Playbook PM: Extra security for lawmakers, and the challenge of being Ronna McDaniel

From: POLITICO Playbook - Friday Jan 29,2021 06:04 pm
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Playbook PM

By Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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BREAKING — “Ex-FBI lawyer spared prison for altering Trump-Russia probe email,” by Josh Gerstein: “The only person charged in the Justice Department's investigation into the origins of the probe of former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and its ties to Russia was spared prison time for altering an email used to support a surveillance application. Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, 38, received the sentence of 12 months probation …

“The sentencing hearing featured an impassioned speech from [Carter] Page, in which the energy industry analyst complained that his life was turned upside down by the media firestorm that followed public disclosure of the fact that he was a focus of the FBI probe into potential Russian influence on the Trump campaign.”

BIDEN’S WEEK AHEAD — White House press secretary JEN PSAKI previewed that President JOE BIDEN will meet with Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN at the State Department on Monday. He’ll speak and sign an executive order about immigration — including a task force focused on reuniting separated migrant families — on Tuesday. And he’ll speak about the economy next Friday, on jobs day.

UNRAVELING JAN. 6 — “Pipe bombs found near Capitol on Jan. 6 are believed to have been placed the night before,” WaPo: “[F]inding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips … The FBI said its agents are ‘using every tool in our toolbox,’ and have interviewed more than 1,000 residents and business owners in the neighborhood where the devices were found.

“The Post spoke to local residents, property managers and business owners to obtain exclusive video of the suspect in the moments before he placed the bomb in an alley behind the Republican National Committee, one block from the Capitol grounds.”

“Body Camera Footage Shows Capitol Rioters Trampling Over Woman,” NYT: “The footage shows how rioters, in their effort to attack the police, trampled on [Rosanne] Boyland even as her friend, Justin Winchell, shouted that she was dying and needed help.”

SECURITY BUMP — “Capitol Police bolstering travel security for lawmakers,” AP: “In an email obtained Friday by The Associated Press, the House’s chief law enforcement officer said Capitol Police will be stationed at area airports and Washington’s Union Station on busy travel days. Timothy P. Blodgett, the acting sergeant at arms, wrote that the agency was setting up an online portal for lawmakers’ offices to use to notify them of their travel plans, and urged legislators to report threats and suspicious activity directed at themselves, aides and family. …

“Blodgett’s letter said lawmakers have previously been advised that they can use office expense accounts to pay for security to protect their offices and events in their districts and protect themselves while they are performing official duties.”

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THE CHALLENGE OF BEING RONNA MCDANIEL — “RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is trying to hold together a party that Donald Trump might want to tear up,” WaPo’s Josh Dawsey and Manuel Roig-Franzia snag the longest interview with her since she was reelected to another term: “What she doesn’t say, despite being asked multiple times, might be just as telling as what she does. She doesn’t say Trump will play a central role in leading the Republican Party; she doesn’t say he won’t. Yet there are subtle hints. …

“The day after the Capitol attack, she placed a call to Vice President Mike Pence in Washington. … [T]alking about what happened, McDaniel became emotional. She wanted Pence to know he was still welcome to come to the RNC meeting. He did not go. McDaniel fought back tears.”

ANOTHER ONE — “J&J one-dose Covid vaccine is 66% effective, a weapon but not a knockout punch,” Stat: “The shot was 72% effective among clinical trial volunteers in the U.S, but 66% among those in Latin America, and just 57% among those in South Africa. … The vaccine reduced severe disease alone by 85%, and prevented Covid-related hospitalization or death …

“Johnson & Johnson expects to file with the FDA for an emergency use authorization in early February, and, assuming the vaccine is authorized, will have some product ready to ship immediately after getting a go-ahead.”

JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME — REUTERS/MOSCOW: “Russia’s Putin signs law extending New START treaty by five years: Kremlin”

UNDER THE COVID RELIEF HOOD — “America’s Next Great Economic Experiment: What if We Run It Hot?” NYT’s The Upshot: “The administration’s proposal, when combined with the $900 billion in pandemic aid agreed to in December, would amount to a bigger surge of spending, both in absolute terms and relative to the depth of the nation’s economic hole, than has been attempted in modern American history.

“Mr. Biden’s proposal — or even more limited versions of it that appear to have a better shot of winning congressional approval — would pump enough money into the economy to, in effect, intentionally overheat it. Or at minimum it would push the limits of how fast the American economy can rev.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLE — “Republican Ties to Extremist Groups Are Under Scrutiny,” NYT: “Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, one of the most far-right members of Congress … had paid a visit to the local Oath Keepers chapter a few years earlier, [Jim] Arroyo recounted, and when asked if the United States was headed for a civil war, the congressman’s ‘response to the group was just flat out: “We’re in it. We just haven’t started shooting at each other yet.”’”

