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08/10/2018 08:00 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

With an assist from Elana Schor

DEMS SEIZE ON COLLINS' INDICTMENT -- House Democrats are anxious to capitalize on Rep. Chris Collins' (R-N.Y.) indictment on insider trading charges by further highlighting a "culture of corruption" in the Republican Party. It worked in 2006, delivering Democrats majorities in both chambers. But, as Heather writes, it "might be a lot harder to pull off in a political landscape that's light years different." President Donald Trump "has shattered many of the long-embedded political norms held by both parties," she continues. "What once could doom a politician's career in an instant now sometimes barely raises an eyebrow. Scandals involving the president, his Cabinet or allies, seem to blow
over by the next news cycle, if they pierce the public consciousness at all."

Still, Democrats are hopeful the message will resonate. They unveiled their plan in May, when they introduced a package of anti-corruption bills. Democratic leaders refined it in July as they rolled out their "For the People" slogan. And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reiterated the plan in a letter to the caucus Thursday, urging members to use the August recess to draw a "sharp contrast" between the GOP's "cesspool of self-enrichment, secret money and special interests" and Democrats' plans for change. "Democrats argue the steady flow of misconduct allegations implicating the president and his allies only strengthens their message, not dilutes it," Heather adds. Much more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea1fb14eac2308fcfa4573df806090fd44d87721aacaefdbe7c055f33f7acefc99cf772375859698d3

Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) plan to introduce a resolution to create a House version of a Senate rule that prohibits any senators from serving "as an officer or member of the board of any publicly-held or publicly regulated corporation, financial institution, or business entity." "There should never be a doubt in the public's mind to lead them to think their Representative could be corrupted or incriminated because of their stake or position in a private company," they said in a statement. Collins served on the board of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotechnology company, and is accused of sharing inside information about its drug trial results with his
son. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea9bd48cc260f89cfec066d164ed6fbd5d9e4645553423b594688f68970708afa7d50c597166e28e46

Related: "Can Chris Collins Be Re-elected While Indicted? Michael Grimm, an Ex-Felon, Has Thoughts," by The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea93c4822dca85c996121770ba8c1bdaf628d6f33837462e113b895812f745275e20a1d3aa6af3e418

BUT...

DEMOCRATS' PELOSI PROBLEM -- Rashida Tlaib said Thursday on national TV that she "probably" won't back Pelosi for speaker, making her at least the 27th Democratic candidate to oppose Pelosi, by The Washington Post's count. Tlaib, who is poised to become the first Muslim woman elected to Congress after winning a crowded primary Tuesday, is running in a safely Democratic district, making her opposition stand out from Democratic candidates who have pledged not to back Pelosi in effort to fend off GOP attacks tying them to the longtime leader in Republican-controlled districts.

"While Democrats grow optimistic about their chances of taking control of the House in November, they are increasingly anxious that the presence of their longtime and polarizing leader ... is making it harder for many of their candidates to compete in crucial swing districts," The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis reports. Pelosi, on one hand, is a prolific fundraiser and the most powerful woman in Congress. On the other, she's a longtime GOP bogeyman whom Democrats believe could limit the size of a blue wave this fall. "People pretend that it isn't a problem, but it's a problem that exists," Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) said.

Though some Democrats believe anti-Pelosi attacks in Ohio cost O'Connor his special election this week, "Pelosi and her allies pointed to the top-line reality of Ohio: A district that voted for Trump in 2016 by 11 points and for Republican congressional candidates by much bigger margins swung decisively to Democrats," DeBonis notes. "The GOP's reliance on anti-Pelosi messages, they say, reflects an inability to find any other effective issue -- and to the extent she is a factor at all, her role is dwarfed by that of the president." Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said, "Trump is the only figure who looms large over the midterms," adding that the 2018 elections "are about the president and his
party." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8eaeee98e1f865363cd106635d4898b9cd67b8b234d84b02da70bedb37e8a51411292a73d025b710935

Related reads: "Instead of tax cuts, GOP candidates motivate with anxiety," from The Associated Press' Steve Peoples and Bill Barrow: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8eaaf76679605c98b54f429698e297a98639054a889abd33b1294a35a8403958ed43e5223bcfb0ebe41 and "Rashida Tlaib Won a Primary on Tuesday. She Also Lost a Primary on Tuesday," per The New York Times' Isabella Grullón Paz: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8eaea38325ae168bedc1e5be06fbba6e0b97ffafca7028819fd897d7038c82668c0938eef8f4254ec26

HAPPY FRIDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this August 10.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Washington Free Beacon's report on the Senate Leadership Fund suggesting Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is "no longer dealing from a full deck" was the winner.

SCOTUS WATCH -- Senate Democrats will likely seize on a 2001 email indicating that now-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh helped prepare then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to testify before Congress on the government's monitoring of communications between terrorists in federal custody and their attorneys. At his 2006 confirmation hearing to the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh denied having any involvement in discussions regarding the treatment of enemy combatants when asked whether he had helped to make a legal case for torture. "The White House says the email demonstrates that a limited number of White House aides ... helped navigate uncharted legal territory on the interrogation of terrorist
suspects and that Kavanaugh was not among them," Eliana Johnson reports.

