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MAGGIE HABERMAN and MIKE SCHMIDT’S monster scoop in the NYT on Sunday night — that JOHN BOLTON has written in a draft of his book that President DONALD TRUMP ordered aid to Ukraine held until it investigated the Bidens — reminds the United States Senate and the American people of a reality that was, until now, easy to forget: BOLTON is going to tell his story, it’s just a question of what medium it appears in first — a book, a television segment or a sworn testimony. His lawyer’s letter to the White House, noting officials there have had the book since Dec. 30
IN SOME WAYS, THERE’S NOTHING NEW here. The revelation confirms what nearly two dozen associates and employees of TRUMP told House investigators. The only people who say the opposite are the president and his associates.
BUT LET’S BE PERFECTLY CLEAR HERE: MAGGIE and MIKE’S story is as bad as can be for TRUMP. BOLTON is now contradicting the president’s claim that he did not tie the aid to investigating JOE BIDEN, and he is a direct eyewitness. It comes at the absolute worst time for this White House: as the Senate is days away from deciding whether to call witnesses in the impeachment trial.
BOLTON IS DANGEROUS because he’s unmoored from TRUMP. He clearly does not care what the president’s orbit thinks of him. His 528-page book is titled, “The Room Where It Happened,” with the words contained inside an oval (hint, hint). It is scheduled for release March 17 and, conveniently enough, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
REPUBLICANS have done a good job during this process projecting confidence in their mastery of the situation, and their ability to deliver for the president.
BUT AS OF LATE SUNDAY, our GOP sources said they could not predict what was going to happen now with witnesses, and the Republican Conference lunch today will be key in determining the state of play. In other words, these top-level sources were allowing that things may have changed. We have yet to see if Republicans will brush off this new development, or whether it will push enough of them to vote for witnesses.
BOLTON IS NOT LEV PARNAS or one of these other characters who has sprouted up in the Trump era. He’s a through-and-through conservative who was so far to the right that George W. Bush had to wait for recess to make him his U.N. envoy. He’s known to members of the Senate. Not calling him to speak would be spurning one of their own in favor of TRUMP, whom many of them see as an interloper.
HERE’S THE DILEMMA FOR REPUBLICANS NOW: If you’re one of the Republicans who were already uncomfortable with this president, how do you vote to not call Bolton after seeing this? Remember: BOLTON is publishing an entire book, and so far we know only what he’s said on Ukraine — not everything else he’s seen.
A REMINDER OF THE TIMELINE: TRUMP’S attorneys are in the middle of their defense of the president. SENATORS then will have a chance to question both sides for a few days — Democrats are sure to use this opportunity to force the president’s team to address BOLTON. And after that, at some point later this week, we anticipate a vote on whether to allow witnesses and new documents.
THE TWEETS … TRUMP responded at 12:18 a.m.: “I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. With that being said, the… …transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems. Additionally, I met with President Zelensky at the United Nations… …(Democrats said I never met) and released the military aid to Ukraine without any conditions or investigations – and far ahead of schedule. I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration.”
THE HOUSE MANAGERS’ STATEMENT: “There can be no doubt now that Mr. Bolton directly contradicts the heart of the President’s defense and therefore must be called as a witness at the impeachment trial of President Trump.
“SENATORS SHOULD INSIST that Mr. Bolton be called as a witness, and provide his notes and other relevant documents. The Senate trial must seek the full truth and Mr. Bolton has vital information to provide. There is no defensible reason to wait until his book is published, when the information he has to offer is critical to the most important decision Senators must now make — whether to convict the President of impeachable offenses.”
MEANWHILE … NANCY COOK: “President Donald Trump is already itching to broadcast the series finale of his impeachment. In recent days, he and top White House aides have been considering how he should celebrate his presumed acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate and whether he should deliver a rare Oval Office address to mark the occasion, according to three senior administration officials.” POLITICO
SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO is going to Ukraine this week, Nahal Toosi reminds in this story, just days after reportedly saying, “Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?”
TOP-ED … BILL TAYLOR in the NYT: “Yes, Secretary Pompeo, Americans Should Care About Ukraine”
NEW … MUCH INK WAS SPILLED — in this newsletter, and elsewhere — about the massive fundraising by the CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND and AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK last cycle when the GOP was in the majority. But here’s a bit of a shock: The combined groups — the main House GOP outside orgs — pulled in a combined $68 million in 2019, their largest haul ever in an off year. This is so unexpected because House Republicans are in the minority, and conventional wisdom holds that they don’t have a pathway out.
— NOTABLY: CLF has $28 million on hand — the most it has ever had going into an election year and twice as much as ever before. They raised $32.6 million last year. The combined groups have raised $2 million more than their previous record.
— CONSIDER THIS: CLF/AAN had tax reform to raise off last cycle. That they are raising more money now, during a presidential cycle, is notable, and illustrates that donors believe Republicans have a decent chance of putting up a fight to win back the House. With the DCCC and Dem candidates mopping the floors with the NRCC and GOP candidates, CLF and AAN’s cash will be critical for the party.
