| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
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Emily Kohrs revealed that the grand jury decided not to invite Donald Trump to testify because it wasn’t worth the fight that he would put up. | Andrew Harnik, File/AP Photo | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Did EMILY KOHRS just save DONALD TRUMP from prosecution in Georgia? Kohrs is the 30-year-old woman from the Atlanta area who was between retail jobs last year when she was suddenly tasked with one of the most sensitive jobs in America: forewoman of the special grand jury investigating whether Trump and his allies committed any crimes in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. The Kohrs-led jury listened to secret testimony for eight months last year and issued its findings and recommendations in a mostly secret report last week. The next step in the process is for FANI WILLIS, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., to decide whether she wants to indict anyone, which would require impaneling a new grand jury with the power to issue criminal charges. With their work finished, Kohrs and her colleagues were instructed by the judge overseeing the case that, per Georgia law, they were permitted to talk to the media about their experience but not about their deliberations. By all indications, Kohrs was not actually seeking publicity. Her first interview this week was with the Associated Press, which said it “identified Kohrs after her name was included on subpoenas obtained through open records requests.” The initial Associated Press piece on Tuesday was quickly followed by ones in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and The New York Times the same day. By Tuesday night Kohrs had jumped to network TV with an interview on NBC News. Yesterday she popped up on CNN. By the end of the day, Kohrs was no longer responding to media inquiries. There were a few things that stood out about her media tour: — She seemed to be complying, or at least attempting to comply, with the prohibition against revealing deliberations. She told colorful stories about the experience of being a grand juror, including what it was like to encounter LINDSEY GRAHAM, RUDY GIULIANI, and BRIAN KEMP and some of the jokes that witnesses told. (“When she asked DAVID RALSTON, the former Georgia House speaker who died in November, if he swore to tell the truth during his testimony last July,” the NYT reported, “he told her ‘it was the first time in 60 years he had said “I do” to a woman,’ Ms. Kohrs said.”) She often paused in her interviews to think through whether she was allowed to answer a question or not. — But she also may have crossed the line. She revealed, for instance, that the grand jury decided not to invite Trump to testify because it wasn’t worth the fight that he would put up. (Though she also wanted to swear him in: “I thought it’d be really cool to get sixty seconds with President Trump, of me looking at him and being like, ’Do you solemnly swear,’” she told NBC News.) She disclosed some of the evidence, including that the grand jury heard lots of recordings of Trump. She also revealed that their final report recommended indictments for over a dozen individuals and she strongly hinted that Trump was among them. (“You're not going to be shocked,” she told the Times. “It's not rocket science.”) Some of these revelations do seem like they could be in the category of grand jury deliberations. — She seemed genuinely giddy about the experience and the chance to talk to the press about it. Most of the coverage emphasized her occasional giggling in the TV interviews and her awe at her brush with history. “Do you know,” she told her boyfriend one day, according to the AJC, “that if I was in a room with Donald Trump and [President JOE] BIDEN and they knew who I was, they would both want to speak to me.”
