THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED on Tuesday.
SUBSTANTIVELY, SENATE REPUBLICANS defeated every effort by SENATE DEMOCRATS to alter the principles of the impeachment trial to allow for assured entry to witnesses and documents. This gave Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL the trial he needed, save a couple of alterations that allowed the admission of proof with no vote, and gave three days as an alternative of two for oral arguments. Burgess Everett and John Bresnahan on McConnell’s retreat that allowed him to keep a firm grip on the trial
POLITICALLY, THOUGH, there's some upside for Democrats. In case you settle for the argument that President DONALD TRUMP is possible going to be acquitted, isn’t it better for Democrats to personal no part of the trial, so they can name it a sham and beat Republicans over the top with it later this yr? They'll lose these procedural fights, complain loudly about it and wave the trial in the faces of weak Republicans for instance of the get together’s fealty to TRUMP.
REPUBLICANS, in fact, consider they profit from the best way things have shaken out, too. A speedy trial that permits weak Republicans to move on from impeachment to one thing -- actually, something -- else is a aim. Plus, Republicans caught together, defeating all 12 of the Democrats’ attempts to influence the proceedings.
THE TRIAL IS AN ACUTELY PERILOUS ISSUE FOR MANY SENATORS, but maybe for no yet one more than Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine), who is up for reelection this fall and has built her model around demonstrating independence from her get together. She stated she would possible vote for witnesses, but not until after each side present their case.
SENATE MAJORITY PAC -- the super PAC supporting Senate Democrats -- has model new polling in Maine that exhibits the following: 53% of Maine voters consider TRUMP has abused his workplace, 71% need paperwork and to call witnesses, and 51% say if COLLINS votes to acquit TRUMP, it’s for political expediency. The poll memo
TODAY: With the principles now in place, oral arguments within the impeachment trial start as House managers current their case to remove the president from workplace. The proceedings will kick off round 1 p.m., and could final until 9 p.m. or a tad later.
TRUMP’S MOOD … NYT A1, by Annie Karni, David Gelles and Peter Baker: “Mr. Trump appeared to relish the escape provided by the World Economic Forum and the pleasant -- to his face, at the least -- crowd of elites within the snow-covered Alps. He was in a jovial temper, in response to individuals who spoke with him, partaking in animated conversations with chief executives like Brian Moynihan of Financial institution of America, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet and Marc Benioff of Salesforce.
“He congratulated them on their corporations’ stock performances and joked that he should have purchased shares however that he had been pressured to promote his holdings when he took workplace. As Mr. Trump and his relations darted amongst conferences in makeshift pavilions, they studiously prevented questions concerning the drama again residence, the place the Senate engaged in a fierce clash over the principles for placing the president on trial.” The NYT’s two-column headline: “GOP BLOCKS BID TO ADD EVIDENCE AT START OF TRIAL”
-- NOTE: Benioff can also be the proprietor of Time journal, which he purchased in 2018.
THE PRESIDENT will hold a information convention earlier than leaving Davos, he stated this morning, in response to WaPo’s Anne Gearan, as we speak's pooler.
QUICK IMPEACHMENT LOOK AROUND …
-- MARIANNE LEVINE: “Chief Justice John Roberts admonishes Home managers and White Home counsel”: “The Senate exploded in acrimony after midnight on Wednesday as the House impeachment managers and White Home counsel traded insults, prompting Chief Justice John Roberts to scold their lack of decorum throughout President Trump's impeachment trial.
“‘I feel it is applicable at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and president’s counsel in equal phrases to keep in mind that they're addressing the world’s biggest deliberative physique,’ Roberts stated, in a uncommon comment. ‘These addressing the Senate should keep in mind the place they are.’
