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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs

By JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER (anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc) and DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman) and ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro)


DEPT. OF THINGS THAT ARE PROBABLY WRONG -- THE DEAN OF THE HOUSE -- ALASKA PUBLIC MEDIA: "Rep. Young suggests guns could've saved Jews during Holocaust": "'How many millions of people were shot and killed because they were unarmed? Fifty million in Russia,' Young said. 'How many Jews were put in the ovens because they were unarmed?'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b11ddc7be24e4391ec234d13027ae575b41ef000420e8e264344def11828b912a3336a6b7d2ef02cf

Good Wednesday afternoon. TRIAL DATE SET FOR MANAFORT -- Josh Gerstein: "A judge in Washington on Wednesday said she was setting a Sept. 17 trial date for former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort on charges from special counsel Robert Mueller including money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent.

"The decision from U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson would put Manafort on trial at the height of the midterm campaign season, a potentially unwelcome distraction for Republicans as they try to maintain majorities in Congress....

"During the brief hearing Wednesday morning where Jackson scheduled the Washington trial to open in September, she also scolded Manafort and his team for a statement his spokesman issued last Friday maintaining his innocence despite the guilty pleas from his longtime aide, Rick Gates." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b39e1ac48ae3fbbff8f5889e35c5ad34bd497b7ead4314e06a83aab8f7c5e12c37180457ebdfe16a0

TRUMP ATTACKS SESSIONS, PART 100 -- @realDonaldTrump at 9:34 a.m.: "Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn't the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!"

-- TAKE A STEP BACK: The president just called his attorney general's tactics and decision-making process "disgraceful." The guy gave up Senate seniority to get whacked around by the president.

THE GUN DEBATE -- "NRA directly appealed to Trump against raising age for firearms purchases," by CNN's Elizabeth Landers: "National Rifle Association leaders appealed directly to President Donald Trump about not raising the age limit for buying certain firearms, a senior administration official tells CNN. The appeal came when Trump had lunch with the leaders on Sunday. The official said the NRA would prefer that the White House pursue school safety programs.

"The official, however, said that although the White House continues to speak with the NRA, they're not going to agree on everything." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b768708b008f7b0606f1678d4a879be105aaf422ed8c0bf83794724d627d1bae53c2d8f9bf0532ec1

-- "Dick's Sporting Goods to stop selling assault-style rifles," by Louis Nelson: "Dick's Sporting Goods, among the nation's largest retailers of sports equipment, will no longer sell assault-style rifles at its stores, the company said Wednesday morning. The sporting goods chain will also no longer sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21 and will no longer sell high-capacity magazines." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863bdcb46863ce569b049a277e49b2bd9fcc0cf8f6a4b8bde993dc93e7a8099f1c3b66c39a0e0d9870d3 Dick's CEO Edward Stack's interview with NYT http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b7980ec9213adf9778572e85760e9d7da8ba054b34009aae88ee67b7ee94df78d4836661b8e134e14

TRUMP at the ceremony honoring THE REV. BILLY GRAHAM at the Capitol, per a White House transcript: "The North Carolina farm boy walked out of those fields, into a great and beautiful history. Starting at a small Bible school in Florida, he soon led a nationwide revival -- from a large tent in Los Angeles, to 100,000 people in a single day at Yankee Stadium, to more than 2 million people at Madison Square Garden, over 16 weeks in 1957. And I remember that, because my father said to me, 'Come on, son' -- and, by the way, he said, 'Come on, mom. Let's go see Billy Graham at Yankee Stadium.' And it was something very special. ...

"Billy Graham carried his message around the world, but his heart, as Franklin will tell you, was always in America. He took his message to the poorest places, to the downtrodden and to the brokenhearted, to inmates in prison, and to the overlooked and the neglected. He felt a great passion for those that were neglected. Everywhere he went, Reverend Graham delivered the same beautiful message: God loves you."

****** A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs: Keep Medicare Part D working for seniors. CMS has proposed regulations that will increase costs and cause disruption for millions of seniors. Tell CMS: don't make changes to popular preferred pharmacy network plans that will stick America's seniors with higher premiums & drug costs. Learn more. ******

IN THE AGENCIES -- "Press secretary quits FEMA, citing 'boys club'," by Danny Vinik: "Two top public-affairs officers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency have resigned over the past month, with one complaining that as the agency faced unprecedented challenges in responding to hurricanes, its top public-affairs official was excluded from meetings because of her gender.

"Former FEMA press secretary Paul McKellips, who resigned on February 12, wrote in his resignation letter that FEMA's front office was a 'boys club' that excluded the former head of external affairs, Susan Phalen. 'When the front office shut her out, you effectively shut me out as well,' McKellips wrote. Phalen announced her resignation in early February.

"The letter suggests Phelan was excluded from key meetings and that her strategies for promoting the agency were ignored because senior FEMA leaders favored male executives over female executives." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b61088921d78a2e2d98add8db76a0752d220fa8b0ef09d6e26e222c29b54b994a21f09c26f1236bda

INTERESTING THOUGHT FROM THE SENATE MAJORITY WHIP -- @JohnCornyn: "When I see headlines like this one in the WSJ, I am concerned Congress no longer regards itself as a co-equal branch of the US government and is unwilling to lead: 'Congress Looks for Guidance From Trump on Gun Legislation'" -- the WSJ story from Mike Bender http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b91fec8cf2f62c53c6b4070bb837c3b2f3ab7071f0abd46a4d0a47f99e6fff463359e3127b767793f

-- OTHER EXAMPLE: Speaker Paul Ryan said he'd only put a Trump-backed immigration bill on the floor.

MORE TRUMP TWEETS -- at 7:02 a.m.: "The Heritage Foundation has just stated that 64% of the Trump Agenda is already done, faster than even Ronald Reagan. 'We're blown away,' said Thomas Binion of Heritage, President Trump 'is very active, very conservative and very effective. Huge volume & spectrum of issues.'" ... at 7:29 a.m.: "I have decided that sections of the Wall that California wants built NOW will not be built until the whole Wall is approved. Big victory yesterday with ruling from the courts that allows us to proceed. OUR COUNTRY MUST HAVE BORDER SECURITY!" ... at 9:08 a.m.: "45 year low on illegal border crossings this year. Ice and Border Patrol Agents are doing a great job for
our Country. MS-13 thugs being hit hard."

ABOUT THAT WALL -- California Playbooker CARLA MARINUCCI -- "California braces for Trump's 'border wall hallucination tour'": "Donald Trump's California supporters are 'ecstatic' that the president will be making his first official visit to the state next month. But his March trip to San Diego to advance construction of a border wall is also firing up progressive activists who are determined to make him feel unwelcome. ...

"'I have full faith that my Southern California Latino community will give Trump's border wall hallucination tour exactly the respect it deserves: Nada, nunca, forget it,' said Gloria Nieto, a veteran Democratic LGBT activist in Santa Cruz. 'Considering how much this administration has allowed unfit employees access to information which is a real threat to our country's safety, this continued charade feeds a false narrative about the dangers we face. Mexicans trying to find work to feed their families are an empty threat.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b6cfabdca763f220580064875b28fe565192b075644598825d7472e674df231ca95a9addbce5263f4

NOT A TWEET YOU SEE EVERY DAY -- WEST VIRGINIA GOV. JIM JUSTICE (@WVGovernor): "This rumor that I have resigned is completely unfounded and untrue. #wvgov".

STEVE BANNON PLOTS HIS COMEBACK -- Q&A with GQ's BEN SCHRECKINGER -- Bannon on the new group he's planning on launch: "It'll be sometime this spring or this summer. It's going to be focused on the promulgation of ideas, the weaponizing of ideas and building and binding together through affiliate groups. Something to counter this [pointing to The New York Times]: I want to put together 'a movement's vast cadre of foot soldiers' through a foundation or a [501(c)(4) organization]." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b18d0cb15cf5a02b9e51c7720660baca088ece2affeff51a9afe76f20bc5ff7ff105c42691fbc7719

-- ANOTHER INTERESTING BITE: "What we're seeing today is China, Persia, and Turkey-three ancient civilizations-coming together to form a new axis. It's confronting the Christian West and also a big part of Islam that is tied to the West. You're starting to see this form every day like in the 1930s."

