HILLARY CLINTON allows the Saudi royal family to investigate a murder our allies and intelligence service believe the royal family was involved in. "President Clinton is siding with the Saudis -- perpetrators of constant human rights violations -- to investigate the murder of a journalist who lives in Virginia," says almost every Republican elected official as they launch an investigation.

-- "'The greatest embarrassment': Inside the kingdom, Saudis rattled by handling of Jamal Khashoggi case," by The Independent's Borzou Daragahi in Istanbul and Bel Trew: "The dissident Saudi journalist who disappeared after entering his nation's consulate in Istanbul may have run afoul of the Saudi leadership over family business dealings rather than his public criticism of the kingdom ...

"The global uproar ... has rattled the kingdom, insiders say, spurring talk of a leadership crisis within the upper echelons of power. ... [M]any Saudis say they feel besieged, with both supporters and critics of the royal family suddenly fearful for the future and reputation of the kingdom." The Independent

BREAKING -- THE INVESTIGATIONS ... "U.S. Arrests Treasury Employee Accused of Leaking Bank Records on Manafort, Gates," by Bloomberg's Saleha Mohsin, Bob Van Voris and Christian Berthelsen: "Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior adviser at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, was accused of leaking Suspicious Activity Reports to a reporter, who isn't identified. The articles cited by prosecutors were written by journalists at BuzzFeed -- the most recent having been published Oct. 15." Bloomberg

-- DARREN SAMUELSOHN: "Judge orders Manafort to court in prison clothing"

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WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND (@realDonaldTrump) ...

-- ON THE TEXAS SENATE RACE ... at 7:52 a.m.: "Watched the debate last night & Beto O'Rourke, who wants higher taxes and far more regulations, is not in the same league with Ted Cruz & what the great people of Texas stand for & want. Ted is strong on Crime, Border & 2nd A, loves our Military, Vets, Low Taxes. Beto is a Flake!"

... at 8 a.m.: "Ted Cruz has done so much for Texas, including massive cuts in taxes and regulations - which has brought Texas to the best jobs numbers in the history of the state. He watches carefully over your 2nd Amendment. O'Rourke would blow it all! Ted has long had my Strong Endorsement!"

-- THE AP STORY ... at 8:09 a.m.: "AP headline was very different from my quote and meaning in the story. They just can't help themselves. FAKE NEWS!"

-- JOBS ... at 8:31 a.m.: "August job openings hit a record 7.14 million. Congratulations USA!"

-- BORDER TALK ... at 9:45 a.m.: "Hard to believe that with thousands of people from South of the Border, walking unimpeded toward our country in the form of large Caravans, that the Democrats won't approve legislation that will allow laws for the protection of our country. Great Midterm issue for Republicans!"

... at 9:48 a.m.: "Republicans must make the horrendous, weak and outdated immigration laws, and the Border, a part of the Midterms!"

BUZZFEED'S KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY (@karlazabs): "JUST IN: Mike Pompeo is coming to Mexico on Friday to talk w/Prez @EPN about immigration. The migrant caravan from Honduras will likely be at/near the border by then."

VALLEY TALK -- "Massive Twitter data release sheds light on Russia's Trump strategy," by Nancy Scola: "Twitter on Wednesday released a trove of 10 million tweets it says represents the full scope of foreign influence operations on the platform dating back nearly a decade ... While the Clinton animus was clear from the start, it took the [Internet Research Agency] a while to settle on its Trump strategy, as the Republican primary played out. ...

"[T]he messaging around Trump turned decidedly in his favor around the time the reality show star began locking up the Republican nomination. That period of time is said to be of interest to investigators with special counsel Robert Mueller's team ... Russian accounts appeared to be particularly good at building personality into their tweets." POLITICO

-- "An Army Veteran Wages War on Social-Media Disinformation: Kris Goldsmith has become the cybersleuth for the Vietnam Veterans of America, hunting fake Facebook pages that sow discord and often have roots overseas," by WSJ's Ben Kesling and Dustin Volz: WSJ

CASH DASH -- "RNC posts $56 million quarter as donations boom ahead of midterms," by Gabby Orr: "The [RNC] raised $56 million in the third quarter of the year, including $26.2 million in September-a record amount for one month in a non-presidential election year-according to new figures provided to POLITICO. The haul brings the RNC's total to $269.9 million so far this cycle.

"The [DNC] has yet to release its third quarter numbers, but has lagged behind its GOP counterpart all year. ... The strong results are welcome news for Republicans anxious that they are being swamped by Democratic money in House races nationwide as the GOP battles to save its Congressional majorities." POLITICO

-- WSJ'S JULIE BYKOWICZ: "Democrats, Flush With Cash, Spare No Expense on Key Races"

2018 WATCH -- "Christine Hallquist Would Like to Talk About the Power Grid," by NYT's Liam Stack in Barre, Vt.: "Christine Hallquist is the first transgender person to be nominated for governor by a major party, and she knows people are interested in hearing her life story. She is more than happy to tell it, but the thing she really wants to talk about is the electric grid. ...

