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By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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ALERT FOR MAR-A-LAGO ... AP'S MARK SHERMAN: "Roberts criticizes Trump for 'Obama judge' comment": "Chief Justice John Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump's description of a judge who ruled against Trump's new migrant asylum policy as an 'Obama judge.'

"It's the first time that the leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has previously blasted federal judges who ruled against him.

"Roberts said Wednesday the U.S. doesn't have 'Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.' He commented in a statement released by the Supreme Court after a query by The Associated Press.

"Roberts said on the day before Thanksgiving that an 'independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.'" AP

WSJ'S ALEX LEARY (@learyreports) at 12:32 p.m.: "WH: 'POTUS is playing a quick round of golf with Jack Nicklaus and his son Gary, and grandson G.T.' The president is spending the holiday at Mar-a-Lago."

PELOSI IS CLEANING UP ... NEW YORK REP. BRIAN HIGGINS, who has long had gripes with HOUSE MINORITY LEADER NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.), will back her for speaker: Via the Buffalo News' Jerry Zremski: "Higgins, in a telephone interview with The Buffalo News, said he decided to support Pelosi after she agreed to rank two of his top priorities among the new Democratic House's priorities.

"He said Pelosi agreed that Democrats will advance a major infrastructure bill early in the next Congress, and that Higgins will be able to take the lead as House Democrats also work to pass his proposal to allow people to buy in to Medicare at the age of 50.

"'I have an agreement in principle with the Democratic leader that those are going to be two priorities, and that I will be the lead person on the Medicare buy-in,' Higgins said.

"Higgins' move comes five months after he announced that he would not back Pelosi, 78, for the top Democratic position in the next House. Calling her 'aloof, frenetic and misguided,' Higgins said at the time that his problems with Pelosi stemmed from the fact that she was not pushing infrastructure investment and his Medicare bill as aggressively as he would have liked." Buffalo News

PELOSI on Higgins' support: "For years, Congressman Higgins has been an extraordinary leader on the issue of achieving quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

"His Medicare buy-in proposal is central to this debate, as we work to build on the Affordable Care Act. We looking forward to working together to lower the cost of health care for hard-working families and raise their paychecks by building infrastructure of America, which is also an important issue to Congressman Higgins. I am honored by his support."

HIGGINS: "Some will ask why I have changed my position. The answer is simple: I took a principled stand on issues of vital importance not only to my constituents in Western New York but also to more than 300 million Americans whose lives can be improved by progress in these areas.

"A principled stand, however, often requires a pragmatic outlook in order to meet with success. I look forward to new beginnings in the 116th Congress, where with leadership's help, I will continue to advocate for these changes so that this body can better fulfill its constitutional roles."

-- LET'S REVIEW: From Marcia Fudge to Brian Higgins, the opposition is shrinking very quickly. No opponent has surfaced. We've spoken to some members of the rebel crew that seem very concerned about their growing isolation. Watch for more deals soon.

UPDATE ... RHODE ISLAND REP. DAVID CICILLINE is running for chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, a newly created operation that will provide another fiefdom for a leadership aspirant.

L.A. TIMES' JEN HABERKORN on THE DCCC RACE: "In the race to become head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, [Illinois Rep. Cheri] Bustos is up against another Democrat who won in a Trump district, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, as well as two Democrats from Washington state, Reps. Dennis Heck and Suzan DelBene. All of them, like Bustos, have worked with the campaign group in prior years.

"Pelosi, who is facing her own leadership race, has not put her thumb on the scale in the DCCC contest. But Bustos said Pelosi 'has personally said to me and many others' that she wants to see a woman in the job. A Pelosi spokesman declined to comment on a private conversation." LAT

Good Wednesday afternoon. REMINDER: This is the last Playbook PM for the week. Playbook will be in your inboxes as usual all week.

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AT THE BORDER ... MILITARY TIMES' TARA COPP: "White House approves use of force, some law enforcement roles for border troops": "The new 'cabinet order' was signed by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, not President Donald Trump. It allows 'Department of Defense military personnel' to 'perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary' to protect border agents, including 'a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention. and cursory search.' ...

