Playbook PM: Pressure grows to expel Santos

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TALKER — Former D.C. police officer and current CNN contributor MICHAEL FANONE is taking the network to task over tonight’s town hall with former President DONALD TRUMP in an op-ed published in Rolling Stone: “CNN Is Hosting a Town Hall for a Guy Who Tried to Get Me Killed”

Of note: “In a recent trip to CNN’s Washington, D.C. Bureau, I sat silently in the green room as guests, anchors and employees filtered through and clamored about how outrageous it was that CBS would give MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE an interview on its prestigious ‘60 Minutes’ series. Good question? I hope my fellow CNN employees have the balls to raise those same questions with the network executives.”

SANTOS SURRENDERS — Rep. GEORGE SANTOS (R-N.Y.) turned himself into federal authorities this morning facing charges of wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, our colleagues Erica Orden, Julia Marsh and Olivia Beavers report from New York. He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.

The details: “In a 13-count indictment, federal prosecutors accused Santos, a first-term Republican congressman from New York, of fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits, using campaign contributions to pay down personal debts and purchase designer clothing and lying to the House of Representatives about his financial condition.” Read the indictment

Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill, Texas Republican Rep. TONY GONZALES is dropping the e-word in reaction to the news of Santos’ legal trouble: “The people of New York’s 3rd district deserve a voice in congress. George Santos should be immediately expelled from Congress and a special election initiated at the soonest possible date.”

Worth noting: Any single House member could force a vote on Santos’ expulsion by simply bringing it to the floor as a privileged resolution. But that gambit, of course, would be extremely dicey without broad support for Santos’ removal or the backing of their party’s leadership — not to mention the extraordinary can of worms that it could open if such a move were to become precedent. (The two prior expulsions of the modern era — of Reps. MICHAEL “OZZIE” MYERS (D-Pa.) in 1980 and JAMES TRAFICANT (D-Ohio) in 2002 — came after each man was convicted of felonies.)

THE TRUMP VERDICT — E. JEAN CARROLL made the rounds on the morning talk shows today following the jury verdict reached yesterday finding DONALD TRUMP guilty of sexually abusing and defaming the writer.

On her feelings after the verdict reading, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: “Yesterday was the happiest day of my life. … Because the former president had smeared me so badly and so evilly and with such malice and such spite, that it wasn’t until yesterday I got back up on my feet and my name is back.”

On her interaction with Trump attorney JOE TACOPINA after the verdict, on CNN’s “This Morning”: “He came over to congratulate me. He put out his hand, and I said, ‘He did it and you know it.’ And then we shook hands and I passed by, so I got my chance to say it.”

On the impact of the verdict, on CNN’s “This Morning”: “The old view of the ‘perfect victim’ was a woman who always screamed. A woman who immediately reported. A woman whose life was supposed to fold up, and she’s never supposed to experience happiness again. That was just shut down with this verdict. … This verdict is for all women.”

Watch the MSNBC interview … Watch the “Today” interview … Watch the CNN interview

The political view: “For Trump, a Verdict That’s Harder to Spin,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

The rival response: CHRIS CHRISTIE appeared on Fox News’ “Brian Kilmeade Show,” where he addressed the verdict and criticized Trump’s reaction: “His response, to me, was ridiculous — that he didn’t even know the woman. I mean, you know, how many coincidences are we going to have here with Donald Trump, Brian? I mean, he must be the unluckiest S.O.B in the world. He just has random people who he has never met before, who are able to convince a jury that he sexually abused them. I mean, this guy. It is one person after another, one woman after another. The stories just continue to pile up.” Watch the interview

The legal view: “E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer: Trump has ‘no legitimate arguments’ for appeal,” by Matt Berg

Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at [email protected].

THE ECONOMY

INFLATION NATION — “Inflation rate eases to 4.9% in April, less than expectations,” by CNBC’s Jeff Cox: “The consumer price index, which measures the cost of a broad swath of goods and services, increased 0.4% for the month, in line with the Dow Jones estimate, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday. However, that equated to an annual increase of 4.9%, slightly less than the 5% estimate and the lowest annual pace since April 2021. The annual rate was 5% in March.”

2024 WATCH

BIDEN’S SLOW START — NYT’s Reid Epstein and Shane Goldmacher pull back the curtain on the Biden-Harris reelection campaign’s launch, which has failed to kick up in any significant fashion in its first two official weeks. Campaign manager JULIE CHÁVEZ RODRÍGUEZ “has yet to start the job, his seven co-chairs have not had a group discussion and his team has made little outreach to allies in Congress,” Epstein and Goldmacher write, noting that it all amounts to “little evidence of the typical preparation for a national political campaign.” The lack of urgency has some Democratic insiders and supporters worried that the campaign isn’t ready for the task ahead.