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- "Most D.C. Residents Will See Lower Taxes Overall From GOP Tax Law," by WAMU's Martin Austermuhle: "More than than three-fourths of D.C. taxpayers will see either unchanged or lower tax bills next year, courtesy of the Republican tax changes signed into law by President Trump late last year.

"'Most people, 83 percent, are going to see no change or a decrease in their taxes,' said Jeffrey DeWitt, the city's chief financial officer. According to an analysis conducted by DeWitt's office of the 509-page tax law, 64 percent of D.C. taxpayers will see a decrease in their overall taxes, with the median decrease being $1,159, while 19 percent will see no change. Of the 17 percent that see a tax increase, it will be a median tax hike of $929." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863b1a1abfe2627ebbe0f23e34b64d34b1db77ea008285c58f8897237aa7ca2268fd02e882dfb47f84a5

ABOUT LAST NIGHT ... POLITICO hosted an employee-only off-the-record town hall last night at The Showroom, on 14th Street between K and L streets. SPEAKERS included Robert Allbritton, Carrie Budoff Brown, John Harris and Patrick Steel. Inaugural winners of the POLITICO Unsung Heroes award: Robin Turner, copy editor; Marc Sames, manager of business operations; Cristina Brownell, POLITICO Pro Marketing Manager; Rhea Beal, the director of financial planning an analysis; and Ben Hong, senior developer, technology. Photo of the winners and Steel, Allbritton and Harris http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5d52801db3b0863bf1bd3a716a7e426a28a5d51911bad4afcf8e38f389552cd9904158254e1e278bac15fa29b2ac8605

MEDIAWATCH -- Elizabeth Dias is joining The New York Times in late March as a faith and values correspondent. She currently works for Time. ... Todd Johnson is joining NBC News at the editorial manager for NBC BLK. He is currently managing editor of theGrio. ... Paul Singer will join the New England Center for Investigative Reporting and WGBH News as investigations editor in March. He's currently the Washington correspondent and politics editor for USA Today.

SPOTTED: David Gregory wheeling his bag through Union Station early Wednesday afternoon. ... Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) going through security at DCA.

SPOTTED at a pre-Oscars "Resist, run, win" brunch hosted by EMILY's List in LA yesterday: Stephanie Schriock, Emily Cain, Paul Bernon, Sara Jacobs, Mai Khan Tranh, Virginia Madueño, Rachel Payne, Katie Porter, Maria Elena Durazo, Sydney Kamlager, Chelsea Handler, former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Elaine Welteroth, Padma Lakshmi, Amber Tamblyn, Constance Wu, Kathryn Hahn, Emmy Rossum, Mena Suvari, Amy Landecker, Iliza Shlesinger, Carlson Young, Gabrielle Carteris, Clea Duvall, Erika Alexander.

SPOTTED at a party last night at the Center for a New American Security celebrating Victoria Nuland as the new president and Robert Work as the new defense counselor: Paul Wolfowitz, Robert Kagan, Kurt Campbell, Steve Clemons, Antony Blinken, Robert Work, John Hudson, Richard Fontaine, Brian McKeon, Michele Flournoy, Douglas and Heidi Rediker, Jon Finer, Jun-ichiro Kuroda.

SPOTTED at the 20th anniversary celebration for Tracy's Kids' last night at Lucky Strike: Second Lady Karen Pence, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Reps. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Matt Gerson, David Cohen.

TRANSITIONS -- Tamara Hinton joined Story Partners as a senior vice president. She previously ran her own firm and is an alum of the House Agriculture Committee.

BONUS BIRTHDAY: BGov's Cara Read (h/t Cassie Williams)

****** A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs: Medicare Part D is working for seniors. An important part of the program's success comes from preferred pharmacy networks that promote quality and lower drug prices. Preferred pharmacy plans keep premiums low and are the most popular choice for seniors enrolled in Part D. But now, CMS is considering changes that would prevent seniors from choosing plans with preferred pharmacy networks. Tell CMS to stop proposed changes to Medicare Part D that would disrupt preferred pharmacy networks and hurt millions of seniors. Learn more. ******

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