| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
|  The crimes that Jack Smith alleged yesterday against Donald Trump are far grander in scope than the business records fraud case in New York or the classified documents case in Florida. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | This is a very different indictment. The crimes that JACK SMITH alleged yesterday against DONALD TRUMP are far grander in scope than the business records fraud case in New York or the classified documents case in Florida. Federal prosecutors are accusing Trump of a broad three-pronged attack on democracy, a trio of conspiracies that each “targeted a bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation's process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.” The ambitious, sweeping nature of the crimes alleged make it one of the most significant documents of our political era. But because it is such an unprecedented set of accusations, it is equally unclear how these charges will hold up in court. Read the indictment WHAT’S NEW? Much of the information in the indictment regarding these three conspiracies was previously uncovered by the Jan. 6 committee. But Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney spotted a few new details:
- JEFFREY CLARK, the midlevel DOJ official who is alleged to have played a central role in Trump’s scheme, is said to have been offered and accepted the job of acting attorney general on Jan. 3, 2021. The House Jan. 6 committee, Josh and Kyle write, found some evidence of the move but “did not confirm that Trump had made the official appointment,” which was later rescinded under threat of mass resignations at DOJ.
- PAT PHILBIN, Trump’s deputy White House counsel, allegedly “warned Clark that if he and Trump pressed ahead with plans to stay in power past Biden’s scheduled inauguration, there would be ‘riots in the streets’ across the country. According to the indictment, Clark responded, ‘That’s why we have an Insurrection Act.’”
- MIKE PENCE kept contemporaneous notes as he was pressed by Trump to overturn the election in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6. “In one Dec. 29, 2020, conversation, Trump falsely told Pence that the Justice Department had identified ‘major infractions’ in election integrity, prosecutors say.”
THE CO-CONSPIRATORS: The indictment lists six unnamed individuals who allegedly helped Trump advance the plot to subvert the election. Five of the people are clearly identifiable, as Josh and Kyle and many other media outlets have reported:
- RUDY GIULIANI, Trump’s lawyer and the leader of an effort to pressure state legislators to reverse election results.
- JOHN EASTMAN, a constitutional lawyer who helped develop the strategy to pressure Pence to overturn the election on Jan. 6.
- SIDNEY POWELL, a conservative lawyer who pushed fringe theories about manipulation of voting machines.
- Clark, who pressed DOJ leaders to sow doubt about the election results.
- KEN CHESEBRO, an architect of key elements of Trump’s fake elector strategy.
The sixth alleged co-conspirator is described as a political consultant who helped implement a plot to install false slates of electors. That person’s identity, despite the reams of public reporting on Trump post-election scheming, remains unconfirmed. Expect to see more on this in the coming days. THE DEFENSE: Trump’s main defenses against conviction don’t require a defense attorney: Stall the start of any trial, win the 2024 presidential election, and end the case with either a pliable new AG or a self-pardon. But short of that rather remarkable strategy, two lines of defense have already emerged. First, Trump will argue that anything he said about fraud is protected speech under the First Amendment. The argument has already been panned by legal pundits who point out that speech — e.g. “Stick ‘em up and give me all your money!”— is routinely used as evidence to establish the predicate of a crime. Trump may be on more solid ground with his second defense: Smith can’t prove former Trump really knew there was no election fraud. While the indictment is brimming with details about how Trump was repeatedly told by the people who were in the best position to know that the election was fairly decided, Trump will likely argue that he genuinely believed there was fraud and therefore he didn’t act “corruptly.” THE STAKES: We’ve known for a while that an indictment related to Jan. 6 was coming. Those expectations tend to dull some of the awe about what just happened. But if you want to be reminded of how historic yesterday was, check out this piece in Slate by UCLA law professor RICK HASEN: “U.S. v. Trump Will Be the Most Important Case in Our Nation’s History.” “Forget hush money payments to porn stars hidden as business expenses. Forget showing off classified documents about Iran attack plans to visitors, and then ordering the pool guy to erase the security tapes revealing that he was still holding onto documents that he had promised to return. Forget even corrupt attempts to interfere with election results in Georgia in 2020. “The federal indictment just handed down by special counsel Jack Smith is not only the most important indictment by far of former President Donald Trump. It is perhaps the most important indictment ever handed down to safeguard American democracy and the rule of law in any U.S. court against anyone.” THE JUDGE: In TANYA CHUTKAN, Josh and Kyle write, Trump has drawn a judge who has “already dealt the ex-president one of the most significant legal blows of his lifetime” — a November 2021 ruling giving the House Jan. 6 committee access to Trump’s White House files. “That evidence — call logs, memos, internal strategy papers and more from the desks of Trump’s most trusted advisers — became the backbone of the committee’s evidence and shaped much of the public’s understanding of his effort to seize a second term he didn’t win,” they write. Wrote Chutkan at the time, “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.” Related read: “The judge assigned to Trump’s Jan. 6 case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters,” by AP’s Michael Kunzelman THE REACTION: The Trump campaign issued a mostly predictably aggrieved statement, with the flourish of calling the indictment part of a pattern of persecution that is “reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the Soviet Union and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.” Meanwhile, conservative media institutions — even those that wish to usher in a post-Trump GOP — greeted the indictment with deep skepticism:
- The WSJ’s editorial page worries that Smith’s theory of the case “potentially criminalizes many kinds of actions and statements by a President that a prosecutor deems to be false.” The piece argues for a slippery slope: “It makes any future election challenges, however valid, legally vulnerable to a partisan prosecutor. And it might have criminalized the actions by AL GORE and GEORGE W. BUSH to contest the Florida election result in 2000.”
