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Presented by PhRMA: Mar 13, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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BREAKING -- DARREN SAMUELSOHN and JOSH GERSTEIN: "Manafort sentence reaches seven-and-a-half years in Mueller case": "It's the longest sentence by far for anyone ensnared in Mueller's nearly two-year-old probe. Manafort's punishment reached its final length after U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Wednesday gave Manafort an additional roughly three-and-a-half years in prison for a series of lobbying and witness tampering crimes he pleaded guilty to last fall. Manafort also must serve nearly four years for his conviction in a jury trial for financial fraud crimes in Virginia." POLITICO

-- NYT'S WILLIAM RASHBAUM: "New York Charges Paul Manafort With 16 Crimes. If He's Convicted, Trump Can't Pardon Him": "The new state charges against Mr. Manafort are contained in a 16-count indictment that alleges a yearlong scheme in which he falsified business records to obtain millions of dollars in loans, [Manhattan D.A. Cyrus] Vance said in a news release after the federal sentencing." NYT

BOEING UPDATE ... AMERICA ALONE? ... JESSE CHASE-LUBITZ: "Canada bans Boeing 737 MAX 8 from flying, departing, passing over its airspace"

A SNAPSHOT OF LIFE IN WASHINGTON ... Here's what the event board at the Kimpton George Hotel near the Hill looks like in the middle of a week when Congress is in session: 10 different lawmakers holding events. Pic

SCOOP ... CALIFORNIA AG XAVIER BECERRA will announce today that Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin are joining the lawsuit challenging PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S emergency declaration.
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ON TRADE ... THE WHITE HOUSE was displeased at our characterization this morning that the administration was not working on much proactively on the Hill. They are, in fact, working the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which they are telling lawmakers is TRUMP'S top legislative priority.

WE HAVE NOT BEEN giving this near the attention it deserves in Playbook, so we vow now to dig in on the blow by blow of getting this new NAFTA through Congress. It's a great story for Playbook and Playbookers: The White House is all in, taking a priority to a divided Congress and seeing if they could use their legislative know-how to get this done.

CROWDSOURCING ... IF YOU SPOT USTR ROBERT LIGHTHIZER on the Hill, let us know. Let us know if you are a holdout on USMCA, if you've recently flipped, if you aren't going to flip, if you plan to flip, if you have issues with the USMCA -- please let us know. If you have a change you're seeking, give us a heads-up.

-- CLIP AND SAVE: THE WHITE HOUSE tells us that they plan to have everything done on their end on USMCA by the spring, so SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.) can prepare to move when she is ready.

-- BUT DEMOCRATS TELL US that there is no scenario in which they do not ask the Trump administration to reopen negotiations with Canada and Mexico on various portions of the bill. Will the White House be prepared for that? It's not clear. We've gotten different answers from different factions.

-- THE W.H. DYNAMICS: This is mostly Lighthizer's show, and the USMCA will rise or fall with him. Democrats tend to like him and C.J. Mahoney, the deputy USTR -- so they have the right team in place, according to the White House. Dems tell us they like Lighthizer because he says he is not a fan of NAFTA. (They are being backed up by the W.H. leg affairs team, which is a bright spot at 1600 Pennsylvania.) Lighthizer and Mahoney have been burning up the hallways in the Capitol, listening to lawmakers' concerns with the USMCA.

-- LIGHTHIZER, MAHONEY and the White House leg affairs folks are concentrated on the middle of the Dem caucus -- Blue Dogs, New Dems, etc. -- and do not believe they need progressives, who came out in strong opposition to the USMCA on Tuesday. The center of political gravity in the caucus right now is the left, so this is a bit of a curious strategy, according to Democrats involved in the process.

-- OTHER AREAS OF CONCENTRATION for the White House: border-state lawmakers and lawmakers who represent tech centers.

-- LIGHTHIZER spoke at the House Democratic Caucus this morning. Our plan was to run a bunch of inside-the-room back and forth, but it was mostly vanilla stuff. THE BOTTOM LINE: Democrats were most acutely interested in the USMCA implications for labor and medicine/prescription drugs. Lighthizer said the White House plan is to handle this in the implementation bill. That will be a non-starter for a huge chunk of Democrats, who will want those issues resolved in the trade agreement, itself.

-- LIGHTHIZER LUNCHED with the New Dems on Tuesday. The New Dems -- led by Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) -- is the biggest gathering of pro-trade Democrats in the House. Several New Dems tell us that Lighthizer listened, but didn't give many details in the lunch. Democrats say the Obama administration was far more organized and in the mix on getting the Trans-Pacific Partnership passed.

-- NEXT UP? Freshmen want a meeting with Lighthizer. REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MICH.) is leading a letter asking Lighthizer for a meeting. Draft text of the letter: "We would like to meet with you and your team to answer our questions, address our concerns, and demonstrate to us the benefits of USMCA to our constituents. Just as we have a range of views on trade agreements in general, we have a range of views on the various provisions of USMCA and would welcome an opportunity to share those with you and your team.

