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Presented by Facebook: The unofficial guide to official Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri, Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | NEVER TOO EARLY — Because we’re POLITICO, Marc Caputo has a story up this morning on DONALD TRUMP’s potential 2024 map. Granted, it’s not terribly surprising, centering on the five states that JOE BIDEN flipped in 2020. But the level of engagement within Trumpworld this far out — that we didn’t necessarily expect. “Trump’s shadow campaign … recently polled Trump-Biden matchups in the five states, all of which were decided in 2020 by fewer than 3 percentage points. According to the poll … the former president led Biden in Arizona by 8 percentage points, Georgia by 3 points, Michigan by 12 points, Pennsylvania by 6 points and Wisconsin by 10 points. “The poll numbers send a message to those who think Trump’s grip on the Republican Party is loosening, said TONY FABRIZIO, a top GOP pollster who conducted the surveys for Trump’s super PAC, ‘Make America Great Again, Again!’ ‘Poll after poll clearly demonstrates that former President Donald Trump is still the 800-pound gorilla in the GOP and would be its 2024 nominee should he run,’ said Fabrizio, who confirmed the numbers for POLITICO but did not provide them. ‘This new data clearly shows that today the voters in these five key states would be happy to return Trump to the White House and send Biden packing.’” FLIGHT OF FANCY — NYC Mayor-elect ERIC ADAMS claimed that he paid his way to a post-election political retreat in Puerto Rico on what many assumed was a commercial flight, telling reporters the trip was on “my dollar, my dime and my time.” But sources tell Playbook that he and his partner, TRACEY COLLINS, flew to San Juan on the G4 private jet of crypto-billionaire BROCK PIERCE. The three had dinner with Gov. PEDRO PIERLUISI of Puerto Rico, an island that Pierce once dreamed of turning into a “Burning Man Utopia.” Pierce, who’s been informally advising Adams on all things crypto, attended an election night party for the mayor-elect. And Adams has vowed to make New York City “the center of the cryptocurrency industry.” Literally putting his money where his mouth is, he said he’ll take his first three paychecks as mayor in Bitcoin. The mayor-elect’s spokesperson EVAN THIES said Adams “paid for a seat on a private flight through a travel agent, and he flew commercial on his return trip,” but would not provide travel receipts from the trip. As Adams bones up on crypto, Pierce is wading back into politics after an ill-fated run for president in 2020. He filed a “statement of organization” with the FEC earlier this month as he weighs running as an independent for the seat of retiring Sen. PATRICK LEAHY (D-Vt.). The filing allows Pierce to start raising campaign money. Pierce — an eccentric, fedora-wearing former child actor of “Mighty Ducks” fame — was dubbed “the Hippie King of Crypto-currency” by Rolling Stone in 2018. | | A message from Facebook: Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations
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Hear from Rochelle on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet’s most pressing challenges, including federal privacy legislation. | | | Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. GOP SEEKS PLAN B IN PA — With SEAN PARNELL dropping his campaign for Senate in Pennsylvania, some of his former supporters who are close to DONALD TRUMP JR. are now pushing hedge fund millionaire DAVID MCCORMICK to run. A source close to McCormick said he’s “seriously considering doing it now more than ever” and is prepared to put tens of millions of dollars of his own money into a campaign. McCormick, the husband of former Trump White House official DINA POWELL MCCORMICK, had been waiting to announce his candidacy until the verdict in Parnell’s custody battle as a way to win over his supporters, sources tell Playbook. While MEHMET OZ, aka Dr. Oz, has signaled interest in running for the seat, two Republican donors said they’re waiting to see if he’s willing to spend his own money on the race. “Without knowing what he’s putting forward financially, it’s kind of a gimmick,” said one donor in Pennsylvania. With the Trump-backed Parnell finished, and many of his supporters still angry at GOP candidate JEFF BARTOS for openly sharing details of Parnell’s domestic issues, many see McCormick as the most viable option who could win Trump’s endorsement. He could be the saving grace for Trump Jr., who pushed his father to endorse Parnell and now needs a plan B in a must-win race. But the knives already appear to be sharpening in anticipation of a McCormick announcement, with a fresh story in the N.Y. Post about McCormick’s business record in Pittsburgh. | | | |   | | | BIDEN’S TUESDAY: — 10 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President’s Daily Brief. — 2 p.m.: Biden will speak about the economy and lowering prices. — 4 p.m.: Biden, Harris, first lady JILL BIDEN and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will take part in a service project at DC Central Kitchen. — 5:55 p.m.: The Bidens will depart for Nantucket, arriving at 7:10 p.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 3:15 p.m. The HOUSE and THE SENATE are out. | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden serve a Thanksgiving dinner during a visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., on Monday, Nov. 22. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | THE WHITE HOUSE BUDGET PROBLEMS — WaPo’s Tyler Pager and Ashley Parker : “The White House has largely paused the hiring of new personnel in recent weeks because of budgetary shortfalls, even as multiple staffers have departed … The budget problem stems from the short-term legislation Congress passed in late September to avert a government shutdown, which one official said did not provide enough money to cover all of the White House’s operating costs.’” WHY POWELL GOT THE NOD EXPLAINER — Ben White breaks down why Biden decided to reappoint Fed Chair JEROME POWELL to the post: “People close to Biden say he did it because of Wall Street’s confidence in Powell’s stewardship during the pandemic — the Dow jumped a couple of hundred points on Monday right after the news. And Biden by nature tends to favor incumbents, continuity and bipartisanship.” Ben writes that “there also wasn’t an overwhelming case to fire Powell, though the scary surge in inflation offered one potential way out.” ALL POLITICS THE THREE I’s — WSJ’s Gerry Seib zeroes in on 2022 and concludes “it isn’t too early to see what Republicans want [the midterms] to be about. They want to focus voter attention on three I’s: inflation, immigration and identity politics—specifically, whether Democrats now are the ones practicing identity politics. “For Democrats, that is a potentially toxic mixture. They need to shift the focus to friendlier terrain, which they think they have started to do with success on infrastructure and social-spending legislation. They still have time, but also need to worry that perceptions can harden long before votes are cast. This backdrop is important, because in politics as in warfare, the side that succeeds in picking the battlefield and taking the high ground there early on has a big advantage.” WHAT DO DEMOCRATS STAND FOR? — In the aftermath of the recent loss in Virginia’s governor’s race, Democratic strategists descended on the state to figure out what went wrong. Through focus groups and polling they found that voters “could not articulate what Democrats stand for. They could also not say what they are doing in Washington, besides fighting,” David Siders writes. “Less than a year ahead of midterm elections, in which even Democrats widely expect they will lose the House and, possibly, the Senate, the party is confronting an identity crisis.” | | | |   | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH PAY UP — A federal judge Monday “ordered GARY D. FIELDER and ERNEST JOHN WALKER, two Colorado lawyers who filed a lawsuit late last year challenging the 2020 election results, to pay nearly $187,000 to defray the legal fees of groups they sued, arguing that the hefty penalty was proper to deter others from using frivolous suits to undermine the democratic system,” WaPo’s Rosalind Helderman reports. THE SUBPOENAS KEEP COMING — The House select committee on Jan. 6 issued five more subpoenas to Trump allies Monday, including political operative ROGER STONE and InfoWars’ ALEX JONES. CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer and Whitney Wild write that “the latest batch of subpoenas indicates the committee continues to focus, in part, on organizers and funding of the ‘Stop the Steal’ rallies that took place on January 5 and 6, as well as earlier rallies in the months leading up to the US Capitol attack. “Also subpoenaed by the committee Monday: DUSTIN STOCKTON and JENNIFER LAWRENCE, key players in the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement after the election, who the committee noted are engaged to each other.” BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE — The committee was busy Monday: It also filed court documents along with the National Archives arguing that allowing Trump to block the investigation into his White House records could threaten democracy itself, reports Kyle Cheney . Lawyers argued that with preventing a Jan. 6 repeat at stake, “future elections could be in jeopardy if Congress isn’t permitted to learn everything it can about how Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat helped spark the violent attack on the Capitol,” Kyle writes. The filings DID TRUMP BREAK THE LAW ON JAN. 6? — In a court hearing for one of the Americans who participated in the Jan. 6 riot, U.S. District Court Judge CARL NICHOLS and lawyers “discussed whether Trump’s pressure on Vice President MIKE PENCE could have amounted to obstruction,” Josh Gerstein writes . “The in-court discussion of Trump’s potential criminal culpability in the Capitol riot raised a nagging and uncomfortable question for the Justice Department: whether it is making a serious effort to investigate whether the former president committed any crimes in connection with the events of Jan. 6.” TRUMP CARDS PICKING UP THE TAB — The RNC is paying for a portion of Trump’s legal bills as he faces criminal investigations in New York, WaPo’s David Fahrenthold, Josh Dawsey, Isaac Stanley-Becker and Shayna Jacobs write: “In October, the RNC made two payments totaling $121,670 to the law firm of RONALD FISCHETTI, a veteran defense attorney whom Trump hired in April. … [A source said] the organization was willing to foot the bills because [New York A.G. TISH] JAMES has made comments that she wanted to go after Trump.” — James and CY VANCE JR., the Manhattan DA, are also looking into Trump’s varying value estimates on the same properties. The Trump Organization’s 40 Wall Street building in Manhattan was valued at $527 million back in 2012, but WaPo’s David Fahrenthold, Jonathan O'Connell, Josh Dawsey and Shayna Jacobs write that a few months later the organization “told property tax officials that the entire 70-story building was worth less than a high-end Manhattan condo: just $16.7 million.