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Presented by Google: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  A three-judge panel sounded skeptical of Mark Meadows' effort to move his trial to federal court. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | OFF THE MARK — Former White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS’ bid to get his Georgia criminal trial moved to federal court got a chilly reception today at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. The three-judge panel sounded skeptical in its questioning, particularly of the idea that Meadows’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election were taken in his official capacity as chief of staff. He faces charges from Fulton County DA FANI WILLIS for his alleged actions in Georgia. Chief Judge WILLIAM PRYOR JR., a conservative Bush appointee, asked aloud whether the process to “remove” U.S. officials’ cases from state to federal court even applies to former officials, in what Josh and Kyle call “a particularly bad sign for Meadows.” That said, the judges did probe the separate question of whether states prosecuting federal staffers could have a “chilling effect” on officials’ decision-making. If Meadows loses his appeal, he’ll face trial before a state judge and jury on charges of participating in a racketeering conspiracy to undermine democracy along with DONALD TRUMP and more than a dozen others. Meadows also makes an unwanted appearance in a striking new investigation from CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Evan Perez and Zachary Cohen out today. For the nearly three years since Trump left office, they report, a binder with unredacted, “highly classified information related to Russian election interference” has been missing. Containing top-secret intelligence about Russia’s desire for Trump to win in 2016 — including sensitive information about methods and sources — the binder also included lots of other info about the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. Right before his term ended, Trump made plans to distribute (and then was essentially stopped from distributing) it around D.C. But one copy is still gone. CASSIDY HUTCHINSON suspects Meadows and wrote in her memoir that she was “almost positive” he took it home; she gave similar testimony to Congress. But Meadows’ lawyer denies the suggestion outright as “flat wrong” — “Mr. Meadows was keenly aware of and adhered to requirements for the proper handling of classified material,” he says. SUPPLEMENTAL LATEST — As negotiations continue in Congress over a Ukraine/Israel/immigration policy package, DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS and White House staff returned to the Senate this morning for about an hour and a half of more talks, per Burgess Everett. He didn’t answer questions as he left the Hill, but Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.) told reporters they are “making progress” and will keep talking. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Outside pressure on Democrats not to give in to Republicans on immigration isn’t abating, as a new letter from a few dozen advocacy groups warns that the policies being considered “would drastically alter the fabric of our country.” Community Change Action, the SEIU, the ACLU and more tell Biden, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES that the stakes are extremely high amid a wave of anti-immigrant backlash worldwide: The policies “would amount to the most harmful anti-immigrant legislation of the past century” and “undermine hopes for a vibrant, pluralistic, multiracial democracy here at home.” Read it here But Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.), for one, continues his streak of breaking with the progressive left on immigration, telling NBC’s Sahil Kapur that it’s not cruel or anti-immigrant to want to bring the flow of migrants over the border down to a manageable number: “It’s a reasonable conversation — until somebody can say there’s an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don’t know about.” He’s ready to strike a deal — and he says he’s “not a progressive.” THE PRICE OF INACTION — “Western officials warn Ukraine is ‘certain to fail’ against Russia if US doesn’t provide more aid,” by CNN’s Jim Sciutto: “The most immediate concern is the impact on Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive in the east and south, where Ukrainian forces have struggled to make significant forward progress even when US support was still coming. … More broadly, Western officials fear the loss or further delay of US support will impact aid from its allies.” Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Google: John Jay College is using AI to help more students graduate. DataKind, a Google.org grantee built an AI model with John Jay College to identify college students most at risk of dropping out and help advisors identify and proactively intervene with those students. Since using this AI model, senior graduation rates have increased from 54% to 86%. Learn more. | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE BIG DOBBS WEEKEND READ — A major new investigation from NYT’s Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak peels back the heavy red curtain on how the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. They reveal the surprising vulnerabilities in the conservative bloc’s historic shift in the law to end the right to abortion: Justice AMY CONEY BARRETT, it turns out, voted against taking up the case. And until POLITICO published a draft version of Justice SAMUEL ALITO’s opinion, Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS was still trying to persuade Barrett and Justice BRETT KAVANAUGH to opt for a middle ground of allowing a 15-week ban. Liberal Justice STEPHEN BREYER even considered joining that compromise position. But ultimately, the Times also traces how the court ultimately went with “a display of conservative force and discipline”: Justice NEIL GORSUCH signed onto Alito’s opinion within 10 minutes of receiving the 98-page draft. He, Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, Barrett and Kavanaugh didn’t ask for a single change. “Justice Alito appeared to have pregamed it among some of the conservative justices, out of view from other colleagues, to safeguard a coalition more fragile than it looked.” The conservative supermajority did away with both legal and procedural precedents in its decision-making. And ultimately, the die was cast with former Justice RUTH BADER GINSBURG’s death. TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES — “The Women Rudy Giuliani Tried to Destroy,” by N.Y. Mag’s Andrew Rice: “RUBY FREEMAN and SHAYE MOSS testify how a smear campaign turned their lives to hell.” MUCK READ — “Billionaires Are Bankrolling Judges’ Luxury Travel,” by The Lever’s Andrew Perez: “Two deep-pocketed conservative organizations paid to send federal judges on 251 trips in 2021 and 2022 — far more than any other source.” 2024 WATCH UP FOR DEBATE — JAKE TAPPER and DANA BASH will be the moderators of CNN’s GOP presidential debate in Iowa on Jan. 10, the network announced. NIKKI HALEY said she’ll participate, setting up a potential head-to-head matchup against Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS. GROWING PAINS — “No Labels Rethinking Strategy Amid Stumbles,” by The Dispatch’s David Drucker: It “has not slowed its effort to recruit candidates to run for president and vice president on a unity ticket. … [But] the group has been forced to backtrack on — or at least delay — key components of an ambitious plan … Sources blame the hiccups on fresh resistance from inside No Labels to previously agreed upon steps the group was to take toward potential candidate nominations — plus disorganization and unforeseen logistical challenges.” WHO REALLY HAS TRUMP’S EAR — As Trump’s campaign plans for a second term, he’s leaning on a close circle of loyalists to sketch out an aggressive and radical policy agenda, WSJ’s Alex Leary reports. VINCE HALEY leads the team; familiar big names from his first term include ROBERT LIGHTHIZER, RUSSELL VOUGHT, STEPHEN MILLER, BEN CARSON and JOHN RATCLIFFE. The campaign also wants to keep a tighter lid on who presents themselves as representing the message to the media, amid speculation about various outside groups. To that end, they shared a specific list of other advisers who are involved in policy planning: KEVIN HASSETT, TOM HOMAN, BRANDON JUDD, KEITH KELLOGG and MATT WHITAKER. SPORTS BLINK — Trump has been making many appearances at big sporting events, from UFC fights to college football games, as part of a strategy from his campaign, AP’s Jill Colvin reports. The idea is to get video of him going viral, especially in online arenas that aren’t tied to politics, appealing to young men and voters of color who might not otherwise engage with him — for very little money and effort. ENDORSEMENT WATCH — The Teamsters’ backing of President JOE BIDEN isn’t yet assured: The influential union has also invited ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., CORNEL WEST, ASA HUTCHINSON, MARIANNE WILLIAMSON and Rep. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-Minn.) for interviews, Brittany Gibson reports. It’s the first time they’ve ever looked beyond Democrats. AD IT UP — CHRIS CHRISTIE is going up with his first TV ad of the campaign, putting six figures behind a New Hampshire spot that casts him as the only candidate taking on Trump, Axios’ Alex Thompson reports. … And Christie’s Tell It Like It Is super PAC is launching a $3.5 million ad buy across multiple platforms in New Hampshire that similarly blasts DeSantis and Haley for not forcefully opposing Trump, per Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | TRUMP CARDS LIV IT UP — Trump announced on Truth Social that his Miami golf course will host a championship tournament in April for the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf. AMERICA AND THE WORLD MIDDLE EAST LATEST — After Axios reported yesterday that national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN had told Israel to end the heaviest fighting of the war within weeks, Sullivan today tried to project that the U.S. is on the same page as Israel, per WaPo. Speaking in Tel Aviv, he said the U.S. agrees with Israel that the war will last for months. He didn’t articulate a timetable for when the U.S. wants Israel to move from a “high-intensity phase” to “more targeted operations,” despite worsening international outcry over the nearly 19,000 Palestinians killed. CLIMATE FILES — “Republicans were a force at climate summit. Now what?” by POLITICO’s E&E News’ Emma Dumain: “The Republican contingent at the COP28 climate summit appeared determined to show their party has moved beyond climate science denialism and is now serious about lowering carbon emissions. Some even talked up parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ landmark climate and health care law. But … congressional Republicans continued to defend the use of coal, oil and natural gas. There were also some more difficult moments with Biden administration officials.” DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “U.S. Military Returns to the Jungle, Training for Future Threats,” by NYT’s Damien Cave on Oahu: “Far from the deserts of the Middle East, the Army is instructing troops in Hawaii on the skills needed for a potential clash with China.” MORE POLITICS THE TIGER AND THE STRIPES — Arizona GOP Senate contender KARI LAKE has made a few moves toward trying to moderate her image after her firebrand gubernatorial campaign. But on her online talk show “The Kari Lake Show,” she still sounds pretty far right, the Arizona Republic’s Ronald Hansen reports: Lake’s interviews often focus on election denialism, conspiracy theories and loyalty to Trump. BATTLE FOR THE SENATE — Rep. ALEX MOONEY (R-W.Va.) is losing the campaign manager for his Senate bid as JOHN FINDLAY departs to work as convention delegate selection director for Trump, per West Virginia MetroNews’ Brad McElhinny. REVISIONIST HISTORY — “The Young Conservatives Trying to Make Richard Nixon Great Again,” by POLITICO Magazine’s Ian Ward: “Welcome to the Nixon Renaissance, where ‘Tricky Dick’ is cool and Watergate was a set-up.”
| | | | POLITICO AT CES® 2024: We are going ALL On at CES 2024 with a special edition of the POLITICO Digital Future Daily newsletter. The CES-focused newsletter will take you inside the most powerful tech event in the world, featuring revolutionary products that cut across verticals, and insights from industry leaders that are shaping the future of innovation. The newsletter runs from Jan. 9-12 and will focus on the public policy-related aspects of the gathering. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of the show. | | | | | POLICY CORNER MANDY COHEN’S BIG CHALLENGE — The new CDC director “is relentlessly on message” as she travels the country trying to restore faith in the agency and in public health writ large after the pandemic, NYT’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. Vaccination rates remain low for this winter, but Cohen is leaning on her own personal experience as a mom in her media blitz. She also faces the task of overhauling the agency, following the plan laid out by predecessor ROCHELLE WALENSKY. And Cohen is increasingly describing the mission in national security terms. THE WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAY PARTY CIRCUIT — “Inside the first-ever White House holiday party for internet celebs,” by FWIW’s Kyle Tharp: “[T]he median age of attendees was probably decades younger than most holiday shindigs in DC, and the cumulative social media audience of those in attendance approached 100 million followers.” PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at an event in the foyer of Rayburn on Tuesday to raise awareness of valley fever affecting animals and people in the American West: Rob Gronkowski, Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) and Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Dylan Balsz and Perry Nguyen. TRANSITION — Catherine Crane is now VP of PAC compliance at DDC Public Affairs. She previously was an associate at the Sutton Law Firm. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — John Pence, an attorney in the government affairs and regulatory law practice group of Ice Miller LLP and a Trump campaign alum, and Giovanna Pence, a Trump White House alum, on Wednesday welcomed Vivienne Lucy Pence, who joins big brother Jack.Instapic 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, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
