| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | Presented by |  | | | |  A jury found Hunter Biden guilty on three federal gun charges on Tuesday morning. | Matt Rourke/AP | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | After roughly three hours of deliberation, a jury in Wilmington, Delaware, this morning found HUNTER BIDEN guilty on all three felony charges relating to his purchase of a handgun in 2018. The verdict renders Biden as the first child of a sitting president to ever be convicted on criminal charges. President JOE BIDEN has stated in recent weeks that he would not issue a pardon for his son. The reaction: The result is “sure to be a source of deep pain for the president, who has long worried about the impact of the case on his only surviving son,” our colleagues Betsy Woodruff Swan and Josh Gerstein write from Wilmington. “The president fears not only that his son may be incarcerated, but also that the case could imperil his sobriety.” It comes just hours before the president is scheduled to deliver remarks on gun control at an event this afternoon, and roughly two weeks before he faces off against DONALD TRUMP — another newly convicted felon — in the earliest presidential debate on record. President Biden issued a statement on the verdict just before noon: “As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. JILL and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.” A taste of the prevailing Dem talking points:
- It’s proof that Biden isn’t rigging the DOJ’s prosecutions, via WaPo’s E.J. DIONNE: “Hunter Biden’s conviction is the best possible evidence that the president is not ‘rigging” the criminal justice system. Will that stop Trump and his apologists from claiming otherwise? Of course not. But everyone else should challenge Trump’s dangerous attacks on the rule of law.”
A taste of the GOP talking points:
- It’s a smokescreen to cover for other crimes, via the Trump campaign: “This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine. Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit.”
- It’s a smokescreen to cover for Trump’s prosecution, via Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.): “Timing is everything. This is the veil of fairness in the Justice System under @POTUS.”
- The real scandal is what Hunter *wasn’t* charged with, via STEPHEN MILLER: “DOJ is running election interference for Joe Biden — that’s why DOJ did NOT charge Hunter with being an unregistered foreign agent (FARA) or any crime connected with foreign corruption. Why? Because all the evidence would lead back to JOE.”
- It’s the tip of the iceberg, via Rep. JAMES COMER (R-Ky.): “Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was smoked out after scrutiny by a federal judge. Today’s verdict is a step toward accountability but until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden.”
And then there are the dissenters on the right:
- “Hunter might deserve to be in jail for something, but purchasing a gun is not it,” added Rep. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.). “There are millions of marijuana users who own guns in this country, and none of them should be in jail for purchasing or possessing a firearm against current laws.”
The ramifications: “Biden faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years but is much more likely to receive two years or less — or even no prison time at all, because he is a first-time offender and the crimes involved only a single gun that was never used violently. Judge MARYELLEN NOREIKA, who oversaw the trial, will determine the sentence at a hearing in the next few months.” But that’s not all: Hunter is facing down another serious criminal charge for allegedly failing to pay more than $1.4 million in taxes on time. That trial is scheduled to begin in September in Los Angeles. IT’S ALIVE — FiveThirtyEight today launched a new election forecasting tool that will be helpful to bookmark in the months ahead: “The model builds on our general election polling averages by asking not just what our best guess is about who is leading the presidential race today, but what range of outcomes are possible for the actual election in November. At least once per day, we'll rerun our simulations of the election with the latest data.” The first reading: “At launch, our forecast shows President Joe Biden locked in a practically tied race with former President Donald Trump, both in the Electoral College and national popular vote. Specifically, our model reckons Biden has a 53-in-100 chance of winning the election, meaning he wins in slightly more than half of our model's simulations of how the election could unfold. However, Trump still has a 47-in-100 chance, so this election could still very much go either way.” WHAT OUR NORTHERN NEIGHBORS ARE WATCHING — “Canada’s Big Worry: A US Civil War,” by Alex Burns: “In a spring report titled ‘Disruptions on the Horizon,’ a quiet office known as Policy Horizons Canada proposed American civil war as a scenario that Ottawa should consider preparing for. This hypothetical was tucked into the middle of the 37-page document, which sketched the possibility in 15 spare words: ‘U.S. ideological divisions, democratic erosion, and domestic unrest escalate, plunging the country into civil war.’” Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Did you know that most of the data on your smartphone travels over WiFi, not cellular? Thanks to WiFi innovation by Comcast, our customers connect over a billion devices to our network each year. Unlicensed spectrum is key to a fast and secure WiFi experience at home and on the go. Comcast leads the way by developing cutting-edge WiFi gateways that maximize our multi-gig broadband network and spectrum made available by the FCC. Learn more. | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  The Justice Department delivered a letter rebuking House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan's inquiry into the Manhattan prosecution of Donald Trump. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. JUSTICE SWATS AT HOUSE GOP: DOJ sent a letter this morning to House Judiciary Chair JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) stating that an “exhaustive search yielded no communications between the department” and Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG and skewered Jordan for “spreading a ‘conspiracy theory,’” The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports. “‘We found none,’ CARLOS URIARTE, the head of legislative affairs for the Justice Department, wrote to Jordan in a letter obtained by The Hill. ‘This is unsurprising. The District Attorney’s office is a separate entity from the Department. The Department does not supervise the work of the District Attorney’s office, does not approve its charging decisions, and does not try its cases.” Uriarte called House Republicans’ inquiry into the matter “irresponsible.” Meanwhile: Bragg and MATTHEW COLANGELO, one of the top prosecutors in the Trump hush money trial, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12, one day after Trump’s sentencing hearing in the case, Fox News’ Brooke Singman reports. 2. TRUMP 2.0: “In Trump’s orbit, some muse about mandatory military service,” by WaPo’s Juliann Ventura and Julian Andreone: If Trump returns to the White House next year, the U.S. could be in line for a mandate of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a DoD-developed test for military recruiting, Ventura and Andreone write. CHRISTOPHER MILLER, who Trump has floated could return as Defense secretary in a second term, “detailed his vision for the ASVAB and a range of other changes as part of Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s government-wide game plan should the presumptive Republican nominee return to the White House. Miller is among a cluster of influential former administration officials and GOP lawmakers who have mused aloud about a national service mandate and other measures to remedy what they see as a ‘crisis’ facing the all-volunteer military.” 3. DIGGING INTO THE DARK DOUGH: “$800,000 wire transfer from billionaire donor to US Chamber raises curtain on dark money,” by The Hill’s Taylor Giorno: “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce received a $800,000 wire transfer from billionaire donor HANK MEIJER days after it endorsed his son, then-Rep. PETER MEIJER (R-Mich.), in a contentious 2022 primary, according to previously unreported internal emails reviewed by The Hill. “Within days of the transfer, the Chamber spent $381,000 on ‘Media Advertisement – Energy and Taxes – Mentioning Rep. Peter Meijer,’ according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). But because the ad — entitled ‘Thank you, Rep. Peter Meijer’ — does not explicitly advocate for his election or defeat, the pro-business lobbying giant did not have to legally disclose the donation from Hank Meijer, the co-chair and CEO of the Meijer chain of superstores. It also did not have to disclose any other potential contributions behind the $1.8 million it told the FEC it spent on ‘electioneering communications’ that cycle.”
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | 4. YOUTH MOVEMENT: A group of Democratic donors are devising new ways to reach young voters, who they see as more and more disconnected from the political landscape in ways that could burn Biden at the ballot box this fall, WaPo’s Michael Scherer reports. The group, led by Investing in US, is test-driving some events in battleground states that bring together young people in casual environments not under the explicit guise of voting. “Sometimes there will be free beer, manicures, boot shines, a rent check sweepstakes, a handout of contraceptive pills or cooling towels. All you have to do is show up, like it’s Super Bowl Sunday, and belong to something bigger. Oh, and someone might mention voting at some point.” If the early events show some success, the group may expand its reach for the fall. 5. DEPRESSING DATA: “Pentagon data reveals US soldier more likely to die by suicide than in combat,” by USA Today’s Tom Vanden Brook: “U.S. soldiers were almost nine times more likely to die by suicide than by enemy fire, according to a Pentagon study for the five-year period ending in 2019. The study, published in May by the Defense Health Agency, found that suicide was the leading cause of death among active-duty soldiers from 2014 to 2019. There were 883 suicide deaths during that time period. Accidents were the No. 2 cause with 814 deaths. There were 96 combat deaths.” 6. THE NEW POLITICS OF ABORTION: “The unexpected opponent to telehealth abortion shield laws: Planned Parenthood,” by the SF Chronicle’s Shira Stein: “The abortion rights group privately lobbied officials in California, New York and Massachusetts against the novel state laws, saying they could be risky for providers and damaging to efforts to protect existing abortion care, half a dozen people involved in the laws’ passage told the Chronicle. Planned Parenthood did so while publicly supporting state-level efforts to pass abortion shield laws that protect clinicians providing care to patients within their own state.” 7. INTERESTING READ: “Looking for Tucker Carlson in the backwoods of Maine,” by Deseret News’ Jennifer Graham in Bryant Pond, Maine: “His fiercest critics these days see him as a dangerous demagogue who shares responsibility, along with Donald Trump, for the bitter polarization that divides America today. … I wasn’t looking for [TUCKER] CARLSON himself, although a glimpse of him swatting off mosquitoes while fly-fishing in Bryant Pond would have been nice. … I’m just trying to reconcile the flannel-shirted Carlson of today with the bow-tied Carlson of old, and to figure out why the response to him is so different now than it was then. Has he changed, or has his audience?”
