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DRIVING THE DAY
NOT A SHOCKER: Calif. Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM crushed the recall attempt by a nearly 2-to 1 margin. The coverage: David Siders and Carla Marinucci with how he did it. … AP’s Nick Riccardi with 5 takeaways … LAT’s Steve Lopez on possibly “ the most frivolous waste of time in California election history”
OPEN BOOK — STEPHANIE GRISHAM writes in her upcoming book that she did not believe that the election was stolen and tried to convince MELANIA TRUMP there was no grand conspiracy to deny her husband a second term. But a senior Trump aide provided text messages to Playbook suggesting that Grisham was sympathetic to — and in one instance tried to assist — efforts to stop the certification of the election in her home state of Arizona.
On Nov. 5, after Arizona A.G. MARK BRNOVICH rebutted claims from DONALD TRUMP supporters that voters who used Sharpies had their ballots improperly disqualified, Grisham forwarded his tweet to a Trump aide and wrote of Brnovich, “Told you. Useless.”
The following week, on Nov. 12, Grisham texted the same aide with a WaPo report about Brnovich telling Fox News there was “no evidence” of fraud that would change the results in Arizona. “Such an ass,” she wrote.
A month later, on Dec. 12, Grisham received a text from a lobbyist in Arizona, GRETCHEN JACOBS. Jacobs wrote that she had spoken with KAREN FANN, a top Republican in the state Senate, and “asked her what would cause her to withhold the electors” needed to certify the results. According to the text, Fann told Jacobs “if we could prove fraud — that would be a game-changer.”
Jacobs then asked Grisham if she could help find $104,000 to hire a political consultant to work on finding evidence of fraud. “I can’t bear that we would lose this over not having $100k to prove what we know is fraud,” the lobbyist wrote to Grisham.
Grisham forwarded the text to the Trump campaign aide and asked, “Any ideas?”
Grisham declined to comment. She referred Playbook to Jacobs as well as BRETT MECUM, an Arizona political operative and friend of Grisham’s. Both said Grisham told them privately she did not believe the claims of widespread fraud.
Multiple Trump aides said they have more “receipts” to show that Grisham’s recounting of events and her positions are not accurately portrayed in her upcoming book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House.”
Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
POLICY-PALOOZA: DEMOCRATS SPLIT OVER TAX HIKES — If there’s one issue you’d think would unite Democrats, it’s taxing the rich to help the poor and middle class. But a private tug of war is underway over what that looks like in practice: specifically, how much of the $2 trillion in proposed tax hikes the party as a whole can swallow.
As the House Ways and Means Committee spends this week marking up its part of the massive reconciliation bill, tax disagreements between moderates and progressives are raging behind the scenes. Here are the key fault lines:
1) NEAL VS. WYDEN ON WEALTH TAXES: The top House and Senate tax writers diverge on how aggressively to hit the wealthy: House Ways and Means Chair RICHARD NEAL (D-Mass.) wants to raise the top marginal income tax rate from 37% to 39.6% and increase the capital gains rate from 23.8% to 28.3%. But Senate Finance Chair RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) and many progressives want to go further by aggressively targeting not only income but accumulated wealth.
The difference is huge. Rich people like JEFF BEZOS don’t make their money from a salary, but from owning companies (see Brian Faler’s piece about this and other tax provisions today). And when they die, they can pass billions in untaxed asset gains to their heirs tax-free. Wyden sees going after this money as a matter of fairness, and according to a Senate Democratic aide, he plans to push for it to be included.
But it’s a radical change and House moderates don’t like it, which is why Neal didn’t go there. “That’s not happening; it’s more trouble than it’s worth,” one House source told us.
2) THE SALTIES GIRD FOR BATTLE: A group of lawmakers from high-tax states including New York and New Jersey have vowed to oppose the reconciliation bill unless their constituents get relief from a $10,000 limit on the state and local tax deduction passed by Republicans in 2017. But other Democrats say backing away would look like a tax cut for the wealthy and expose the party to charges of hypocrisy from Republicans. It would also leave a lot of money on the table.
The issue is so contentious that Neal persuaded Ways and Means Democrats not to take it up during this week’s markup and instead wait until just before the larger reconciliation package hits the House floor.
