Good Sunday morning. There is a lot worth checking out in Chris Wallace’s exclusive interview of Donald Trump, which airs on “Fox News Sunday” this morning. It’s the most substantive interview since Trump started building his team and developing policy.
-- TRUMP DOESN’T BELIEVE THE CIA’S CONCLUSION THAT RUSSIA INTERFERED IN THE ELECTION. “I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse. … Well, if you look at the story and you take a look at what they said, there’s great confusion. Nobody really knows, and hacking is very interesting. Once they hack if you don’t catch them in the act you’re not going to catch them. They have no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. I mean, they have no idea.”
-- TRUMP DOESN’T THINK MUCH OF THE PRESIDENTIAL DAILY BRIEFING. “You know, I get -- first of all, these are very good people that are giving me the briefings. And I say, ‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on one-minute's notice.’ I don't have to be told -- you know, I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years -- but eight years. I don’t need that. But I do say, ‘If something should change, let us know.’ Now, in the meantime, my generals are great -- are being briefed. And Mike Pence is being briefed, who is, by the way, one of my very good decisions. He is terrific. And they're being briefed. And I’m being briefed also. But if they’re going to come in and tell me the exact same thing that they tell me -- you know, it doesn’t change, necessarily. Now, there will be times where it might change. I mean, there will be some very fluid situations. I’ll be there not every day, but more than that. But I don't need to be told, Chris, the same thing every day, every morning -- same words. ‘Sir, nothing has changed. Let’s go over it again.’ I don’t need that.”
-- TRUMP LIKES REX TILLERSON, BUT STILL NAME-DROPS ROMNEY AND CORKER FOR STATE. WALLACE: “Head of ExxonMobil. Why does a business executive make sense as the chief diplomat?” TRUMP: “Well, in his case, he’s much more than a business executive. I mean, he’s a world-class player. He’s in charge of, I guess the largest company in the world. He’s in charge of a- an oil company that’s pretty much double the size of his next serious competitor. It’s been a company that’s been unbelievably managed. And to me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players, and he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company -- not for himself -- for the company. … I have others, also, that I think -- I mean, Bob Corker is a fantastic guy. Mitt Romney -- I’ve really gotten to know him, and I get along with him really well. But these are -- you know, these are all very different types of people. But when you ask me about Rex, I mean, he’s a world-class player. There’s no question about it.”
-- TRUMP’S NOT IN FAVOR OF ONE-CHINA POLICY. “I fully understand the One-China policy, but I don’t know why we have to be bound by a One-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade. I mean, look, we're being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don't tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn’t be doing, and frankly with not helping us at all with North Korea. You have North Korea. You have nuclear weapons and China could solve that problem and they're not helping us at all. So, I don't want China dictating to me and this was a call put into me.” The full transcript of the interview http://politi.co/2hiqsTc
DEPT OF STORMY WATERS -- If Trump nominates Tillerson, it won’t be pretty. His cozy connections to Russia will be front and center, and, quite frankly, you wonder if it’s worth it for Trump to have such a high-profile fight at this point. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) (@marcorubio) tweeted this this morning: "Being a 'friend of Vladimir' is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState - MR"
-- “Lawmakers alarmed Exxon chief could empower Putin,” by Michael Crowley: “Donald Trump’s leading candidate for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, would accelerate the president-elect's collision course with Congress over his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and raise new questions about Putin’s role in the election. Tillerson, whom Trump officials now call the front-runner for America’s top diplomatic job, has spent hours with Putin negotiating billions of dollars in Russian oil projects, and is believed to be on friendlier terms with the Russian autocrat than all but a handful of Americans …
“Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are likely to mount aggressive opposition to Tillerson, according to sources familiar with their thinking … Democrats are also pledging a rough path to confirmation. ‘The Putin relationship will be a major focus’ of any Tillerson confirmation hearings, said a Senate Democratic aide. ‘Tillerson and the company opposed sanctions efforts on Russia, he has received an award from Putin, and has done extensive oil business generally in the country,’ the aide said.” http://politi.co/2gs3wEk
IF YOU READ ONE THING … -- “FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russia’s motives in 2016 hacks,” by WaPo’s Ellen Nakashima and Adam Entous: “In a secure meeting room under the Capitol last week, lawmakers held in their hands a classified letter written by colleagues in the Senate summing up a secret, new CIA assessment of Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Sitting before the House Intelligence Committee was a senior FBI counterintelligence official. The question the Republicans and Democrats in attendance wanted answered was whether the bureau concurred with the conclusions the CIA had just shared with senators that Russia ‘quite’ clearly intended to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton and clinch the White House. For the Democrats in the room, the FBI’s response was frustrating -- even shocking. During a similar Senate Intelligence Committee briefing held the previous week, the CIA’s statements, as reflected in the letter the lawmakers now held in their hands, were ‘direct and bald and unqualified’ about Russia’s intentions to help Trump, according to one of the officials who attended the House briefing. The FBI official’s remarks to the lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee were, in comparison, ‘fuzzy’ and ‘ambiguous,’ suggesting to those in the room that the bureau and the agency weren’t on the same page, the official said.” http://wapo.st/2goPgrh
-- “Democratic, GOP senators: Russian hacking ‘cannot become a partisan issue’” http://politi.co/2hiIsjv Statement from Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
QUOTE OF THE DAY -- INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL ON TRUMP in the Washington Post: “U.S. intelligence officials described mounting concern and confusion about how to proceed in an administration so openly hostile to their function and role. ‘I don’t know what the end game is here,’ a senior U.S. intelligence official said. ‘After Jan. 20,’ the official said, referring to Inauguration Day, ‘we’re in uncharted territory.’” http://wapo.st/2hA9Fud
-- “Intel world struggles to crack the code of an untrusting Trump: How do you brief a president who refuses to believe what you tell him?” by Halley Toosi and Darren Samuelsohn: “Some fear that Trump's highly public rebukes of the U.S. intelligence apparatus will undermine morale in the spy agencies, politicize their work, and damage their standing in a world filled with adversaries. After all, if the U.S. president doesn’t believe his own intelligence officials, why should anyone else? ... In the case of Nixon, the CIA could not convince him to take a single face-to-face briefing during his transition to the presidency ... The CIA delivered Nixon’s team the written daily brief every day, but at the end of the transition period, those envelopes were all returned unopened.” http://politi.co/2hcOKRh
SUNDAY BEST -- JAKE TAPPER spoke with VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN -- TAPPER: “Your comments this week rather you were joking or not have prompted a lot of questions about whether or not you might actually run for president in 2020. I know you said you were joking, but you are experienced enough to know never say never. You told Stephen Colbert that in 2020 you’ll be 78, but Donald Trump will be 74. So age isn’t going to be an issue I suppose?” BIDEN: “Well look, age could be very much an issue, and it may not be. It depends on the state of my health and the health of whomever is running. But look, as you know Jake, four years is a lifetime in American politics. And I think nominees are determined by their parties based mostly on what skill set is most needed at that time. And who knows where we’re going to be two years from now when people are really starting to look seriously at what they’re going to do.”
CHUCK TODD spoke with Trump chief of staff REINCE PRIEBUS on Tillerson -- TODD: “Just having business deals, that qualifies him?” PRIEBUS: “It's not just business deals, it’s an extensive knowledge of our relationships across the globe, and extensive knowledge of international law, and extensive knowledge of how deals are put together in places of the world that are very sensitive, and intergovernmental relationships that are very unique to Rex Tillerson. And so yeah, I think he’s not just qualified, I think he’s someone that’s preeminent, not just in business, but in the entire world.”
