Good Thursday morning. Donald Trump will be sworn in as president in eight days.
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WE’VE BEEN TALKING to key people in D.C. -- mostly Republicans, who either work with President-elect Donald Trump, or will in the coming months -- about the budding presidency. Here’s the general consensus about where things stand, as gathered by your Playbook team.
DICEY POLITICS FOR TRUMP:
--BARACK OBAMA? OR DONALD TRUMP? -- Rushing to rewrite the health care law in a matter of weeks. Proclaiming he’ll change the way Washington works. Tight restrictions on lobbyists. Donald Trump is starting to sound a lot like another man we’re intimately familiar with: Barack Obama. Not that there’s anything wrong with that -- Obama won two elections, and will leave the White House next week with exceptionally solid approval ratings. The economy added a ton of jobs in the last eight years. The Dow is almost at 20,000.
But some fear Trump seems to be falling into some traps Obama fell into. Democrats say privately that their desire to pass Obamacare and damn the political consequences was one of their worst mistakes in the last decade. They worked tirelessly -- nights and weekends -- to get the Affordable Care Act to Obama’s desk, only to be stuck with a flawed and deeply unpopular law that has cost them dearly at the polls. Republicans worry Trump’s desire to replace the law on the same day they repeal it will be equally shortsighted. Health care is complicated. No one familiar with the issue thinks they can replace Obamacare in the next month. Members of the Hill GOP scoff at the suggestion. VP-elect Mike Pence -- who set a 30- to 90-day window on replace -- is seen as much more realistic on this issue. Read Jen Haberkorn and Paul Demko: “Trump’s Obamacare impatience challenges GOP” http://politi.co/2ijaO9I
-- TRUMP’S WAR WITH ETHICS WATCHDOGS. Trump is never going to be able -- or willing -- do enough to satisfy ethics watchdogs, who have been barking at him for months. Just take a look at the immediate reaction after his announcement. “Federal ethics czar delivers broadside against Trump conflicts plan,” by Josh Gerstein: “The top ethics policy official in the federal government [Walter Shaub] is savaging President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to address conflicts of interests involving his business holdings, calling the arrangement ‘meaningless from a conflicts of interest perspective.’” http://politi.co/2jmiLwB … His full remarks http://bit.ly/2iK5Eo4
-- MEXICO STILL AIN’T PAYING FOR THE WALL! “Mexican president: ‘Of course’ Mexico won’t pay for wall,” by Cristiano Lima: “Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto reiterated Wednesday that Mexico would not pay for a border wall between it and the U.S., despite President-elect Donald Trump’s claims to the contrary earlier in the day. ‘It is evident that we have some differences with the new government of the United States, like the topic of the wall, that Mexico of course will not pay,’ Nieto said during a speech in front of foreign diplomats at the National Palace on Wednesday, according to reports.” http://politi.co/2jaw066
GOOD POLITICS FOR TRUMP:
-- THAT PRESS CONFERENCE. Journalists didn’t like his attacks on them, but for most people who watched Trump yesterday, it was a pretty good performance. He said he’s close to a decision on a Supreme Court justice. He said the Russians were probably involved in hacking U.S. assets. He said he would place his entire multi-billion dollar business in a trust, and his kids would run it. Eric and Don Trump Jr. won’t cut deals in foreign countries, limiting them to the U.S., which could severely cut into their bottom line. And he’ll donate all profits from foreign governments to the federal Treasury. That’s a pretty good narrative for Republicans, who were scared Trump wouldn’t separate himself from his empire.
-- HIS STAFF AND NOMINEES. Despite surrounding himself with loyalists for two years, Trump has filled his White House and Cabinet with some sharp, well-worn operators: Jim Mattis in the Pentagon, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) at the CIA and Pence have put D.C. at ease. Marc Short, Trump’s top Hill lobbyist, is a favorite of a lot of folks in town. Reince Priebus is a comfortable figure among conservatives. Trump is also attracting a lot of top talent to help shepherd his Cabinet appointees. Both Democratic and Republican operatives view the increasing number of veteran GOP staffers taking a serious look at joining the Trump administration as a sign that things could run more smoothly and predictably than most expected after the election.