The Biden world rebuttal: “Biden’s top advisers insist the limited-release nature of his 2024 campaign is boring by design. They say they are holding down costs by outsourcing as much as possible to the Democratic National Committee while the president’s senior staff members remain ensconced in top White House roles that allow them to engage in campaign strategy.”

Meanwhile, Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) is warning the Biden reelect that New Hampshire is “at risk” of going for Trump or Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS if the president’s team does not campaign in the battleground state ahead of next year’s primary given the shakeup to the nominating calendar, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports from Manchester.

Poll position: NYT’s Nate Cohn dives into the weeds on that ABC/WaPo poll that found both Trump and DeSantis leading Biden in a head-to-head by seven percentage points: “Of all the cases over the last few years when an outlier has dominated the political discourse, this may be one of the more useful ones. For one, it may not be quite as much as an outlier as you might assume. Even if it is, it may nonetheless help readers internalize something that might have been hard to believe without such a stark survey result: Mr. Trump is quite competitive at the outset of the race.” See the original poll

To wit, Yahoo/YouGov are up with a new poll today that finds Biden with a 43% approval rating and head-to-head leads over both Trump (45% to 43%) and DeSantis (45% to 42%).

Related read: “Biden showcases Dem coalition with campaign advisory board,” by AP’s Zeke Miller

CONGRESS

INVESTIGATION INVENTORY — “Comer releases Biden family probe update without showing link to president,” by Jordain Carney: “The rollout by Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) and GOP members of his panel marks the biggest public swing that Republicans have taken since November in a probe they’ve put at the center of investigations they hope will help them both keep their majority in 2024 and win the White House. But the highly anticipated press conference also raised fresh questions about their ability to ultimately capture their white whale: the president himself.”

MANCHIN IN THE MIDDLE — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) ratcheted up his on-again-off-again feuding with the Biden administration today, vowing to oppose every EPA nominee “in anticipation of a ‘radical’ regulation the agency is expected to propose Thursday regulating emissions from fossil fuel power plants that are driving climate change,” Josh Siegel reports.

“I fear that this Administration’s commitment to their extreme ideology overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security and I will oppose all EPA nominees until they halt their government overreach,” Manchin said in a statement.

WHO’S AT DEFAULT — “‘Stop Printing Money.’ How Voters Would Solve the Debt-Ceiling Standoff,” by WSJ’s Annie Linskey and Aaron Zitner: “Forty-five percent of respondents to a recent Wall Street Journal poll said they didn’t favor Congress lifting the debt ceiling, the mechanism used to avoid default in the past. Some 44% favor lifting it.”

FOR YOUR RADAR — “U.S. Senators Revive Bid to Form Covid-19 Commission,” by WSJ’s Warren Strobel and Michael Gordon: “A bill being introduced Wednesday by Sen. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D., N.Y.) and Sen. ROGER MARSHALL (R., Kan.) would establish a 10-person task force, with half the members selected by each party. Its mandate would include investigating the preparedness of the U.S. healthcare system and the availability of medical supplies. It would have subpoena power and would issue an interim report within one year.”

WHOOPS — “‘I mistakenly left it in draft’: Republican violates STOCK Act with up to $5 million in late disclosures,” by Raw Story’s Alexandria Jacobson: “On May 4, [North Carolina Rep. DAN] BISHOP disclosed that he purchased between $1,000,001 to $5 million worth of Treasury notes on Dec. 12 — more than three months past a federal deadline. The disclosure said, ‘The submittal of this report is late because I mistakenly left it in draft and failed to submit when originally posted in Dec. 2022.’”

CONTACT SPORT — “Congressional staffers wined and dined by NFL at 2023 draft as lawmakers scrutinize pro football,” by Raw Story’s Mark Alesia

THE WHITE HOUSE

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED — “White House Assembles Secret Team to Tackle Drug Shortages, Quality Woes,” by Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin, Anna Edney and Ike Swetlitz: “Since the beginning of the year, a group of White House officials has been meeting frequently to increase the availability and quality of medications, according to several people familiar with the matter. The effort has intensified as Americans struggle to find common drugs like antibiotics and amid high-profile safety lapses like deadly eye drops.”