Good Monday morning. CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS turns 65 today.
L.A. TIMES’ BILL PLASCHKE ON KOBE: “Kobe Bryant is gone, and those are the hardest words I’ve ever had to write for this newspaper, and I still don’t believe them as I’m writing them. I’m still crying, and go ahead, let it out. Don’t be embarrassed, cry with me, weep and wail and shout into the streets, fill a suddenly empty Los Angeles with your pain. …
“Kobe does not die. Not now. Kobe lives into his golden years, lives long enough to see his statues erected outside Staples Center and his jerseys inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He lives long enough to sit courtside at Staples when he’s stooped and gray, keeping alive the memories of two decades of greatness with a wink, maybe even fooling everyone one last time by retiring in a community next to Shaq.”
JARED’S BIG MOMENT! … NETANYAHU TO THE W.H. … NYT’S MARK LANDLER: “Trump’s Mideast Plan Is Seen Mainly as an Election Lift for Netanyahu”: “The Israeli leader will return to the White House for meetings Monday and Tuesday, and Mr. Trump is expected at last to lay out the details of that long-awaited plan. Mr. Netanyahu said Sunday he hoped to ‘make history’ on the visit. …
“‘For him to do this in the middle of an Israeli election, without any Palestinian participation and with no intention to follow up with any of the participants, shows this is not a peace plan at all,’ said Martin S. Indyk, who served as special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama. ‘It is a farce from start to finish.’” NYT
SEVEN DAYS TO IOWA … BOSTON GLOBE: “‘Our phone rings from 7 in the morning until 10 at night.’ Life in Iowa’s political bombardment zone,” by Dugan Arnett in Waverly, Iowa
WAPO: “Bernie Sanders faces barrage of attacks from rivals as polls point to surge in early-voting states,” by Chelsea Janes and Sean Sullivan in West Des Moines: “Sen. Bernie Sanders faced a sudden barrage of attacks from his rivals Sunday amid signs that he was surging in the critical early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire and closing the gap nationally with the race’s longtime polling leader, Joe Biden.
“Sanders’s rise, with only days left before the Feb. 3 caucuses here, prompted urgent warnings from competing campaigns that the party is in jeopardy of nominating a self-identified democratic socialist whose far-left views would turn off the broad swath of voters required to defeat President Trump in the November general election.
“‘Bernie Sanders could be the nominee,’ the campaign of Pete Buttigieg declared in an ominous-sounding fundraising message to supporters Saturday. A pointed text message followed on Sunday: ‘We risk nominating a candidate who cannot beat Donald Trump in November. And that’s a risk we can’t take.’”
— FOR THE RECORD: Here’s a private plane that landed at DCA from Sioux City, Iowa, at 1 a.m.
ELENA SCHNEIDER in Des Moines: “Buttigieg takes his case to Fox News before Iowa”: “Pete Buttigieg shot into 2020 contention with a viral town hall last March. On Sunday, he turned back to that setting for one final pre-Iowa caucuses boost — this time on Fox News, seeking an audience of disaffected moderates and ‘future former Republicans’ to pitch on electability.
“Buttigieg, who is vying with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for a win in the caucuses, isn’t expecting to draw in many Iowa Republicans with his appearance on Fox News Sunday night. But the platform jibed with Buttigieg’s closing message in the state: that the 38-year-old ex-mayor is best positioned to bring the party together to defeat President Donald Trump in November.
“‘This network is known for having a lot more conservative viewers, but I don’t think you have to be a Democrat to see what is wrong with this president,’ Buttigieg said, when asked about how he would appeal to Republican voters in the general election. ‘If you’re having trouble looking your kids in the eye and explaining this presidency to them, you have a choice.’”
BLOOMBERG IN FLORIDA — “Mike Bloomberg pitches himself to Jewish Americans, in a presidential race with two very different Jewish candidates,” by WaPo’s Julie Zauzmer
THE PRESIDENT’S MONDAY — At 11 a.m., TRUMP is scheduled to welcome Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU to the White House. They will meet at 11:10 a.m. At 12:30 p.m., TRUMP will meet separately with Netanyahu’s chief political rival, Benny Gantz. At 1:15 p.m, TRUMP will have lunch with the VP. At 3:30 p.m., THE PRESIDENT will participate in the swearing-in of Jovita Carranza as administrator of the SBA.
PLAYBOOK READS
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE … AP/BEIJING: “China on Monday expanded sweeping efforts to contain a viral disease by extending the Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home and avoid spreading infection as the death toll rose to 80.
“Hong Kong announced it would bar entry to visitors from the province at the center of the outbreak following a warning the virus’s ability to spread was growing. Travel agencies were ordered to cancel group tours nationwide, adding to the rising economic cost.