"Therefore, before the Administration submits an implementation bill to Congress for consideration, we request a meeting with you and your staff to walk through the various provisions of the agreement and provide our feedback. And we expect you to work with us through each step of the Congressional consideration process for USMCA." (White House sources tell us they are working to schedule additional meetings.)

-- WHAT HOUSE DEMOCRATS SAY: "It doesn't seem like it's the slam dunk they think it is," one senior House Democratic aide involved in the process told us. "I don't know what they're envisioning the process is going to be." ... ANOTHER HOUSE DEM aide involved in the process said they have a "long way to go" on enforcement.

-- HOUSE REPUBLICANS -- many of whom are veterans of getting a trade deal through Congress -- say they are concerned the White House will be forced to give into Democrats, which could cause Republicans to flee. Republicans say it will be tough for some members to message whatever Trump gives Democrats to assuage them.

-- WHAT WE WILL LOOK FOR: Will the White House announce a high-profile effort to sell this across the country? Will TRUMP or VP MIKE PENCE hit the road? How engaged will the business community get? Typically downtown coalitions play a major role and spend a lot of money to get trade agreements across the finish line.

READ THE POLITICO EXPERTS ... SABRINA RODRIGUEZ: "Trump's trade chief meets skepticism as he sells new NAFTA to Democrats": "President Donald Trump's trade chief Robert Lighthizer will be on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to entice House Democrats into supporting the new North American trade pact, but already it's becoming clear that outreach alone won't get the votes needed. ...

"[T]he Congressional Progressive Caucus ... has taken particular issue with intellectual property protections that they say could lock in high prescription drug prices. ... Lighthizer told lawmakers in a meeting Tuesday that he'd like to submit that bill as soon as possible, but timing will ultimately be up to Pelosi, according to a source in the room. He acknowledged that the Trump administration will not submit anything until she asks for it." POLITICO

A message from PhRMA :

There are wrong and right prescriptions for changing Medicare. Seniors need Washington to focus on the right ones. Cutting costs for everyone except seniors and limiting access to lifesaving medicines are the wrong prescription for Medicare. Making changes that help seniors pay less out-of-pocket are the right prescription for Medicare.

Good Wednesday afternoon. TRANSITION -- Former Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) will join Akin Gump next month. ... SPOTTED: Ryan and Lola Zinke on Tuesday night at the Trump Hotel.

THE LATEST ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY ... BURGESS EVERETT: "Democrats put GOP in bind over national emergency vote": "With roughly a dozen Senate Republicans either committed to voting to disapprove of the president or weighing their options, some in the GOP are trying to cut a deal with the president to scale back his national emergency power so that Congress must approve future emergencies. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced legislation Tuesday that would end national emergencies after 30 days unless Congress votes in favor of it. ...

"Yet Pelosi sought to render any commitment from Trump meaningless on Wednesday morning when she vowed that the House will not consider legislation scaling back national emergency powers for the president." POLITICO

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... WSJ'S TOM WRIGHT and BRADLEY HOPE: "DOJ Probes Whether Fugitive Financier Supplied Donation to Trump Re-Election Effort": "The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether $100,000 donated to a Trump-related political fundraising committee originated from a fugitive Malaysian businessman alleged to be at the center of a global financial scandal, according to people familiar with the matter.

"The $100,000 donation was made in December 2017 to the Trump Victory committee - which is involved in helping re-elect President Trump in 2020 - by Larry Davis, a U.S. citizen who co-owns LNS Capital, a Hawaii-based investment company, people familiar with the investigation say. Authorities are seeking to determine whether transfers totaling $1.5 million to LNS Capital seven months earlier-originating with the Malaysian businessman, Jho Low-financed Mr. Davis's donation to Trump Victory, say the people familiar with the matter." WSJ

-- "In newly released transcript, former FBI lawyer fires back on charges that anti-Trump bias affected Trump and Clinton probes," by WaPo's Karoun Demirjian, Aaron Blake and Roz Helderman: "[Lisa] Page ... stressed that senior bureau officials were also expressing anti-Clinton animus - but that neither affected how agents working those cases carried out their jobs. ...

"Page also testified that their intentions were not nefarious, but reflected that investigators considered a Trump win to be unlikely. ... Comey's central role in both the Clinton and Trump investigations is a running theme throughout Page's testimony, but one she often references obliquely in the transcript, often deferring to the advice of an FBI lawyer present not to divulge details about matters concerning him." WaPo

-- AP'S VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV in Moscow: "Russia mocks U.S. collusion probe ahead of Mueller's report"

COMING ATTRACTIONS -- DARREN SAMUELSOHN: "What to expect if Mueller gets hauled to the Hill": "Sometime after special counsel Robert Mueller privately submits his final report on 2016 Russian election interference to the Justice Department, House Democrats plan to summon him to Capitol Hill to testify on his findings before the television cameras. Expectations will be sky high that the Sphinx-like Russia investigator might reveal incriminating - possibly even impeachable - new evidence about President Donald Trump. Those expectations would be wrong." POLITICO

