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Today's POLITICO Playbook 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)

Listen to today's Audio Briefing | Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Visit the online home of Playbook
Driving the Day
Good Wednesday morning. TWO THINGS YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO ...

-- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND, the GOP super PAC closely aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan, will report that it raised $9.7 million from January until Feb. 21. The group's cash-on-hand was $21.7 million as of Feb. 21. The group, which has spent millions in the Pennsylvania special election, is also up with a new ad in that race, which is between Democrat Connor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone. Their strategy: tie Lamb to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Obama administration. Sound familiar? The ad http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430aba2577df55425dff462e5d0708d1994323dd48d7ca447db8d779936f2174133f1a09427195bda09c ... They reported another $416,523 on media and mail on the Pennsylvania race yesterday.

EXPECT CLF to continue playing a big role spending on 2018, and defining the contours of the race for the GOP.

-- A FEW NEW BITS OF NEWS ON GUNS: Lawmakers are beginning to talk about ways to help secure schools, and one idea that has come up a few times is installing technology that helps spot gunfire. D.C. has it (http://wapo.st/2CprdYx), and some believe it could allow quicker response times. Scot Peterson, the school officer who did not go into the building during the shooting in Florida, said he was not sure if it was gunfire at the time.

-- ALSO: The most likely gun-related bill that could pass and head to the president's desk is the Fix NICS bill, which penalizes government agencies for not sending information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has a hold on this bill -- which the House passed -- because of due process concerns. We were told yesterday that conservatives in the House and Senate want a fix that would have a judge involved in any decision to confiscate a firearm from someone deemed a threat.

FOR YOUR AWARENESS -- POLITICO/MORNING CONSULT POLL, via Steve Shepard: "Roughly two-in-three Americans now say gun control laws should be made more strict in the wake of the murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to a number of polls, including a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll which shows support for stricter gun laws among registered voters at 68 percent, compared to just 25 percent who oppose stricter gun laws." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430af17584b7d0266e564638f221181dc81ed1c24d3d96715332510468e9342c68eecf742d8b90b2d422

YIKES! -- JARED WATCH -- "Kushner's overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage," by WaPo's Shane Harris, Carol Leonnig, Greg Jaffe and Josh Dawsey: "Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.

"Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico ... It is unclear if any of those countries acted on the discussions, but Kushner's contacts with certain foreign government officials have raised concerns inside the White House and are a reason he has been unable to obtain a permanent security clearance." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430ae57bd277f53b827e989c76795bcb1b73658414d3e43e75561a463f3a1acc5982bad926f3b3e8776b

SCOOP -- ELIANA JOHNSON and ANDREW RESTUCCIA: "Kushner loses access to top-secret intelligence": "Presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has had his security clearance downgraded - a move that will prevent him from viewing many of the sensitive documents to which he once had unfettered access. Kushner is not alone. All White House aides working on the highest-level interim clearances - at the Top Secret/SCI-level - were informed in a memo sent Friday that their clearances would be downgraded to the Secret level, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

"The SCI acronym stands for sensitive compartmented information, a category of information that comes from sensitive intelligence sources and must be walled off. The memo was not signed by chief of staff John Kelly, but it comes as the retired Marine general and other top White House aides are grappling with the fallout of a scandal involving former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, which revealed that dozens of White House aides had yet to receive permanent clearances but nonetheless had access to some of the country's deepest secrets." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a74731b9a58ad2cf8b51607cfc2a1b4bdc6d67fc64c0e65601bed310a2a4901ffc411c4bb2eb5675b

-- "Kushner's security downgrade will hinder but not halt his Mideast peace role," by CNN's Jeremy Diamond: "[F]ive former top US officials who have tackled Middle East peace before Kushner told CNN they believe he will be able to continue overseeing the U.S. peace efforts and to engage in direct negotiations -- even if it makes his task more difficult. 'Honestly, over the years in all the negotiations I did, I found that the intelligence is not as important as the direct meetings. The intelligence was not a big factor when it came to doing the negotiations themselves,' said Dennis Ross, who served as a U.S. envoy to the peace process under Republican and Democratic administrations. 'It's
not to say it wouldn't help him.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430ada225162b84846208305928e0717b22f08595f31a7eeaa3ec4b7b311dc5cba172e63c80195ef6eb0

