POLITICO Playbook: Get ready for the circus

WE TEXTED A DEMOCRAT ON TUESDAY who is on the HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE and asked what the most important problem is for the panel as they decide up the impeachment mantle from House Intelligence Chairman ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.). This individual texted us back a gif of clowns dancing in a circle.

THAT IS AN APT DESCRIPTION of one of the huge dynamic shifts going into immediately. The Intelligence Committee is a decent panel of 22 lawmakers who have been hand-selected by their leadership to supervise the businesses concerned with the nation’s deepest secrets. The JUDICIARY COMMITTEE is almost twice as huge -- 41 lawmakers -- and is chockablock with some of both events’ most colorful and partisan figures.

REPUBLICANS have a ranking member in Rep. DOUG COLLINS (R-Ga.) who is vowing to use procedural techniques and verbal thrives to sluggish the whole thing down. Privately, COLLINS’ allies are saying he gained’t dive down the clownish conspiracy rabbit holes that a few of his colleagues on Intel did.

DEMOCRATS PREVIEWED THE HEARING TUESDAY, and stated it’s going to be fairly educational. They’ll speak concerning the roots of impeachment, and its historic context. The people who are testifying immediately have written educational textbooks. In case you’re in search of the hearth of a Fiona Hill or a Marie Yovanovitch, you gained’t get it. Probably the most TV-friendly character will probably be NORM EISEN, the Democratic lawyer who is now working for the panel.

BUT WE KNOW HOW THESE HEARINGS ARE GOING TO GO. Right? It’s now completely clear that each side are working from totally different reality sheets. Republicans refuse to stipulate to any of the information Democrats have dredged up, and gained’t even acknowledge if they're information in any approach, form or type. AS OUR FRIEND KATY TUR stated on MSNBC the opposite day, “It’s snowing outdoors, however they’re saying it’s sunny and 90 degrees.” More from Melanie Zanona on the Republican bomb throwers on the committee

THE BIG NEWS OUT OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE’S REPORT … NYT: “The telephone data also element at the least half a dozen calls between Mr. Giuliani and a quantity related to the White Home’s Workplace of Administration and Finances. On the president’s request, starting in early July — if not sooner — that workplace froze $391 million in army assistance, congressional witnesses testified.

“Mr. Giuliani insisted on Tuesday that he had nothing to do with withholding funding for Ukraine, and any conversations he had with the finances workplace concerned different issues. ‘I never mentioned army assistance,’ he stated. ‘I'm professional on so many issues it might have been some very esoteric topic.’” NYT … POLITICO’s highlights … The 300-page report

-- RIGHT, BUT … Giuliani was the president’s lawyer. He had no position in budgeting -- which is OMB’s chief charge. We’ve recognized tons of people who have cycled out and in of OMB over the years. None of them has ever stated they labored with Giuliani on something. If he needed to clear this up, he might -- and shortly.

WHAT’S ON JERRY NADLER’S MIND … HEATHER CAYGLE and SARAH FERRIS: “Home Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler had a blunt message as he privately addressed Democrats the day before his panel assumes a starring position within the impeachment inquiry.

“‘I’m not going to take any shit,’ Nadler stated in a closed-door prep session Tuesday morning — a uncommon cuss word from the lawyerly Manhattan Democrat that prompted some lawmakers to take a seat up of their chairs, in response to multiple individuals in the room.

“Nadler’s warning shot referred to possible GOP antics to attempt to undermine the primary impeachment hearing in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. However it wasn’t lost on Democrats that Nadler’s message might additionally apply to these in his own get together who have intently scrutinized his position within the House’s impeachment probe.

“While President Donald Trump may be underneath investigation, Nadler can be on the recent seat. The veteran lawmaker has at occasions struggled to stability the competing interests and expectations of his caucus and leadership on an impeachment push that when sharply divided the social gathering. These inner tensions have largely pale, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her caucus unified around proof that Trump abused his workplace by pressuring Ukrainian leaders for his own political achieve.” POLITICO

-- “Dems launch next impeachment phase: The case for Trump’s removal,” by Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio

SENATE PUSHBACK …

-- “Folksy John Kennedy gets serious pushback on Ukraine mess,” by Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett

-- WAPO’S BOB COSTA and KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: “GOP embraces a debunked Ukraine conspiracy to defend Trump from impeachment”: “Much of the Republican Celebration is pressing forward with debunked claims about Ukraine as they defend President Trump from potential impeachment, embracing Russian-fueled conspiracy theories that search to forged blame on Kyiv slightly than Moscow for interference within the 2016 U.S. election.” WaPo