IF YOU READ ONE THING... -- “Spy chief trashes leaks, assures Trump of loyalty: James Clapper says the intelligence community ‘stands ready to serve his administration,’” by Halley Toosi: “The outgoing U.S. director of national intelligence has extended an olive branch of sorts to Donald Trump -- denouncing media leaks, casting skepticism on a report that Russia has damaging material on the president-elect, and assuring Trump that America's spies stand ready to serve him. In an unusual statement, James Clapper said he had spoken Wednesday evening with Trump, five days after the spy chief and some of his counterparts met with the incoming president to discuss U.S. intelligence assessments that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election, possibly to help him win. … ‘I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security,’ Clapper said of the information that has come out since last week's intelligence briefing.” http://politi.co/2jaLMxE
THE TICK TOCK, NYT, A1 -- “How a Sensational, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump,” by Scott Shane, Nick Confessore and Matt Rosenberg, with Jonathan Martin, Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt: “The story began in September 2015, when a wealthy Republican donor who strongly opposed Mr. Trump put up the money to hire a Washington research firm run by former journalists, Fusion GPS, to compile a dossier about the real estate magnate’s past scandals and weaknesses, according to a person familiar with the effort. ... The identity of the donor is unclear. Fusion GPS, headed by a former Wall Street Journal journalist known for his dogged reporting, Glenn Simpson, most often works for business clients. [Neil King Jr. just joined the firm.] ... Mr. Simpson hired [Christopher] Steele, a former British intelligence officer with whom he had worked before. Mr. Steele, in his early 50s, had served undercover in Moscow in the early 1990s and later was the top expert on Russia at the London headquarters of Britain’s spy service, MI6. When he stepped down in 2009, he started his own commercial intelligence firm, Orbis Business Intelligence.” http://nyti.ms/2ij3V8m … https://orbisbi.com/
ABOUT LAST NIGHT… -- “Obamacare is one step closer to repeal after Senate advances budget resolution,” by WaPo’s Kelsey Snell and Mike DeBonis: “The Senate voted 51 to 48 early Thursday to approve a budget resolution instructing House and Senate committees to begin work on legislation to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act. The House is expected to take up the legislation Friday. Senate Democrats made a late-night show of resistance against gutting the Affordable Care Act by forcing Republicans to take politically charged votes against protecting Medicare, Medicaid and other health-care programs. The measure narrowly passed without the support of any Democrats. The hours-long act of protest culminated in the early hours of Thursday when Democrats made a dramatic display of rising to speak out against the repeal measure as they cast their votes.
“The Democrats continued to record their opposition over their objections of Senate Republicans. ‘Because there is no replace, I vote no,’ said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) as she delivered her vote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also voted no, in part over concerns that GOP leaders have not committed to a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act after it is repealed. Democrats forced nearly seven hours of mostly symbolic votes amid growing concerns in the congressional GOP that the party is rushing to dismantle the ACA without an alternative. Democrats forced the frenzied vote series called a ‘vote-a-rama’ well into Thursday morning, although they could not prevent the GOP from following through on its repeal plans.” http://wapo.st/2iK8OIz
-- @BresPolitico at 1:23 a.m., about the Democrats’ protest during the roll call vote: “Been covering the Senate for a long time & I’ve never seen anything quite like this” … Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) also at 1:23: “Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren among the parade of Democrats drowned out when defending Obamacare.” 41-second video http://bit.ly/2ifYQSZ
THE HOUSE votes on its resolution to get repeal started Friday. Remember what we told you yesterday: Republicans in Congress plan to officially repeal the law by the end of February, and replace it by the end of March -- at the earliest.