-- KUSHNER'S LATEST DRAMA comes as his biggest defender -- Josh Raffel -- is heading for the exits. Axios's Jonathan Swan first reported that the former Hollywood PR exec is leaving. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a3064210ab3baec84e41c5b121bf068fa2ae36aea31d7f312c13805c71c5f0dd20611a102894ed9fe

MORE BACKGROUND CHECK PROBLEMS -- "Four Commerce Department appointees lose their posts after problems in background checks," by WaPo's Carol Leonnig, Damian Paletta and Josh Dawsey: "Four Commerce Department political appointees working on interim security clearances lost their jobs Tuesday because of problems in their background checks, the latest fallout from the intensifying public scrutiny on administration officials working without permanent clearances. The department determined that the four appointees - including one who worked for the agency for nearly a year and served for several months as a senior adviser to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross - should not be given access to
classified information, according to multiple officials who requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430acb0d0a0c4fb648f80fdd593b755891593c9ab3caa1a80f663dc7aa5384eaf15f28223b811643dd41

TOUGH HEADLINE FOR HOPE -- "Hope Hicks Acknowledges She Sometimes Tells White Lies for Trump," by NYT's Nick Fandos: "Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told House investigators on Tuesday that her work for President Trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods, had occasionally required her to tell white lies. But after extended consultation with her lawyers, she insisted that she had not lied about matters material to the investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible links to Trump associates, according to three people familiar with her testimony." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a8db2babcede46651b8dc9941d3bba015c3e1a802ac250bb9b3789164e98e5909acd0fb945e2b0989

-- "Hope Hicks draws line on Russia testimony," by Kyle Cheney: "White House communications director Hope Hicks declined to answer many questions during an appearance on Tuesday before the House Intelligence Committee, escalating a standoff over witness ground rules between the West Wing and House members investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Hicks said she was acting on instructions from the White House when she refused to answer questions covering her time on the post-election transition and in the West Wing ...

"It is unclear whether President Donald Trump officially authorized her to invoke executive privilege on his behalf, a step some lawmakers believe he must take to make such a claim valid. By late afternoon, Hicks -- one of Trump's closest confidants -- had spent more than nine hours in a secure committee meeting room." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a040795e2805ec44d910466b33d814bb81aa9b2ca0c9a9a3ec55065858dbdb94361a314743af515c7


****** 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. ******

THE LUXE ADMINISTRATION -- "Ben Carson's HUD, Planning Cuts, Spends $31,000 on Dining Set for His Office," by NYT's Glenn Thrush: "Department of Housing and Urban Development officials spent $31,000 on a new dining room set for Secretary Ben Carson's office in late 2017 -- just as the White House circulated its plans to slash HUD's programs for the homeless, elderly and poor, according to federal procurement records. The purchase of the custom hardwood table, chairs and hutch came a month after a top agency staff member filed a whistle-blower complaint charging Mr. Carson's wife, Candy Carson, with pressuring department officials to find money for the expensive redecoration of his offices,
even if it meant circumventing the law.

"Mr. Carson is also facing questions on another front. Under pressure earlier this month, he requested that HUD's inspector general investigate his son's involvement in a department-sponsored listening tour of Baltimore last summer. Department lawyers had warned Mr. Carson that including Ben Carson Jr., an entrepreneur who does business with the federal government, could create a conflict of interest. Mr. Carson 'didn't know the table had been purchased,' but does not believe the cost was too steep and does not intend to return it, said Raffi Williams, a HUD spokesman." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a3fab00fccd1d51f81d4747a9d7388905d816855deca66e5e0a62b9f086af4ee62ac4edcfb79d80ab

TRUMP'S AGENDA -- SHOCK! ... "Cornyn: Infrastructure bill may not happen this year," by Brianna Gurciullo: "President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan may not pass Congress this year, a key GOP lawmaker said Tuesday - shortly before a Trump-backed proposal to split up the Federal Aviation Administration collapsed as well. Though expected, the two developments delivered major legislative blows for an administration that rolled into office banking on big populist wins on transportation.

"Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate Majority Whip, said today that passing an infrastructure bill by the end of the year will be a tough task because lawmakers are facing a host of other priorities - news that would be a major blow to President Donald Trump's hopes for another big legislative victory before the November midterm elections." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430af336eca8ab896782fdf3504c1ab7d86ac328ec32774d63c0b9225acc6ba967d1b564a4026e18fa0d

TRIAL BALLOON -- "Mnuchin Floats Rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership, Trade Deal Trump Shelved," by NYT's Alan Rappeport: "More than a year after President Trump abruptly pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying it was a bad deal for the United States, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday that the United States is discussing rejoining the multilateral trade agreement. Mr. Mnuchin, speaking at an investment summit meeting sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that renegotiating the trade agreement was 'on the table' and that he had been in talks with other countries about what it would take for the United States to reverse course. ...

"'I've met with several of my counterparties and other people, and we've begun to have very high-level conversations about T.P.P.,' Mr. Mnuchin said, adding that Mr. Trump would still prefer to do one-on-one trade agreements first. 'It's not a priority at the moment, but it is something the president will consider.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a38827982ef500a7cbef3eba45417c2d3907d83b980a22f920b85583b9ecdd55ec398d8b4c7379fc7

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Fed's Powell Says His Economic Outlook Has Improved: Central-bank chief sees 'further gradual increases' in interest rates," by WSJ's David Harrison: "Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the economy's prospects have brightened in recent months, indicating the central bank is on track to keep gradually lifting short-term interest rates and perhaps even pick up the pace this year. 'My personal outlook for the economy has strengthened since December,' he told members of the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday in his first Capitol Hill appearance since taking over as Fed chief earlier this month." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a909e0d5631efac2b7df181527e4f2eddebae280ddfedc7a55e023d7e1fdb37d4c8f57fa11b7f279d

-- LISTEN IN: BEN WHITE talks to GLENN HUBBARD about how Powell aced his first big test on Capitol Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a81d6894946dba1884b2258a160255b5c744311bd74795238867336cdf145dfa3bcfc1d3c127bdb77

THE LATEST ON RUSSIA ...

-- "Sessions: Justice Department watchdog investigating GOP Russia memo claims," by Josh Gerstein: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that the Justice Department's inspector general is looking into a House Republican memo's claim that prosecutors and FBI agents misled a federal judge when applying for warrants to surveil a Trump campaign adviser with ties to Moscow.

"In response to a question at a press conference about government anti-opioid efforts, Sessions appeared to confirm that the Justice Department is investigating the surveillance-related allegations leveled in the memo issued by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and declassified on Feb. 2 at the order of President Donald Trump." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a6fff869edd2550f532236486e86156aada962dfca6858a60da86fd4eaae7a8f35f1796a116d8b522

-- "Mueller team asks about Trump's Russian business dealings as he weighed a run for president," by CNN's Kara Scannell, Pamela Brown, Gloria Borger and Jim Sciutto: "Investigators for special counsel Robert Mueller have recently been asking witnesses about Donald Trump's business activities in Russia prior to the 2016 presidential campaign as he considered a run for president, according to three people familiar with the matter.

"Questions to some witnesses during wide-ranging interviews included the timing of Trump's decision to seek the presidency, potentially compromising information the Russians may have had about him, and why efforts to brand a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through, two sources said. The lines of inquiry indicate Mueller's team is reaching beyond the campaign to explore how the Russians might have sought to influence Trump at a time when he was discussing deals in Moscow and contemplating a presidential run." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a23f6eb9ab324ef74b792750f11bf2178b82b3f463a489cda10afda03525990b2f0936618c1709fc8

MORE ON MANAFORT -- "Manafort Joined Trump as Ukrainian Work Dried and Cash Woes Rose," by Bloomberg's David Voreacos and Stephanie Baker: "Manafort made 17 trips to Ukraine in 2014 and 2015, Ukrainian prosecutors who have records of his travel told Bloomberg. That work is more recent than the undisclosed lobbying activities Mueller has described in his indictments. That later work wasn't as profitable as earlier efforts in Ukraine, largely because Manafort's top Ukrainian client, former President Viktor Yanukovych, had by then fled to Russia ... Manafort didn't get paid for some of the work he did on Ukrainian elections in late 2015." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a52e9f7559581fc390b97a12c95f094805412337675b9844e29b4db3360692574187e856fd8c7a614