ANITA KUMAR and DARREN SAMUELSOHN: “Trump’s impeachment participation strategy: Insult, sit out, wait”

Good Wednesday morning. NEW … Home Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY will sit down with JAKE and ANNA next Thursday morning for a Playbook Breakfast in D.C. The occasion is exceedingly timely, because the Home is more likely to be in the center of the government funding and impeachment debates. The event will guess at 9 a.m. on the W Lodge downtown. RSVP

FROM LONDON … POLITICO EUROPE’S EMILIO CASALICCHIO: “Boris Johnson holds late-night chat with Donald Trump”: “Boris Johnson and Donald Trump snuck in a quick personal meeting Tuesday evening with little fanfare ahead of a NATO leaders’ meeting in London Wednesday. The U.Okay. prime minister and U.S. president discussed the importance of the army alliance and the necessity for unity to deal with evolving threats during a head-to-head in Downing Road.

“Johnson needs to keep away from showing too near his U.S. counterpart, who is deeply unpopular in Britain, for worry it might scupper his possibilities in the nation's basic election subsequent week. That would clarify why the meeting was not announced in advance.”

-- “As impeachment inquiry rages at house, Trump unsettles the world stage at NATO,” by WaPo’s Ashley Parker, Phil Rucker and Michael Birnbaum in London: “On the primary day of the NATO 70th anniversary summit in London, Trump pronounced, prodded and pushed America’s allies right into a state of unbalance — seizing the global stage to each bully and banter, all whereas holding himself at the focus. To observe Trump carry out alongside different world leaders was to witness his use of disequilibrium as political technique, deployed throughout his presidency to maintain everybody slightly off-kilter.

“Over the course of three one-on-one meetings with NATO Secretary Common Jens Stoltenberg, [Emmanuel] Macron and [Justin] Trudeau, Trump turned what have been expected to be temporary photograph opportunities into his personal personal daytime cable show. Because the other leaders largely bore witness, the U.S. president — regularly affable, sometimes bored — held forth for a collective two hours, fielding questions on subjects starting from the impeachment investigation he left at house to the British election marketing campaign he flew into right here.” WaPo

-- CLIP DU JOUR: Johnson, Macron and Trudeau caught on digital camera mocking Trump. Via Ian Bremmer

2020 WATCH …

-- “The spectacular collapse of Kamala Harris,” by Christopher Cadelago: “Kamala Harris’ pummeling of Joe Biden in the primary Democratic debate was a career highlight-reel moment that no candidate has matched in the campaign. These five minutes, like the Senate committee hearings where Harris stared down bumbling Trump officials, captured the promise of the let-it-rip ex-prosecutor who'd launched her run 5 months before in front of 22,000 supporters with shifting rhetoric and nice expectations.

“On Monday, hemorrhaging money and method down in polls — and with autopsies of her failing campaign being carried out on the stay body — Harris mercifully decided to drop out. She informed her employees in a name Tuesday, sounding clearly disillusioned, in accordance to at least one participant, as she shared her choice to bow out.

“Even when the hype around Harris was at its apex, her advisers and confidants questioned if the freshman senator was ready for a presidential run. In each of her past campaigns — first for district lawyer of San Francisco, then California lawyer common and the Senate in 2016 — Harris improved immensely, rising to the moment and giving her greatest performances when her back was towards the wall.

“This time, the moment -- and the stage -- proved too giant. Kamala the campaigner couldn't reside up to Kamala the concept. And her marketing campaign let her down.” POLITICO

-- MORE KAMALA POST-MORTEMS: “Home-state skepticism of Kamala Harris foretold trouble,” by AP’s Steve Peoples, Kathleen Ronayne and Errin Haines in Sacramento, Calif. … L.A. TIMES’ GEORGE SKELTON in Sacramento: “Kamala Harris should have never run for president”

-- THE LOCAL FALLOUT: “California up for grabs as Harris exits race,” by Carla Marinucci and Jeremy B. White in San Francisco: “Kamala Harris might by no means personally lock down California as a presidential contender. But the senator’s supporters are warning that her former rivals can be foolish to underestimate Harris’ clout in her house state.