COMING ATTRACTIONS — The White House announced today that Biden will host Indian PM NARENDRA MODI for a state dinner on June 22 that “will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together.” More from AP’s Darlene Superville

POLICY CORNER

IMMIGRATION FILES — “Biden admin plans to order the release of migrants into the U.S. with no way to track them,” by NBC’s Julia Ainsley: “The Biden administration began releasing migrants without court dates to alleviate overcrowding in March 2021, but had previously enrolled those migrants in a program known as Alternatives to Detention, which required them to check in on a mobile app until they were eventually given a court date. The new policy would release them on ‘parole’ with a notice to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office but without enrolling them in the program.”

Related read: “Title 42 is ending. Here’s what happens next at the border,” by Myah Ward

ABORTION FALLOUT — “‘Caught between a rock and a hard place’: FDA considers over-the-counter birth control,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein and Katherine Ellen Foley

THE NEW NORMAL — “As Covid Emergency Ends, U.S. Response Shifts to ‘Peacetime’ Mode,” by NYT’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Noah Weiland

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

EXIT INTERVIEW — “Chicago mayor exits proud after getting ‘a lot of s--t done,’” by Shia Kapos in Chicago: “LORI LIGHTFOOT was denied a second term, and — in classic Lori Lightfoot fashion — she insists she has no regrets.”

PLAYBOOKERS

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the 2023 Transatlantic Bridge Awards in celebration of Europe Day hosted by EU Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis yesterday evening: Anthony Fauci, Anne Neuberger, Raj Panjabi, Judy Woodruff, Rob Portman, Al Hunt, Andrea Mitchell, Merrick Garland, Kathy “Coach” Kemper, George Stevens Jr., Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Estonian Ambassador Kristjan Prikk, German Ambassador Emily Haber, Spanish Ambassador Santiago Cabanas, Latvian Ambassador Māris Selga, Austrian Ambassador Petra Schneebauer, Swedish Ambassador Karin Olofsdotter, Bulgarian Ambassador Georgi Panayotov, French Ambassador Laurent Bili and Portuguese Ambassador Francisco António Duarte Lopes.

— The Freedom House hosted an event last night honoring the women of Iran and Vladimir Kara-Murza. SPOTTED: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Shawn Colvin, Nazanin Boniadi, Nazanin Nour, Maria Teresa Kumar, Ed and Marie Royce, Jane Harman, Kevin Rudd, Goli Amiri, Miles Taylor, Patrick Costello and Michael Abramowitz.

— The American Land Title Association hosted a reception last night at the Salt Line as part of its advocacy summit/annual fly-in. SPOTTED: Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).

— Children’s Hospital Association and Speak our Minds debuted a new documentary, “The Wait to Nowhere,” which covers the national pediatric boarding crisis, with a screening and reception and Sixth and I yesterday. SPOTTED: Amy Wimpey Knight, Heidi Baskfield, Laurel Stine, Roshni Koli, Sandra Fritsch, Valeria Pernas, Leah Evangelista, Paige Mihalik, Elleni Almandrez, Cynthia Whitney, Erin Fernandez, Katherine McGuire, Kenneth Polishchuk, Elizabeth Deegan, Gabriel Loud, Tiffany Jones, Katia Rodriguez, Natalie Tietjen, Andres Ramirez, Leah Ferguson and Heather Podesta.

MEDIA MOVE — Krista Mahr is joining NYT Opinion as deputy international editor. She previously was a health care reporter at POLITICO. The announcement

TRANSITIONS — Dhruv Yadav is now senior adviser for AAPI outreach, policy and fundraising for Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign. He previously was a legislative assistant for Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio). … Brian Beall is now director of the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office. He previously was VP of government affairs at the Cruise Lines International Association. …

… Dennis Raj is now deputy executive director for strategy and special projects at the Hub Project. He previously led the DCCC’s data and analytics teams as a deputy executive director and chief analytics officer. … The 51 Group is launching as a new national government relations firm, with Scott Frein as founder and managing partner in the West Coast office and Davis Rennolds as founder and partner in the mid-Atlantic office.

WEDDINGS — Sarah Westwood, a political reporter at the Washington Examiner, and Christopher Bedford, executive editor at the Common Sense Society and a Daily Caller News Foundation alum, got married April 29 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Annapolis, Md., with a reception at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. They first met eight years ago at the Bottom Line. Pic

— Grace Hills, a senior consultant focusing on federal government clients at Booz Allen Hamilton, and Danny Childers, a final-year medical student at Georgetown University, got married Saturday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, with a reception at the Washington Golf and Country Club. They met as students at the University of Notre Dame. Pic

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