ABOUT THAT BRAD PARSCALE ROLLOUT -- AP's Zeke Miller and Jonathan Lemire: "The rollout of Parscale's announcement [as Trump's 2020 campaign manager] was not without a hitch. A statement released Tuesday by the Trump campaign attributed to White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was in apparent violation of federal law prohibiting the use of official titles in political work. The campaign used Kushner's title and his position as an 'assistant to the president' in its press release announcing Parscale's role. The title was removed from the copy of the release posted to the campaign website after questions from The Associated Press. The Hatch Act bars government employees from using their
official titles in political work. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday all senior officials and Cabinet secretaries have been briefed on the prohibition." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a27985abbe05134fb145f3138eea9ab8d7d1fdc7747d930bacdce7c7e81ddc8f1f7190951dab18816

-- HMM: "Trump campaign chief lends name to penny stock tied to felon," by AP's Jeff Horwitz: "The political strategist and online guru who was named President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign manager Tuesday has a close financial relationship with a penny-stock firm with a questionable history that includes longstanding ties to a convicted fraudster, according to an Associated Press investigation. Brad Parscale, who played a key role in Trump's 2016 election victory, signed a $10 million deal in August to sell his digital marketing company to CloudCommerce Inc.

"As part of the deal, Parscale currently serves as a member of California-based company's management team. The company touts itself as 'a global provider of cloud-driven e-commerce and mobile commerce solutions.' But records reviewed by the AP raise questions about its current financial picture and its rocky past. CloudCommerce's operations have not turned a profit in nearly a decade, the records indicate. The company's most recent quarterly earnings showed it has spent more than $19 million in investor money since its creation nearly two decades ago and has only $107,000 in cash on hand." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a1ae73733520407a713d140ca1bef02b65c4064c29def58e4d5f2564d684eb788d6c83a3ba4184229

THE JUICE ...

-- SPOTTED: IVANKA exiting the Georgetown neighborhood library yesterday ... Gayle King leaving the Cannon House Office Building yesterday afternoon - pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a2f68c102a3433a7c73cad47292d3d1d7e9eb88a09dd0ea9c6b8e09f085b626946e36ccaa990cd084 -- She was also seen in first class on the 4 p.m. Acela Express from D.C. to NYC. ... Lara Trump, with a security detail, Tuesday afternoon in the Admirals Club at DCA.

-- REVOLVING DOOR: "Former Trump Adviser Dina Powell Is Returning to Goldman Sachs," by Bloomberg's Dakin Campbell and Jennifer Jacobs: "Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser to President Donald Trump, is returning to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and will be a member of the investment bank's management committee. ... She'll focus on boosting relationships with sovereign clients, according to a memo sent to staff Tuesday. During her earlier stint at Goldman, which began in 2007, Powell ran the bank's '10,000 Women' initiative, focused on helping female entrepreneurs." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a9e8fe5b7763e9696dc03317782d2c8cc0f9749a5f4f087a8019d12af313242ffe463fe0659d6698c

TRUMP'S WEDNESDAY -- The president and the first lady will attend the arrival ceremony for Billy Graham at the Capitol. In the afternoon, Trump will meet with lawmakers to discuss school safety.