"Some of those activities, including crowd control and detention, may run into potential conflict with the 1898 Posse Comitatus Act. If crossed, the erosion of the act's limitations could represent a fundamental shift in the way the U.S. military is used, legal experts said." Military Times

WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 7:49 a.m.: "Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let's go lower!"

-- CONTEXT ... @CBCAlerts: "Saudi Arabia has sought to boost oil prices by promising to pump fewer barrels in December. A week ago, it backed a proposal for OPEC nations to cut production by one million barrels per day."

MORE KHASHOGGI FALLOUT ... REUTERS/ISTANBUL: "Turkey accuses U.S. of turning blind eye to Saudi killing of Khashoggi": "Numan Kurtulmus, the deputy chairman of President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party, dismissed Trump's assessment. 'Yesterday's statement is a comic statement,' he told state broadcaster TRT Haber.

"'It is not possible for an intelligence agency such as the CIA, which even knows the colour of the fur on the cat walking around the Saudi consulate's garden ... to not know who gave this order,' he said. 'This is not credible either for U.S. public opinion or the world public opinion.'" Reuters

STAT DU JOUR -- WAPO'S RICK NOACK: "85,000 children have starved to death during the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, says new report"

IVANKA UPDATE ... "GOP committee chairmen ask White House for details on Ivanka Trump's email use," by Caitlin Oprysko: "In a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly, House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) asked that the administration provide his committee with an accounting of Ivanka's email use for government business, including details on whether the White House had complied with security and record-keeping requirements as laid out by the Presidential Records Act, and whether Trump, a senior adviser to her father, had sent any sensitive or classified information over her personal email. ...

"The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday also wrote to the White House asking for details about Ivanka's email use and any training she received regarding compliance with record-keeping statutes." POLITICO ... Gowdy's letter ... SHSC letter

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... DARREN SAMUELSOHN: "Mueller urges court to reject Papadopoulos' bid to delay his prison sentence": "[George] Papadopoulos is scheduled to surrender Monday to the Bureau of Prisons to begin a 14-day sentence stemming from his guilty plea last October for making false statements to the FBI. ...

"Papadopoulos has shifted course and tried to reopen his case by citing a pending appeal from a longtime aide to Roger Stone who is challenging Mueller's underlying appointment to investigate connections between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. In a six-page reply filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Mueller's prosecutors shredded Papadopoulos for trying to back his way out of his original guilty plea while noting point blank to the judge that there is 'no pending appeal in this case' for him to even rule on." POLITICO ... The six-page reply

WHITAKER WATCH -- WAPO'S MICHAEL KRANISH: "As U.S. attorney, Whitaker imposed longer-than-usual drug sentences": "Raeanna Woody's crimes hardly seemed like they would add up to a life sentence in prison. She had two nonviolent drug convictions ... But when she was arrested in a third drug case, she said, the office of U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker decided to make an example of her. ...

"Woody was given a choice: spend the rest of her life in jail, or accept a plea-bargain sentence of 21 to 27 years, according to court records. She took the deal. Federal Judge Robert W. Pratt in the Southern District of Iowa later accused prosecutors of having 'misused' their authority in her nonviolent case. He urged President Barack Obama to commute her sentence - and Obama did shorten her term, after she had served 11 years. Woody's case highlights one of the most controversial if little-known aspects of Whitaker's career: his efforts to obtain unusually stiff sentences for people accused of drug crimes." WaPo

THE LATEST IN CALIFORNIA -- California Playbook's Carla Marinucci emails: "Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up unannounced this morning at the Camp Fire base near Chico. He came with no entourage, just started serving breakfast to first responders.

