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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), DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman) and ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro)


REASON: "5 Things Barack Obama Said in His Weirdly Off-the-Record MIT Speech" -- Plus the full recording of the hour-long speech http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905f938010e38cbdb3cd34d0b502afab5d21a5d23e53dd09e200ca5484c1abc8703c273ce8eba489eb1

Good Tuesday afternoon. THE NRCC has dropped another $578,667 on media opposing Democrat Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania, according to an FEC filing made public today. Again: this is a district Republicans have won with somewhere around 60 percent when contested. The last two cycles, Democrats didn't challenge Rep. Tim Murphy there.

-- A ProPublica tracker says outside groups have spent more than $8.2 million on this race. The NRCC has spent more than $2.8 million on this race. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905299e38684f014bf3fc284eb6f03d8786d0946df8a23de37b262a4979272f2307db0afe9170d1972b

MUELLER'S LATEST MOVE -- "Special counsel moves to drop tax, bank fraud charges against Rick Gates," by WaPo's Rachel Weiner: "The special counsel investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election has moved to drop 22 tax and bank fraud charges against Rick Gates, a former top official in President Trump's campaign. The move was part of Gates's agreement to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and lying to the FBI. ...

"As part of the plea, Gates agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe regarding 'any and all matters' deemed relevant to his investigation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9054b7a1c6f7cbcc4bcc2c51d8bee78902ff4095652fb3049d900abb727063d694643675565144c4ac6

-- WHAT DID GATES give Mueller -- if anything -- to get the charges dropped?

BURGESS EVERETT SCOOP -- OFFICIALLY NOT RUNNING ... AGAIN -- "Corker decides against reelection bid, sticks with retirement": "After listening to some Tennessee Republicans and GOP senators who were privately urging him to run, the two-term senator and Foreign Relations Committee chairman decided that this will be his last year as senator, said Todd Womack, Corker's chief of staff. The move ends a period of intense speculation in Tennessee and Washington about Corker's future and avoids what could have been an ugly primary between Corker and Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9052266ae346b36a448d4ce6c3e9f807536dfdf43ecdf25291f459fec918962c9ff0307c80078e93be7

-- MATT DRUDGE teased out a "SHOCK ANNOUNCEMENT" from Trump today ... which turned out to be that Trump would announce he'd run for reelection in 2020. A first-term president who filed with the FEC on his inauguration and who has fundraised and campaign since then is running for reelection -- shock! The real news from Drudge is that BRAD PARSCALE will be Trump's 2020 campaign manager. The announcement from the Trump campaign, including congratulatory quotes from Eric Trump, Jared Kushner and Ronna Romney McDaniel http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e90569d68a1656da2b9c9700e74d8fbbf11d0364d9167d8b0d5374cc4155eaff442f959c89e7cfa6f2dc

-- FLASHBACK: Word leaked about Obama's campaign manager at the same time -- almost to the day -- in the 2012 cycle: Feb. 24, 2010 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905410ca3b262ea8233c507a052e6e1af8434c52b1682328626314b1ef9c3e34cba1443ac55e9d90202

GUESS WHO'S ON THE HILL TODAY -- "Hope Hicks to testify in House Russia probe," by Kyle Cheney: "Top White House aide Hope Hicks will appear before House investigators Tuesday, and lawmakers say they haven't been told to expect any restrictions on her testimony in the intelligence panel's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, the Republican leading the investigation, said that if the White House intends to invoke executive privilege to block any aspects of her testimony, it would likely be communicated at the outset of her interview, set for late Tuesday morning." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905cbcd59b41a7169bfe91f31cf4c9cbb7ff108eacca84cffc02674f92024690751184cbf725dbd832a

GUN DEBATE UPDATE -- RACHAEL BADE: "Ryan throws cold water on gun control push": "House GOP leaders downplayed the need for Congress to pass expansive new gun control measures on Tuesday, instead turning their ire on the FBI and local law enforcement for failing to prevent the Parkland, Fla. school shooting.

"Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters at a press conference that 'we shouldn't be banning guns for law-abiding citizens' but 'focusing on making sure that citizens who shouldn't get guns in the first place, don't get those guns.' Ryan -- who said arming teachers was a 'good idea' but a local issue that Congress should not infringe upon -- touted a House-passed bill to reinforce background checks under current law.

"But that bill also loosens gun laws by allowing gun owners with concealed-carry weapons permits in their state to take their firearm into other states -- an idea going nowhere in the Senate. Ryan wouldn't say whether he would allow the House to decouple so-called Fix NICS language from the more controversial concealed-carry reciprocity provisions." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e90572a65fb760ac018fc1d1934c54e00ab81e795d5c542a6d0378cfe52d90cf0433eb63f4e32be1ea24

BEHIND THE SCENES -- "DCCC Advised Candidates Not To Discuss Gun Control Policy Right After Vegas Shooting," by HuffPost's Daniel Marans: "The morning after the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas, a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's press staff warned House candidates and their staffs not to 'politicize' the shooting that day. Politicization, according to the DCCC official, included talking about gun violence prevention policy. ...

"Meredith Kelly, the DCCC's communications director, emphasized that [DCCC staffer Evan] Lukaske's message was intended to discourage hasty responses before all information about the shooting was known, rather than silence opinions about gun policy. It was also general advice that candidates were free to ignore. ...

"The DCCC would not say whether it sent candidates similar guidance after the Parkland shooting. However, Kelly said the group, which is responsible for getting Democrats elected to the House, continues to caution candidates to consider their words carefully in the immediate aftermath of major national tragedies." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905bee658e5c0486035af85d665d23692ed6ee7fa68d3ea8abc48fcabfcc9d5de971a9058ad425ee209

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

MUST BE NICE -- "Wealth of Congress: Richer Than Ever, but Mostly at the Very Top," by Roll Call's David Hawkings: "The people's representatives just keep getting richer, and doing so faster than the people represented. The cumulative net worth of senators and House members jumped by one-fifth in the two years before the start of this Congress, outperforming the typical American's improved fortunes as well as the solid performance of investment markets during that time. ...

"The total wealth of all current members was at least $2.43 billion when the 115th Congress began, 20 percent more than the collective riches of the previous Congress, a significant gain during a period when both the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose slightly less than 10 percent." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9057b99da4bd7d863d5d524957bd7106deee8cc9bb733da24303a361a8031573a9b3f3f03b03d8e28c1

-- The top five: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Rep. Dave Trott (R-Mich.), and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). The full list http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9054c41d76ecac88747e7fa9a59a29a3b0363c94e8681de0b3915d81dd258e3c93cdba222aed4e9a647 ISSA and POLIS are both leaving Congress.

SPOTTED: MICHIGAN GOV. RICK SNYDER, his wife and security detail boarding the 12:45 Delta flight from DCA to Detroit. Snyder and his wife were in first class.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: BRIAN ABRAMS is publishing "Obama: 2009-2017: An Oral History" -- with an impressive list of interviews. Interviewed in the book: David Axelrod, Joel Benenson, Jared Bernstein, Barbara Boxer, Scott Brown, Bill Daley, Tom Daschle, John Dingell, Chris Dodd, Arne Duncan, Rahm Emanuel, Jon Favreau, Barney Frank, Valerie Jarrett, Ben LaBolt, Eric Lesser, Jack Lew, Joe Lieberman, Reggie Love, Jim Messina, Jen Palmieri, David Plouffe and Wendy Sherman.