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Learn how Amazon is supporting veterans and military spouses. | | | Predictably, Trump seized on the alleged violations of grand jury secrecy. “This Georgia case is ridiculous, a strictly political continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time,” he said on Truth Social. “Now you have an extremely energetic young woman, the (get this!) ‘foreperson’ of the Racist D.A.’s Special Grand Jury, going around and doing a Media Tour revealing, incredibly, the Grand Jury’s inner workings & thoughts. This is not JUSTICE, this is an illegal Kangaroo Court.” Never mind that last week, when the grand jury report came out, Trump said, “Thank you to the Special Grand Jury in the Great State of Georgia for your Patriotism & Courage. Total exoneration.” And then the lawyers pounced. Last night, CBS’s Bob Costa and Graham Kates reported that some lawyers for those targeted in the probe “are preparing to move to quash any possible indictments by the district attorney.” The reaction from legal scholars has been all over the place. Some have emphasized that Kohrs didn’t reveal much beyond colorful anecdotes and that even the arguably deliberative material she disclosed was already widely assumed to be the case. Besides, the special grand jury doesn’t have the power to indict (that’s for a “regular” criminal grand jury to decide) let alone convict (that’s what a trial jury would be for). Other lawyers have been more alarmed and believe Kohrs may have presented Trump and his allies with a real gift, both in terms of the raw politics of discrediting the investigation and also in terms of the legal options now available to challenge any indictments stemming from the special grand jury’s work. We will know soon if Kohrs’ two-day, five-interview tour has affected Willis’s view of how to proceed. She recently said decisions about indictments are “imminent.” Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
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Amazon offers free skills training and mentorship opportunities to support our military community and veterans like Anthony, who started as a temporary associate and is now a site safety manager thanks to free skills training. Read Anthony’s story. Sponsored by Amazon   | | | SCOTT IN IOWA — “Tim Scott inches toward 2024 run, calling in Iowa for 'creating converts to conservatism,’” by Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel and Francesca Block: “At both events, [South Carolina Sen. TIM] SCOTT called for moving away from the ‘grievance’ politics of the left, suggesting that President Joe Biden and the Democrats have done everything short of drafting an actual blueprint to ruin America. ‘I understand that President Biden likes to live in the past. I get it. He’s been in Washington for 50 years,’ Scott said at Drake University. ‘But we need new leaders who will lift us up, not tear us down.’” Related reads: “Tim Scott previews combative presidential vision in Iowa speech,” by WaPo’s Michael Scherer … “Scott speaks of ‘new American sunrise’ as he mulls WH bid,” by AP’s Thomas Beaumont TRUMP IN OHIO — Former President DONALD TRUMP made his way to East Palestine, Ohio, yesterday, calling attention to the ongoing situation following the train derailment in the community and calling out the Biden administration for “betrayal” in the federal response to the situation. Here’s a roundup of the coverage: “Trump criticizes federal response to Ohio train derailment,” AP … “Trump points fingers at the Biden administration in East Palestine visit,” NBC … “Trump greets East Palestine residents after train derailment,” Cleveland.com DeSANTIS IN HIS NEW BOOK — The Guardian’s David Smith obtained an early copy of Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS’ forthcoming book, “The Courage to Be Free,” and highlights some of the choice bits. One place where DeSantis and Trump agree: “DeSantis … quotes Trump as saying that the media are ‘the enemy of the American people,’ and comments that national legacy press outlets ‘spent the next four years proving Trump right.’” One place where they differ: “DeSantis does make clear that he disagreed with Trump’s decision to extend lockdown guidelines beyond the initial 15 days, and to sign a $2.2 [trillion] coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress.” On foreign policy: “He scorns the GEORGE W. BUSH foreign policy that led to the Iraq war.” On Jan. 6: “DeSantis makes no mention of the deadly insurrection in his 288-page tome.” More on DeSantis: “Trump demonized the media. DeSantis wants to diminish them,” by Matt Dixon in Tallahassee: “At the governor’s urging, Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature is pushing to weaken state laws that have long protected journalists against defamation suits and frivolous lawsuits.” JUST POSTED — “Georgia Gun Laws Weigh on Atlanta’s Bid to Host 2024 Democratic Convention,” by Jonathan Weisman and Maya King: “The Secret Service is likely to declare the convention a ‘national security special event’ and supersede state ordinances with its own rules inside a fortified perimeter. But in hotels, along bus routes and at meetings and parties far from the core convention sites, guns could find their way in [to an Atlanta convention], security consultants are warning, especially if Georgia’s Republican governor, BRIAN KEMP, holds to his pro-gun views and refuses to intervene.“
| | BIDEN’S THURSDAY:
9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 1:30 p.m.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ THURSDAY: The VP has nothing on her public schedule.
THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are out. | | | | | | We’re spilling the tea (and drinking tons of it in our newsroom) in U.K. politics with our latest newsletter, London Playbook PM. Get to know all the movers and shakers in Westminster and never miss a beat of British politics with a free subscription. Don’t miss out, we’ve got some exciting moves coming. Sign up today. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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A U.S. Air Force pilot looks down at the Chinese surveillance balloon on Feb. 3, a day before it was shot down, in a photo taken from inside the cockpit released by the Pentagon yesterday. | Courtesy of the Department of Defense | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | THE WHITE HOUSE BIDEN RETURNS FROM EUROPE — “Putin and Biden Shore Up Alliances in Dueling Appearances,” by NYT’s Michael Shear, David Sanger and Anton Troianovski in Warsaw: “On the surface, it looked like a reversion to the Cold War era. The reality was even more complicated.” Related: Read our colleague Alex Ward’s reflections on a week abroad in Warsaw CONGRESS MR. SMITH SHAKES UP WASHINGTON — “House GOP’s top tax man throws K Street in a tizzy,” by Brian Faler: Ways and Means Chair JASON SMITH (R-Mo.) “is making it clear he isn’t the sort of Chamber of Commerce Republican his side usually picks for this job. He is going out of his way to let corporate America know he’s not terribly concerned with its problems, even if its taxes are going up substantially, while promising a lot more scrutiny of its relations with China. ‘Our priorities have changed — our priorities are small business, working-class Americans and farmers over big corporations,’ he said in an interview.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “2 former House GOP candidates alerted to improper requests for Air Force records,” by Olivia Beavers: “SAM PETERS and KEVIN DELLICKER are the fourth and fifth known recipients of letters regarding the records releases, which have sparked an investigation by House Republicans.” MR. SUNSHINE — “Giving Jan. 6 Tapes to Carlson, McCarthy Keeps a Promise to the Hard Right,” by NYT’s Luke Broadwater and Jonathan Swan: “‘I promised,’ [House Speaker KEVIN] McCARTHY said on Wednesday in a brief phone interview in which he defended his decision to grant [Fox News host TUCKER] CARLSON exclusive access to the more than 40,000 hours of security footage. ‘I was asked in the press about these tapes, and I said they do belong to the American public. I think sunshine lets everybody make their own judgment.’ “Still, the sunshine Mr. McCarthy referred to will, for now, be filtered through a very specific prism — that of Mr. Carlson, a hero of the hard right who has insinuated without evidence that the Jan. 6 attack was a ‘false flag’ operation carried out by the government. After Mr. Carlson has had his way with the video, Mr. McCarthy said he planned to make the footage more widely available.” Related read: “Schumer: McCarthy endangering lawmakers by giving Carlson Jan. 6 footage,” by WaPo’s Mariana Alfaro TRUMP CARDS NEW SUBPOENAS DROP — “Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Investigation,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Michael Schmidt: “The decision by the special counsel, JACK SMITH, to subpoena [IVANKA] TRUMP and [JARED] KUSHNER underscores how deeply into Mr. Trump’s inner circle Mr. Smith is reaching, and is the latest sign that no potential high-level witness is off limits. … It is unclear whether Mr. Trump will seek to block Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner from testifying on the grounds of executive privilege, as he has tried with some other witnesses.” MORE POLITICS SUSSING OUT THE SENATE — “2024’s sprawling Senate map comes down to these 3 Dems,” by Burgess Everett: Democratic Sens. SHERROD BROWN (Ohio), JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and JON TESTER (Mont.) are “staring down their toughest political challenge yet: pulling a SUSAN COLLINS. The moderate GOP Mainer successfully persuaded her state’s voters to split their tickets in a presidential year; Collins won reelection by 8 points in 2020 even as Biden defeated Trump by 9 points in her state. For Democrats to hang onto their 51-seat majority, they need Collins-style performances from at least two of their three red-state incumbents in an era of declining split-ticket voters.”