Our sources expect this to get ugly. Some of the so-called SALTies are pushing to eliminate the cap for at least two years, we’re told. (A repeal for one year rings in at about $89 billion.) But senior Democrats in both chambers say that’s unlikely — especially if the overall cost of the bill is less than $3.5 trillion. More likely is an increase in the cap, we’re told.
3) MANCHIN VS. EVERYONE: The crazy thing about all of this is that Democrats are frantically trying to iron out nitty-gritty tax details before they’ve reached consensus on how much revenue they actually need — or have the votes to pass. Democratic leaders are insisting the reconciliation package will be $3.5 trillion and floating just under that amount in pay-fors; Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) is talking $1.5 trillion in tax changes. No one knows where they’ll end up.
Manchin is a wild card on other tax matters. He has suggested the corporate tax rate shouldn’t go above 25%, though Neal proposed 26.5%. He wants to means-test expanded child tax credits, which other Dems oppose. Party leaders don’t know what his true bottom line is, and that’s making everything more difficult.
4) TOBACCO TAXES LIGHT UP THE CAUCUS: During Tuesday’s Ways and Means markup, Republicans went after Neal’s proposal to hike taxes on nicotine and cigarette users to the tune of nearly $100 billion. But we hear several Democrats also aren’t keen on the idea. They’re worried it would predominantly pinch lower-income people and people of color, who smoke in larger numbers.
Last Congress, House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) was critical of a sweeping ban on tobacco flavors and a new tax on e-cigs, even skipping a very narrow vote on the issue despite his position in leadership. Senior Democrats expect similar opposition to this.
EV DOES IT: We noted Tuesday that the electric vehicle tax credits proposed by Democrats in the House “are not means-tested and can be used by the wealthy to subsidize the purchase of high-end electric cars.” The office of Rep. DAN KILDEE (D-Mich.), who wrote the EV language, asked us to also note that the credits cannot be applied to the most expensive electric vehicles. The caps are as follows: $55,000 for a sedan, $64,000 for a van, $69,000 for an SUV and $74,000 for a pickup truck.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY:
— 9 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
— 1:30 p.m.: Biden will meet with business leaders about the pandemic response in the EEOB Library.
— 5 p.m.: Biden will speak briefly about “a national security initiative” from the East Room.
Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:45 p.m.
The SENATE will meet at 11 a.m. to take up MARGARET STRICKLAND’s judicial nomination. The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the LARRY NASSAR sexual abuse scandal at 10 a.m. with SIMONE BILES, MCKAYLA MARONEY, MAGGIE NICHOLS, ALY RAISMAN, DOJ I.G. MICHAEL HOROWITZ and FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY.
The HOUSE is out. The Ways and Means Committee will hold a markup on the reconciliation bill at 9 a.m.
PLAYBOOK READS
CONGRESS
TODAY’S MUST-WATCH ROLL CALL — The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s multi-day markup of its reconciliation provisions is turning into a nail-biter after several moderates threatened to tank NANCY PELOSI’s prized prescription drug overhaul. Our colleagues Alice Miranda Ollstein, Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris have more of the back story here, but the short of it is that suddenly about $700 billion of the party’s reconciliation pay-fors are in trouble. Democrats are banking on that pile of money to shore up Obamacare and expand Medicare.
Chair FRANK PALLONE (D-N.J.) is trying to get this back on track, and we’re told if the prescription drug plan goes down today, Democratic leaders could try to add it back through an amendment at the Rules Committee before it heads to the floor. But the breakdown signals possible trouble for House leadership’s preferred plan, which they’ve been pushing a reluctant Senate to accept. They may not even have the numbers in their own chamber.
A KEY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DYNAMIC — Democrats could help their cause of avoiding a government shutdown if they include disaster aid in a funding bill and leave out an increase of the debt limit, Jennifer Scholtes and Caitlin Emma report. Republican Sen. JOHN KENNEDY “is an unequivocal yes on disaster aid. And the Louisiana senator said he has warned the White House that tying the debt limit to the spending package will tank the whole thing.
FILIBUSTER WATCH — Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine survey key Democrats about a last-ditch effort to gut the filibuster to pass voting-rights legislation and conclude: “Their chances aren’t looking good.”