- National Review is even more dubious, declaring, “This Trump Indictment Shouldn’t Stand.” Smith, the editors write, “is endeavoring to criminalize protected political speech and flimsy legal theories — when the Supreme Court has repeatedly admonished prosecutors to refrain from creative theories to stretch penal laws to reach misconduct that Congress has not made illegal.”
- Meanwhile, Trump stalwarts fanned out last night less concerned with the nuances of Smith’s legal theories than with asking, What about Hunter? Breitbart’s headline: “Indictment 3.0: Jack Smith Indicts Trump Day After Hunter, Joe Biden Implicated.”
Trump’s rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, meanwhile, issued responses that were predictable: Most respected the dominant view of the GOP base that Trump is being railroaded:
- TIM SCOTT was among those pivoting to HUNTER BIDEN: “What we see today are two different tracks of justice. One for political opponents and another for the son of the current president.”
- VIVEK RAMASWAMY repeated his promise to pardon Trump and said Jan. 6 was the result of censorship: “Donald Trump isn’t the cause of what happened on Jan 6. The real cause was systematic & pervasive censorship of citizens in the year leading up to it.”
- RON DeSANTIS, who has also said he would pardon Trump of any federal crimes, leaned into the idea that any Washington jury was inherently unjust: “Washington, DC is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality.”
- NIKKI HALEY, who has previously suggested she’d be open to pardoning Trump, has not yet issued a statement.
- CHRIS CHRISTIE issued another thundering denunciation: “The events around the White House from election night forward are a stain on our country’s history & a disgrace to the people who participated. This disgrace falls the most on Donald Trump.”
- ASA HUTCHINSON said, “I have always said that Donald Trump is morally responsible for the attack on our democracy. Now, with today’s indictment, our system of Justice will determine whether he is criminally responsible.” He included a fundraising link and implored supporters to help him qualify for the upcoming debates.
- WILL HURD, perhaps the purest #NeverTrump candidate, said: “Let me be crystal clear: Trump's presidential bid is driven by an attempt to stay out of prison and scam his supporters into footing his legal bills. Furthermore, his denial of the 2020 election results and actions on Jan. 6 show he's unfit for office.”
- But the most interesting statement came from Pence, who offered notably harsher words than he has about the last Trump indictment: “Today's indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.”
Meanwhile, the only public statement from President JOE BIDEN last night was in response to a shouted question from the pool. “It was compelling,” the president said. He was asked how he liked the movie “Oppenheimer.” GOOD QUESTION — CBS’s John Dickerson: “At the first Republican debate, Mike Pence‘s competitors should be asked if they believe what he did on January 6th was heroic. Then, having recorded everyone’s answer, ask if they would’ve done the same thing.” Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line with your proposed questions for the first debate: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API): Did You Know: Americans count on oil and natural gas – made, moved and improved by nearly 11 million workers and suppliers in all 50 states, contributing trillions to communities and the U.S. economy. From Pennsylvania to California, America’s natural gas and oil workforce strengthens our nation. Our economic outlook is brighter when we lead on energy, and our dedicated workforce is a reminder that we need Washington policies to encourage investment and enable development. | | | YOU PROBABLY MISSED THIS — “Revealed: The criteria for the second Republican primary debate,” by Alex Isenstadt: “The move could alter the contours of the primary, potentially winnowing down the number of candidates who will be able to appear onstage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Sept. 27.” The details:
- “Candidates will need to hit at least 3 percent in two national polls, or 3 percent in one national poll and 3 percent in two polls conducted from separate early nominating states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada), in order to qualify.”
- “Additionally, the committee has raised the benchmark for the number of donors each candidate must have in order to get on the stage for the second debate. Candidates must have a total of at least 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique donors from at least 20 states or territories.”
FIRST IN POLITICO — RONNIE CHATTERJI is stepping down as the White House's top adviser charged with managing the $52 billion semiconductor legislation that Congress approved last year, our colleague Steven Overly scoops on the debut episode of POLITICO Tech, a new daily podcast. Chatterji is returning to his pre-administration post as a business professor at Duke University. He joined the Commerce Department as chief economist just a few months into Biden’s term and moved to the NEC last year. Listen to the full interview for Chatterji’s take on what’s next for Biden’s chips strategy
| | | | A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API): All Over the Map on Energy: On one hand, the Biden administration urges more supply of American oil and natural gas to meet growing energy demands. On the other hand, they put more American acreage off limits for development and add barriers to developing energy. Let’s advance smart policy together. | | | | | BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY — The president has nothing on his public schedule.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ WEDNESDAY — The VP will participate in a bilateral meeting with Mongolian PM OYUN-ERDENE LUVSANNAMSRAI at 1:50 p.m.
THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are out. | | | | | | STOP SCROLLING (for just a minute!). Introducing a revamped California Playbook newsletter with an all-new team and a sharpened mission! Join Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner as they take you on an extraordinary journey through California's political landscape. From inside the Capitol in Sacramento to the mayor’s office in Los Angeles, and from the tech hub of Silicon Valley to even further beyond, we're your front-row ticket to the action. Subscribe for access to exclusive news, buzzworthy scoops and never-before-revealed behind-the-scenes details straight from the heart of California's political arena. Don't miss out — SUBSCRIBE TODAY and stay in the know! | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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The supermoon rises above the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 2024 WATCH READING BETWEEN THE LINES — A day after the latest FEC filings dropped, Puck’s Teddy Schleifer digs into the details to see which candidates are getting backing from Silicon Valley. While there were some big-dollar names to be found — notably JAN KOUM, the billionaire founder of WhatsApp, dropping $5 million on NIKKI HALEY’s super PAC — the filings were just as notable for the lack of dollars. LARRY ELLISON, the Oracle billionaire who is expected to back Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.), “has yet to cut a check to any of the pro-Scott groups for the 2024 cycle.” More nuggets: “MARC BENIOFF’s former co-C.E.O. at Salesforce, KEITH BLOCK, is almost single-handedly financing longshot WILL HURD’s super PAC with a $500,000 donation; reliable G.O.P. bundler DICK BOYCE put $500,000 into the super PAC of his longtime friend DOUG BURGUM (why exactly does a billionaire need a super PAC?); and San Francisco investment manager and former [JOHN] McCAIN compatriot GREG WENDT put a total of $500,000 into the outside group behind Scott.” WHAT A PICTURE’S WORTH — “From Biden to Kennedy: The storied tradition of a shirtless POTUS,” by John Sakellariadis CLICKER — “Here are all of the Republican elected officials backing Trump's 2024 campaign,” by Insider’s Bryan Metzger and Oma Seddiq MARK YOUR CALENDAR — VIVEK RAMASWAMY will participate in a live town hall with NewsNation moderated by Leland Vittert at 9 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 14. More details MORE POLITICS INSIDE THE LINCOLN LOGS — “Podcasting, consulting and a B-movie horror director: The Lincoln Project’s spending is telling,” by Brittany Gibson: “During the first six months of 2023, the super PAC doled out more than $265,000 on podcasting expenses, $218,000 went to a creative content firm owned by a horror movie screenwriter and another $100,000 was spent on a self-identified ‘corporate comedy’ firm. “The group spent thousands of dollars on advertising award submissions and a contest for its web ads, for which, it should be noted, garnered two prizes. Of the $3.5 million amount it doled out from January to June 2023, only $100,000 was for online and digital advertising, according to its latest financial disclosures released on Monday.” WORKING THE MARGINS — “Dems launch a new effort to shore up white voters — by leaning into race,” by Brakkton Booker: The White Stripe Project “has plans to build a robust infrastructure to attract white voters who are open to Democratic messaging but who are less likely to vote. Once identified, organizers are betting with targeted messaging and pinpoint engagement that enough of these voters will show up for the party at the ballot box.” THE MESS IN MICHIGAN — Former Michigan GOP AG candidate MATT DePERNO and former GOP state Rep. DAIRE RENDON “are facing criminal charges for their alleged roles in an effort to access Michigan voting machines after the 2020 presidential election,” The Detroit News’ Craig Mauger writes. “The charges came after about 18 months of investigation in Michigan and meant prominent political figures who worked to push theories that widespread fraud caused Republican Donald Trump's loss to Democrat Joe Biden will face criminal prosecution.” THE ECONOMY AIN’T THAT A FITCH — Fitch Ratings dropped a healthy dose of skepticism on the government’s credit rating yesterday, downgrading the U.S. to an AA+ mark, which is one step below the top level of AAA. “The downgrade, the first by a major ratings firm in more than a decade, is evidence that increasingly frequent political skirmishes over the U.S. government’s finances are clouding the outlook for the $25 trillion global market for Treasurys,” WSJ’s Matt Grossman and Andrew Duehren write. The Biden administration, for its part, criticized the decision, blaming what Fitch characterized as an “erosion of governance” on the Trump administration. Read the Fitch release
| | | | A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API):   Washington should support the nearly 11 million oil and gas workers and suppliers powering America. | | | THE WHITE HOUSE JUST POSTED — “How Biden Picks His Enemies,” by N.Y. Mag’s Gabriel Debenedetti: “Some close to Biden say his negative feelings about [Alabama Sen. TOMMY] TUBERVILLE are even more pronounced than with others, since the Republican is actively blocking military operations. (One word I heard on multiple occasions from those in the know describing Biden’s take on the maneuver: ‘outrageous.’) Biden has no personal relationship with Tuberville, but has been watching him closely for a while, as he defeated DOUG JONES, a close Biden friend and ally, during the 2020 election.” BACKSTORY — Biden’s decision to keep the Space Command HQ in Colorado came as a tiebreaker after two senior DOD officials presented competing proposals for the base, our colleague Lara Seligman reports. Gen. JAMES DICKINSON, the four-star chief of Space Command, recommended the HQ stay in Colorado, while Air Force Secretary FRANK KENDALL supported moving it to Alabama. In the end, Biden sided with Dickinson, agreeing that moving the command would risk disrupting the military’s ability to respond to space-based threats. DeSANTIS DENIED — The vice president yesterday rejected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' offer to debate his state’s recent guidelines on teaching the African American experience, calling him part of a group of “extremist, so-called leaders” trying to rewrite the “ugly parts of history” during an appearance at the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention in Orlando, Andrew Zhang writes. What Harris said: “They attempt to legitimize these unnecessary debates with a proposal that most recently came in of a politically motivated roundtable. … Well, I’m here in Florida, and I will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact. There were no redeeming qualities of slavery.” JUDICIARY SQUARE ROBERTS' RULES — A new set of standards for the Supreme Court was on the table when the justices closed their session in June, but a breakthrough never materialized among the justices. “Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS has been seeking unanimity among the nine justices for firm ethics standards,” CNN’s Joan Biskupic reports, “but such agreement has eluded him. It is not clear what standards a majority might be considering and the reasoning of the holdouts.” Justice SAMUEL ALITO’s recent comments brushing off any heightened code of conduct are emblematic of the challenge Roberts faces. POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — Crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border spiked “more than 30 percent in July, according to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection data,” WaPo’s Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti report, adding that the figures deal “a blow to President Biden’s new immigration enforcement strategy at a time when his policies are facing multiple legal challenges.” The details: “U.S. agents made more than 130,000 arrests along the Mexico border last month, preliminary figures show, up from 99,545 in June. Authorities allowed an additional 50,000 migrants to cross into the United States in July, primarily through Biden administration programs allowing asylum seekers to schedule appointments at U.S. ports of entry using the CBP One mobile application.” Related read: “Adams warned Biden there was no room for migrants. Now they’re sleeping on the sidewalk,” by Emily Ngo AMERICA AND THE WORLD MORE ON MONGOLIA — “Caught Between China and Russia, Mongolia Seeks Closer U.S. Ties,” by WSJ’s Brian Spegele: “Mongolia’s rich mineral reserves as well as its unique geographic positioning are winning it increasing attention on the global stage. The Washington visit is the latest of several high-profile engagements by [Prime Minister OYUN-ERDENE LUVSANNAMSRAI], who welcomed French President EMMANUEL MACRON to Mongolia in May and sat down with Chinese leader XI JINPING in Beijing in June.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “U.S. will put forward a UN resolution to authorize a Kenyan-led police mission to fight gangs in Haiti,” by AP’s Edith Lederer MEDIAWATCH FOR YOUR RADAR — “Hollywood Writers and Studios to Restart Talks After 3-Month Standoff,” by NYT’s John Koblin FLAVOR OF THE WEEK — JEFFREY GOLDBERG, EIC of The Atlantic, is reportedly one of the top choices to take over the permanent hosting duties for PBS’ “Washington Week” program, Semafor’s Max Tani and J.D. Capelouto report. The hosting slot was most recently held by YAMICHE ALCINDOR, who left earlier this year for an NBC gig.