"He's speaking to the firefighters on their daily brief, then going to the town's emergency operations center to meet with the mayor and elected officials to see what help they need, pack and deliver lunches for the people who are homeless." Pic

TRADE FILES -- BURGESS EVERETT: "GOP senators seek quick passage of Mexico-Canada trade deal": "In a letter to Trump obtained by ... POLITICO, a dozen Senate Republicans with wide-ranging views on trade policy urged the president to submit the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement by the end of November to Congress to allow a vote on it before the end of the year. ... The biggest problem for these senators is the agenda crush at the end of the year." POLITICO ... The letter

-- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST'S ZHOU XIN: "White House trade adviser Peter Navarro 'excluded from Xi Jinping-Donald Trump dinner'"

KNOWING JOHN THUNE ... BURGESS EVERETT and JOHN BRESNAHAN: "Meet the GOP's new arm-twister in the Trump era": "Thune comes in with a chairman's pedigree after running the Senate Commerce Committee for four years. Though a conservative, his mild-mannered politics contrast with the bare-knuckled partisan jabs of outgoing whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) ...

"The South Dakota senator isn't as close to Trump as Cornyn is, yet. He describes a warm relationship with the president and aligns with Trump on the border wall and the president's opposition to legislation protecting Mueller. But he knows they won't always see eye to eye. If it makes the most sense for his members, Thune is willing to put distance between himself and the president." POLITICO

IMMIGRATION FILES -- "Why Big Law Is Taking on Trump Over Immigration," by NYT's Annie Correal: "Big Law - a nexus of power where partners are often plucked for top government posts - has emerged as a fierce, and perhaps unexpected, antagonist to President Trump's immigration agenda. While pro bono work is nothing new, over the past two years, major law firms have become more vocal and visible in pushing back against the administration's policies.

"Top firms have a well-earned reputation as cautious defenders of the establishment, and immigration is generally considered a safe area for pro bono work because it rarely conflicts with corporate clients. Still, both supporters and critics of the president's agenda have noticed that large firms have been behind several of the biggest court battles." NYT

ON THE WORLD STAGE ... "South Korean named Interpol president in blow to Russia," by AP's Aya Batrawy and Angela Charlton in Dubai: "South Korea's Kim Jong Yang was elected as Interpol's president on Wednesday, edging out a longtime veteran of Russia's security services who was strongly opposed by the U.S., Britain and other European nations.

"Kim's surprise election was seen as a victory for the White House and its European partners, who had lobbied up until the final hours before the vote against Alexander Prokopchuk's attempts to be named the next president of the policing organization. The U.S. and others expressed concern that if Russia's candidate had been elected, that would have led to further Kremlin abuses of Interpol's red notice system to go after political opponents and fugitive dissidents." AP

NYT'S ADAM LIPTAK: "Conservative Heritage Foundation Revives 'Training Academy' for Judicial Clerks": "The Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that has played a leading role in moving the courts to the right, is reviving a "federal judicial clerkship academy," according to materials posted on Wednesday on the group's website.

"The foundation canceled an earlier version of the program last month after an article in The New York Times raised questions about some of its features, including requirements that participants keep teaching materials secret and promise not to use what they learned 'for any purpose contrary to the mission or interest of the Heritage Foundation.'" NYT

AFTERNOON READ -- "Inside the Hunt for the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist," by John Carlin in POLITICO Magazine, excerpted from his new book, "Dawn of the Code War: America's Battle Against Russia, China, and the Rising Global Cyber Threat" ($17.14 on Amazon): "The new tactics from al Qaeda and ISIS eluded all of our well-placed trip wires; by switching to encouraging would-be recruits to remain at home, in the United States or Europe, and carry out attacks there, terror recruiters made it nearly impossible for us to spot typical behaviors-suspicious travel or money transfers-that would indicate a looming attack. ...

"In some ways, though, as I looked at the problem, the situation was even more grating than that. We were, as a country and a society, providing technology to our adversaries ... And we'd given it all to them for free-available for an easy download in the app store, just a few clicks away. It was as if we developed game-changing military command-and-control technology at the height of World War II and just handed it over to the Nazis and Japanese. In the midst of this already threatening environment, we began to hear the name Junaid Hussain." POLITICO Magazine

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Caley Cronin, group VP of media relations and corporate communications at Fox News, and her husband welcomed Gunnar, who joins big brother James and sister Reagan. Pic

-- Amanda Culp, director of communications at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and Josh Culp, global emergency response program manager at Micron Technology, welcomed Caroline Elizabeth Culp. Pic


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