| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sneak Peek | | By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Zachary Basu · Jun 02, 2022 | | Welcome back to Sneak. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,169 words ... 4.5 minutes. ⚡ Situational awareness: Bipartisan Senate energy talks led by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are essentially over, paving the way for a potential Democrat-only deal, Axios' Hans Nichols scooped. 🚨 Breaking: Biden outlined a sweeping gun control agenda in a primetime address tonight, headlined by a call to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban. Go deeper. | | | | | | 1 big thing — Scoop: Trumpworld plots Jan. 6 counter-blitz |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Former President Trump and his allies have begun pulling documents and coordinating an intensive behind-the-scenes effort to counterprogram the Jan. 6 committee's televised hearings this month, Axios' Alayna Treene has learned. Why it matters: Republicans face a daunting challenge in the coming messaging war. The committee has been building toward this moment for months, hoping to use the blockbuster summer hearings to paint a vivid picture of how close Trump and his supporters came to subverting democracy. - Republicans are plotting to compete with the wall-to-wall cable coverage by using their own platforms to argue the committee is a partisan fishing expedition that lacks legal legitimacy.
- That framing will be central to their hopes of defanging whatever negative revelations come to light during the hearings.
Driving the news: The RNC has circulated a one-page memo outlining its messaging points, according to a copy of the document obtained by Axios and first reported by Vox. The talking points include "RNC Goals" and "Requests from [Trump]": - "Attack Nancy Pelosi's committee and its members, portraying them as partisan, illegitimate, and a distraction for real issues."
- "Brand these as rigged hearings" and "Define Democrats being the real election deniers."
- "Shape coverage on networks" and "conservative channels"; "Use studio so that when committee takes a break, we would stream on [Trump] channels."
What we're hearing: Trump and his inner circle will rely heavily on members of Congress — from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — to drive counterprogramming, sources familiar with their planning tell Axios. - Trump himself has not ruled out making some sort of an appearance, one of the sources says.
- Members of House Republican leadership and would-be GOP members of the Jan. 6 committee are planning to meet early next week to go over potential strategy, two senior congressional aides tell Axios.
One key point Republicans plan to hammer is that Democrats' priorities are "out of touch" with what Americans are most concerned about: inflation, spiking gas prices, the baby formula shortage and recent mass shootings. - They're betting voters have Jan. 6 "fatigue," a House GOP leadership aide said.
- "We've got to be rigid and responsible, but a lot of Republicans think if Dems want to just talk about Jan. 6 between now and the midterm election — good luck," the aide added.
Between the lines: Republicans have so far sought to avoid drawing more attention to Jan. 6 in hopes the public would largely forget about the shocking scenes from the Capitol. - Now they're faced with a difficult balancing act: don't give the hearings free publicity but also establish a coordinated defense strategy to push back against the coming bombshells.
Share this story. |     | | | | | | 2. Why Trump endorsed Masters | | Screenshot: Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" Former President Trump endorsed election-denying venture capitalist Blake Masters in the Republican Senate primary in Arizona today after souring on two of his rivals, Alayna reports. Why it matters: In addition to being crucial for determining which party holds the Senate next year, Arizona has been ground zero for election conspiracy theories ever since President Biden eked out his 10,000-vote victory there in 2020. The big picture: Masters — a populist who has embraced a national abortion ban and argued the gender pay gap is a "left-wing narrative" — is far more conservative than most Republican senators. - He's also backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who has endorsed GOP firebrands like Sen. Josh Hawley (who celebrated Trump's endorsement of Masters today) and Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance.
Behind the scenes: Trump, who relishes being a kingmaker and wants to be involved in every race, quickly took a liking to Masters, sources familiar with the matter tell Axios. - One key factor was Masters' attendance at a screening of the 2020 election conspiracy documentary, "2,000 Mules," at Mar-a-Lago last month — a move Trump thought gave him an edge over the other candidates, according to two sources.
- Masters is also the candidate people closest to Trump have been pushing the most, with many quick to point out the similarities between Masters and Vance.
The other side: Trump didn't click with businessman Jim Lamon after they met in person at Mar-a-Lago, two sources familiar with their meeting told Axios. - Trump thought Lamon's attempts to compare himself to the former president were "off-putting," one source explained to Axios.
- Trump felt Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, meanwhile, was "weak" on claims of 2020 election fraud — and made those feelings known in a ruthless message endorsing Masters. (Lamon was not mentioned in the endorsement).
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 3. 🇸🇦 Biden's Saudi flip-flop | | News that President Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia this month, as extensively reported by Axios, warrants a reminder of what he said as a candidate — and what his intelligence community has determined — about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: - Nov. 21, 2019, at a Democratic debate: "I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them; we were going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are. There's very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia."
- Feb. 26, 2021, via an unclassified intelligence report: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi."
| | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Market news worthy of your time | | |  | | | | Get a daily look at the news and trends dominating the worlds of global business and finance. Why it matters: We highlight the stories that matter and share crucial economic insights. Stay informed in just a few short minutes. Subscribe for free | | | | | | 4. 🇺🇦 Charted: 22-fold drop in Ukraine attention |  Data: NewsWhip; Chart: Axios Visuals Social media interactions (likes, comments, shares) on news articles about Ukraine have dropped from 109 million in the first week of the war to 4.8 million, according to NewsWhip data exclusively provided to Axios' Neal Rothschild. Why it matters: Ukraine is entering the next 100 days of the war without the same international swell of attention it had going into the first 100 — with potential ramifications for the level of Western support it can count on for the long haul. "To the people of the United States, do not get used to this war. ... Otherwise, we are risking a never-ending war ... Don't get used to our pain." — Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska to ABC NewsShare this story. | | | | | | | | 5. Tensions flare at gun control markup |  | | | Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | | | | Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), videoconferencing from his home, pulled out a handgun at today's House Judiciary Committee markup on gun control legislation to demonstrate magazines that would be banned under Democratic proposals. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images With images of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting behind him, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) held up a printed-out Washington Post article headlined, "More than 311,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine." | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Market news worthy of your time | | | | | | | | Get a daily look at the news and trends dominating the worlds of global business and finance. Why it matters: We highlight the stories that matter and share crucial economic insights. Stay informed in just a few short minutes. Subscribe for free | | | | 📬 Thanks for reading Sneak! We'll be back on Sunday. In the meantime, tell your friends and family to sign up for any of Axios' national or local newsletters here. |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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