POLITICS ROUNDUP
THE LATEST IN BOSTON — “City Councilors MICHELLE WU and ANNISSA ESSAIBI GEORGE appear set to face off in the Nov. 2 general election for mayor after claiming the top two spots in Tuesday’s preliminary race, setting up a historic contest between two women of color who stand at opposite ends of the political spectrum, in what will become a new era in Boston,” Boston Globe’s Milton Valencia reports.
MORE FROM WOODWARD AND COSTA’S BOOK — Some additional nuggets from BOB WOODWARD and ROBERT COSTA’s upcoming book, slated to be released this fall:
— Biden didn’t heed warnings from Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN and Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN for a slower withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, CNN’s Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Elizabeth Stuart report.
— Speaker NANCY PELOSI told Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. MARK MILLEY that Trump “should have been arrested on the spot” following the Jan. 6 insurrection, CNBC’s Dan Mangan reports.
AND, MILLEY IN HOT WATER — Republicans including Sen. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) called for him to be fired, per Fox News.
Also jumping on this train: ALEXANDER VINDMAN, the Democrats’ star impeachment witness on Ukraine. “If this is true GEN Milley must resign,” Vindman tweeted. "He usurped civilian authority, broke Chain of Command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It’s an extremely dangerous precedent. You can’t simply walk away from that. #dotherightthingintherightway”
CENSUS TAKEAWAYS — The Census Bureau reported that there was no outside political influence in its state-by-state population totals, which play a part in creating congressional districts, AP’s Mike Schneider writes.
— CRUCIAL REDISTRICTING BATTLEGROUND: Could control of the House in 2023 come down to New York state Democrats’ political muscle? NYT’s Nicholas Fandos and Grace Ashford report that Albany Dems are weighing overruling a bipartisan redistricting commission to create maps more favorable to them. And they could ax up to five Republicans from the state’s congressional delegation if they go full tilt (with plenty of political and legal risks as well). “New York might be the biggest redistricting weapon for either party in the country,” DAVE WASSERMAN told the Times.
2022 WATCH — The Nevada Independent’s Jon Ralston reports that former Sen. DEAN HELLER intends to announce a run for governor Monday in Carson City, making him the GOP front-runner in the race.
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
NOT A GOOD LOOK — LARRY ELLISON, a witness in the trial of BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, offered the former Israeli PM a lucrative spot on Oracle’s board, per Haaretz. Netanyahu denied receiving the offer.
NO ONE HOME — Nearly all U.S. ambassador posts are unfilled. As the Biden administration struggles to get nominees confirmed, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD has been thrust into the spotlight while leading presidential delegations around the world. On the first episode of POLITICO’s “Global Insider” podcast, host Ryan Heath speaks to Thomas-Greenfield in the days following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul about where she stands with Afghanistan’s ambassador to the U.N. and what’s next for U.S. relations in the country.
TRUMP CARDS
THE EARLY DAYS OF COVID — WaPo’s Dan Diamond reports that “senior advisers in the Trump administration in February 2020 privately discussed the government’s ‘critical mistakes’ in preparing for the coronavirus, countering optimistic claims Trump made in public, according to emails obtained by the House select subcommittee on the pandemic.”
MEDIAWATCH
KNOWING JENNIFER GRIFFIN — One of the most experienced hands in the Pentagon press corps, Fox News’ Griffin, spoke with Forbes’ Mark Joyella about her more than 25 years covering Afghanistan. “Keeping in check the emotions of covering a story that I’ve spent my whole life engaged with, and the emotions of the humanitarian disaster that was so predictable … it really has taken a bit of a toll,” she said.
PLAYBOOKERS
Bob Dole paid tribute to Norm Macdonald, the comedian who played Dole on “SNL” and died Tuesday at the age of 61. (Bonus: Macdonald’s moth joke.)
Chuck Schumer revealed an unusual secret about “all of the men” in his family.
Alan Ruck, who plays Connor Roy in “Succession,” drove a press van as a volunteer in Biden’s California motorcade Monday.