HAPPENING TODAY -- NYT A23, “Mike Pompeo, Trump’s C.I.A. Pick, Faces the Balancing Act of His Career,” by Matt Rosenberg: “The good news for Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee to run the Central Intelligence Agency, is that he appears to share the same adversarial view of Russia as most American spies. The bad news for Mr. Pompeo is that he will have to square his views with those of Mr. Trump, who has denigrated American intelligence agencies, praised President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and is now contending with a dossier of unsubstantiated reports that Russia has collected compromising and salacious personal information about him. Known as a pugnacious Republican partisan by his colleagues in Congress, Mr. Pompeo is going to have pull off the political balancing act of his career to keep the confidence of the Trump White House while winning over the C.I.A., an agency that is notoriously hostile to outsiders in the best of times. His Senate confirmation hearing, scheduled for Thursday before the Senate intelligence committee, will be the first test of whether he has the diplomatic finesse to manage it. Mr. Trump’s aides will no doubt be keeping close watch for any signs that they cannot rely on Mr. Pompeo, while Democrats on the committee will be eager to look for any daylight between the nominee and Mr. Trump. That will be especially true when it comes to the assessment by intelligence agencies that Russia used cyberattacks and disinformation to undermine American democracy and promote the candidacy of Mr. Trump.” http://nyti.ms/2ig7bpP
FOGGY BOTTOM WATCH -- “The top takeaways from Tillerson’s rocky Hill performance: Florida Republican Marco Rubio seemed exasperated with some of his answers on Russia,” by Burgess Everett and Andrew Restuccia: “Rex Tillerson will only need Republican votes to become secretary of state — and the GOP was largely kind to him during Wednesday’s audition to be Donald Trump’s top diplomat. Everyone, that is, except for Marco Rubio. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is narrowly divided, with the GOP holding just a one-seat advantage. And most Democrats, if not all, sounded skeptical about Tillerson’s performance before the panel. So Rubio may determine whether Tillerson’s nomination can successfully win committee approval -- or come to a floor vote after being given an ‘unfavorable’ recommendation by the panel. … Rubio stays cool to Tillerson … Coach Corker … Whenever Tillerson seemed to make a misstep, there was Chairman Corker to keep things on course … Tillerson rattled by tough questions … Tillerson breaks with Trump.” http://politi.co/2jazwx2
THE PRESS CONFERENCE -- “Trump admits to Russian hacking even as he attacks U.S. intelligence community,” by WaPo’s Phil Rucker and Ashley Parker in New York: “President-elect Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time here Wednesday that Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic Party during last year’s election, but he denied that the leaks were intended to boost him and argued that Moscow would cease cyberattacks on the United States once he is sworn in. In a rollicking hour-long news conference, Trump furiously denounced as ‘fake news’ the reports that Russia had obtained salacious intelligence that could compromise him. He suggested that any damaging information collected by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration would already have been released — and he celebrated what had leaked out about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. ‘As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,’ Mr. Trump said. ‘Hacking’s bad, and it shouldn’t be done. But look at the things that were hacked, look at what was learned from that hacking.’” http://wapo.st/2iK0Grs
-- BEING THERE -- DETAIL OF THE DAY -- AP’s Jonathan Lemire: “Only one seat was saved by a Republican National Committee aide, a front-row spot for a reporter from Breitbart, the conservative news outlet until recently run by Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon. Other reporters scrambled to save their seats. Reporters shouted and waved their arms at Trump to get his attention, rather than the president calling on questioners from a list, as is often the practice.” http://apne.ws/2in56H6
-- FT: “Dollar falls after Trump presser disappoints growth bulls: Stock markets soft and Treasury yields fall as gold jumps to $1,200,” by Jamie Chisholm: “The dollar, Treasury yields and equities are lower -- with pharmaceutical groups in the firing line -- as traders question the ‘Trumpflation trade’ following the US president-elect’s fractious press conference on Wednesday. The yen is stronger, signalling waning risk appetite among traders, while gold is back above $1,200 -- a seven-week high.” http://on.ft.com/2iKhVZC
TRUMP INC. -- “Donald Trump to Place Business Holdings in a Trust Run by Adult Sons: Some ethics experts say the trust and other measures don’t create the firewall needed to fully insulate him from his holdings,” by WSJ’s Peter Nicholas and Alexandra Berzon: “Mr. Trump will sever management ties to the Trump Organization and play no role in its operations under the terms of the trust. While he is in office, his real-estate empire will abide by ‘severe restrictions on new deals,’ an attorney retained by the president-elect said. If foreign governments make payments to his hotels—including a new one near the White House -- Mr. Trump plans to donate all profits to the U.S. treasury, said the attorney, Sheri Dillon. The announcement drew sharp criticism from ethics experts who said the steps laid out Wednesday are inadequate to create a clean separation between Mr. Trump’s business interests and his presidency. ...
