| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | BIG MONEY — “Harris raised over $300 million in August, extending cash windfall,” by NBC’s Natasha Korecki and Carol Lee
|  Another delay amounts to a significant political win for Donald Trump. | Alex Brandon, File/AP Photo | THE TRUMP TRIALS — It’s no great surprise, but today’s hearing in front of Judge TANYA CHUTKAN confirmed that DONALD TRUMP’s most significant federal criminal case will not go to trial before the election, as Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report. It will take “months” for the trial to begin on Trump’s charges of subverting the 2020 election, Chutkan said in court today. “It’s an exercise in futility” to set a specific date now, she added, because she’ll first have to take up questions stemming from the Supreme Court’s ruling establishing sweeping presidential criminal immunity, and any decisions will then likely be appealed. Of course, if Trump wins, his prosecution will die outright. Regardless, another delay amounts to a significant political win for the former president, who has managed to make it to another Election Day without facing trial for what happened around the last one. It’s a validation beyond most initial expectations of his legal team’s strategy to gum up his criminal trials for as long as possible (this month’s New York sentencing notwithstanding). “However, Chutkan appeared inclined to give prosecutors a chance to lay out damaging evidence against Trump within the next few weeks — a timeline that would coincide with the ramp-up of early voting,” Kyle and Josh write. Reading Chutkan’s tea leaves: Chutkan sounded skeptical of the Trump defense’s argument that she needs to take up the immunity question of Trump’s conversations with MIKE PENCE first. She emphasized that her timeline is independent of political concerns. The judge laughed at the suggestion that the Supreme Court’s decision was “crystal clear.” She also indicated that she didn’t find Judge AILEEN CANNON’s dismissal of special counsel JACK SMITH’s appointment “particularly persuasive.” Chutkan’s scheduling order could come as soon as later today. Trump’s lawyer emphasized that they would argue the Trump-Pence conversations should be ruled immune and off limits, potentially undermining much of the case. That question will hinge on whether Trump’s actions were official or personal. Federal prosecutors said they hoped to file a brief about presidential immunity in the next few weeks, and they urged Chutkan to consolidate Trump’s expected appeals on immunity issues into one. The spin room: Trump’s allies and lawyers are planning to hold a surrogate call tonight about “legal messaging,” per Punchbowl’s Melanie Zanona. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG in his personal capacity raised $4 million for VP KAMALA HARRIS across five Northern California fundraisers yesterday alone, according to a person familiar, our colleague Adam Wren writes in. GATHERING HUNTER — Right before his tax trial was about to begin, HUNTER BIDEN’s lawyers said he wanted to change his plea to an “Alford plea,” Betsy Woodruff Swan and Melanie Mason report from LA. If a judge signs off, he would accept punishment and acknowledge that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him, taking responsibility without actually admitting guilt. POLL OF THE DAY — In Montana, where independent polling has been limited for what may be the tipping-point Senate race, a new AARP survey finds Republican TIM SHEEHY leading Democratic Sen. JON TESTER by 6 points, or by 8 with third-party candidates included, per Ally Mutnick. THE HOLLOWING OUT OF MANAGUA — “US secures release of 135 prisoners from Nicaragua,” AFP: “[It’s] the latest mass transfer by President DANIEL ORTEGA’s increasingly authoritarian government.” Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance: TRACKING THE SENIOR VOTE — Protecting Medicare tops the list in this election, according to a new bipartisan poll. Today, that means Medicare Advantage.
Medicare Advantage represents over half of the Medicare program, serving more than 33 million seniors. Seniors choose Medicare Advantage for affordable health care with better outcomes.
That’s why a supermajority of older voters agrees: Washington must keep health care affordable for seniors by standing up for Medicare Advantage. Read the results. | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  President Joe Biden is now halfway to his 2030 goal for offshore wind energy. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. CLIMATE FILES: The Biden administration is announcing two significant new steps in the country’s push to transition to clean energy and fight climate change. On the road today in Westby, Wisconsin, President JOE BIDEN will give rural electric cooperatives a federal boost to the tune of $7.3 billion, tapping Inflation Reduction Act money to help rural areas light up with wind and solar power, as Meredith Lee Hill scooped yesterday. The administration says the program will reach about one-fifth of America’s rural households, across 23 states, and squash nearly 44 million tons of emissions annually, The Hill’s Rachel Frazin previews. Biden is now halfway to his 2030 goal for offshore wind energy with today’s approval of the 10th major project, this one off the Maryland coast, per the Washington Examiner’s Nancy Vu. The latest development would add another 2 gigawatts of energy toward Biden’s 30-gigawatt goal; it’s enough for 718,000 homes and will support 2,600 jobs a year, according to the administration. The political and policy stakes of these and other green projects are significant: Harris would likely continue on the same path, while a second Trump administration would halt a number of climate-focused initiatives. Today in North Carolina, Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN is giving a speech touting the admin’s positive clean energy effects for the state’s households and its investments in manufacturing jobs, AP’s Fatima Hussein reports. She’s also warning against GOP efforts to roll back the IRA. Biden’s speech today, notably, will take place in a competitive House district in a swing state. It’s part of an effort to shore up his legacy, including major investments in conservative areas, during his final months in office, NBC’s Mike Memoli, Carol Lee and Monica Alba report. He’ll also be heavily focused on foreign policy. 2. THE STAKES FOR NOVEMBER: “Trump to Adopt Elon Musk’s Proposal for Government Efficiency Commission,” by WSJ’s Alex Leary in New York: “Trump plans to outline a suite of economic proposals in a speech here Thursday, including introducing a government efficiency commission recommended by ELON MUSK, taking an even more aggressive swipe at regulations than during his first White House term and pledging to rescind certain unspent funds appropriated during the Biden administration. … The goal would be to identify ways to eliminate fraud and improper payments.” Trump said today that Musk has agreed to lead it. And (see above!) clawing back money from the IRA would be a top target. 3. 2025 WATCH: Virginia Lt. Gov. WINSOME EARLE-SEARS became the first Republican to jump into next year’s gubernatorial race, the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Anna Bryson reports. She or Democratic Rep. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, who’s also in the race, would be the state’s first female governor. But Earle-Sears may not have the GOP lane to herself if state AG JASON MIYARES jumps into the primary, too. Earle-Sears was once a prominent Trump backer, though she broke with him somewhat after the 2022 midterms. 4. THE NEW BIG LIE: “Republicans Seize on False Theories About Immigrant Voting,” by NYT’s Alexandra Berzon: “Activists … prominent lawyers, Republican lawmakers, right-wing influencers and other allies of Mr. Trump have ramped up pressure on local election officials to take steps that they say will keep noncitizens from tilting the election in Democrats’ favor. They have pressed for voter roll purges, filed lawsuits, prepared for on-the-ground monitoring of polling places and spread misinformation online. Republican elected officials have responded.”