TODD: “But should it be troubling if somebody-- for instance, the United States government lobbied Rex Tillerson not to attend an event in Russia earlier this year, sort of a global expo event that Vladimir Putin was hosting. And United States government was hoping Rex Tillerson wouldn't go. He could, and they didn’t prevent him from going … But he essentially put Exxon’s interest over and above the interest of the United States government in that position. Do you understand why that would unnerve some people about the idea of him as America's chief diplomat?” PRIEBUS: “Well, it might unnerve people who think that the best route for our country to go is to ignore people and to have an enemies list and adhere to that list. But look, I just don't believe, and neither does the president-elect, that solving the world's biggest problems are best done by ignoring people and having, you know, crummy relationships across the globe. And so we just don't believe that talking to people having relationships is a bad thing.”
SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS -- “Democrats Hone a New Message: It’s the Economy, Everyone,” by Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin on A23 of the NYT: “It was a blunt, plain-spoken set of senators who gathered last Monday at the Washington home of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota, dining on Chinese food as they vented frustration about the missteps of the Democratic Party. To this decidedly centrist group, the 2016 election was nothing short of a fiasco: final proof that its national party had grown indifferent to the rural, more conservative areas represented by Democrats like Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Jon Tester of Montana, who attended the dinner. All face difficult re-election races in 2018.
“The party, these senators said, had grown overly fixated on cultural issues with limited appeal to the heartland. They criticized Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan, ‘Stronger Together,’ as flat and opaque, according to multiple people present at the dinner, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. Most of all, they lamented, Democrats had simply failed to offer a clarion message about the economy with appeal to all 50 states.” http://nyti.ms/2gziTcL
-- LAT: “This Northwest timber county hadn’t voted GOP since Herbert Hoover. But times have changed,” by William Yardley in Aberdeen, Washington: http://lat.ms/2gzu5pz
TRUMP’S TEAM -- “Christie turned down several jobs in Trump administration, sources say,” by the Star Ledger’s Brent Johnson in Trenton: “President-elect Donald Trump offered Gov. Chris Christie numerous positions in his incoming administration, but the New Jersey governor turned them down, two sources with knowledge of Trump’s transition efforts told NJ Advance Media. The sources said those jobs included Cabinet-level posts like Homeland Security secretary and Veterans Affairs secretary, as well as other posts, like a White House advisory role and U.S. ambassador to Italy.” http://bit.ly/2hrEllx
SUNDAY FRONTS -- NYT http://bit.ly/2gzBhC3 … WaPo http://bit.ly/2gOtAFO … Boston Globe http://bit.ly/2hrL1A5 … LAT http://bit.ly/2hijEoG.
WORLD WATCH -- “Turkey hunts for answers, buries dead after blasts kill 38,” by AP’s Dominique Soguel in Istanbul: “Turkey declared a national day of mourning and began to bury its dead Sunday after twin blasts in Istanbul killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium. It was the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats. The bombs Saturday night targeted police officers, killing 30 of them along with seven civilians and an unidentified person, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters Sunday. He said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the ‘terrorist attack.’” http://apne.ws/2gzsvEp
--“Why Trump Makes This Small Country So Nervous,” by Ben Oreskes in Talinn, Estonia: “Russia is always a threat. But now they’re worried the U.S. won’t back them up.” http://politi.co/2gsnXRu
SPOTTED -- President-elect Donald Trump enjoying the Army-Navy game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in a box rented by David Urban, a lobbyist at American Continental Group and graduate of West Point. ALSO IN THE BOX: CIA Director nominee Mike Pompeo, Heisman Trophy winners Roger Staubach (Navy) and Doc Blanchard (Army), Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, Dave Bossie, Sean Spicer, Stephen Miller, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn, KT McFarland and Hope Hicks, among others.
-- @realDonaldTrump: “Being at the Army - Navy Game was fantastic. There is nothing like the spirit in that stadium. A wonderful experience, and congrats to Army!”