J.P. Freire, a spox for Ways and Means Republicans, borrowed Playbook’s trademark “Spotted” to tell folks that Angelina Jolie was making the rounds in the Capitol. He also asked for opinions on her best movie. Duh! It’s obviously “Tomb Raider.”
Bob Enyart is “at least the fifth conservative radio talk-show host to have died of covid-19 in the last six weeks after speaking out against vaccinations and masking.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended her dress.
SPOTTED at a launch for Amy Argetsinger’s new book, “There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America” ($28), at the Conrad Hotel on Tuesday, with a Q&A moderated by Pamela Brown: Bill McQuillen, Steve Clemons, Kimball Stroud, Gloria Dittus, Ilyse Hogue, John Neffinger, Kendra Barkoff and Jonathon Lamy, Todd Flournoy, Steve Ross, Elizabeth Thorp, Nicole Backus, Liz Sizer, Lauren Leader, Teresa Carlson, Nick Johnston, Neil Irwin, Roxanne Roberts, Lauren Vickery and Hank Stuever.
SPOTTED at Meridian International Center’s reception Tuesday night honoring newly credentialed ambassadors to the U.S.: Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Mark Feierstein, Paula Dobriansky, Capricia Marshall, Marta Youth, Jonathan Henick, Stuart and Gwen Holliday, Patrick Steel and Lee Satterfield, Marie Royce, Ann Stock, Megan Beyer, Stuart Bernstein, Tracy Bernstein, Steve Morrissey, Omar Vargas, Ryan Heath, Josh and Ali Rogin, Aviva and Dan Rosenthal, Natalie Jones, Susan Houser, Randi Levine, Philip Dufour, Bay Fang, Stephenie Foster, Marcus Goodwin, Shaila Manyam, Alex Mistri, Puru Trivedi, Megan Devlin, Richard Jonas and Katherine Vernot-Jonas, and the ambassadors of Azerbaijan, Belgium, Colombia, El Salvador, Estonia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Mauritania, Oman, Paraguay, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Zimbabwe, as well as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Representative.
TRANSITIONS — Abby Finkenauer’s Iowa Senate campaign is announcing its senior leadership team: Molly Banta as campaign manager, Christian Slater as comms director, Julianne Frosolone as political director and Khadijah Naeem as finance director. … Madison Hardimon is now a professional policy staffer for the Republican Study Committee. He most recently was legislative director for the late Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas). … Sam Dorn is now congressional liaison at Democratic Majority for Israel. He most recently was comms director for Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.).
ENGAGED — Bartlett Jackson, public affairs manager for Sunrun, surprised Hannah Hankins, comms director for former President Barack Obama, with a proposal on top of Mount Tamalpais in Mill Valley, Calif., on Sept. 6. The couple met in 2012 while working in the Obama White House. Pic … Congrats from Amy Klobuchar
WEDDING — Jon Bosworth, legislative director for Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Rebecca Guise, a clinical pharmacist at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, got married Aug. 28 at Domaine de Broglie in Oregon’s wine country. They were introduced by a mutual friend in 2013 while attending Oregon State University. Pic … Another pic
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Elliot Vice, director of government affairs for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, and Margaret Vice, VP in Finsbury Glover Hering’s research and insights division, welcomed Theodore Chester Vice on Saturday morning. “Teddy” joins big sister Emilia. Pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.) and Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) (52) … WaPo’s Ashley Parker … Alex Yudelson of the White House … Chris Lehmann … NPR’s David Folkenflik … Ben Kamisar … CBS’ Adam Aigner-Treworgy … POLITICO’s Kathy Wolfe and Hung-Su Nguyen … Tiffany Haverly of Finsbury Glover Hering … Sandra Alcalá of Rep. Filemon Vela’s (D-Texas) office … Chandler Smith Costello of Firehouse Strategies … CNN’s Ryan Nobles … Tony Mauro ... League of Conservation Voters’ Dawn Cohea … Elizabeth Meyer … Marya Hannun … Rebecca McGrath … Dave Shott ... Bloomberg’s Max Berley ... Allyson Alvaré Kranz … Marie Arana ... Chip Rodgers … Maggie Moore of Stand Up America … Wayne King of Fidelis Government Relations and Old North Strategies … Sara Fagen of Tunnl … Christian Pinkston … speechwriter John McConnell … former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
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