"As a candidate, Ms. Hallquist believes the electric grid - that vast reservoir of energy that powers everything from smartphones to sonogram machines - can, if managed correctly, fight all manner of social ills, among them rising global temperatures, rural poverty and the opioid epidemic. But the national spotlight on Ms. Hallquist has tended to overlook her nuts-and-bolts policy ideas in favor of her gender identity. 'Immediately after the election I was like, "What the hell happened?" I felt like Forrest Gump,' Ms. Hallquist said. 'You stumble into this historic thing and then you have to understand what it means.'" NYT

AD WARS ... WSJ: "A New Breed of Political Ad Enters the Midterms: This year's midterms have a new type of ad. It's low budget, never airs on TV, and is helping unknown, novice candidates make headlines." Three-minute video: WSJ

TRUMP INC. -- "Pump and Trump," by ProPublica's Heather Vogell, with Peter Elkind and WNYC's Andrea Bernstein and Meg Cramer: "[A]n eight-month investigation by ProPublica and WNYC reveals that the post-millennium Trump business model is different from what has been previously reported. The Trumps were typically way more than mere licensors or bystanders in their often-troubled deals. They were deeply involved in these projects. They helped mislead investors and buyers - and they profited handsomely from it.

"Patterns of deceptive practices occurred in a dozen deals across the globe, as the business expanded into international projects, and the Trumps often participated. One common pattern, visible in more than half of those transactions, was a tendency to misstate key sales numbers." ProPublica

NYT'S JIM TANKERSLEY: "No, Trump's Tax Cut Isn't Paying for Itself (at Least Not Yet)": The deficit "increase demonstrates that the tax cuts President Trump signed into law late last year have reduced federal revenues considerably ... It's possible [GOP] optimism could turn out to be right, but only if the tax cuts unleash a sustained boom in productivity and economic growth, and with them, much higher revenues than we saw this past fiscal year." NYT

TRADE WARS -- "Trump Opens New Front in His Battle With China: International Shipping," by NYT's Glenn Thrush: "President Trump plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty that has allowed Chinese companies to ship small packages to the United States at a steeply discounted rate, undercutting American competitors and flooding the market with cheap consumer goods. The withdrawal is part of a concerted push by Mr. Trump to counter China's dominance." NYT

AFTERNOON LISTEN -- NEW WOMEN RULE PODCAST: ANNA talked with author JODI PICOULT about her new book "A Spark of Light," the Kavanaugh hearings and why she believes the country needs to move beyond Roe v. Wade. "Perhaps Brett Kavanaugh could read 'A Spark of Light,' because that's really about women's reproductive rights. ... I think it's extremely important that we recognize what happens when women don't have a voice." Listen and subscribe

FOGGY BOTTOM ARRIVAL LOUNGE -- Teresa Davis has started as special assistant to Assistant Secretary of State Marie Royce. She previously was comms director for Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). Sarah Corley is now the comms director for Cole.

TRANSITION -- Devin O'Malley is now deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Treasury Department. He was previously principal deputy director of public affairs at DOJ.

SPOTTED: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Josh Holmes and Steven Law having lunch together in a private booth on Wednesday at Capital Grille.

SPOTTED at The Daily Beast's 10th anniversary party Tuesday night at the Jane Hotel NYC: Barry Diller, Tina Brown, Sir Harry Evans, John Avlon, Noah Shachtman, Ann Coulter, Ari Melber, Dan Abrams, Rick Tyler, Jackie Kucinich, Sam Stein, Asawin Suebsaeng, Lachlan Markay, Betsy Woodruff, Chris Licht, Margaret Hoover, Touré, Aidan McLaughlin, Ariel Kaminer, Miriam Elder and Jessica Tarlov.

WEEKEND WEDDING -- Lesley Lopez, chief communications officer at Run for Something and a DLCC alum, married Richard Kelly, an app developer at Capital One, in a ceremony at the Woodend Sanctuary in Chevy Chase, Md. Pic ... Another pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- OBAMA ALUMNI -- Rob Berschinski, SVP for policy at Human Rights First and former deputy assistant secretary of State in the Obama administration, and Sabrina Howell, an assistant professor of finance at NYU's Stern School of Business, welcomed a son, Jack, who came in at 7 lbs 9 oz. Pic ... Another pic

-- Stephen Bell, director of media and public relations for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and an RSC and Steve Scalise alum, and Emily Bell, who runs the Bow Foundation, welcomed Theodore Joseph, who came in at 9 lbs 9 oz. Pic


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