"Kavanaugh's involvement in the George W. Bush administration's treatment of detainees became a flashpoint in his 2006 confirmation hearing when Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Patrick Leahy of Vermont pressed him on whether ... he helped make the legal case for torture or recommended a candidate to the federal bench who had," she adds. In a statement, Durbin challenged the White House and Senate Republicans to allow the American people to see Kavanaugh's "full record." "Even the cherry-picked documents we've seen so far include evidence that contradicts Judge Kavanaugh's sworn testimony from 12 years ago," he said. "I can only imagine what is in the documents they are refusing
to make public." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea3af54d82fc8d3814bde7e58171cccf2dcdeaee7c8c8fc6d6d735a01194342870976d331cd9d0d3cb

Related: "Inside Brett Kavanaugh's finances: Nominee dwells among elite but hasn't chased riches," by The Washington Post's Amy Brittain: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea5d64b03bc686f31004f9d9faa7b3cdb465997e2db450c35703b8f46eec1576610acc112dbeea92b9 and "Newly released documents illuminate little from Trump's Supreme Court nominee," from CNN's Joan Biskupic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea60aeee4fb2a65e4a89d521241f8ad0ea9cf9ae79f95909161d2c617870bd6dd0618fbbdf57708c81

GOODLATTE PREPARES SUBPOENAS -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is preparing subpoenas for DOJ official Bruce Ohr; his wife, Nellie; and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. "The committee will also go after other current and former FBI and DOJ officials including Jim Baker, Sally Moyer, Jonathan Moffa and George Toscas," The Hill's Olivia Beavers reports. "Goodlatte could issue the orders as early as this week as part of his panel's joint investigation with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is examining FBI and DOJ decision-making during the 2016 presidential election." A GOP committee aide said the panel intends to interview the people "in
the coming weeks" and "will issue subpoenas to compel their attendance if necessary." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea9a1e56aad46596143ff63e42d0b5d999dcc27248238317b2d550b17e0540b27c7a3d0aaea66b2b54

JOHNSON SEEKS INFO ON TARIFF EXCLUSIONS -- Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is asking Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to explain the Trump administration's thinking on how companies can be excluded from its tariffs. "In a letter to Ross obtained by POLITICO, Johnson ... said businesses in his state are complaining about the hurdles for applying for an exclusion from the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the administration on U.S. allies," Burgess reports. Johnson is also requesting data on how many exclusion requests have been made and denied and how many domestic steel producers have objected to them.

"The Department's denial of the exclusion request has resulted in [one] Wisconsin business incurring an additional $2.6 million tariff cost that can not be used to expand production or to pay salaries of new employees," Johnson wrote. "Across the country, many businesses share the same frustration about the difficult and time-consuming process." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea53f608c80dd051c781de1ca506586cfd89a79397572f941f651fa3c41e6269c4fe2ca89d7cf30abc

DONNELLY ON AN ISLAND -- Both sides of the abortion debate say Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) has stood with them on more than half of their most important votes. But as anti-abortion groups target the vulnerable moderate Democrat, one of the few in Congress who oppose abortion, abortion rights advocates aren't coming to his defense. "Unlike most anti-abortion Democrats who have since retired or been defeated, however, Donnelly survived his 2010 re-election and went on to be elected to the Senate in 2012 after his Republican opponent's campaign imploded after he said a pregnancy resulting from rape was intended by God," the Indianapolis Star's Maureen Groppe reports. "But abortion may now be
the most difficult issue for Donnelly." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea51b1191bdddd67296bb412e36ad27caca00c21af87433ad023679efb8632619a83701c6fd64f80d8

JUMP OFF A BRIDGE? -- Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) told a group of pastors at a community prayer breakfast in Memphis last month that he wanted Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who's running for Senate against former Gov. Phil Bredesen, to jump off a local bridge. Cohen said "the big orange president" would come to Tennessee and endorse Blackburn because "if he says, 'Jump off the Harahan Bridge,' she'll jump off the Harahan Bridge," according to audio obtained by HuffPost. "I wish he'd say that," Cohen added. He later told Kevin Robillard the comment, which was met with laughter, "was obviously humor."

"I wish her no harm. I hope she doesn't get the Senate," Cohen said. "And I wish she wasn't a lackey for Trump. But I don't wish her physical harm." Blackburn and Bredesen are running to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) in a race that could help determine control of the Senate in 2019. "Bredesen's reputation as a moderate and his high name recognition from his two terms as governor have boosted the Democrat in a heavily Republican state where Trump took 61 percent of the vote two years ago," Robillard writes. "The Blackburn campaign has worked to portray Bredesen ... as a liberal lackey of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who would consistently oppose the president."
More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1a7923e14d8c8ea05c411ff6aa190aa016d2cbacf7eabe4b1f4592bce6680106fc94559e104bff2d58591ed58d52b0a

TRANSITIONS -- Nicole Hager is the Senate Finance Committee's press secretary. She previously served as the committee's deputy press secretary.

Gable Brady is now a professional staff member at the Senate Budget Committee. She was previously a senior legislative assistant for Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas).

Karina Erickson's last day with Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) was Thursday. Erickson, who served as Poe's communications director, is joining the Texas General Land Office with Commissioner George P. Bush as press secretary.

Emma Kenyon has left Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-Mo.) office, where she was a policy aide focusing on health care and education. Kenyon is heading to law school at American University.

Nellie Jafari has left Sen. Chris Murphy's (D-Conn.) office, where she was a health care policy fellow. She is heading to Booz Allen Hamilton, where she will serve as a senior health consultant.

Bayly Hassell has left the Rep. David Price's (D-N.C.) office. She is now a legislative analyst at UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Jason Calvi was first to correctly guess that the phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- Vice President Mike Pence, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and nine members of the public serve on the board of regents for this institution, which was created by Congress in 1846. What is the name of the institution, how many members of Congress serve on its board and who are they? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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