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY LIFE AS A STATE LAWMAKER — A new report shows that state lawmakers across the country are earning low salaries, and it “impacts who is able to run and stay in office,” The 19th’s Barbara Rodriguez reports. The report found that “most lawmakers are paid wages that do not allow them to focus solely on the job of legislating. Many work in legislatures that are considered hybrid or part-time. They meet for shorter periods of time, often at the beginning of the year and into the spring. “But it’s a role that has morphed in recent years into one with increasing year-round demands and expectations from constituents, many of whom may not realize their lawmakers are being paid little to no money to be that accessible.” | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Michael Cohen was released after three years of house arrest. In an interview with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, Cohen predicted, “Donald will not run” in 2024. “His fragile ego cannot stand to be considered a two-time loser.” Louie Gohmert announced on Newsmax that he’s running for A.G. of Texas. Larry Hogan shot back at Donald Trump after the former president endorsed a Republican state legislator to challenge Hogan for reelection: “Personally, I’d prefer endorsements from people who didn’t lose Maryland by 33 points.” SPOTTED: Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) at the Chops Grille steakhouse aboard the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas cruise. The trip came as she announced she would challenge Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) in a member-vs.-member matchup for a new, safe Democratic seat in the Atlanta suburbs. TRANSITIONS — Perry Apelbaum will join the Department of Justice as a senior counsel in the antitrust division. He previously was staff director/chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. Amy Rutkin will continue to lead the committee as chief of staff/staff director, promoting Aaron Hiller to chief counsel/deputy staff director and John Doty to senior adviser/deputy staff director. … … Eli Cousin is now deputy national press secretary at the DSCC. He most recently was at the DCCC, and is an MJ Hegar alum. … Nairka J. Treviño Müller is now comms director for Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.). She previously was comms director for the office of Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. ENGAGED — Jack Porter, policy analyst at the National Governors Association, and Mackay Coleman, senior student success adviser at 2U, got engaged Sunday on Capitol Hill. WEDDING — Michael Stratford, an education reporter at POLITICO and Samantha Rubin, a staff attorney at the D.C. Circuit, got married Friday at the InterContinental - The Wharf. The couple met at Cornell but started dating in 2015 after reconnecting on a trip to Charleston, S.C., with mutual friends. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Michael Pratt, senior group director for strategic policy, advocacy and government comms at Real Chemistry and an Operation Warp Speed alum, and Amanda Pratt, a lead singer in the 24K Event Band, welcomed Elizabeth “Elle” Jean Pratt on Friday night. Pic … Another pic — Carly Borgmeier, branch chief for specialty crop and agriculture development in the agricultural marketing service at USDA, and Daniel Yang, production manager for local projects at WETA-TV, welcomed Madeline Rae Yang Borgmeier on Nov. 5. She came in at 9 lbs, 1 oz. Due to a breakthrough Covid infection at their older daughter Olivia’s school, Daniel was quarantined when Carly’s water broke and watched hours of her labor over Zoom. At midnight, after the hospital granted special permission at the end of his 10-day isolation period, Daniel raced to the delivery room just in time to reunite with Carly for the birth. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer … Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Sean Casten (D-Ill.) (5-0) … NYT’s Carolyn Ryan … former Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) … Amy Schatz of Glen Echo Group … Geoff Mackler … RNC’s Rick Gorka … Matt Dennis … Katie Wall of Meeks, Butera & Israel … BBC’s Suzanne Kianpour … AFP’s Bill Riggs … Nancy Ortmeyer Kuhn … Jeremy Slevin of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) office … Colby Nelson … Richard Hunt of the Consumer Bankers Association … POLITICO’s Phelim Kine, Ally Moore and Ryan Niblock … Robin Roberts … Google’s Brittany Griffin … BP’s Geoff Morrell … Joey Francilus … DOJ’s Sheria Clarke … Mary Rutherford Jennings … Will Glasscock … Melissa Pardue … Liz Victorin … Elizabeth Taylor of the American Legislative Exchange Council … Charlie Goodyear … Danny Cevallos … HuffPost’s Jade Walker … Sheara Braun … Bermuda Premier Edward David Burt … former Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle … Adam Belmar … Alan Rosenberg of RG Group Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. 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