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The unemployment rate is two to three times higher for military spouses than the general public. Amazon is committed to helping the military community with the military spouse fellowship, which provides professional training, networking and job experience. Learn how Amazon supports the military community. Sponsored by Amazon   | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH — “Justices skeptical of bid to make Twitter liable for terrorism,” by Rebecca Kern and Josh Gerstein: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed to favor tech companies in litigation over their liability for aiding terrorist acts, but several justices appeared concerned that a sweeping ruling could undercut prosecutorial tools the government has come to rely on in the war on terror.” — “Unlikely alliances in Supreme Court opinions on overtime, death penalty,” by NPR’s Nina Totenberg POLICY CORNER THE PRICE OF CLEAR SKIES — “Pentagon Spent At Least $1.5 Million on Missiles to Down Three High-Altitude Objects,” by WSJ’s Nancy Youssef and Aruna Viswanatha: “That figure is only for the four AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles used to bring down the objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory and Lake Huron. It doesn’t include the cost for Navy, Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard and Canadian forces to search for the debris, which likely will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost, the officials said.” THE DAIRY-ISH AISLE — “No cow needed: Oat and soy can be called milk, FDA proposes,” by AP’s Jonel Aleccia SWAMP READ — “Hundreds of Energy Department Officials Hold Stocks Related to Agency’s Work Despite Warnings,” by WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus, Brody Mullins, Chad Day and Coulter Jones FOR YOUR RADAR — “Arms sales under Biden to get stricter human rights review, officials say,” by Reuters’ Patricia Zengerle WAR IN UKRAINE TKO TK — “No economic ‘knockout’ yet from West’s sanctions on Russia,” by AP’s Fatima Hussein: “The ruble trades around the same 75-per-dollar rate seen in the weeks before the war, though Russia is using capital controls to prop up the currency. And while Russia’s economy did shrink 2.2% in 2022, that was far short of predictions of 15% or more that Biden administration officials had showcased. This year, its economy is projected to outperform the U.K.’s, growing 0.3% while the U.K. faces a 0.6% contraction, according to the International Monetary Fund.” RIPPLE EFFECT — “One year into Russia's war, a key global food security deal hangs in the balance,” by Susannah Savage, Meredith Lee Hill and Sarah Anne Aarup PRE-ANNIVERSARY TOP-ED — “Ukraine Needs More Weapons and Support From the West,” by BORIS JOHNSON and LINDSEY GRAHAM in WSJ: “Unless he is fully defeated in Ukraine, Mr. [VLADIMIR PUTIN]’s revanchist ambitions won’t be checked. We must accelerate Western support for the Ukrainians and give them what they need to finish the job.” Related reads: “Yellen Calls for More Ukraine Support and Warns China Against Helping Russia,” by NYT’s Alan Rappeport … “Word war: In Russia-Ukraine war, information became a weapon,” by AP’s David Klepper AMERICA AND THE WORLD DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “U.S. diplomatic counter-offensive targets China’s ‘false information,’” by Erin Banco and Phelim Kine: “The Biden administration isn’t just calling China out in public. It has embarked on an extensive private pressure campaign to rally allies to its side and make it clear to Chinese officials that the U.S. has proof of their nefarious actions. “Over the past few weeks, the U.S. has sent detailed talking points to allies, held more than a dozen meetings with Chinese officials and — most recently — shared new intelligence with both to up pressure on Beijing, according to interviews with three officials and a diplomatic cable obtained by POLITICO. “While early conversations focused mostly on the spy balloon that transited the U.S. in early February, more recent warnings have turned to the possibility of China supplying weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine — a defiant violation of what the Biden administration has called a ‘red line’ in its relationship with Beijing.” Related read: “U.S. Considers Release of Intelligence on China’s Potential Arms Transfer to Russia,” WSJ’s Vivian Salama, William Mauldin and Nancy A. Youssef BEYOND THE BELTWAY TRAGEDY IN ORLANDO — “9-year-old and TV journalist killed in Florida after suspect returns to scene of earlier fatal shooting, sheriff says,” by NBC’s Phil Helsel STORM WARNING — “California may get slammed by brutal storm front sweeping U.S.,” by AP’s Amancai Biraben and Jim Salter COLORADO SHOOTING UPDATE — “Detective: Colorado Springs club shooter ran neo-Nazi site,” by AP’s Colleen Slevin
