| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
|  Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) listen to Greg Jacob's testimony. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | FOUND — Montana Gov. GREG GIANFORTE's recent whereabouts have been disclosed. The Daily Mail reports that the governor, who refused to explain where he was while his state suffered record flooding, was vacationing in Tuscany. He returned to Montana Thursday. JUST POSTED — "Fifty Years After Watergate, A Generation of Frightened Editors," by John Harris MUST-READ 1/6 COVERAGE — There are excellent write-ups of the new details that were revealed at Thursday's dramatic Jan. 6 hearing (the rioters came within 40 feet of VP MIKE PENCE in the Capitol), and takeaways galore out there. But if you read only one thing to help you understand what the committee was trying to do, make it Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu's latest piece: "The Jan. 6 select committee makes a criminal referral — its own way" As fascinating and even cinematic as the details about then-President DONALD TRUMP's pressure campaign against Trump were, the big question is whether or not it all amounts to a crime. Cheney and Wu note that the committee's members made it clear they believe it does, and that "Trump broke the law in his effort to make former Vice President Mike Pence single-handedly overturn the election." Said committee Vice Chair LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.): "What the president wanted the vice president to do was not just wrong. It was illegal and unconstitutional." More Jan. 6 hearing coverage: — Something to keep an eye on: "Tensions escalate as DOJ renews request for Jan. 6 panel transcripts," by Kyle and Josh Gerstein: "The Justice Department is calling out select committee investigators over their refusal to share full witness transcripts." — Eastman's denial: "JOHN EASTMAN, the lawyer who was advising President Donald J. Trump on efforts to block congressional certification of his 2020 election defeat, disputed on Thursday that he had had any meaningful discussions with VIRGINIA THOMAS or her husband, Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, about issues likely to come before the Supreme Court," NYT's Danny Hakim writes. — The takeaway pieces: "Jan. 6 takeaways: 'Heated' Trump, Pence's near miss with mob," AP … "8 takeaways from the January 6 hearings day 3," CNN — And the L.A. Times' Sarah Wire is up this morning with an in-depth look at the cast of characters who contributed to Trump's efforts to gather "evidence" of voter fraud. "Much of the proof offered in crafting the so-called 'Big Lie' came from a motley crew of both big players and people unfamiliar to the public, who left their daily lives, families and jobs for weeks to travel to Washington or submit affidavits to support the Trump campaign's widely debunked claims of fraud," she writes. "Using public records, months of interviews with people behind the scenes and hundreds of never-before-seen documents, The Times assembled accounts of how the group came together and what it did in the frenetic weeks between election day in 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, to help Trump and his circle push the theory that the election was stolen." SCENES FROM THE HEARING:
|  J. Michael Luttig testifies. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | | 
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo | |  Drew Angerer/Getty Images | Videos: "'Illegal and unconstitutional': Committee says Trump committed crime on Jan. 6" … "'Wimp': Trump's phone call with Pence on Jan. 6 is detailed in deposition" LUTTIG, THE DIRECTOR'S CUT— Speaking of the hearing, star witness J. MICHAEL LUTTIG both flummoxed and shocked viewers yesterday. His halting speaking style at the start confused some people, and his sobering warning at the end was bracing. "Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy, " Luttig said at the close of the hearing. "They would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election, but succeed in 2024 where they failed in 2020. I don't speak those words lightly. I would have never spoken those words ever in my life, except that that's what the former president and his allies are telling us." In February, we spent four hours interviewing Luttig for a "Playbook Deep Dive" podcast that ended up being mostly about his extraordinary role advising Pence on Jan. 6. Given the interest in Luttig this week, we went back through what was left on the cutting room floor to create a new show that goes deep on who Luttig is and where he comes from, which will help you understand why this lifelong right-winger is saying what he's saying now about the threat to democracy. Listen here … Subscribe here on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza .
| | | | A message from Amazon: More than 75% of working Americans lack access to paid parental leave. They face an unfair choice: focus on new parenthood or continue to earn a paycheck. Amazon's paid leave policy allows parents to do both. | | | BIDEN SPEAKS TO PRINT REPORTER — President JOE BIDEN spoke to the AP's Josh Boak in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon for 30 minutes. There was plenty of old-school Biden filibustering that ate up Boak's time. He talked about his desire "to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out." He used the word "literally" at a rate of once every 10 minutes, and peppered his answers with assurances that he was "not being a wise guy," that what he was saying was "not a joke," and introduced one point with the words "here's the deal." But there were also some intriguing moments … — Biden made some news about the revival of his domestic agenda. Yes, the president is eager to discuss his 2021 domestic legislative accomplishments. "If any other president just passed that act [the American Rescue Plan] and the infrastructure bill, they'd say, 'God almighty,'" Biden said. "Name me a president that's done anything like that before. At the same time." But he was also forward-looking on the domestic front, and seemed bullish that he could pass legislation that would (1) lower the cost of prescription drugs, (2) fix supply-chain issues related to microchips, (3) introduce energy-related tax breaks, and (4) reach a deal on taxes that includes a 15% minimum tax on corporations and tax hikes on the "super wealthy." — He's resistant to any evidence that his 2021 policies contributed to inflation. "You could argue whether [the American Rescue Plan] had a marginal, minor impact on inflation," Biden said when asked about Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN's recent admission that it did. "I don't think it did. And most economists do not think it did." That is not accurate. As the headline for a piece on this subject by Vox's Andrew Prokop recently put it, "Biden's American Rescue Plan worsened inflation. The question is how much." — Biden is still a foreign policy wonk at heart. At roughly the same time his domestic agenda dried up, Biden became enormously consequential in his foreign policy. He clearly understands the nature of that political bind: voters care about the economy, not Ukraine, and his decisions on the latter made the former worse. He sees his Ukraine policy as the kind of tough decision that great presidents are eventually rewarded for making — he took on the defense of Ukraine even though it has come at an economic cost to the American people (higher energy prices) and a political cost to him. Biden said he tells aspiring politicians they need to answer this question: "Have you figured out what's worth losing over?" Biden very strongly hints that Ukraine is on that list for him. "I've done foreign policy my whole career," he said. "I'm convinced that if we let Russia roll and Putin roll, he wouldn't stop." Read the full transcript
| | | | A message form Amazon: Amazon provides up to 20 weeks of fully paid leave, allowing hourly employees time to bond with their families without missing a paycheck. | | | BIDEN'S FRIDAY: — 7:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 8:30 a.m.: Biden will host the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. — 11 a.m.: Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN will depart the White House en route to Rehoboth Beach, Del., where they are scheduled to arrive at 11:55 a.m. VP KAMALA HARRIS' FRIDAY: — 10:05 a.m.: The vice president, second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF, HUD Secretary MARCIA FUDGE and EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN will depart D.C. en route to Pittsburgh, Pa. — 1:15 p.m.: Harris will participate in a conversation with community members about removing and replacing lead pipes. — 3:25 p.m.: Harris, Emhoff, Fudge and Regan will leave Pittsburgh to return to D.C. — 4:30 p.m.: Harris and Emhoff will visit Dulles International Airport to meet with aviation and transport workers who are working to deliver infant formula. THE SENATE and HOUSE are out.
| | | | 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. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
|  Receding floodwaters flow past sections of North Entrance Road washed away at Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont., on Thursday. | David Goldman/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | CONGRESS MANCHIN IN THE MIDDLE — While much of the Hill focus right now is on a prospective gun safety package, Dems' climate, tax reform and prescription drugs bill is creeping back into the conversation — that of Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and critical swing vote Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.). The two "met twice this week on a potential party-line package," Burgess Everett reports this morning. "There's more afoot: Schumer and his staff are working with the Senate parliamentarian to help tee up a possible July or August vote. And a prominent Democratic pollster has tested how popular major components of a hypothetical bill would be in Senate battleground states." GUN TALKS LATEST — If you thought Senate negotiators might leave for the weekend with a gun legislation deal in hand, think again. Here are the remaining sticking points, via AP's Alan Fram: "Lawmakers said they remained divided over how to define abusive dating partners who would be legally barred from purchasing firearms. Disagreements were also unresolved over proposals to send money to states that have 'red flag' laws that let authorities temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed dangerous by courts, and to other states for their own violence prevention programs." — Our colleague @marianne_levine: "A gop source familiar now says that 'either the democrats accept