“Roberts’ remarks got here after a sharp trade between House impeachment manager Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and White Home Counsel Pat Cipollone, amid debate over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s amendment to subpoena former nationwide safety adviser John Bolton.” POLITICO
-- SARAH FERRIS, HEATHER CAYGLE and MELANIE ZANONA: “Stuck in their seats, senators confront trial tedium”: “The Senate chamber remained eerily quiet as lawmakers have been pressured to remain of their rigid, picket seats as they took in hours of procedural arguments from both sides’s designated audio system. No cellphones, no espresso and no employees to take a seat in their place for a temporary reprieve. …
“Senate rules also ban all talking on the ground -- a rule flouted by Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who started whispering and chuckling after Sasse slipped his neighbor a handwritten word. Later, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) worked to stifle laughter as he acquired a observe from Sasse and Scott.” NYT drawing of a snoozing Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
THE NEW YORKER’S SUSAN GLASSER on the scene in the Capitol.
NEW … TRUMP TO JOE KERNEN on CNBC’s “SQUAWK BOX,” from Davos: TRUMP stated he watched “a few of” the impeachment trial. …
… TRUMP on 2020 … KERNEN: “Do you might have a choice for an opponent -- I got here up with the three Bs: Biden, Bernie and Bloomberg.”
TRUMP: “All very totally different. You have got Mini Mike is spending a lot of money. He is acquired no probability. However he's received a large -- you recognize, he was a pal of mine until I ran for politics, after which he went a bit off. You need to see a few of the great issues he stated about me before I ran. They’re like the nicest. But he had a cope with Hillary Clinton that he was going to turn out to be secretary of State. It was quite simple. Individuals know that. And he -- wasn't going to occur. It was going to go to Terry McAuliffe. I mean, in order that they have been enjoying with Michael.
“And it’s too dangerous, however he’s spending a fortune. He’s making plenty of broadcasters wealthy. And he’s getting nowhere. His scores are horrible. His -- you take a look at his numbers. I don’t know if Joe’s going to limp across the road, however you -- I watch him. I watch him talking. He can’t put collectively a sentence, nevertheless it might be him. And it could possibly be Loopy Bernie. I don’t know who it’s going to be. Whoever it is, I’m ready.”
-- IS THAT A THING? Do individuals consider Clinton was going to name Bloomberg to be secretary of State? We, for one, have never heard of that.
Good Wednesday morning. LEGENDARY D.C.-AREA HIGH SCHOOL basketball coach Morgan Wootten died at 88. ESPN
JAY SEKULOW spoke to The Forward, the Jewish magazine: “‘I all the time thought-about myself Jewish,’ he advised me. ‘My heritage and my upbringing and my household’s faith, all of that plays a task for my part of justice.’” Forward
WAPO’S DAN LAMOTHE: “More U.S. troops leave Iraq for medical treatment after Iranian missile attack, Pentagon says”: “More U.S. service members have been transported out of Iraq for medical remedy and evaluations following Iran’s missile assault on army amenities there, the Pentagon stated Tuesday, almost two weeks after President Trump and protection officers initially stated no one was harm.
“The Pentagon stated Friday that 11 service members required medical remedy outdoors Iraq. U.S. army officers declined to say Tuesday what number of more are receiving care but stated ‘further’ personnel had been despatched to Landstuhl Regional Medical Middle in Germany.”
NOT ONLY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, BUT ALSO CLIENTS -- “Biden, Sanders release competing ads on Social Security,” by Matthew Choi
BIG NEWS … ALLY MUTNICK, SARAH FERRIS and HEATHER CAYGLE: “Top progressives, DCCC reach ceasefire over ‘blacklist’”: “Prime liberals have reached a détente with the House Democratic campaign arm in a dispute over a policy that inhibits main challengers to incumbents — a transfer meant to unify Democrats on this yr’s battle to guard their majority and defeat President Donald Trump.
“A number of the Home’s most influential progressives, including Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), stated they'll contribute tens of hundreds of dollars to the Democratic Congressional Marketing campaign Committee, despite a contentious new rule that blacklists marketing campaign consultants who work for candidates taking over sitting Democratic members.
“The decision by the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus represents a thawing of monthslong tensions with DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos (Ailing.), who had fiercely defended the coverage over bitter objections from high-profile Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.).