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 3/1 TO DISCUSS AMERICAN PRIVACY LAWS: Americans have fewer privacy rights than Europeans, and companies continue to face a minefield of competing state and foreign legislation. There is strong bipartisan support for a federal privacy bill, but it has yet to materialize. Join POLITICO on 3/1 to discuss what it will take to get a federal privacy law on the books, potential designs for how this type of legislation could protect consumers and innovators, and more. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Ron Klain lovingly memorialized his mother, who passed away this week. Steve Bannon is being sued for $480,000 in unpaid legal bills. Jamie Raskin announced he is “midway” through his cancer treatment. Elon Musk and Gavin Newsom recharged their bromance in California. Josh Shapiro said that he hasn’t received any pressure to ask John Fetterman to resign from the U.S. Senate — “and if I did, I would dismiss it immediately.” Bob Casey’s brother, Patrick, has registered as a lobbyist. AND THE AWARD GOES TO — Lester Holt received a 2023 Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication from the Arthur W. Page Center last night in a virtual ceremony. More info FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Progressive Policy Institute is launching the New Ukraine Project to “report on the war, its impact on everyday life in Ukraine, and its wider implications for peace and international security.” The effort will be led by journalist and author Tamar Jacoby, who is currently based in Kyiv. MEDIA MOVE — Jorge Ventura is joining NewsNation as a national correspondent based in Atlanta. He previously was a lead correspondent for The Daily Caller. TRANSITIONS — Shin Inouye is now deputy assistant secretary for comms with the Education Department. He previously was EVP of comms at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. … T.W. Arrighi is now VP at Push Digital. He previously was national press secretary at the NRSC and is a Jim Banks, Mimi Walters and Mike Pompeo alum. … Tayhlor Coleman is joining Resonance Campaigns as a principal. She most recently was a senior account executive at AL Media and is a DCCC alum. … … Elizabeth Northrup is now chief client officer at Rokk Solutions. She previously was EVP of corporate affairs at BCW Global … Josh Meservey is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. He previously was a research fellow focused on Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation. … Steve Perrotta is now a public policy director at the Society for Human Resource Management. He previously was labor and retirement policy director for Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and is a John Boehner and Amo Houghton alum. ENGAGED — Ben Krauss, a senior adviser at the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, proposed to Shana Mansbach, speechwriter and senior adviser to the secretary of State, on Tuesday in Athens, Greece. She was on a work trip with Secretary Antony Blinken, and he surprised her on the roof of her hotel. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and John Rose (R-Tenn.) … Jim Manley … Look Ahead Strategies’ Chris Martin … Lois Romano … Jennifer Epstein … POLITICO’s Katy Murphy and Andrew Briz … Kate Cox … Patrick Svitek … Rebecca Chalif … One Campaign’s Gayle Smith … Marissa Mitrovich … Flynn Chapman … Tommy Mattocks … S.E. Cupp … Arjun Mody … Tom Pino … Real Chemistry’s Gary Karr (61) … Patrick Velliky … Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Nikki McArthur … AT Johnston … Molly Hooper … Shannon Geison of Rep. Andrea Salinas’ (D-Ore.) office … Leah Clapman … Courtney Matson … Ziya Smallens of Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) office … Jill Hudson … Bernie Robinson … former Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) … Joey Brown of Sen. John Thune’s (R-S.D.) office 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 DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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