“‘Where do Californians who supported Kamala go now? First, they go into mourning. After which, they go into watching how individuals are reacting — because the rest of the sector just obtained a huge increase,’ says Christine Pelosi, the daughter of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chair of the California Democratic Social gathering Ladies’s Caucus, which cheered Harris’ entry into the 2020 race. ‘If they’re gleeful about it, that shall be a real turnoff.’” POLITICO

-- NATASHA KORECKI and MARC CAPUTO in Mason Metropolis, Iowa: “Biden struts as rivals chew the mud”: “Joe Biden’s feeling awfully assured lately. The previous vice president thinks he does not need Barack Obama to win the first. He seemed to mock the concept there's enthusiasm for Elizabeth Warren or that Pete Buttigieg came up together with his own plans. And he professed to be untroubled by the potential for Mike Bloomberg dropping $1 billion to beat him out for the nomination.

“Biden is dripping with confidence as he tours by way of Iowa two months before the state’s caucuses, after countless predictions his candidacy would crumble by now. As an alternative, the candidates who pitched themselves as Biden options are the ones dropping.” POLITICO

-- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: AMY KLOBUCHAR has hired veteran Iowa political operative NORM STERZENBACH as her campaign’s Iowa caucus adviser. The previous government director of the Iowa Democratic Social gathering most just lately served as Beto O’Rourke’s Iowa state director.

TRUMP’S WEDNESDAY -- The president participated in an official welcome with Stoltenberg and Johnson at 9:20 a.m. native time. He also participated in a NATO plenary session. Trump is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting at 12:30 p.m. with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Afterward he may have a working lunch with what the White Home calls the “NATO 2%ers.”

TRUMP will participate in a bilateral pull-aside with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen at 2 p.m. Afterward, he will meet with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte. Trump will take part in a press convention at 3:30 p.m. He and first woman Melania Trump will depart at 4:20 p.m. en route to Washington.

MUELLER FALLOUT -- “Outstanding Political Donors Charged in Campaign Finance Scheme,” by NYT’s Daniel Victor: “An influential political power broker who was a witness named in the Mueller report was amongst eight individuals charged with conspiring to conceal the supply of extreme contributions to teams supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, the Justice Division introduced on Tuesday.

“Prosecutors say George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman who was a cooperating witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference within the 2016 presidential election, conspired with Ahmad ‘Andy’ Khawaja, the proprietor of an online payments company, to hide greater than $Three.5 million in donations to the groups. The donations let Mr. Khawaja achieve entry to Mrs. Clinton in the course of the campaign, and he also visited with President Trump in the Oval Workplace, in accordance with an investigation by The Related Press final yr.” NYT … The DOJ announcement

-- DOJ’s different catch of the day: “Former CEO Convicted of Fixing Prices For Canned Tuna”

VALLEY TALK -- “Larry Web page steps down as CEO of Alphabet, Sundar Pichai to take over,” by CNBC’s Lauren Feiner: “Alphabet CEO Larry Web page announced Tuesday that he will step down from the position. Google CEO Sundar Pichai will take over as CEO of the dad or mum firm along with his present position. Co-founder Sergey Brin may also step down as president of Alphabet and the position will probably be eliminated.” CNBC … Page’s announcement

MEDIAWATCH -- Michele Norris is now a contributor and marketing consultant at WaPo’s opinion section. She previously founded the Race Card Venture and was a number of NPR’s “All Things Thought-about.” Announcement … Vincent Manancourt is now a tech reporter for POLITICO Europe in Brussels. He beforehand was deputy editor at International Knowledge Evaluate, Regulation Enterprise Analysis. Talking Biz News …

… Nicole Bamber is now director of communications at the Smithsonian Channel. She beforehand dealt with comms for Vox Media. … Paola Ramos is becoming a member of Vice Information as a correspondent. She beforehand “hosted Latin-X, a Vice collection targeted on under-reported stories concerning the Latinx group.” Deadline

-- NUNES SUES CNN … CNN’s VICKY WARD and KATELYN POLANTZ: “Rep. Devin Nunes is disputing claims made by the lawyer of an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani relating to an alleged journey he made last yr.

“The lawyer, Joseph Bondy, stated his shopper, Lev Parnas was informed by a former Ukrainian prosecutor a few meeting with Nunes in Vienna last yr to debate efforts to dig up dust on former Vice President Joe Biden.

“Nunes, the rating member of the Home Intelligence Committee, denied the declare in a defamation lawsuit filed in federal courtroom in Virginia towards CNN, which first revealed the assertions made by Bondy. The go well with was filed on the identical day that the Home Intelligence Committee issued a report on its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.” CNN

-- “Fox News personalities continue to stump for GOP candidates,” by WaPo’s Paul Farhi: “[B]ehind the scenes, the community appears to should gone to appreciable effort to cease its on-air personalities from promoting Republican occasions and causes. Network executives have intervened to cancel an extended string of fundraising appearances that have been to have featured Fox News figures, in accordance with individuals at Fox, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe its inner operations.”

