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Presented by UPS: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine and Garrett Ross | | | |  Former VP Mike Pence filed paperwork today declaring his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination ahead of an expected kick-off speech later this week. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo | The 2024 Republican primary field is still taking shape, with one major name officially filing paperwork, one contender continuing to carve out his lane, another backing out of the race entirely and a couple others formally jumping into the race. Pence preps: Former VP MIKE PENCE filed paperwork today declaring his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination ahead of an expected kick-off speech later this week, AP’s Jill Colvin reports: “Pence … will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with a video and kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, which is his 64th birthday, according to people familiar with his plans.” Sununu says Sunu-no: In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, New Hampshire Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU announced he will not run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination: “Sununu’s decision further defines the GOP’s 2024 field and means there won’t be a home-state contender in New Hampshire, leaving the Republican contest in the first-in-the-nation primary state wide open.” Scott shares his View: After spending the weekend hyping his appearance on “The View,” Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) joined the talk show this morning, taking to the airwaves to continue his criticisms of comments hosts WHOOPI GOLDBERG and JOY BEHAR have made about race and politics. Asked whether systemic racism exists, Scott dismissed the idea that he was an “exception to the rule.” “One of the reasons I’m on this show is because of the comments that were made, frankly, on this show, that the only way for a young African American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception and not the rule,” Scott said. “That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today, that the only way to succeed is by being the exception.” In another interesting exchange, Scott seemed to praise his fellow 2024 candidate, Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS: “Disney and Ron have been in a combat zone over what I thought is the right issue, which is our young kids and what they are being indoctrinated with,” he said, which prompted a round of boos from the studio audience. “No, not here,” Goldberg told the audience before apologizing to Scott. “Do not boo, this is ‘The View.’ … We accept, we don’t have to believe everything people say, but you cannot boo people here, please.” More from The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo Meanwhile … North Dakota Governor DOUG BURGUM teased an official campaign announcement, tweeting a video as a “preview of Wednesday’s big announcement.” Oh, and there’s this: “Cornel West announces he’s running for president,” by Kierra Frazier TRUMP INQUIRIES INTENSIFY — As the investigation into DONALD TRUMP’s attempt to overthrow 2020 election results in Georgia heats up, federal and state officials have shifted their attention to the two research firms the former president hired to study election fraud, WaPo’s Josh Dawsey and Amy Gardner scoop. In late 2020, the Trump campaign spent “more than $1 million” to hire Berkeley Research Group and Simpatico Software Systems to investigate whether there was enough evidence to overturn election results. None was found. But the resulting research “is likely to be used as the prosecutors try to build a broader case, alleging racketeering,” Dawsey and Gardner write. Meanwhile at DOJ … The Justice Department’s inquiry into Trump’s handling of classified documents may be coming to a close, with sources telling CBS’ Robert Costa that special counsel JACK SMITH is nearing a “charging decision” in the case. CBS’ Costa, Robert Legare, Andres Triay report that Trump attorneys EVAN CORCORAN, JOHN ROWLEY and LINDSEY HALLIGAN were spotted entering the DOJ offices this morning for a meeting that lasted just under two hours, noting that the lawyers were “were expected to meet at some point with the Justice Department to talk through where things stand and to potentially lay out their concerns about the prosecutors' efforts so far.” More from Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line: birvine@politico.com and gross@politico.com