FLIGHT FRIGHT -- WSJ'S MATINA STEVIS-GRIDNEFF and ROBERT WALL in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: "Pilot of Crashed Ethiopian Airlines Jet Reported Flight-Control Problems"

IMMIGRATION FILES -- WAPO'S DREW HARWELL and TONY ROMM: "ICE is tapping into a huge license-plate database, ACLU says, raising new privacy concerns about surveillance"

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- WSJ'S WARREN STROBEL: "Long-Classified Memo Surfaces Warning of 'Perfect Storm' From Invading Iraq": "As President George W. Bush pressed the case for war in Iraq in the summer of 2002, top State Department officials warned that an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein could spark internal Iraqi chaos, Middle East upheaval and threats to U.S. interests, according to formerly classified documents released this week. ...

"While the existence of the-called 'Perfect Storm' memo has been reported previously, its contents had been secret. The letter and more than 80 other formerly classified documents ... were released in conjunction with the publication of 'The Back Channel,' a memoir by former Deputy Secretary of State William Burns." WSJ ... POLITICO Magazine excerpt from the memoir

WAR REPORT -- "Afghan Army Base Is Wiped Out by U.S. Airstrikes, Officials Say," by NYT's Rod Nordland in Kabul: "A local Afghan official said six soldiers were killed and nine others badly wounded, out of 17 soldiers at the base. ... An American military spokeswoman said the Afghan Army post, which she described as a 'checkpoint,' had opened fire on the convoy first. ... American forces believed that they had heard gunfire coming from the base, and a firefight broke out between the Americans and the Afghan forces at the base." NYT

WAPO'S LISA REIN, SEUNG MIN KIM and JOSH DAWSEY: "VA chief Robert Wilkie has pushed to be the next Pentagon chief"

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- NYT'S SHEILA KAPLAN: "F.D.A. Moves to Restrict Flavored E-Cigarette Sales to Teenagers": "The agency issued a proposal requiring stores to sequester flavored e-cigarettes to areas off limits to anyone under age 18. Retailers, including convenience stores and gas stations, will be expected to verify the age of their customers." NYT

AFTERNOON READ -- WAPO'S SCOTT HIGHAM, SARI HORWITZ and KATIE ZEZIMA: "The Fentanyl Failure: Despite mounting deaths and warnings, the Obama administration did not take extraordinary measures to confront and extraordinary crisis, experts say." WaPo

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is sending a letter to all of his male House colleagues asking them to sign the GenderAvenger pledge, which commits men not to participate in panel discussions (outside Congress) that omit women. Reps. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Bill Keating (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) have already signed.

STAFFING UP -- Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has hired ANNE BAILEY as South Carolina organizing director for her presidential campaign. She was previously national field director for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED at a gathering to honor Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.): Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), Van Ness Feldman, Darren Achord, Patricia Tamez, Scott Salmon, Vince Erfe, Cathy Evans, John DiStasio, Bob Fox, Jill Larrabee, Debra Knopman and Nina O'Dell.

-- SPOTTED at a screening of "The Brink," a new documentary about Steve Bannon (trailer), at E Street Cinema on Tuesday night: panel moderator Ishaan Tharoor and panelists Alison Klayman, Marie Therese Guirgis and Paul Lewis; Margaret Carlson, Alex Wagner, Alex Isenstadt, Evan Osnos, Zeke Miller, Nicole Gaouette, Mike Isikoff, Ron Elving, Bob Costa, James Hohmann, Jess Bravin, Ben Schreckinger, Adam Liptak, Nihal Krishan, Julian Borger, David Smith, Dion Nissenbaum, Niall Stanage and Alexander Nazaryan.

-- SPOTTED at a conversation with Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, CNN's Dana Bash and Real Simple editor-in-chief Leslie Yazel hosted by Susanna Quinn: Jenny Mayfield, Jennifer Griffin, Gloria Dittus, Michelle Kosinski, Kaitlan Collins, Fleur Paysour, Jay Newton Small, Missy Edwards, Carrie Budoff Brown, Amy Argetsinger, Molly Ball, Shawna Thomas, Judee Ann Williams, Meredith McPhillips, Penny Lee, Julia Cohen, Jessica Strauss, Christine Delargy and Kimball Stroud.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- OBAMA ALUMNI -- Evan Ryan, EVP at Axios and an Obama State and WH alum, and Tony Blinken, managing director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and co-founder of West Exec Advisors and Obama State and NSC alum, welcomed John Rowley Blinken. Instapic

-- Nu Wexler, policy communications manager at Google and a Facebook and Twitter alum, and Christina Henderson, education and labor policy adviser to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), on Sunday morning welcomed Jordan Simone Wexler. "Mother and daughter are healthy and everyone is resting up at home." Pic ... Another pic

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