-- NOTABLE: This book is covering a whole slew of Obama administration legislative fights and processes. Unlike many of these books, all of the interviews are on record. On Amazon for $14.95 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905956aaa2b06458fff5ea0edf23da8d66f7263c6690114525f97f7dc35e7afb5f6b61f4bac37b67f0b

POTUS BREAKS HIS TWITTER HIATUS -- @realDonaldTrump at 6:59 a.m.: "'He's got a very good point. Somebody in the Justice Department has a treasure trove of evidence of Mrs. Clinton's criminality at her own hands, or through others, that ought to be investigated. I fully agree with the President on that.' @judgenapolitano on @marthamaccallum Show" ... at 7:28 a.m.: "'I've been skeptical about the collusion and obstruction claims for the last year. I just don't see the evidence....in terms of the collusion, it's all a bit implausible based on the evidence we have.' Jonathan Turley on @FoxNews" ...

... at 7:45 a.m.: "'We've seen NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION....I have seen nothing, the firing of James Comey and all of the aftermath, that suggests that the President has obstructed justice because he's exercising his power as the President of the U.S. I just don't see it.' Judge Ken Starr" ... at 7:49 a.m.: "WITCH HUNT!"

THE RUSSIA REPORT ...

-- "NSA chief says Trump hasn't told him to confront Russian cyber threat," by CNN's Zachary Cohen: "U.S. Cyber Command chief Adm. Mike Rogers told lawmakers on Tuesday that he has not been granted the authority by President Donald Trump to disrupt Russian election hacking operations where they originate.

"Asked by Democratic Sen. Jack Reed if he has been directed by the President, through the defense secretary, to confront Russian cyber operators, Rogers said 'no I have not' but noted that he has tried to work within the authority he maintains as a commander.

"While he did not agree with Reed's characterization that the US has been 'sitting back and waiting,' Rogers admitted that it is fair to say that 'we have not opted to engage in some of the same behaviors we are seeing' with regards to Russia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9058c8aa2f679226571223ff5d60ee6d14be44c75c0b5f059e3463bbad6e6c738cd938161d72b3b3357

STAR POWER -- "Booker, Gillibrand and Warren to join Doug Jones for March DNC fundraiser," by Gabe Debenedetti: "New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will join new Alabama Sen. Doug Jones to host the DNC's 'IWillVote Gala' fundraiser in Washington on March 7, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.

"The event -- which is expected to draw roughly 400 attendees, according to a DNC aide who confirmed the plan -- is the first in a series of large regional fundraising gatherings the committee is hosting ahead of the midterms. In addition to celebrating Jones' December win, it will also cheer Democratic gains in 2017 like the wins up and down the ballot in Virginia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e90532e135fe8cad39fa07db6d20e36a0862f74567b427627fcbd9dbac73751590852cb51a26fc99ea0a

ONE OF TRUMP'S GUYS -- "Meet Trump's favorite senator -- the man he calls before dawn and after midnight and has given one of his 'highest accolades'," by Business Insider's Joe Perticone and Allan Smith: "Trump's desire to work with [S]en. David Perdue (R-Ga.) extends to all hours of the day. The president often calls the Georgia senator to strategize or spitball ideas about policy at strange times such as 5:30 in the morning, 12:30 at night, or even in the middle of the day if the president spots him on television. 'This is a man who doesn't sleep much,' Perdue said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905b50f0e9acb09882f53bc45ea13dc9c4561e851b4d1c1f51e42d56f1d0d39656083e179d0e12041b3

SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER in WIRED -- "Senate Democrats Have a Plan to Save Net Neutrality": "Senate Democrats are proposing to undo the FCC's wrongheaded rule through a process set up by the Congressional Review Act. Unlike most legislation, which must be put on the floor by the majority party and often requires 60 votes in order to move forward, a CRA can be passed with the support of just 51 senators. And any group of 30 of them can force the Senate to consider it.