ELITE STRIKE FORCE TEAM — REUTERS’ @JanNWolfe: “The State Bar of Georgia confirmed to me that it has asked Lin Wood, the lawyer who partnered with Sidney Powell to spread false claims about the election, to undergo a mental health evaluation.”

 

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LEAVING Q — “‘Trump Just Used Us and Our Fear’: One Woman’s Journey Out of QAnon,” NYT: “[W]hile much has been said about how people descend into this world, little is known about how they get out. Those who do leave are often filled with shame. Sometimes their addiction was so severe that they have become estranged from family and friends.

“The theories seem crazy to [Lenka] Perron now, but looking back, she understands how they drew her in. They were comforting, a way to get her bearings in a chaotic world that felt increasingly unequal and rigged against middle-class people like her. … The theories were fiction, but they hooked into an emotional vulnerability that sprang from something real. For Ms. Perron, it was a feeling that the Democratic Party had betrayed her after a lifetime of trusting it deeply.”

2024 WATCH — “Iowa Democrats, Republicans Gear Up to Protect 2024 Caucuses,” WSJ: “Members of both national parties are already strategizing about how to structure the 2024 nominating contests, a formal Democratic National Committee review is under way, and potential Republican presidential candidates are likely to spend time in Iowa and other early states this year. …

“Besides Iowa’s two political parties, business leaders and groups in the state are also gearing up to try to help the state stay at the front of the line.”

HACK LATEST — “Suspected Russian Hack Extends Far Beyond SolarWinds Software, Investigators Say,” WSJ: “Close to a third of the victims didn’t run the SolarWinds Corp. software initially considered the main avenue of attack for the hackers, according to investigators and the government agency digging into the incident. The revelation is fueling concern that the episode exploited vulnerabilities in business software used daily by millions.”

IMMIGRATION FILES — “Meet the 7 congresswomen who are steering Biden’s immigration agenda in the House,” USA Today: “Rep. Linda Sánchez … has taken the lead in putting together a group of seven women, who she also described as ‘workhorses,’ who will be shepherding the legislative efforts to get President Joe Biden’s immigration reform bill through the House of Representatives. …

“The group, who call themselves the ‘Closers,’ includes Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., Judy Chu, D-Calif., Yvette Clarke, D-Calif., and Karen Bass, D-Calif.”

“U.S. extends temporary residency for thousands from Syria,” AP: “Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske said Friday that temporary protected status would be extended for 18 months. It was set to expire on March 31.”

MTG WATCH — “Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Hollywood Backer Finally Thinks She’s Gone Too Far,” The Daily Beast

— REP. @CoriBush: “A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media. I’m moving my office away from hers for my team’s safety. I’ve called for the expulsion of members who incited the insurrection from Day 1. Bring H.Res 25 to a vote.”

 

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GOOD LUCK WITH THAT … MARK SCOTT: “Facebook's ‘Supreme Court’ taking comments on Trump’s suspension”: “The independent group that will decide whether former President Donald Trump can return to Facebook is officially taking public comment on the case.

“Facebook's Oversight Board, a group that includes legal experts and human rights advocates, said in an announcement Friday that people and groups with ‘valuable perspectives’ on Trump's indefinite suspension from the social media platform have until Feb. 8 to weigh in via its online form. … The public comments will be posted online when the board publishes its ruling in the Trump case.”

AFTERNOON READ … MICHAEL KRUSE: “The Antipope of Mar-a-Lago”: “What will Trump’s post-presidency look like — and what will it do to America? There is no real precedent in the annals of the nation — and thus no real playbook for how to manage the kind of civic disruption it is likely to cause. But from history, and from people who’ve known him, it’s possible to stitch together a more-than-educated guess at what the country’s in for — a portrait of the nation’s first real anti-presidency.”

TOP-ED — ERIC CANTOR in WAPO: “Many of my fellow politicians won’t tell voters the truth. The result was Jan. 6”

TRUMP DHS TEAM LANDS AT HERITAGE — Chad Wolf, Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Morgan will join the Heritage Foundation as fellows in the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. Announcement

HOT JOB — DAYBOOK: Federal affairs manager at Robinhood

MEDIAWATCH — CNN is adding former Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Kathleen Belew as contributors. Natasha Alford is also joining as a political analyst.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Kevin Martin is taking a new role at Facebook, leading the global team for economic policy. He is a former FCC commissioner and currently leads U.S. public policy, a high-profile position that Facebook will begin an external search to fill.

TRANSITION — Licy Do Canto is now a managing director at APCO Worldwide. He previously was EVP and managing director in Burson Cohn & Wolfe’s public affairs and crisis practice.

 

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