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Learn more | | | FOR YOUR RADAR — “NTSB to begin crash investigation after sonic boom heard across D.C.,” by WaPo’s Ian Duncan: “The board is expected to release a preliminary report in about three weeks, summarizing facts that investigators have gathered. A final report including a formal cause is likely to take at least a year.” MEDIAWATCH CNN FALLOUT CONTINUED — In a call to editorial staff this morning, embattled CNN CEO CHRIS LICHT apologized to network staff, with the media executive noting how his recent unflattering media coverage has eclipsed the network’s reporting, the WSJ’s Amol Sharma and Isabella Simonetti report. (ICYMI: He refers, of course, to Tim Alberta’s blockbuster profile of the embattled network chief, which The Atlantic posted on Friday morning.) What Licht said: “‘I know these past few days have been very hard for this group,’ [Licht] said, according to audio of the call. … “And I fully recognize that this news cycle and my role in it have overshadowed the incredible week of reporting we just had and distracted from the work of every single journalist in this organization. And for that, I’m sorry.” 2024 WATCH WHAT TEAM BIDEN IS READING — AP’s Will Weissert and Adriana Gomez Licon are up with a deep dive on potential challenges the Biden campaign, and Democrats generally, could face in reaching Hispanic voters ahead of 2024. Once a reliable constituency for Democrats, “recent signs that Republicans have made inroads with those voters,” could spell trouble for Democrats "since Hispanics made up 62% of total growth in the nation’s eligible voters between 2018 and last year’s election.” AI ON THE BRAIN — The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence technology means that almost anyone can create convincing fake images and videos online. But while fake content isn’t new to campaigns, easy access to AI tools “has left campaign officials bracing for 2024 to usher in a level of digital creation and proliferation unlike any previous election season,” WSJ’s Sabrina Siddiqui and Ryan Tracy report. MORE POLITICS KNOWING RFK JR. — WaPo’s Michael Scherer is up with an in-depth profile of ROBERT KENNEDY JR. along the route of his long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. While much ink has been spilt over Kennedy's jump into the race six weeks ago, a few details about the candidate stood out to us, including that he “still believes that Sen. JOHN F. KERRY (D-Mass.) won the 2004 election,” and is unsure about the 2020 presidential election results. “I don’t know. I think that Biden won,” Kennedy told Scherer. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS — As California housing advocates look to Congress to help fund development projects, the issue of earmarks is shaping up to be a contentious difference between the top Democratic contenders to succeed DIANNE FEINSTEIN in the U.S. Senate, the L.A. Times’ Benjamin Oreskes reports. While Dem Reps. KATIE PORTER, BARBARA LEE and ADAM SCHIFF share many of the same policy positions, Porter’s objection against the funding mechanism “represents one of the clearest differences between the Irvine congresswoman,” and her opposition. While Schiff and Lee are both “all in on earmarks,” Porter “is the only House Democrat who didn’t submit any requests during the last Congress,” and “Her objection to earmarks drew the ire of several Democratic colleagues who accused Porter of grandstanding and opening up members to criticism from Republicans.” JUDICIARY SQUARE DEMOCRACY WATCH — From North Carolina, The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz dives into the stakes of the Supreme Court’s impending decision in Moore v. Harper — and the future of the once-fringe independent state legislature theory. “For understandable reasons, the Supreme Court cases that get front-page coverage tend to bear on culture-war issues. But the most direct path to power, almost by definition, is to alter the rules of the game,” he writes. “[W]hatever action the Court takes this month may end up frustrating everyone, including the activists and scholars who hoped that the Court would dispense with I.S.L.T. once and for all.” JUDGMENT DAY — “Colleagues want a 95-year-old judge to retire. She’s suing them instead,” by WaPo’s Rachel Weiner: “Fellow judges have accused PAULINE NEWMAN of misconduct, saying she can no longer do her job even if she’s appointed for life. The country’s oldest active federal judge won’t go.” SCOTUS WATCH — “Supreme Court to hear ‘Trump too small’ trademark case,” by Kierra Frazier
