🤫 GOP's hidden fingerprints

Plus: Biden's smuggler crackdown | Monday, September 12, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Better Medicare Alliance   Axios Sneak Peek By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Zachary Basu · Sep 12, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,065 words ... 4 minutes. 🗳️ Join Axios' Alexi McCammond and Alayna Treene at 8am ET tomorrow for an event on voter access for the midterms. Guests include Keisha Lance Bottoms — former Atlanta mayor, now a White House official. Register here.     1 big thing: GOP's stealth cash Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   Deep-pocketed Republican groups are pouring millions into efforts to knock off hard-right GOP primary candidates — while ensuring the source of the cash stays shrouded until after voters select their nominees, Axios' Lachlan Markay reports. Why it matters: Through "pop-up" super PACs, frequently branded with local-sounding or vaguely ideological names, Republican operatives in Washington can try to tip the scales of key intra-party fights without leaving any fingerprints. Driving the news: The latest battleground is New Hampshire, where high-dollar super PACs are running millions in ads boosting more mainstream Republican contenders and attacking their right-wing rivals ahead of tomorrow's primaries. White Mountain PAC was formed late last month and has already spent nearly $5 million backing Republican state Sen. Chuck Morse and hitting his hardline U.S. Senate primary opponent, Don Bolduc. The intrigue: The New York Times reported this month that White Mountain is "linked to" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) political operation. There's no information in the public domain proving those links. And that appears to be by design — its New Hampshire foray was timed so voters won't know who's funding the group until its next financial filing in October. McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund previously bankrolled a super PAC that attacked Republican Senate candidate Eric Greitens in Missouri. It timed that spending to forestall donor disclosure until after the primary, which Greitens lost. Between the lines: Backing from "establishment" figures in Washington can be a political liability in primary contests in which pro-Trump GOP base voters often turn out in droves. By carefully timing an independent expenditure campaign, operatives can drop millions into a hard-fought race before voters have any idea where the money is coming from. Zoom out: Also in New Hampshire, a group called American Liberty Action PAC has spent about $730,000 boosting Keene Mayor George Hansel's Republican House bid against his pro-Trump opponent Bob Burns. Another group, the Eighteen Fifty Four Fund, has given millions to pop-up super PACs aimed at taking out hard-right midterm candidates, again timing those donations to be disclosed only after the relevant contests. In Wyoming, national Republicans unsuccessfully worked to fend off a Trump-backed challenge to Rep. Liz Cheney in ways that obscured their involvement. The other side: Democrats have employed similar tactics to muddle their own involvement in GOP primary races this year. Pop-up super PAC Democratic Colorado worked to boost hard-right Senate candidate Ron Hanks against the more moderate Joe O'Dea. Only after O'Dea prevailed did FEC filings reveal the group was entirely financed by Senate Majority PAC — a high-dollar group affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Share this story.     2. 🇬🇹 Biden's smuggler crackdown A makeshift memorial is erected at the site where 53 migrants died in San Antonio. Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images   GUATEMALA CITY — The Biden administration could begin forcing more human smugglers arrested in other countries to face the U.S. justice system in an effort to crack down on the illegal networks booming throughout the Western Hemisphere, Axios' Stef Kight reports. Why it matters: The border crisis is both a humanitarian challenge and a sensitive political issue. Republicans' aggressively messaging on the issue has prompted some Democrats in close midterm contests to criticize their own president. A record 750 migrants have died at the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year, with many facing increasingly treacherous conditions on their journeys to the U.S., CNN reported. Driving the news: Stef was invited to embed with a special group of Guatemalan national police to observe how U.S.-trained units operate — the first time a U.S. reporter was given such access to these agents and tactical operations. After a sweeping operation last month, four Guatemalans are facing extradition to the U.S., suspected of smuggling "large numbers" of migrants across Mexico and leading a woman to her death in Texas last April. It would be the first time Guatemalan citizens are extradited on suspicion of human smuggling and could open doors for others responsible for high-profile, deadly smuggling incidents to face prosecution in the U.S. The same unit involved in the multi-site raid is currently investigating two such incidents — including the recent tragedy in San Antonio that left 53 migrants dead inside a tractor-trailer. Keep reading.     3. ♀️ The "Fetterwoman" strategy John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat, prepares to throw a T-shirt that states "FETTERWOMAN" to supporters during a rally. Photo: Mark Makela via Getty Images   BLUE BELL, Pa. — As the hulking man tossed pink T-shirts into the crowd and roared, "I am John Fetterwoman," he drew conservative commentators' ire but screams of approval from a heavily female abortion-rights crowd, Axios' Sophia Cai reports. The big picture: Pennsylvania — where Fetterman is facing off against Republican Mehmet Oz in one of the most important Senate races in the country — is among the swing states most supportive of abortion rights. Fetterman has been one of the most charismatic examples of Democratic candidates who could court back working-class men lost to Republicans in recent presidential cycles. But his pink-T pitch to a crowd of 2,700 at a community college gymnasium Sunday was aimed squarely at suburban women. Details: "Women are the reason we can win," Fetterman said in an 11-minute stump speech. "Don't piss women off." "This decision is between a woman and a real doctor," he said of the medical procedure, a dig at Oz's career as a celebrity doctor on TV. Keep reading.     A message from Better Medicare Alliance Medicare Advantage helps lower health care costs for seniors     Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans spend nearly $2,000 less on out-of-pocket costs and premiums each year than those enrolled in fee-for-service plans. Lower costs are just another advantage of Medicare Advantage. Learn more.     4. 🚨 Jan. 6 probe escalates Former President Trump holds court on his golf course in Sterling, Va. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP   With former President Trump in the D.C. area for a visit to his Virginia golf club, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department has issued about 40 subpoenas over the past week related to the 2020 election and Jan. 6. The subpoena targets ranged from low-level aides to senior Trump advisers "who are close to the former president and have played significant roles in his post-White House life," according to the Times. Two top Trump advisers, Boris Epshteyn and Mike Roman, reportedly had their phones seized. Why it matters: It's a stark reminder that Trump's potential legal exposure is not limited to the criminal investigation of his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.     5. 🌕 Parting shot President Biden speaks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP 60 years after President John F. Kennedy's iconic speech vowing to land astronauts on the Moon, President Biden urged Americans to rally around a new "moonshot" and "national purpose" — ending cancer "as we know it."     A message from Better Medicare Alliance See why 29 million seniors choose Medicare Advantage     Seniors in Medicare Advantage spend nearly 36% less on health care costs and have a 43% lower rate of avoidable hospitalizations. No wonder 94% of seniors are satisfied with their Medicare Advantage health care coverage. Learn more about the advantages of Medicare Advantage.   📬 Thanks for reading tonight. This newsletter was edited by Zachary Basu and copy-edited by Kathie Bozanich. Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 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. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: