| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade | Presented by the Financial Services Forum | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUDY — “Rudy Giuliani served with Arizona ‘fake electors’ indictment during 80th birthday bash in Palm Beach,” by the N.Y. Post’s Lydia Moynihan: “In front of nearly 75 guests, two officials with Arizona’s attorney general’s office arrived at the shindig around 11 p.m. to hand Giuliani the papers in the case alleging he and 17 others were involved in a plot to overturn the 2020 election, the sources said. Some partygoers started screaming and one woman even cried as Giuliani was served.” Arizona AG KRIS MAYES at 11:20 p.m. last night: “The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law.” THE DAY 3 STORY — “Upside-down flag at Justice Alito’s home another blow for Supreme Court under fire,” by AP’s Lindsay Whitehurst and Gary Fields
|  While President Joe Biden made clear he’s only doing the two debates now scheduled, Donald Trump has agreed to a third and fourth. | Scott Olson/Getty Images | DEBATE UPDATE — The criticism that DONALD TRUMP got rolled by President JOE BIDEN in the first round of the debate about debates might have struck a nerve. Trump, who initially accepted all of the terms laid out by Biden campaign chair JEN O’MALLEY DILLON in her debate proposal letter on Wednesday, is trying to regain some debate leverage by accepting more debate requests and raising expectations for Biden. More debates? … While Biden made clear he’s only doing the two debates now scheduled, Trump has agreed to a third debate hosted by Fox News and a fourth debate hosted by NBC News and Telemundo. Fox News upped the ante yesterday and sent a letter to the Biden and Trump campaigns proposing a vice presidential debate at Virginia State University, the historically Black college that had been scheduled to host one of the Commission on Presidential Debates events. The network has a lot of resistance from Biden to overcome. The Biden campaign said it would only agree to one VP debate and it has already accepted an invitation from CBS to host it on either July 23 or Aug. 13. It also said it would only participate in debates by broadcasters that hosted both a 2016 GOP primary debate and a 2020 Democratic primary debate, a criterion that would exclude Fox News and MSNBC. In Fox’s letter, obtained by Playbook, the network crafted its pitch to address the Biden campaign’s concern. “Despite not having a Democratic debate in 2016/2020, FOX News was able to secure town halls with Democratic candidates such as: HILLARY CLINTON, BERNIE SANDERS, PETE BUTTIGIEG, JULIAN CASTRO, AMY KLOBUCHAR and KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND,” wrote JAY WALLACE, the president and executive editor of Fox News Media, and JESSICA LOKER, Fox’s vice president for politics. They included a series of ratings data points pitched more to Biden than Trump, including highlights of ratings about African American viewers, Hispanic viewers, independents and a breakdown of Fox’s share of viewership in the key presidential swing states. They also proposed two Fox moderators who are most likely to be acceptable to the Biden campaign — BRET BAIER and MARTHA MacCALLUM — as the “obvious choices as the faces of our political coverage.” Trump quickly accepted the Fox debate, proposed for July 23, Aug. 13 or a date to be determined after the summer conventions — and seized on the details about the proposed location. (Note that Virginia Democrats are disappointed about Biden bailing on the Oct. 1 CPD debate at VSU.) A Trump VP tease … At his rally in Minnesota last night Trump made some noteworthy comments about the weirdness of agreeing to a VP debate before picking a running mate — and he continued to encourage Burgumentum. “I said, how could I have a vice president debate I haven’t even picked?” Trump said. “I haven’t even picked the gentleman or woman yet. I haven’t picked. A lot of people think it’s that guy right there.” Trump then pointed to North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM, who was in attendance. “I don’t know — who the hell knows,” Trump said. “He’s very good. We have a lot of them would be good, right, Doug?” As for the Biden-Harris campaign, it’s worth noting that it has not yet ruled out the Fox VP debate, though it is dampening any expectations that KAMALA HARRIS will accept. “I would point back to the JOD letter and its stated criteria on networks and on doing any debate in-studio,” a campaign official told Playbook. “Also, Trump camp has been engaging with CBS so our expectation is they will accept that.”
| | A message from the Financial Services Forum: Local communities can't afford Basel III Endgame. Basel III Endgame's restrictive capital requirements would limit the availability of funds for local governments issuing municipal bonds, making it more challenging and costly for them to finance vital public projects and infrastructure improvements. | | | The expectations game … Trump also returned to another golden oldie last night: proposing a drug test for his debate opponent. He used this tactic in 2016 against Clinton. The gist is that if his opponent looks good at a debate, it’s only the result of illegal substances. “I don’t want him coming in like the State of the Union,” Trump said. “He was high as a kite. I said, ‘Is that Joe up there, that beautiful room? And by the end of the evening, he’s like” — Trump made a guttural sound — “He was exhausted, right? No, we’re going to demand a drug test.” RON KLAIN, who runs the Biden debate camp, did not respond to a question about whether any illegal substances are used as part of Klain’s debate prep. Trump went back and forth between describing Biden as decrepit and seeming to catch himself and realize his strategy should be to raise expectations for the president. “He can’t talk, he can’t walk, can’t find his way off a stage. Can’t put two sentences together,” he riffed. “Although he has agreed to debate, so I don’t know, maybe they know something. He’s going to be so jacked up for those debates, you watch.” A senior Biden aide told Playbook in response, “The kicking and screaming everyone’s seeing from the Trump team is nothing more than performance art for their boss who knows he got smoked in the art of the deal and came out looking like a loser.” ICYMI … “‘Political Malpractice’: The Debate Commission Chief Thinks Trump Blew It” Good Saturday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. LATEST CAPITAL LETTER — “Trade War: What Is It Good For?” by Victoria Guida: “Biden is playing with Trump’s deck of cards on trade. But tariffs aren’t a solution to everything.” FOR YOUR RADAR — The Times of Israel: “War cabinet minister BENNY GANTZ, head of the National Unity party, announced Saturday he would hold a press conference at [1:30 p.m. EDT] in Ramat Gan, amid speculation he could issue demands for Gaza war policy or an ultimatum for staying in the coalition. The upcoming press conference comes days after Defense Minister YOAV GALLANT warned the prime minister that he must set out a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip.” JUST IN — “TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s president on Saturday vetoed the so-called ‘Russian law’ targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests. … The ruling party, Georgian Dream, has a majority sufficient to override [President SALOME] ZOURABICHVILI’s veto, and is widely expected to do so in the coming days.” SPECIAL ELECTIONS EVENT — Join us virtually Monday at 9 a.m. for two live panel discussions featuring POLITICO reporters and editors diving into the key elections this year that are shaping the trajectories of the U.S. and the European Union. Partnered with Meridian International Center’s Election Briefing Series, we will discuss today’s shifting EU and U.S. politics, predictions for the Biden and Trump campaigns, the march of populism, trade, tariffs, China, the social issues affecting the vote and more. Register to watch and ask questions online here
| | | | A message from the Financial Services Forum:   Taxpayers can't afford Basel III Endgame. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | At the White House Biden is traveling to Atlanta, where he’ll participate in a campaign event and campaign reception this afternoon. Harris has nothing on her public schedule. On the trail Trump will address the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Dallas this afternoon. Reuters preview
| | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | |  In new plans from Donald Trump allies, many powers of the FBI would be moved elsewhere in the government. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. THE STAKES FOR NOVEMBER: Trump allies are planning to end the Justice Department’s political independence and turn into a partisan tool to attack his enemies if he returns to the White House, Reuters’ Gram Slattery, Sarah Lynch and Andrew Goudsward lay out. That would be one of the most consequential potential outcomes of the election for American democracy and the rule of law. This is broadly understood in the abstract — and the Trump campaign has been clear to say that it should not be confused for outside groups’ plans — but Reuters digs into the specifics. The overall strategy has two main pieces: “First: flood the Justice Department with stalwart conservatives unlikely to say ‘no’ to controversial orders from the White House. Second: restructure the department so key decisions are concentrated in the hands of administration loyalists rather than career bureaucrats.” Many powers of the FBI would be moved elsewhere in the government, under plans from Project 2025 and others; the FBI’s general counsel office could be axed, and the FBI director could be placed under assistant AGs. 2. IMMIGRATION FILES: “White House and Democratic lawmakers plot ways to strengthen their hand on border security,” by CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and MJ Lee: “The White House and top congressional Democrats are discussing a series of moves aimed at strengthening their hand on border security ahead of the first presidential debate next month. That includes potentially rolling out a sweeping executive order limiting migrants’ ability to seek asylum, revisiting the stalled bipartisan border bill in the Senate, and possibly sending President Joe Biden to the border.” 3. ROHIT CHOPRA UNCORKED: After Justice CLARENCE THOMAS proved an unlikely savior of the CFPB (along with six other justices) this week, the consumer protection agency is planning to jump back into its work with new resources and aggression. With “some of the persistent political and legal obstacles at the CFPB” now lessened, the agency will go ahead with its rules for payday lenders and other crackdowns on predatory loans to poor people, WaPo’s Tony Romm reports. Many other lawsuits and investigations will kick back into gear. “The court’s ruling makes crystal clear the CFPB is here to stay,” Chopra told reporters yesterday, per Katy O’Donnell. The enforcement office will add 40 percent more staffers. 4. FASCINATING DYNAMIC: “Ukraine gamble pays off: Republicans face little backlash in primaries,” by WaPo’s Paul Kane: “Since the House passed a national security package in four sets of votes on April 20 and the Senate did so three days later, 13 of the Republicans who voted for the supposedly controversial bill have faced their primary voters. All have won renomination by wide margins, with no signs Ukraine caused any political jeopardy. … [I]t could begin to teach them to avoid living in fear of their own voters. … [Sen. DEB] FISCHER and others say they believe Ukraine served as an antidote to that fear. They contend that the echo chamber of conservative dissent always came from a niche crowd.” 5. WHAT GARY PETERS IS WATCHING: Michigan Democrats filed a complaint yesterday asking for a review of the signatures submitted by leading GOP Senate candidates, including MIKE ROGERS, JUSTIN AMASH and SANDY PENSLER, The Detroit News’ Grant Schwab reports. Republicans say it’s a partisan stunt. But anybody who watched the state’s 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary knows that allegations of fraudulent signatures, if substantiated, can remake an election. 6. THE BIG QUESTION IN MANHATTAN: “Trump Is Rarely Silent, but Testifying Would Be ‘Really Dangerous,’” by WSJ’s James Fanelli: “Donald Trump will face one of the most consequential decisions of the year — if not his career — when he chooses whether to testify in his own criminal trial in New York. Politically, taking the stand might offer Trump the chance to project strength and defiance in the face of a prosecution he has decried as illegitimate. But legal experts believe the presumptive GOP presidential nominee faces peril if he is grilled about his alleged sexual encounter with STORMY DANIELS and his treatment of women.” 7. POLITICAL VIOLENCE WATCH: DAVID DePAPE, the man who attacked PAUL PELOSI, was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison, the S.F. Chronicle’s Annie Vainshtein reports. Prosecutors had asked for 40 years for the conspiracy theory-addled man who had broken into the California home seeking NANCY PELOSI. The defense had sought 14 years. The judge said 30 years was warranted because DePape still posed a danger to the public and because his attack could have a chilling effect on aspiring politicians.