“Increasingly drastic anti-disease efforts began with the Jan. 22 suspension of plane, train and bus links to Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in central China where the virus was first detected last month. That lockdown has expanded to a total of 17 cities with more than 50 million people in the most far-reaching disease-control measures ever imposed.” AP
— ARIZONA REPUBLIC: “First case of novel coronavirus reaches Arizona, 5th person in U.S. infected”
BEZOS VS. MBS — “Saudi Prince Courted Amazon’s Bezos Before Bitter Split,” by WSJ’s Justin Scheck in New York, Bradley Hope in London and Summer Said in Dubai: “Through much of 2018, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and tech-savvy Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seemed to be hitting it off.
“Texting over WhatsApp about a plan for Amazon to build a huge data center in Saudi Arabia, the men forged a cordial and mutually beneficial relationship. ‘It is very important for me, my friend, that you come to Saudi during the future investment Forum and we announce this $2.8B Vision 2030 partnership,’ the prince messaged Mr. Bezos on Sept. 9, 2018, according to a review of texts by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the situation.
“Amazon stood to gain broader access to the Middle Eastern market. Prince Mohammed could be aided in his efforts to reform the Saudi economy as well as burnish his personal brand. Now, one of the world’s richest men and one of the most powerful princes are archenemies, each accusing the other of betrayal.” WSJ
WATCH THIS SPACE … AP/BAGHDAD: “Nighttime rocket attack on U.S. Embassy in Baghdad injured 1”: “A nighttime rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad injured at least one embassy personnel member, staffers there said Monday. The two staff members, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, did not specify the injured person’s nationality or the severity of their wounds. They said the rocket slammed into a restaurant inside the embassy compound.” AP
MEANWHILE, IN TEHRAN — “Iran’s Rouhani calls for unity, accuses Trump of exploiting rift,” by Reuters’ Parisa Hafezi in Dubai
MEDIAWATCH … HAPPENING THIS MORNING … POLITICO founder and publisher Robert Allbritton will announce the launch of “AgencyIQ,” a significant new POLITICO business line and product focused on tracking and interpreting federal regulatory agencies through research, technology and news.
NEW … THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA is launching a 50-state Election Cybersecurity Initiative, supported by Google. The goal is to educate campaigns, election workers, elected officials and the public about how to secure U.S. elections. Their events will focus on how to prevent cyberattacks, identify disinformation and misinformation, and respond to crises when they arise. The initiative is being run by executive director Adam Clayton Powell III, and Charlie Baker alum Justin P. Griffin serves as managing director. More details
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) on Sunday at the Works Cafe in downtown Concord, N.H., and later on an American Airlines flight from Manchester to DCA. … Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) grocery shopping at the H Street NE Giant on Sunday afternoon.
TRANSITIONS — Eve Tahmincioglu is now communications director at the Economic Policy Institute. She previously was executive editor and digital director for Directors & Boards, Private Company Director and Family Business, and is an NBC alum. … Brennan Murray is now a public policy senior associate at VIPKid. He previously was a senior associate at McLarty Associates China.
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Heather Nauert, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former State Department spokesperson and acting undersecretary for public affairs. A trend she thinks doesn’t get enough attention: “College students buying fake IDs from China that look exactly like real IDs, but what’s shocking is that some copies are so good that they can even fool police scanner technology! (Just ask your teenager!)” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: WaPo’s Holly Bailey … Meredith Kelly, partner at Sena Kozar Strategies … Howard Mortman, C-SPAN’s comms director, is 53 … Ben Kramer … Raul Juste Lores … Jess Wood … Chelsea Patterson Sobolik … Jessica Fink, VP at Groundswell Communications … Kitty Bartels Di Martino … Circle’s Jared Favole is 37 … Keith Olbermann is 61 … Erin Lindsay of Precision Strategies … Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy (h/t Leigh Claffey) … CFR’s Kayla Ermanni … Jamal Ware … Nomiki Konst … CAP’s Matt Lee-Ashley … Connie Partoyan, president of Targeted Victory (h/t Blake Waggoner) … Matthew Simon, COS for Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) … Ben Owens, legislative assistant for Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), is 25 (h/ts Henry Marcel and dad Steve) … Heath Clayton …
… Jay Hein, president of Sagamore Institute … Akin Gump’s Josh Teitelbaum (h/t wife Emily) … John Miyasato … Carter Wood … former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) is 71 … former Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio) is 59 … former Rep. Dick Ottinger (D-N.Y.) is 91 … former Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is 77 … Jake Goldman … Morry Cater … Jessica DiRocco … Nick Swezey … Jennifer Bogdan, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s communications director, is 34 … Julia Kimani Burnham … Brian Harvey Hogue … Seth Green is 4-0 … Swetha Ramakrishnan … Peter Long … Kurt Hauptman … Scott Backer … Judy Shapleigh … Christina Ciammaichelli … Nathaniel DiRenzo … Rick Ridder (h/t Teresa Vilmain) … Kendall Bianchi … Roxane Philson, ONE Campaign’s chief marketing officer … Saul Carlin … Will Rusche, COS at Vigilant
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