SNL COLD OPEN – “Jake Tapper (Beck Bennett) speaks with Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon) and future head of the DEA, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), about President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial cabinet appointments.” 4-min. video http://bit.ly/2hcUHh8
YOU’RE INVITED! -- ATTORNEY GENERAL LORETTA LYNCH will join us Thursday for a Playbook Breakfast at the Liaison Hotel (415 New Jersey Ave., N.W.) on Capitol Hill. Doors open at 8 a.m.; Program begins at 8:30 a.m. RVSP: http://bit.ly/2h73iS9
COMING ATTRACTIONS -- “‘It’s Like a Powder Keg That’s Going to Explode’: Two longtime ethics experts argue Trump’s business conflicts are so big it should affect how the Electoral College votes,” by Darren Samuelsohn: “Norm Eisen has become an unlikely media darling. Since Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 8 opened a debate about how the president-elect would keep his vast business interests separate from his new public obligations, Eisen has emerged as one of the two most prominent government ethicists calling for Trump to take drastic action to avoid scandal or worse. ... With Richard Painter, who held the same job under President George W. Bush, Eisen has taken control of a leading government watchdog group that’s staffing up to hound Trump’s administration for conflicts of interest they say are unprecedented for the occupant of the Oval Office.” http://politi.co/2gOsYA9
FAKE NEWS UPDATE -- @johnjcook: “ad for fake news in nyt editorial on the death of facts” http://bit.ly/2hcX2sl
CLICKER – The Romney Christmas card (with 23 grandkids): http://bit.ly/2hlq1Z2 … http://bit.ly/2hilK86
KNOWING TILLERSON -- “What It Really Means To Be a ‘Friend of Putin’: Reported Secretary of State frontrunner Rex Tillerson is close to Vladimir Putin. Here’s what that costs these days,” by Julia Ioffe: http://politi.co/2hA9RtE
-- A USEFUL GUIDE to what Tillerson has done at Exxon can be found in Steve Coll’s book “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power”: $19 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2hiG6Ov ... Tillerson addressed his relationship with Putin/Russia around 36:53 in this Texas forum earlier this year http://bit.ly/2hiBIza (h/t Jamie_Weinstein)
UNDERSTANDING THE ALT-RIGHT -- “An Alt-Right Makeover Shrouds the Swastikas: A movement of many factions is trying to change its image now that its profile has risen, but its message — one of racial separation and supremacy — is unchanged,” by NYT’s Serge F. Kovaleski and Julie Turkewitz: “A small but determined political organization in Detroit began to worry that its official symbol was a bit off-putting. With the group’s central philosophy suddenly finding traction in the daily discourse, appearances mattered. So in November, as the country’s divisive presidential campaign became ever more jagged, the National Socialist Movement, a leading neo-Nazi group, did away with its swastika.
“In its stead, the group chose a symbol from a pre-Roman alphabet that was also adopted by the Nazis. According to Jeff Schoep, the movement’s leader, the decision to dispense with the swastika was ‘an attempt to become more integrated and more mainstream.’ Let us pause. Not even two years ago, white supremacists like Mr. Schoep would rant from the fringe of the fringe, their attention-desperate events rarely worth mention. Today, though, the Schoeps of America are undergoing a rebranding, as part of the so-called alt-right: a grab bag of far-right groups generally united by the belief that white identity has become endangered in what they deride as this era of dangerous diversity and political correctness.” http://nyti.ms/2hiCP4N
SENATE WATCH -- “Kennedy keeps Louisiana Senate seat in GOP hands,”by Kevin Robillard: “Republican John Kennedy won Louisiana’s Senate runoff Saturday night, capturing the seat he sought as a Democrat in 2004 and cementing a GOP Senate majority of 52 seats for the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Kennedy had nearly two-thirds of the vote against Democrat Foster Campbell when the Associated Press called the race at 9:50 p.m. Eastern, with 21 percent of precincts reporting.”http://politi.co/2himDgY