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | POLICY CORNER THE CRYPTO CRACKDOWN — “S.E.C. Accuses Binance of Mishandling Funds and Lying to Regulators,” by NYT’s Matthew Goldstein, Emily Flitter and David Yaffe-Bellany: “The Wall Street regulator said Binance had been mixing “billions of dollars” in customer funds and secretly sending them to a separate company called Merit Peak Limited, which is controlled by Binance’s founder, CHANGPENG ZHAO. The charges included misleading investors about the adequacy of its systems to detect and control manipulative trading.” THE ECONOMY BANK ON IT — Federal regulators are prepping to enforce new rules on major banks to improve their financial conditions after the recent string of bank failures rocked the industry, WSJ’s Andrew Ackerman scoops: “The changes, which regulators are on track to propose as early as this month, could raise overall capital requirements by roughly 20% at larger banks on average, people familiar with the plans said … The plan to ratchet up capital is expected to be the first of several steps to beef up rules for Wall Street, a shift from the lighter regulatory approach taken during the Trump administration.” THE VIEW FROM WALL STREET — “Wall Street Backs Off Bets on Fed Rate Cuts,” by WSJ’s Matt Grossman BEYOND THE BELTWAY ECO UPDATE — “States take matters into their own hands to ban toxic ‘forever chemicals,” by WaPo’s Kimberly Kindy: “This year alone, 195 new bills were introduced in dozens of state legislatures, seeking to require that an expanding list of products be PFAS-free. … Until the EPA and other federal agencies do set stricter policies on PFAS use in products and start levying fines to violators, some lawmakers say, state laws are the only recourse.” THE CLASSROOM CRISIS — “Schools Received Billions in Stimulus Funds. It May Not Be Doing Enough,” by NYT’s Madeleine Ngo: “Recent test scores underscore the staggering effect of the pandemic, which thrust much of the nation’s students into remote learning for extended periods of time. Students in most states and across almost all demographic groups experienced major setbacks in math and reading after many schools closed their doors.”
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See what these benefits mean to our employees and their families | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “U.S. military releases video of near-collision with Chinese destroyer,” by WaPo’s Naomi Schanen, Christian Shepherd and Meaghan Tobin: “The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the “unsafe” maneuver, which took place Saturday, brought the Chinese vessel within 150 yards of the U.S. and Canadian ships … Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman WANG WENBIN said on Monday that Beijing “firmly opposed relevant countries creating trouble” in the Taiwan Strait and that the United States had provoked trouble first.” Related read: “U.S. defense secretary discusses upgrading ties with India to counter China,” by AP’s Ashok Sharma GETTING TERRITORIAL — “Defend ‘every inch’ of NATO territory? New strategy is a work in progress,” by WaPo’s Emily Rauhala and Ellen Nakashima: “NATO hasn’t committed to the level of permanent on-the-ground troops that some nations wanted. And interviews with more than a dozen senior officials, as well as former officials and analysts, suggest that the overhaul still has a ways to go before the alliance could repel Russia without losing an inch of territory.” VALLEY TALK MUSK READ — “Twitter’s U.S. Ad Sales Plunge 59% as Woes Continue”, by NYT’s Ryan Mack and Tiffany Hsu: “Twitter’s U.S. advertising revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was $88 million, down 59 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times. The company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections, sometimes by as much as 30 percent, the document said. That performance is unlikely to improve anytime soon, according to the documents and seven current and former Twitter employees.” Related read: “Twitter Missed Dozens of Known Images of Child Sexual Abuse Material, Researchers Say,” by WSJ’s Alexa Corse
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVE — Emily Wilkins is joining CNBC’s D.C. bureau as a correspondent covering Congress, regulatory issues and policies that impact American businesses and the economy. She previously was a congressional reporter at Bloomberg Government. TRANSITION — Russ Read is now legislative affairs manager for air programs at the National Guard Association of the United States. He previously was comms director for Rep. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.). ENGAGED — Schuyler Ebersol, principal at Core One, proposed to Clementina Dávila, co-director of marketing at Main Street Research, on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Charlottesville, Va., on May 27. When the couple met in Charlottesville 6 years ago, Ebersol had no idea if Dávila was interested in him but told his friends he’d marry her tomorrow if she wanted to. They didn’t date for another 4 years, but he finally got his wish. Pic ... Another pic Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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