Ship tricks to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.

SPOTTED: Sean Spicer in an Orangetheory class in Alexandria on Tuesday. … Aaron Schock engaged on his biceps at the Gold’s Health club in Arlington on Monday. Pic

SPOTTED at a celebration for Rick Stengel’s new e-book, “Info Wars: How We Lost the International Battle Towards Disinformation and What We Can Do About It” ($17.69 on Amazon), hosted at Katherine and David Bradley’s house Tuesday night time: Sam Feist, Michael Crowley, Heather Podesta, Josh Lipsky, Linda Douglass and John Phillips, Carol Joynt, Margaret Carlson, Molly Ball, Patrick Steel, Fred Kempe, Graham Brookie and Rainesford Stauffer, Sofia Rose Gross, Sally Quinn, Neera Tanden and Jane Harman.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- INTERIOR ARRIVAL LOUNGE: Kevin O’Scannlain is becoming a member of the Interior Department as counselor, masking power and setting points. He beforehand was senior affiliate counsel in the White Home counsel’s office.

TRANSITIONS -- Danielle Kantor is becoming a member of the Hub Undertaking as managing director of digital. She beforehand was director of battleground comms at Priorities USA and is a Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama marketing campaign alum. … Ryan Thompson is launching Reside Oak Methods, a boutique authorities relations shop. He beforehand was COS to Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas) and former Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), and has organized the Congressional Baseball Recreation for years. …

… Peter Albrecht is now an SVP at A|L Media. He most lately was VP at DSPolitical and is a Bully Pulpit Interactive and New Companions alum. … Sydney Fincher is joining Anheuser-Busch as supervisor of federal government affairs. She previously labored for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on the Senate Judiciary Mental Property Subcommittee. … Ellen Valentino is joining Cornerstone Government Affairs as a senior advisor in Annapolis. She previously was president of Valentino-Benitez & Associates.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Bree Raum, VP of federal affairs for the American Wind Power Association, and Dan Turton, senior adviser for the House Guidelines Committee majority, welcomed Beck Brady Turton on Monday. He got here in at 8 lbs, 13 ouncesand 21 inches, and joins older siblings Shaw, Lane, Mason and Smith. Pic … Another pic

BIRTHWEEK (was Tuesday): Hope Harvard of the White Home Workplace of Legislative Affairs

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Kevin O’Neill, Arnold & Porter companion and co-chairman of the legislative group, is 5-0. How he’s celebrating: “A quiet, school-night dinner with Patty, John and Kate. My spouse, Patty, and I share a birthday week, so Saturday night time we are having an ’80s costume get together with buddies in Williamsburg that I hope will maintain me out nicely past my normal bedtime.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief of The Day by day Beast and a CNN political analyst … Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) is 66 … Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) is 83 … Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) is 58 … Al Hunt, columnist and co-host of the “2020 Politics Conflict Room” podcast, is 77 … NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben … “PBS NewsHour” senior coordinating producer Anne Davenport … Invoice Murat, COS for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) … Lis Buck … Nate Beecher … Mike Stratton (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Koch Industries’ Nick Gass is Three-Zero … Craig Brownstein … Rachael Lighty of Amazon … Peter Freeman … CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux … Ashley (Nerz) Levey, comms at LinkedIn … Tyquana Henderson-Parsons … CNBC’s Whitney Ksiazek … Cesi Covey … Colin Rogero, companion at 76 Phrases, is 41 … Claire Lucas … McDermott Will & Emery’s Sarah Schanz, who lately married Jeremy Iloulian -- pic …

… Meghan Patenaude Bauer is 29 (h/t husband Zach Bauer) … Sarah Paulos … Jennifer Taub … Campbell Marshall … Marina McCarthy (h/t Jeff Solnet) … former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is 71 ... Richard Hohlt ... Jennie Westbrook Courts, VP at the Info Know-how Business Council … Andrew Shult, digital director on the American Funding Council, is 32 … Yesenia Chavez … Jon Fleischman … Bain’s Matthew Bevens ... Shelbi Warner … Louisa Keeler ... Sarah Baron, deputy director of the states group for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign … Kate Folmar, deputy secretary for external affairs at the California Well being and Human Providers Company … Joe Britton ... Leigh Strope ... WaPo’s Jennifer Hurley ... Nancy Rose Senich … Leslie Rhode ... Laura Derby ... Brian Svoboda ... Steen Hambric ... Meg Badame, communications specialist at the VA ... Sean Gagen

Article initially revealed on POLITICO Magazine

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