OBAMA ALUMNI – JAMIE SMITH in WaPo, “The White House doesn’t have to be a bad place for moms to work. I did it”: “The administration I served made a decision that it wanted the White House to be a place that was friendly and welcoming to working parents. The president and most of the staff couldn’t have been more supportive, more excited and more open to letting me navigate this big change in my life in whatever way I needed. They always got that yes, our jobs are important, but bringing a human life into the world was an event on a whole different level. Republicans and Democrats alike can always agree on that.” http://wapo.st/2gwOP1o
POLITICOS… THEY’RE JUST LIKE US -- “Hillary-loving publicist waited in ‘holding area’ at White House party,” by Page Six’s Emily Smith: “[Ken] Sunshine was forced to wait in a public ‘holding area’ as other guests glided past. Those who made a seamless entrance included Desiree Gruber and Kyle MacLachlan, Robert Wolfe and Sandra Lee. Sunshine, who was later allowed in, explained they had a wrong birth date for his wife, Nancy Hollander. He told us, ‘They kept saying I could go in and leave her — I thought about it — but I waited until they figured it out.’” http://pge.sx/2goQimR
MEDIAWATCH -- “Employees file racial discrimination suit against CNN bosses,” by Page Six’s Ian Mohr: “Two African-American employees filed a class-action lawsuit against CNN and Turner Broadcasting alleging racial discrimination — and sources tell Page Six that some staff previously urged CNN boss Jeff Zucker to diversify the network’s leadership team. Daniel Meachum, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who has repped Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes, told us that since the suit was filed Wednesday in Atlanta federal court, he’s had ‘over 125 calls and e-mails in less than 24 hours from past and current employees writing with their own horror stories.’ He says the suit’s an ‘underground railroad’ that could bring more cases to light. In court documents, Celeslie Henley, a former CNN assistant of seven years, and Ernest Colbert Jr., a Turner senior manager who’s been at the company for 20 years, allege discrimination over compensation, evaluations and promotions.” http://pge.sx/2hrDqS6
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- “MGM casino outside Washington may change Washington’s ways,” by WaPo’s Michael Laris: “The $1.4 billion casino complex has the potential to do two things. It may prove to be the economic boon its boosters have promised the county of 900,000. It could also change the rituals of Washington’s K Street lobbying set, adding slot machines, craps and poker to the expense-account meals and other perks in the power broker’s tool kit. As thousands of inaugural customers stormed the new resort in its opening days, at times pressing against burly human barricades and the pure physics of local roads, there were signs Washington was getting drawn in.” http://wapo.st/2hivVd2
WORTH THE CLICK -- "Who Read What in 2016" -- WSJ: With reading recommendations from J.D. Vance, Paul Singer, Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sebastian Mallaby, Sen.-elect Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Anderson Cooper, Roger Altman, Jeff Bewkes: http://bit.ly/2gzByF8
BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:
--“How I got rich beating men at their own game,” by Cat Hulbert in BBC: “In the tiny group of gamblers who have become top players at both blackjack and poker, there is only one woman. In her own words, Cat Hulbert describes how she got rich beating male opponents - and the casinos - and explains why in her view women are innately better at poker than men.” http://bbc.in/2h72fSd