“The group -- Bustos and about two dozen progressive Democrats -- sat down privately last week to discuss the 2020 cycle, during which she thanked liberals within the room who have agreed to pay their dues, based on individuals conversant in the meeting.
“‘I intend to pay the complete dues. I've a view that, in 2020, we've got to return together to make sure the defeat of Donald Trump and the retaining of our majority,’ stated Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one other sharp critic of the DCCC coverage who began paying dues in January. … To date, Ocasio-Cortez remains probably the most outstanding exception to the newly improved relationship between progressives and the DCCC.”
TRUMP’S WEDNESDAY (all occasions Japanese) -- THE PRESIDENT had breakfast with CEOs and enterprise leaders, and met with the president of the Kurdistan regional government and was scheduled to satisfy with the president of Iraq. THE PRESIDENT will depart Davos for Zurich at 6:25 a.m., and arrives at 7:10 a.m. He’s scheduled to take off for D.C. at 7:20 a.m., and land at Andrews at 4:50 p.m. He’s anticipated again on the White Home at 5:10 p.m.
JARED’S PAL MBS THE REFORMER SEEMS BUSY! … WHOA IF TRUE -- “Jeff Bezos hack: Amazon boss’s telephone ‘hacked by Saudi crown prince,’” by The Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner: “The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his cellular telephone ‘hacked’ in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been despatched from the private account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have informed the Guardian.
“The encrypted message from the quantity used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file that infiltrated the telephone of the world’s richest man, in line with the results of a digital forensic evaluation.
“This analysis discovered it ‘highly possible’ that the intrusion into the telephone was triggered by an infected video file sent from the account of the Saudi heir to Bezos, the owner of the Washington Publish.” Guardian
-- FT’S MEHUL SRIVASTAVA has more: “The forensic analysis, led by Anthony J Ferrante, a cyber professional on the business advisory agency FTI Consulting, stated that inside hours of the video file being despatched by WhatsApp to Mr Bezos ‘an enormous and unauthorised exfiltration of knowledge from Bezos’s telephone started, continuing and escalating for months.’
“The quantity of knowledge hacked from the telephone was in the dozens of gigabytes, compared to the few hundred kilobytes day by day average in the months before the video file was despatched, the evaluation discovered. The report doesn't claim to have conclusive evidence and its findings couldn't be independently confirmed by the FT.” FT … Ferrante’s bio … Reuters: “Saudi involved in hacking of Amazon boss Bezos' phone, U.N. report will say”
-- @SaudiEmbassyUSA: “Current media stories that recommend the Kingdom is behind a hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos’ telephone are absurd. We call for an investigation on these claims so that we will have all the information out.”
SCOOP … NAHAL TOOSI and ANITA KUMAR: “Trump weighs travel ban enlargement in coming days”: “President Donald Trump might increase his controversial journey ban with an announcement expected as early as Monday, the three-year anniversary of the unique order, which focused several majority-Muslim nations.
“The record of nations shouldn't be yet last and might be modified, but nations into account for brand spanking new restrictions embrace Belarus, Myanmar (also called Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, based on two individuals acquainted with the matter.” POLITICO
THE NEW YORKER’S ROBIN WRIGHT: “The Staggering (and Uncovered) Legal Bills Dealing with Impeachment Witnesses”: “Witnesses have accrued as much as half one million dollars in legal fees that aren't being coated by the State Department, in response to six witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity, legal professionals, and others involved in serving to with the soaring bills.
“The diplomats and other senior officials, most of whom have spent a lifetime in government service earning modest government salaries, have needed to tap into personal-liability insurance or relied on the generosity of fellow-diplomats and buddies who donated to a legal-defense fund. In some instances, major Washington regulation companies have slashed charges or, in one case, offered largely pro-bono help.” New Yorker
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK … BOOK CLUB -- Garrett M. Graff is writing a brand new guide titled “Watergate,” detailing the Richard Nixon administration scandal and providing “the first complete history in a quarter century and the first written because the launch of the final Nixon tapes and the id of Deep Throat.” The guide is about to be revealed in mid-2021 by Jofie Ferrari-Adler and Julianna Haubner at Avid Reader Press and is being represented by Howard Yoon at Ross Yoon.