what the Republicans are asking for on boyfriend loophole, or it will be dropped entirely.'" CONGRESSIONAL COVID DEAL UNLIKELY — After months of back-and-forth over another funding package to fight the pandemic, prospects of a compromise now appear unlikely "after Senate Republicans accused the White House of being dishonest about the nation's pandemic funding needs," WaPo's Dan Diamond reports. The GOP view: "Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah), who brought the Senate to the brink of a bipartisan $10 billion covid funding deal in March, said the Biden administration had provided 'patently false' information about its inability to buy additional vaccines, treatments and supplies." The White House's view: "[T]hree administration officials insisted that the White House had been transparent about their needs and spending, and that Republicans had continually found new reasons to object to the efforts to secure additional covid funds." ALL POLITICS WHAT'S GOING ON IN MICHIGAN — Michigan's wild gubernatorial primary has kicked RYAN KELLEY, who was recently arrested by the FBI for his actions in D.C. on Jan. 6, to the top of the GOP field. Zach Montellaro, David Siders and Brittany Gibson dig into the sticky situation that Michigan Republicans find themselves in as they try to unseat incumbent Democratic Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER. WHAT'S ON CONSERVATIVES' MINDS — Fox News' Paul Steinhauser goes inside the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual "Road to the Majority" this weekend. "While winning back congressional majorities in November is the main mission, the burgeoning race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination is hovering over the conference. And some top potential contenders in the next White House race have high-profile speaking roles at the gathering." Some of the notable names set to address the crowd: Trump, HERSCHEL WALKER, North Carolina Rep. TED BUDD, South Carolina Sen. TIM SCOTT, NIKKI HALEY and MIKE POMPEO. THE ECONOMY FED UP — Some Wall Street watchers are losing faith in Fed Chair JEROME POWELL. "The complaints about Powell are not so much about this week's interest rate increase, the single biggest hike in three decades, which Wall Street investors initially cheered before sending stocks tanking again Thursday," Ben White writes. "Instead, executives are focused on what they see as Powell getting the persistence and scope of inflation so wrong that he and his Fed colleagues are now being forced to overcompensate on rate increases that could blow the economy into a sharp slump." — Related read: And despite Powell's commitment that the central bank is not trying to induce a recession, NYT's Blake Hounshell writes that a growing chorus "has begun to fret that in trying to tame inflation, the Fed will do exactly that — start a recession, just in time to doom Biden or whomever Democrats nominate in his stead in 2024." TRUMP CARDS FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK — MICHAEL AVENATTI "pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients, taking another step closer toward resolving a flurry of federal charges against him," CNN's Kara Scannell writes.
| | | | A message from Amazon:   Amazon's parental leave policy allows parents to be there for the big and little things. | | | VALLEY TALK FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — In recent weeks, Amazon CEO ANDY JASSY directly called senators to lobby against proposed antitrust legislation that could significantly rein in tech giants, people familiar with the outreach told Emily Birnbaum and Daniel Lippman. Among those Jassy has reached out to recently is Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER. "Sen. Schumer took Mr. Jassy's call and told him that he supports Sen. [AMY] KLOBUCHAR's bill," a Schumer spokesperson said, referring to the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which is co-sponsored by the Minnesota Democrat. Jassy's outreach is an early sign that he is approaching Washington differently than his predecessor, Amazon founder JEFF BEZOS, whose direct interactions with members of Congress was limited over his time at the helm of the e-commerce giant. (Jassy became CEO last July.) Jassy is the latest tech exec seeking to deploy their star power to crush the bill. — Apple CEO TIM COOK met with senators just last week in part to discuss Apple's opposition to the legislation. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL said that the Kentucky Republican did not meet with Cook, and declined to comment when asked if he spoke with Jassy. — Meanwhile, Google's chief legal officer KENT WALKER has spoken directly with multiple members of the committee, and SUNDAR PICHAI, the CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet, made personal phone callsto committee members ahead of the legislation's markup earlier this year. Pichai is also planning to meet with senators in person on Capitol Hill next week to discuss issues including the antitrust bills, according to one Capitol Hill aide familiar with the discussions. A Google spokesperson did not comment directly on the meetings. "We regularly engage with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on a range of issues including economic growth, small business support, immigration reform and cybersecurity," Google spox PETER SCHOTTENFELS told POLITICO. "We'll continue to engage on issues relevant to people and businesses using our products." MUSK READ — Would-be Twitter owner ELON MUSK for the first time spoke to Twitter employees on Thursday, NYT's Mike Isaac writes, and in "an effusive and at times rambling address, he touched on topics as varied as growth, potential layoffs, anonymity, Chinese apps, the existence of alien life-forms and even the cosmic nature of Twitter." MEDIAWATCH MEET THE NEW BOSS — New CNN CEO CHRIS LICHT is set to deliver his second town hall today, which