--“The Libertarian Utopia That’s Just a Bunch of White Guys on a Tiny Island,” by Morgan Childs in GQ: “The people of Liberland love Bitcoin and hate political correctness. There will be no taxes and very few women or people of color. But with some luck, the unrecognized three-square-mile territory on the Western bank of the Danube might one day become the Libertarian utopia for disaffected white men.” http://bit.ly/2ho3HAI (h/t Longform.org)
--“Power Poser: When big ideas go bad,” by Tom Bartlett in the Chronicle of Higher Education: “Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on power poses has been viewed 37 million times. ... What [has gone] unmentioned ... [is] that the study supporting Cuddy’s claims had begun to crumble.” http://bit.ly/2hfRKdj (h/t ALDaily.com)
--“Unerased: Counting Transgender Lives: A comprehensive look at transgender murders since 2010,” by Meredith Talusan in Mic: “The number is rising — and likely far higher than we know.” http://bit.ly/2gjSQmy
--“Inside Quebec’s Great, Multi-Million-Dollar Maple-Syrup Heist,” by Rich Cohen in Vanity Fair: “With the value of maple syrup at roughly $1,300 a barrel, it’s time everyone knew about FPAQ, the Canadian group that controls 72 percent of the world’s supply. Rich Cohen investigates how its methods may have led to one of the greatest agricultural crimes in all of history.” http://bit.ly/2hv6hRq
--“How Trump won our Rust Belt. And how we win it back,” by Eric Lesser in The Boston Globe: http://bit.ly/2hcWz6S
--“Life in Obamacare’s Dead Zone,” by Inara Verzemnieks in the NYT Magazine: “Excluded from the Affordable Care Act because of politics, thousands of poor Americans grapple with the toll — physical and psychological — of being uninsured.” http://nyti.ms/2gKhmyf
--“Five Books to Change Conservatives’ Minds,” by Cass R. Sunstein in Bloomberg View: http://bloom.bg/2hq8l1a
--“America’s Best Backgammon Player Works at Goldman Sachs,” by Troy Patterson in Bloomberg View: “And why the classic board game is more appealing than ever. Just ask Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda.” http://bloom.bg/2gwLHme
--“What’s Happening to the Bees and Butterflies?” by Verlyn Klinkenborg in the N.Y. Review of Books, reviewing “The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy,” by Michael McCarthy: "According to a new report from Partners in Flight ... forty-six common land-bird species have lost 'half or more of their populations—a net loss of 1.5 billion breeding birds' since 1970." http://bit.ly/2hebxwm ...$7.55 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2hcSlfz
--“How the internet unleashed a burst of cartooning creativity” – The Economist: “Free of huge syndicates and touchy editors, web cartoonists can create whatever they want.” http://bit.ly/2gKhYnw
--“Lunch with the FT: Marc Andreessen,” by Caroline Daniel: “The Netscape founder and tech investor talks about the trouble with stock markets, what he looks for in entrepreneurs and why illegal immigration is good for America.” http://bit.ly/2goOVVu (h/t TheBrowser.com)
--“Who would destroy the world?” by Phil Torres in The Bulletin: “Consider a seemingly simple question: If the means were available, who exactly would destroy the world? ... [And w]hat sort of agent would either intentionally or accidentally cause an existential catastrophe?” http://bit.ly/2hfP7ID
--“Now is the Time to Talk About What We Are Actually Talking About,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in The New Yorker: “Things that were recently pushed to the corners of America’s political space—overt racism, glaring misogyny, anti-intellectualism—are once again creeping to the center.” http://bit.ly/2hcTK5H
ENGAGED! -- Bubba Atkinson, who recently joined Axios, proposed to FedEx’s Sam Smith -- the pride of Memphis -- last night on the Georgetown waterfront. They celebrated with their friends and Sam’s sisters Rachel Smith and Kathleen Smith Forbush at the Four Seasons. SPOTTED: Anton Vuljaj, Hallie Williams, Brittany Bramell and Dan Punaro, Caitlin and Alex Conant, Carl Sceusa, Rob Groulx, Nate Hodson, John Haley, Nick Butterfield, Will Marty and Taz Jones, Mike Haidet, McRae Lenahan and Charlie Lent. Pic of the couple http://bit.ly/2hA04na NOTE: Ask Sam about her rendition of “Friends in Low Places”