| | | | A message from Better Medicare Alliance:   Seniors can’t afford policies that make their health care more expensive. They are counting on Washington to protect Medicare, including Medicare Advantage. Learn more. | | | 5. FENTANYL FILES: Sens. ED MARKEY (D-Mass.) and RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) think that expanding methadone access is a crucial tool to turn the tide of fentanyl overdoses, and their bipartisan bill has backing from the Biden administration. But, Carmen Paun reports, the legislation has hit a stumbling block in Congress amid opposition from methadone clinic directors, who warn that allowing methadone to be prescribed outside of clinics is dangerous. Backers of the bill argue that the situation is dire, and tens of thousands of lives could be saved if patients could get methadone — an addictive opioid itself — from their local pharmacy. But Hill Republicans in particular have grown wary of the risks of expansion. 6. YIKES: “Nearly 2,000 drug plants are overdue for FDA checks after COVID delays, AP finds,” by Matthew Perrone and Nicky Forster: “Federal regulators responsible for the safety of the U.S. drug supply are still struggling to get back to where they were in 2019 … [A]gency staffers have not returned to roughly 2,000 pharmaceutical manufacturing firms to conduct surveillance inspections since before the pandemic, raising the risks of contamination and other issues in drugs used by millions of Americans. The firms that are overdue for safety and quality inspections represent about 42% of the 4,700 plants … Under FDA’s own guidelines, factories that haven’t been inspected in five or more years are considered a significant risk.” 7. MIDDLE EAST FALLOUT: Both parties are still trying to figure out how to navigate anger over the Israel-Hamas war in the presidential election. Trump allies, led by TIFFANY TRUMP’s father-in-law MASSAD BOULOS, are trying to peel off Arab American and Muslim voters from Democrats, WaPo’s Abigail Hauslohner reports from Phoenix. It’s a tough sell, given that Trump has remained vague about the war and has ties to staunchly pro-Israel advisers. But Boulos’ pitch is that Trump wants the war to end — and that his stronger leadership would have prevented it from ever breaking out. Meanwhile, as Democrats struggle to hold on to some pro-Israel Jewish voters, second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF has become a key emissary to the community, CNN’s Isaac Dovere reports. As Emhoff’s emotional reaction to the killings of several hostages made clear, “he won’t stop speaking out, linking the need to remind the world repeatedly of what happened to the events of the Holocaust.” 8. BS AT BLS: “Leaked Reports and Political Heat Are Testing Trust in Economic Data,” by NYT’s Ben Casselman and Jeanna Smialek: “Economists and other experts say the bureau’s data remains reliable, and they praise the agency’s efforts to ensure its numbers are accurate and free of political bias. But they say the recent problems threaten to undermine confidence in the agency, and in government statistics more broadly. … [T]here are major unanswered questions about the incidents … And records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests suggest that some explanations provided by the bureau were incomplete or inaccurate.”
| | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Antony Blinken is visiting a Haiti in crisis. Lauren Chen was fired by Blaze Media after DOJ’s Russian-influence revelation. Vladimir Putin sarcastically endorsed Kamala Harris, complimenting her laugh. Stephen Weiss was actually protesting Donald Trump, not the press. Howard Lutnick is Trump’s emissary to Wall Street. Matt Damon and Lin-Manuel Miranda are headlining a Harris fundraiser. IN MEMORIAM — “J. Richard Munro, Who Oversaw the Creation of Time Warner, Dies at 93,” by NYT’s Clay Risen: “As president and C.E.O., he expanded Time Inc.’s offerings, fended off a hostile takeover and built the world’s largest media company.” MEDIA MOVES — Chris Cillizza will be a contributor for Scripps News. He’s a CNN and WaPo alum. … Courtney O’Neal-Allen is now director of content at GovExec. She most recently was executive producer at Scoop News Group. TRANSITIONS — Marie Sylla Dixon is joining Exelon as SVP of federal affairs. She previously was SVP of government and external affairs at Albertsons Companies. … David Woodruff is now VP and head of policy advocacy and federal government affairs at BP America. He most recently was head of U.S. public and government affairs at CN Railway. … … Lisa Bos is joining InterAction as VP for global development policy, advocacy and learning. She most recently was senior director of government relations at World Vision. … Katie Fitzwilliam is now deputy VP of public affairs at PhRMA, leading their paid media and advertising team. She previously was VP of advertising at Targeted Victory. BONUS BIRTHDAY: Melissa Sowerwine 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misstated the nature of the group in which Ginni Thomas was reportedly a member. It was opposed to court reform. | | | | 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 politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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