Playbook Reads


PHOTO DU JOUR: The Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft is seen as it starts to land with Expedition 54 crew members Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Feb. 28. The three astronauts returned from the International Space Station, ending a 5 1/2-month mission. | NASA via AP Photo

#WOMENRULE -- ANNA talked with RACHEL HOLT, VP/regional general manager of U.S. and Canada at UBER, for the latest "Women Rule" podcast where they discussed everything from the company's less antagonistic approach in cities to how they are focused on treating women better at the company after CEO Travis Kalanick's departure. Full story by producer Reena Flores http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430ae5b853c7a374be66416b1cff67197af81907683e5f8d7ab5b3717109ae1fc1eb348d5ce67faae69f

-- NEW PARTNERSHIP -- "Can millennial women decide the next election? A new collaboration between the Hive, theSkimm, and SurveyMonkey traces the interest, and likely impact, of female millennial voters in advance of the consequential 2018 midterms," by Vanity Fair's Maya Kosoff: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a600525b903ca7498ff16a0c332f67dfdef676ef867571734f00ac6b1ab19caef2d8b1e27ce16d3c0

SEXUAL HARASSMENT FILES -- SCOOP: "Cato board member faces spousal-abuse charge: The case against Preston Marshall, an associate of the Koch brothers, follows allegations of sexual harassment against the think tank's former president," by Maggie Severns and Daniel Lippman: "A board member at the libertarian Cato Institute is facing criminal charges of assaulting a family member in Texas, as his wife claims he held her down, choked her, head-butted her and bit her in the face, according to court documents of the May 2017 incident. Preston Marshall, a 44-year-old investor who was involved in high-profile lawsuits over his family's estate with Anna Nicole Smith, pleaded not guilty to
assaulting his wife. His wife, Anastasia Marshall, has initiated divorce proceedings.

"[Preston] Marshall has been on the Cato board since 2012, when he was appointed with the support of Charles and David Koch, who are major Cato funders. ... Marshall's mother, Elaine Marshall, is the largest minority shareholder in Koch Industries ... is worth over $16 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, [and] is currently a board member of Koch Industries." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430a4de5f666c489602d588a3f8a2faee18eea303da12064fbfcd003ba238c54f57d07a6def030cb1d67 ... Daniel and Maggie's Feb. 8 story revealing sexual harassment allegations against ex-Cato President Ed Crane http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430ab0cb5d19aa1fbd130e12a0ac1e104077aed016e0b94b3cfb84220f6751cd692ef13de8a5b485eabc

-- "Colorado Rep. Steve Lebsock faces expulsion after 11 sexual harassment allegations against him are deemed credible," by the Denver Post's John Frank and Jesse Paul: "For the first time in more than a century, the Colorado General Assembly will vote on whether to expel a lawmaker, a move that comes after five women made 11 credible accusations of sexual harassment against embattled Democratic state Rep. Steve Lebsock. ... If successful, Lebsock would be the second state legislator in the nation to be expelled since the rise of the #MeToo movement. Arizona ejected a lawmaker earlier this month. ... One claim involved an encounter with Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, in which she alleges
Lebsock discussed sexual acts and tried to grab her by the elbow and get her to leave a bar with him." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430af5dba55ff0349e600a72d6b30666ebfaef3bc840b2dc868dd716498f7218c05f568f2a27a6754d2b


****** 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. ******

REMEMBER THIS STORY? "GreenTech, the electric car company once led by McAuliffe, files for bankruptcy," by Richmond Times-Dispatch's Ned Oliver: "The electric car company founded by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, blaming in part a wave of negative coverage by a conservative news website for its financial woes.

"GreenTech Automotive's bankruptcy petition cites 76 articles by the website Watchdog.org it says 'negatively affected governmental, investor and public perception of GreenTech' and prompted investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Homeland Security. GreenTech in 2013 sued Watchdog.org, operated by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, for $85 million. A judge dismissed the case in 2014." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430ae7ce7c009c692fca6f282b444672b27fb17ff80692ab77c3fc7cb68613be0683ec40594f9bcb349e

MEDIAWATCH -- "N.Y. Times Exits Partnership With Tina Brown's Event Business," by the Hollywood Reporter's Jeremy Barr: "The company's 30 percent stake in Women in the World Media, LLC, was sold late last year for 'a nominal amount,' according to a filing. The New York Times quietly ended its partnership with Tina Brown's live events business last year, according to a disclosure filed Tuesday with the [SEC] ... The transaction occurred in the third quarter of 2017." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430aff7da077a824891721b5f19048d3526a42a6c4278fef2e3e69a3a37525ee565fcc9980765266ae5a

-- DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, a Washington Post political reporter, is now an NBC News and MSNBC political analyst. He made his debut last night on Nicolle Wallace's "Deadline: White House" and was also on "the Rachel Maddow Show." He previously was a CNN contributor.