"All 49 senators in the Democratic caucus are united in support of our CRA to stop the FCC from destroying the free and open internet. We also have the backing of senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, who has pledged to vote with us. That leaves just one more vote to ensure the internet remains free and accessible to all." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9058160ff832fcdf63db4db6044eda40c8202da9cc05fca8d14889cd38bebcde1b56b41e5409e223471

HAPPENING TONIGHT -- DC-area alumni of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are holding a fundraiser for the Stoneman Douglas Victims Fund, which will provide assistance to the victims of the shooting and their families, at Tony & Joe's Seafood Place at 6 p.m. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser are expected to attend. RSVP, suggested donation is $20 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905ac75eda445f130c8642cdfb2c6cbba781638eab63619311c3e112c0d798272d448e421d592ad453f

MEDIAWATCH -- "Leak: How NYT Editor James Bennet Justifies The Op-Ed Page To His Own Paper," by HuffPost's Ashley Feinberg: "In December, New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet met with a group of Times employees to answer questions about his much-questioned opinion section. At the time, A.G. Sulzberger, now publisher of the Times, was conducting a tour of the newsroom he was about to inherit, meeting with employees from different corners of the newspaper. The Q&A session with Bennet was apparently convened in a similar spirit of transparency and goodwill. But according to some Times staffers who were present, little clarity was offered by Bennet and even less goodwill was
spread. One person who was there, still angry more than two months later, called Bennet's answers 'equivocal bulls***.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e905e86d6c92e75f17a140d519264b146b66bb29392c82c869fb61e8186295e6a6609532af77fa010e6e

-- KRISTIN ROBERTS has been named McClatchy's regional editor of the east. She'll continue to oversee the Washington bureau and help lead the "Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and Bradenton Herald in Florida; the Macon Telegraph and Columbus Ledger-Enquirer in Georgia; the Biloxi Sun Herald in Mississippi; the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky; and the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania." Full release http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9052bb82463620228553ec47df8789858b13bf7935504e999f6a08f515f0269d49785fd945973efa1df

SPORTS BLINK -- "NBA champion Warriors to visit D.C. children, history museum - not Trump White House," by Cristiano Lima: "The Golden State Warriors will meet with local children and make a stop at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Tuesday during a D.C.-trip traditionally reserved by reigning National Basketball Association champions for a White House visit. Warriors all-star shooting guard Klay Thompson unveiled the team's plans after a Monday night victory against the New York Knicks." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3ce6903afb0e9058d7c40a4d24758aa0c62c2d8b15cb14ab59864f8ff7dfc14159a3dfa06fb1c29b82b8f20f5ca94c7

BONUS BIRTHDAY: Brendan Belair, Rep. Doug Collins' (R-Ga.) chief of staff, is 39 (h/t: Jessica Andrews) ... BIRTHWEEK: Josh Richman, communications director for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

SPOTTED: Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari this morning outside the Hyatt in Coral Gables, Florida.

SPOTTED at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's annual "DC on the Half Shell" last night at Dock 5 at Union Market: Will Baker, Katharine Snavely, Ramsey Poston, Jill Daschle, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) and Scott Taylor (R-Va.), Leo and Debbie Jardot, Mickie Simon and Brian Schwalb, Kimball Stroud, Arne Sorenson, Katie Leavy, Carol and Jerry Gimmel, Dave Grimaldi, Tom O'Donnell, Jane P. Batten, Kim and Mike Horn and Bill Stromberg.

TRANSITIONS -- Julia Friedman has joined the Ways and Means Committee Democrats' trade staff as counsel. Previously, she was director for innovation and intellectual property at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. ... Heather McGhee is stepping down from her role as president of Demos this summer. She'll remain as a distinguished senior fellow and the think tank will launch a search for the next president in March. ... Howard Opinsky has joined digital reputation management firm Five Blocks as their new president. He most recently was EVP at Hill+Knowlton Strategies and is a JPMorgan Chase and a John McCain alum.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Renee Gregory, counsel in the communications and media department in the D.C. office of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and Jonathan Gregory welcomed Eloise Violet Ruth Gregory, "who arrived nearly 3 weeks early last Wednesday evening, weighing in at a healthy 7 lb, 6 oz, and 20.5 inches long. Daddy, Mommy, and big brother Emerson are all very tired, but completely in love already."

****** 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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