-- Raffi Williams, political reporter at Circa, proposed to The Washington Beacon’s Morgan Chalfant Saturday morning. He surprised her in front of the Washington monument while she was out for a morning run. She said yes. They met when he was at the RNC and pitching her a story about an Obama fundraiser at the mansion from the movie “Blank Check” in July 2014. Pics http://bit.ly/2gpKs9U ... http://bit.ly/2hg1oMH ... http://bit.ly/2hy27bA
OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED at Ron and Sara Bonjean’s annual Christmas party last night where the special celeb guest was Flavor Flav: Sean and Rebecca Spicer, JP Freire, Alex and Caitlin Conant, Stuart Roy, Bill McQuillen, Kevin Cirilli, Meredith Carden, Josh Hone, Brian Walsh, Craig Gordon, Ashley Parker and Michael Falcone, Benny Johnson, Andrew Kovalcin, Mark Paustenbach, Becca Glover, Kenny Day, Rob and Kendall Jesmer, Mitchell Rivard, Alana Wilson, Matt Dornic, Neil Grace, Michael and Mary Kathryn Steel, Rodell Mollineau, Brad Dayspring, Ben Jenkins, Christine Delargy, Dan Ronayne, Jill Zuckman, Alex Isenstadt, Liz Johnson, Meg Whittemore, Manu Raju, Josh and Blair Latoff Holmes, Katy Summerlin, Ryan Hughes, Brian Baker, Mike Goldfarb, Jeff Grappone, Sam Stein, Brian Danza, Scott and Tory Sendek, James Davis, Kelley Hudak, Kristina Peterson, Janet Donovan. Pic of the Bonjeans with the celeb http://bit.ly/2gs9jK8
--SPOTTED at Chris Bedford’s Christmas party last night: Will Rahn, Matt Wolking, Steve Guest, Alex Pfeiffer, Michelle Fields and Jamie Weinstein, Lauren Ehrsam and Jason Gorey, Betsy Woodruff, Travis Korson, Jonathan Swan, Garrett Murch, Zach Graves, Jordan Gehrke, Ryan Rhodes, Tim Mak, Katie Frates, Grae Stafford, Connor Wolf, Amanda House, Michael Moroney
--SPOTTED at Kent and Karen Knutson’s annual Christmas party last night (complete with a cookie food truck for a late night snack for departing guests): New York Rep. Joe Crowley, Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, Dave and Katherine Lugar, Fred Humphries, Ziad Ojakli, Missy Edwards, Nick Lewis, former Sen. Mary Landrieu, Gloria Dittus, Jay Timmons.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Chrissy Terrell, corporate comms and PR director for Gannett, and Drew Murray, national sales director of Meridien Companies, have welcomed Margaret Isabelle Murray. She was born at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC on Friday, Dec. 2nd at exactly 3:00 p.m. and was exactly 8 lbs and 21 inches long. Pics http://bit.ly/2gq6Dgl ... http://bit.ly/2haYsnc
WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Alex Moe, a beloved Capitol Hill producer at NBC News who produced for Andrea Mitchell in 2016, and Derek Flowers, a political consultant for Woodberry Associates, who works for Joni Ernst and is a Romney alum, married yesterday in Marco Island, Florida. Pool report: “They wed just before sunset on Saturday at a beach in Marco Island, FL, before a close knit group of family, friends and colleagues. The newlyweds met on the campaign trail in Iowa in 2011. (http://dmreg.co/2hcMN7t) ... Spotted: A satellite truck outside the wedding venue so Andrea Mitchell could sneak away to report live on the SOS news for Nightly, though it seems the bride doesn’t know for fear she would leave to try to produce it.” Pic of the couple on the beach http://bit.ly/2hljsWd ... NBC (past/present) team photo http://bit.ly/2hiwp5A … The satellite truck http://bit.ly/2hAbp6J
SPOTTED: Katy Tur, Garrett Haake and Sara Murray, John Legittino, Andrew Rafferty, Luke Russert, Kristen Welker, Kelly O’Donnell, Carrie Dann, Susan Hepworth, Cydney Weiner, Jill Barclay, Frank Thorpe, Adam Levy and Becca Kaplan, Sue Kroll.