comes as "the network's journalists remain on edge about where they stand in the eyes of their new leader, and whether or not they fit in with his vision for a less-polarizing, non-partisan, post-Zucker, Zaz-friendly CNN," Puck's Dylan Byers writes , dubbing it "Lichtxiety.". "Licht is indeed evaluating talent, but there's some nuance to his thinking that goes well beyond concerns about partisanship. His greater ambition, sources familiar with his thinking tell me, is to discourage spectacle and alarmism, as well as the chest-thumping fulminations that defined JEFF ZUCKER's CNN during the Trump era." FOR YOUR RADAR — "USA Today said on Thursday that it had removed 23 articles from its website after an investigation into a reporter's work revealed sources that appeared to be fabricated," NYT's Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson report. TV TONIGHT — PBS' "Washington Week": Carol Leonnig, Scott MacFarlane, Eva McKend and Ayesha Rascoe. SUNDAY SO FAR … ABC "This Week with George Stephanopoulos": Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). Panel: Chris Christie, Heidi Heitkamp, Jonathan Karl and Averi Harper. FOX "Fox News Sunday": Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Panel: Ben Domenech, Catherine Lucey, Howard Kurtz and Harold Ford Jr. CBS "Face the Nation": Scott Gottlieb … David Malpass … Ibram X. Kendi. CNN "Inside Politics": Jonathan Martin, Audie Cornish, Tarini Parti, Melanie Zanona and Carrie Cordero. NBC "Meet the Press": Panel: Peter Alexander, Brendan Buck, María Teresa Kumar and Betsy Woodruff Swan.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Joe and Jill Biden are celebrating their 45th anniversary today. Nancy Pelosi celebrated the Golden State Warriors' NBA championship over the Boston Celtics. Greg Steube learned about the power of TV magic. Bill Clinton wrote seven newly uncovered letters to Gabriel García Márquez, including a 1999 missive about his and Hillary Clinton's reaction to a Colombian vallenato concert. Andy Levin is getting back into yoga, and Tim Ryan wants to join. Union Station's "multibillion-dollar redevelopment" plan came to life in renderings of "modernized tracks and platforms," via DCist. We're just gonna say: We'll believe it when we see it. Here's some fun photos from our Congress team's happy hour with Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Reps. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Julia Letlow (R-La.) moonlighting as journalists on Wednesday: Pic … Another pic OUT AND ABOUT — Shinola's D.C. flagship store celebrated Pride Month with a charity shop night benefitting Whitman-Walker on Wednesday, hosted by Ruthie Underwood, Raul Alvillar, Matt Dornic, Kellan Baker and Pia Carusone. Whitman-Walker co-CEOs Naseema Shafi and Ryan Moran both gave remarks about their work in the community. Partners for the evening were all LGBTQIA-owned local businesses: Sips and bites were provided by cocktail bar Jane Jane and floral was from Flowers on 14th. SPOTTED: Kaitlan Collins, Josh Dawsey, Jackie Kucinich, Kristine Coratti, Sara Murray, Kate Bennett, Peter Morris, Gautam Raghavan, Ron and Sara Bonjean, Dannia and Maha Hakki, Lauren Pratapas, Kris Coratti, Aditi Hardikar, Caroline Phillips and Tammy Haddad. Pic, via Brian Stukes/Getty Images MEDIA MOVES — POLITICO founding editor John Harris is taking on a new role as editorial chair. The announcement … Karolina Waclawiak will take over as editor in chief of BuzzFeed News, where she has been a culture editor. More from WSJ … ABC has named its team of midterm reporters/producers: Libby Cathey, Miles Cohen, Abby Cruz, Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa, Will McDuffie and Paulina Tam. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jennifer Kent has joined the Messina Group as a partner where she will focus on growing its healthcare and tech practices. She most recently was director of the California Department of Health Care Services. TRANSITIONS — Samantha Schifrin will be foreign policy and defense adviser to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). She currently is legislative director and national security adviser to Rep. David Price (D-N.C.). … Michael Schoenfeld is joining Brunswick Group as a partner. He previously was VP for public affairs and government relations and chief comms officer at Duke University. … Rebecca Tulloch is now director of scheduling for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). She most recently was director of operations for Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) and Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) … Newt Gingrich … Matt Canter of Global Strategy Group … Matt Miller of Vianovo … Alex Weprin … Diane Blagman of Greenberg Traurig … Maxwell Nunes … CNBC's Christina Wilkie … CNN's Allie Malloy … Kent Lassman … Paul Steinhauser … Nisha Ramachandran of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus … NOAA's b Korenha … Scott Thuman … Jennifer Myers … David Feinman … Gabe Horwitz … Chris Bedford of The Federalist … WaPo's Maxine Joselow … POLITICO's Dan O'Connor, Elizabeth Kisiday and Nick Taylor-Vaisey … E&E News' Mia Kalt … Amazon's Jessica Boulanger … Boris Abreu ... Katie Grant Drew ... The Daily Beast's Will Sommer ... CBS' Nicole Domenica Sganga ... PBS NewsHour's Jaywon Choe ... Linda Chavez … Kayla Anderson of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' reelect … Chris Jennings … Locust Street Group's Noah Cavicchi … Melissa Sabatine ... Janice Lachance ... Katie Wright … former HHS Secretary Alex Azar … Chris Garcia … former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett … Kerri Chyka … Tory Burch … Jacob McIntosh of Molly Allen Associates … Nora Taktajian of Rep. Doris Matsui's (D-Calif.) office … Jordan Wells (32) 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 Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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