Playbookers
SPOTTED: Wilbur and Hilary Ross having dinner and wine with Reince Priebus in a back corner table at Georgetown French restaurant Chez Billy Sud on Tuesday night.

OUT AND ABOUT -- EARLY ST. PATRICK'S DAY CELEBRATING ... Ambassador Daniel Mulhall and his wife Greta hosted a dinner with the Institute of Education last night at the Irish ambassador's residence to "celebrate Ireland's rich historical and contemporary links to the United States. Guests dined on smoked salmon and smoked trout with mango and lime salsa, sage-crusted rack of lamb, selection of Irish cheeses, pear poached in red wine with fresh raspberries and Irish soda bread ice cream."

SPOTTED: Kevin Hassett, OMB director Mick Mulvaney, Ambassador Sean Patrick Lawler, John Roberts, Kyra Phillips, Coach Kathy Kemper, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), Kathleen Collins Rooney, Megan Smith, Chris Liddell, Katey Connelly, Ed Ingle and Vanessa Sinders.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Pete Williams, NBC News justice correspondent. How he got his start in journalism: "In my hometown of Casper, Wyoming, I started in radio, covering the city council and the school board. Or I could trace my entry to a neighborhood newspaper I started when I was eight years old. It was overpriced at three cents a copy." Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6e499526d99f430afab802d19f1025db9c14d7bb0ff588cd5bc595710ee28a4aefc1bc775e0e42ac8c9313938fdd2a92

BIRTHDAYS: Paul Krugman is 65 ... Politico senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian ... Jack Abramoff is 6-0 (hat tip: Tim Burger) ... Ira Forman is 66 ... Miki King, VP of operations at WaPo ... Steven Chu is 7-0 ... Kristen Slaughter Brown ... CAP's Dr. Laura Durso ... Porter DeLaney, founding partner of the Kyle House Group ... Andrea Riccio, VP at S3 Public Affairs (h/t Amos Snead) ... John Nagl, headmaster of the Haverford School and former president of the Center for a New American Security ... Politico's Jay Morgan ... Kelsey Bloom, associate opinion editor at The Hill ... RNC's Christiana Purves (h/t Ryan Mahoney) ... Ken Blackwell is 7-0 ... Christine Simpson ... Pamela King,
EnergyWire reporter at E&E News ... Christine Domenech ... Jessie Singleton Lazarus, MBA candidate at Harvard and former chief digital officer for NYC. She's celebrating with dinner with Ben (h/t Rowan Morris) ... Adam Sieff, litigation and trial associate at Latham & Watkins in LA ... Trey Cook ... Brendan S. Kelly, mobilization director at Alliance for Retired Americans, is 35 (h/t Conchita Cruz) ... Sandhya Taneja, a senior press intern in Sen. Schumer's D.C. office, is 23 (h/t Emma Eatman) ... Mark Lippert, former U.S. Ambassador to Korea and now VP at Boeing International ...

... WaPo's Sarah Ellison ... AP's Lisa Lerer (h/t Annie Linskey) ... Erica Goldman of Purple Strategies ... conservative operatives Ned and Drew Ryun, twin sons of former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.) ... Lamar Echols, counsel for House Energy and Commerce committee and a Romney alum ... Judy Schneider, senior analyst at the Congressional Research Service ... Heather Sabharwal ... Edelman's Samantha Kruse ... Heather Fluit, comms director for Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) ... Emily Krueger ... Reagan McGrath ... Enid Doggett ... Alicia Powe ... journalist Tom Hussain is 51 ... James Sullivan ... Wayne Lesperance ... Claire Francis ... Bruce Potter ... Leslie Aun, VP of comms. for passenger
transportation company Keolis North America ... PwC's Li-Dor David ... Bush 43 WH alums Katye Riselli, Meghan Kielty and Darlene Ayers-Johnson ... Emily Sporn ... Michelle Brown ... Darcy Burke ... Rhea Lieber ... Wendy Goldberg ... architect Frank Gehry is 89 (h/t AP)

****** 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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