--Andrew Thorne, special assistant to the editor in chief at POLITICO and Obama 2012 alum, married Amanda Puerto, museum educator at the KID Museum in Bethesda, yesterday at First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn Heights. “We met at a house party in December of 2012 when Andrew was back at Tufts for a visit during Amanda’s senior year.” Pic http://bit.ly/2hlvrTM
--“Emily Friedman, Ed Cohen” – N.Y. Times: “Mrs. Cohen, 31, works in New York as a producer for ‘World News Tonight With David Muir’ on ABC. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin. Her father [Paul Friedman] retired as the executive vice president of CBS News. He had previously served as the executive vice president of ABC News. ... Mr. Cohen, 33, is a freelance sports broadcaster based in New York who works as a college basketball play-by-play announcer for the CBS Sports Network. He graduated from Ithaca College. ... The couple met via JDate in August 2013.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2hA0NVN
--“Samantha Slater, Justin Meservie”: “The bride, 33, is the executive director of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee in Washington. She graduated from Brandeis and received a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College. ... The groom, also 33, is a senior adviser in Washington for the White House Office of Management and Budget. He assists senior officials in overseeing management policy for federal agencies. He graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh and received a master’s in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania. ... After meeting in May 2013 at the ChurchKey bar in Washington, the couple went on a few dates. But that October, after running into each other on a nearly empty morning rush-hour bus during a government shutdown (both were called into work), they decided to go out to dinner and give each other another chance.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2goCLMn
--“Christen Young, Bradley Lipton”: “Ms. Young, 34 ... works in Washington as the principal deputy director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. She previously served as a senior policy adviser at the White House from 2014 to 2015. She graduated with distinction from Stanford. ... Mr. Lipton, also 34, is a lawyer in the general counsel’s office at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2gzujgn
BIRTHDAYS: Secretary of State John Forbes Kerry is 73 ... Max Baucus, U.S. ambassador to China, is 75 … Kara Swisher ... Claudia Slacik, chief banking officer of the ExIm Bank (hat tips: Hilary Rosen) ... John Patrick Feehery, the pride of Chicago, is 53 ... Politico’s Marianne LeVine ... Joe Greeley, CRAFT’s director of production and a Romney alum ... Perry Rosen (h/t Jon Haber) ... Josh Brown, partner at District Political ... Washington Examiner’s Kelly Cohen ... Benton Strong, comms director for Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and a CAP alum, is 3-0 ... Elizabeth Spiers, former editor-in-chief of the NY Observer and founding editor of Gawker ... Gideon Resnick of The Daily Beast ... Bruce Thomas of the Center for American Progress ... Annabelle Timsit, former star Politico intern now a senior at Georgetown ... Rebecca Brocato ... Jessica Seale, digital director for Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (h/t Becca Glover) ... Emily Buchanan, executive director at SBA List ... Seymour Topping, longtime foreign correspondent, foreign editor, and managing editor of The New York Times, is 95, who had a festive celebration in Scarsdale with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren plus so many to whom ‘Top’ gave a start in the business -- pic of the Toppings, his cake and guests http://bit.ly/2goLzSj (h/t David Andelman) ...
… Elizabeth Spiers, founder of The Insurrection, “a digital agency and research shop with a focus on virtual reality” ... Tyler Daniel, Rep. Steve Scalise’s political director, is 27 ... Allison Fleming ... Gabe Amo, Obama campaign and WH alum, now director of public engagement in the Rhode Island governor’s office ... Phillip Escoriaza, an expert on Puerto Rican statehood … Gordon Peterson … Tim McClellan ... Ashley Spillane, former president of Rock the Vote ... Pam Womack … Seth Johnson (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Erika Dimmler, U.S. project manager at Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and a CNN alum ... Peter True, press secretary for Sen. Boxer … Rita Moreno … J. Michael Allen ... Emily Buchanan, executive director of Susan B. Anthony List ... Julie Mason, host of SiriusXM’s “Press Pool” ... Miyamoto Musashi ... Josh Morton of Jericho Pix ... Steve Gillon ... Chris Stenrud ... Max Schindler ... Brian Reich is 39 ... Devon Lucie, meteorologist at KTVX in Salt Lake City, is 4-0 ... Mark Ashworth is 57 ... Fran Boyd ... Robert Wascher ... Benjamin Tribbett is 37 ... Bob Corn ... Mos Def is 43 … actress Hailee Steinfeld is 2-0 (h/ts AP)