| | | | HITTING YOUR INBOX AUGUST 14—CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Joe and Jill Biden completed one half of the “Barbenheimer” gauntlet. Michael Knowles strongly disagreed with Ben Shapiro’s “Barbie” review. Ron DeSantis is getting backed by … the Orlando Magic? Taylor Swift’s LA concerts this week are drawing attention from the political world. OUT AND ABOUT — Patty Stonesifer, Sally Buzbee and David Shipley hosted a farewell reception Monday night at WaPo headquarters for Fred Ryan as he leaves his role as publisher and CEO to start the Center on Public Civility at the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute. SPOTTED: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), British Ambassador Karen Pierce, Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Genny Ryan, Genevieve Bellaire, Madeline Ryan, Don Graham, Bob Barnett and Rita Braver, Chris Wallace, Andrea Mitchell, Reince Priebus, Susan Blumenthal, Dina Powell, Lynda Carter, Heather Podesta, Margaret Carlson, Peter Alexander and Alison Starling, Jane Harman, Jonathan Martin, Sam Feist, David Adler, Jack Evans, John Harris, Adrienne Arsht, Mack McLarty, George Will, Gene Robinson, Karen Tumulty, Robert Samuels, Miki King, Kathy Baird, Alex MacCallum and Vineet Khosla. TRANSITIONS — Colton Hotary is now director of government affairs for LG. He previously was director of government affairs and lead Democratic lobbyist at Autos Drive America. … Julie Martin is joining the Afghanistan War Commission as general counsel. She most recently was a deputy general counsel with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and is a State Department alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) … Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) … White House’s Betsy Lawrence … D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser … NYT’s Matthew Rosenberg … Gigi Sohn … Fox News’ Rich Edson … Kevin Walling … Peter Mihalick … CBS’ Caitlin Huey-Burns … Emily Gershon … Sarah Bittleman … Camille Gallo … Geneva Kropper … Austin Laufersweiler of the Partnership for Public Service … Jeff Ballou … Patrick Ruffini of Echelon Insights … Michael Manganiello … Jack H. Jacobs … Brynn Barnett … former Reps. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.) (5-0) … Laura Nasim … former Treasury Secretary John Snow … Brian Montgomery … The New Yorker’s Lawrence Wright … Dennis Prager … Nick Ballas … Steve Tebbe … Sim Khan ... Seng Peng 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. Corrections: Yesterday’s Playbook misidentified the classification of the Save America PAC and misstated Dan Shapiro’s current work affiliation.
| | | | A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API): Economic Engine and Protector of Parks: Americans count on oil and natural gas developed, refined and delivered by nearly 11 million workers and suppliers in all 50 states and DC. American energy delivers local economic impact amounting to nearly 8% of our national total and close to Canada’s entire GDP. Meanwhile, thanks to funding from offshore natural gas and oil production, the Land and Water Conservation Fund is helping maintain parks across America. In 2022, the conservation fund allocated $398 million toward conservation projects across the U.S., including national parks, wildlife refuges, outdoor recreation opportunities and more. This critically important work couldn’t be done without America’s dedicated natural gas and oil workforce leading the way toward ever-stronger U.S. energy leadership. Washington policymakers must stand with them. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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