| | | | JOIN US ON 6/13 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE: As Congress and the White House work to strengthen health care affordability and access, innovative technologies and treatments are increasingly important for patient health and lower costs. What barriers are appearing as new tech emerges? Is the Medicare payment process keeping up with new technologies and procedures? Join us on June 13 as POLITICO convenes a panel of lawmakers, officials and experts to discuss what policy solutions could expand access to innovative therapies and tech. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Roger Williams has Republicans’ congressional baseball team humming this year. Fred Trump III, the nephew of Donald Trump, is writing a memoir. OUT AND ABOUT — Keenan Austin Reed, Trey Baker and Cameron Trimble along with Starz hosted the White House Juneteenth After-Party last night at Smoke and Mirrors in Navy Yard. SPOTTED: Reps. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) and Troy Carter (D-La.), Kathryn Busby, Cecelia Gordon, Jen Minezaki-Washington, Stephanie Lambert, Anthony Hamilton, Doug Fresh, Patina Miller, Joey Bada$$, Mekai Curtis, Derrick Johnson, Symone Sanders-Townsend, Feven Solomon, Wintta Woldemariam, Michael Reed, Sydney Harvey, Chasseny Lewis, Heather Foster, Jobie Crawford and Moyer McCoy. — SPOTTED yesterday at RIIA for the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective’s #TakeTheLead transparency talk: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Jamila Daniel, Stephen K. Benjamin, Michele Ballantyne, Joey BadA$$, Chelsey Green, Rico Love, Derryck “Big Tank” Thornton, Stephanie Walters, Ryan Butler, Todd Dupler, Malcom Sherrod, Candiace Dillard Bassett and Mekai Curtis. TRANSITIONS — Brett Kleiman is now comms director for Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.). He previously was press secretary for the Senate Homeland Security Dems and deputy press secretary for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). … Chris Marando has joined Perkins Coie’s intellectual property and patent litigation practices as a partner. He previously was counsel at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. … Michael Petrizzo and Julia Taylor are joining Saul Ewing as partners. The duo previously were partners at Armstrong Teasdale. WEDDINGS — Chloe Autio, who runs her own AI policy consulting shop, and Sean Perryman, head of global AI policy at Uber, got married in Montana near the bride's hometown. They were wed by Norberto Salinas of Capitol Counsel, who hosted the happy hour where they first met in 2018. SPOTTED: Timothy Lynch, L’Allegro Smith, Mahsau Cullinane and Nathan Kiker. Pic … Another pic — Alexandra Perez, federal government affairs manager at the R Street Institute, and Jordan Brewer, chief of staff at the Cato Institute, got married on Saturday at Santa Clara Roman Catholic Church in Oxnard, California. The two met in 2021 while working together at the Cato Institute. Pic — Hannah Yoest, art director for The Bulwark, and Alec Dent, an assistant editor at the Washington Post and author of the watch-focused T.R.I. Substack, got married on Saturday at St. Dominic’s Church in D.C. with a reception at the Cosmos Club. The couple met on Twitter. Pics 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.
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