| | | | A message from the Financial Services Forum:   Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns about the proposal. | | | 8. CASH DASH: “Unpacking the presidential money machines,” by Jessica Piper: “Put simply: Biden raised more money, spent less of it on fundraising and none on legal costs, saved more, and has more waiting to hit his campaign bank account than Trump did. But Trump’s operation is changing, driven in part by his takeover of the RNC after he officially secured the GOP nomination.” Related read: “RFK Jr. uses major cash infusion from his running mate to fund ballot access efforts,” by Jessica 9. REALITY CHECK: Republicans say non-citizens voting is a real threat to elections. Democrats say it isn’t. AP’s Ali Swenson has a valuable primer on the topic that the Hill GOP has been pushing lately — about which Speaker MIKE JOHNSON has tried to wave away concerns by saying it isn’t provable. The actual truth: “Election administration experts say it’s not only provable, but it’s been demonstrated that the number of noncitizens voting in federal elections is infinitesimal.” Even though it isn’t actually a problem, long-standing attention to the topic on the right got a boost when Trump started wielding it to make baseless claims about Democrats and immigration. CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 keepers
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Matt Davies - Andrews McMeel Syndication | GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Ryan Lizza: — “On the Campaign Trial,” by N.Y. Mag’s Olivia Nuzzi: “Donald Trump is running for president while bumping into the past at a Manhattan criminal courthouse.” — “The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel,” by Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti in the NYT Magazine: “After 50 years of failure to stop violence and terrorism against Palestinians by Jewish ultranationalists, lawlessness has become the law.” — “China and the U.S. Are Numb to the Real Risk of War,” by Sulmaan Wasif Khan in Foreign Policy, adapted from his new book, “The Struggle for Taiwan”: “The pair are dangerously close to the edge of nuclear war over Taiwan — again.” — “A beloved alley cat now lives in the Watergate. Was she kidnapped, or rescued?” by WaPo’s Andrea Sachs: “This is the saga of Kitty Snows, street queen of Foggy Bottom, and the neighbors who are fighting over her.” — “A British Nurse Was Found Guilty of Killing Seven Babies. Did She Do It?” by The New Yorker’s Rachel Aviv: “Colleagues reportedly called Lucy Letby an ‘angel of death,’ and the Prime Minister condemned her. But, in the rush to judgment, serious questions about the evidence were ignored.” — “‘He likes scaring people’: how Modi’s right-hand man, Amit Shah, runs India,” by Atul Dev in the Guardian: “For 40 years, Amit Shah has been at Narendra Modi’s side — his confidant, consigliere and enforcer. Today he is India’s second-most powerful man, and he is reshaping the country in radical ways.” — “A Broken Marriage, a Big Inheritance and the Murder of an Art Kingmaker,” by Samantha Pearson and Kelly Crow in the WSJ Magazine: “When art dealer Brent Sikkema was found dead in his Rio vacation home, police first suspected robbery. Then the case took a more sinister turn.” — “The Secret Daughter,” by James Eli Shiffer in Airmail: “A battle over the estate of Mario D’Urso — the Italian banker and senator who epitomized the 1970s jet set — gets complicated when a daughter he didn’t know he had enters the picture.” — “How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language models,” by Matthew Hutson in Nature: “Researchers are striving to reverse-engineer artificial intelligence and scan the ‘brains’ of LLMs to see what they are doing, how and why.”
| | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Kamala Harris will speak at the SEIU convention Tuesday. Hunter Biden’s supporters are looking again at a legal defense fund. Leo Bozell was sentenced to almost four years in prison. Annie Wu slammed her old boss John Fetterman. Barron Trump graduated. OUT AND ABOUT — The Résidence de France hosted a Bordeaux wine and Cognac tasting last night to celebrate Fred Ryan’s book “Wine and the White House: A History” ($65). During a Q&A with Stewart McLaurin, Ryan coined a new oenological term: “pulling a Nixon,” which means discreetly reserving a superior bottle of wine for oneself while serving guests something more mediocre, as President Richard Nixon was said to do during dinners at the White House. In researching his book, Ryan said he heard differing accounts of whether Nixon really did this, but he confirmed the practice with none other than Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. SPOTTED: French Ambassador Laurent Bili, Ginny Ryan, Emma Mears, Kevin Chaffee, Adrienne Arsht, Jonathan Martin, Josh Dawsey, Stephen and Carrie Hayes, Francesca Craig, Sam Feist, Roy and Abigail Blunt, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, Lucky Roosevelt, Tony P., Mark Shriver, Barron Avery, Chip Rodgers, Deborah Jessiman, Alexandra de Borchgrave, Charles Roxburgh, Ted Olson and Peter Baker. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Michael Leach has founded a consulting practice, BridgeTrust Partners, and has signed with Buchwald for representation, Deadline’s Ted Johnson reports. Leach most recently was a special assistant to the president and the first White House chief diversity and inclusion officer. TRANSITIONS — Eric Beane is now deputy undersecretary for industry and security at the Commerce Department. He most recently was SVP of regulatory and government affairs at Unite Us, and is a Gina Raimondo and DOJ alum. … Tesla is losing top lobbyists and policy staffers Hasan Nazar, Patrick Bean and Brooke Kintz, Hailey Fuchs reports. … … Anang Mittal left his role as head of digital for Speaker Mike Johnson after “complaints about his behavior,” NOTUS’ Ryan Hernández reports. … Dominique Harrison is now deputy director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives. She most recently was founding principal of Equity Innovation Ventures and is a Citi, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and Aspen Institute alum. WEDDING — Dan Passen, comms specialist at Sutherland Institute, and Molly McGarvey, aeronautical engineer at Lockheed Martin, got married in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 3. They met in Utah. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Matthew Yglesias … former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) … NBC’s Josh Lederman … Ernesto Apreza of VP Kamala Harris’ office … Seven Letter’s Erik Smith … Tim Chapman … Libby Nelson … POLITICO’s Felicia Figueiredo, Maddie Sugg, Chelsea Harvey and Simona Lightfoot … WaPo’s Cristiano Lima … Anduril Industries’ Sofia Rose Gross … Gabrielle Shea of Visa … Laura Morgan-Kessler of Carpi & Clay … AP’s Meg Kinnard … Farah Melendez … Pete Boogaard of Snap … Eric Trager … Jonathan Glickman … Ezra Cohen … Robin Winchell … Clyde Haberman … former Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) … Javier LLano … Bryan Bender … House GOP Conference’s Ryan Hofmann … Lance West of the American Petroleum Institute … Querry Robinson … Alex Witt … Democrat Matt Gorman … Joseph Davis THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) … North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum … Karoline Leavitt. Panel: Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). Panel: Christine Serrano Glassner and Eric Hovde. CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) … Ben Carson … Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). Panel: Brad Todd, Bakari Sellers, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ashley Allison. NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) … Maryland Gov. Wes Moore … Michael Phelps. Panel: Kelly O’Donnell, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Brendan Buck. CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) … Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) … Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova … Robert Gates … Chris Krebs. ABC “This Week”: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … Victoria Nuland … Marc Lotter. Legal panel: Pierre Thomas and Jodi Kantor. Panel: Donna Brazile, Sarah Isgur, Asma Khalid and David Sanger. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) … Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) … Will Scharf. Legal panel: Jonathan Turley and Tom Dupree. Panel: Francesca Chambers, Juan Williams, Mario Parker and Josh Holmes. MSNBC “Velshi”: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) … Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Mark McKinnon and Lynda Tran … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. Panel: George Will, Tia Mitchell, Molly Ball and Kellie Meyer. 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | A message from the Financial Services Forum: Basel III Endgame is an international rule intended to hold large banks to a common standard, but U.S. regulators want to greatly exceed the standard and the costs to our economy, while the UK, EU, and others are taking a much lighter approach. If not changed, American companies that rely on U.S. banks would be at a competitive disadvantage selling goods and services overseas.
It's no wonder a bipartisan group of lawmakers, former policymakers, business groups, academics, and nonprofit leaders have spoken out with concerns about the proposal. It's time to scrap Basel III Endgame and start over. | | | | | | | 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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