MEDIAWATCH -- MICHAEL BARBARO PROFILE … NEW YORK’S MATTHEW SCHNEIER: “The Voice of a Era: Michael Barbaro made the New York Occasions podcast The Day by day a raging success. Or is it the opposite method round?” N.Y. Mag
-- YIKES: “Quibi’s CEO Meg Whitman Compared Reporters to Sexual Predators,” by The Info’s Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel
Ship tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Reince Priebus having lunch at Ambar on Tuesday.
TRANSITIONS -- Sarah Jenkins is joining international communications agency BCW as SVP of brand name solutions. She was previously SVP at freuds. … Paige Lindgren is now deputy press secretary on the NRSC. She was beforehand press assistant for Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). … Chad Yelinski is now legislative director for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.). He beforehand was legislative director for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). …
… Rob Santos is now a director at Bully Pulpit Interactive. He beforehand was digital apply lead and strategist at Golin. … Lauren Ehrsam Gorey is now director of communications for the Commerce Division. She previously was director of strategic communications on the NSC. … Cody Keenan is now a senior adviser at Fenway Strategies. He previously was chief speechwriter for former President Barack Obama.
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Rebecca Wasserstein, director of lodges and venues for the Republican Nationwide Conference. An fascinating e-book she’s been studying: “I’ve all the time been a big Malcolm Gladwell fan. I just lately completed his latest ebook, ‘Talking to Strangers,’ and it did not disappoint. The premise of the guide is that as people, our pure operating assumption is that individuals are trustworthy. Unfortunately, it’s these untainted assumptions that can result in a few of the largest corruption scandals.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) is 67 … Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) is 54 (h/t Tim Griffin) … Josh Earnest, chief comms officer and SVP at United Airlines, is 45 … Carol McDonald (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Jim Oliphant, national politics correspondent at Reuters … Jack St. John of GSA … Dave Schnittger, principal at Squire Patton Boggs, is 49 … POLITICO’s Brianna Ehley, Zach Warmbrodt and Jesse Shapiro … Dan Scandling, a senior director at APCO Worldwide … Ado Machida … Chris Lowe … Patrick Mendoza … Josh Riley, a companion at Boies, Schiller & Flexner … Kian Hudson, Indiana deputy solicitor basic, is Three-Zero … Rob Collins, a companion at S-Three Public Affairs … Rajiv Chandrasekaran … Corinne Clark is 3-Zero (h/t Laszlo Baksay) … Melissa Byrne, California grassroots director for Bernie Sanders’ marketing campaign (h/t Eric Heggie) … Elizabeth Ashford … CNN’s Kevin Bohn …
… WaPo’s Julie Zauzmer … Ken Gross, Skadden’s political follow chair ... Gregg Pitts (h/ts Tim Burger) … Christa (Bailey) Allen … Prosus Group’s Sarah Ryan ... Francie Harris, director of scheduling for EMILY’s Listing ... Tom Daffron … Bram Weinstein is 47 … Heather Kennedy, VP of presidency relations at the Residence Depot ... AHIP’s Adam Beck is 32 … Alexander Wells ... Ashley Codianni, EP and international head of social and emerging media at CNN … Elise Flick, who final yr married WSJ’s Nick Hatcher -- pic ... Chris Lavery … Derek Dye ... Andrea Mucasey ... Ginny Simmons ... Mark Solomons is 59 ... Charlie Meyerson ... Nicholas Monck ... Carla Jacobs ... Laura Allen, press secretary at the Abroad Personal Funding Corporation ... Cara Baldari ... Seema Ibrahim ... Anna Sperling McAlvanah ... Mike Simmons ... Jason Forrester ... Paul Roales ... David Sanders ... Chase Burgess
Src: POLITICO Playbook: Why Democrats and Republicans are winning on impeachment
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