“An analysis by The Wall Street Journal of Mr. Trump’s financial disclosures last year estimated his 2016 pretax income at $160 million. A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign said this figure was wrong by ‘a lot,’ but didn’t elaborate. Mr. Trump also will continue to be aware of the sources of this income. For example, Mr. Trump’s financial disclosures said he received $1 million to $5 million from his licensing deal with the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Panama. If the U.S. were to get into a dispute with that country during the Trump administration, a desire to maintain this revenue stream could potentially influence Mr. Trump’s decision-making, some experts argue.” http://on.wsj.com/2inmWtF
THE “TIME MAGAZINE” COVER THIS WEEK is a photo of a helicopter landing on the White House lawn, with the headline “INCOMING” and the subhead “A survival guide to the White House from Team Obama for Team Trump”; the online headline is “Life at 1600”. From Time: “Our editors spoke with eighteen current and former Obama White House staffers -- including Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, Josh Earnest, Jen Psaki, Jason Furman, Dan Pfeiffer and others -- about life at 1600 and words of advice they have for their Trump Administration replacements.” See the cover: http://bit.ly/2jEY16v ... Story www.time.com/trumpadvice
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- TRUMP DONORS LOOK DOWN BALLOT -- Life after Harry Reid in Nevada isn’t looking so rosy for Democrats. Republican Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt has cleared the field in his gubernatorial bid. Now, he’s attracting some major attention from deep-pocketed billionaire donors, many of whom supported Trump. Topping that list: Rebekah Mercer, a major player in Trump’s transition team, and Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson. Former Treasury Secretary James Baker and former ambassador and top GOP lawyer C. Boyden Gray have also thrown their support to Laxalt.
Others GOP donors backing Laxalt include: Boone Pickens, chair of the hedge fund BP Capital Management; L.E. Simmons, chairman of SCF Partners; Dick and Liz Uihlein; Don Ahern, CEO of Ahern Rentals; Alex Cranberg, a member of the University of Texas System board of regents and founder of the Alliance for Choice Education; Frank Fertitta, CEO of Station Casinos; Lorenzo Feritta of Fertitta Enterprises; Tilman Fertitta, owner of Landry’s Inc.; Sean Fieler, chairman of the American Principles Project; and Frank Hanna of Hannah Capitol.
FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Trump officials start Hill talks on maternity leave, child-care proposals,” by Rachael Bade: “House GOP staff and Donald Trump transition officials will talk Thursday about the president-elect’s campaign pledge to lower child-care costs and guarantee women six weeks of paid maternity leave — policies endorsed by his eldest daughter Ivanka but which could meet steadfast GOP resistance. Trump officials, who initiated the conversations, will talk with staff on the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee about Trump’s child care pitch, although final logistics were still being worked out. The Trump team also plans to involve the Education and the Workforce Committee in the future. The talks are expected to be the first of several meetings as Trump works to get the ball rolling on the lower-profile campaign pledge.” http://politi.co/2ij3LxC
HAPPENING THIS MORNING -- Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) go on “Morning Joe” for their first joint interview. WE HEAR: they are dropping a bill together.
THE HEARINGS.
-- WHAT BEN CARSON WILL SAY: “It’s difficult for a child to learn at school if he or she doesn’t have an adequate place to live. In these situations, government can and should help. However, I believe we need to ensure that the help we provide families is efficient and effective. It cannot, and should not, trap people in an intergenerational cycle of poverty.”
On climbing the ladder: “Social mobility has become stagnant. However, if we think holistically about this – we will know that it’s more than just housing. We must include the areas of healthcare, education, jobs and the skills to do them, in addition to transportation. ... We need to work across silos, and I intend to do that.”
On miracles: “Throughout my life, I have done things that many deemed impossible. I pledge to work with this Committee and the dedicated career staff at HUD to solve difficult, seemingly obstinate issues.”
On mortgages: “With the Fed raising rates recently, mortgages are likely to get more expensive. Loans are now bifurcated: the well-off have their pick of loans and lenders while many others without solid credit or stable incomes are locked out – one of the reasons the economic recovery was slower than many would have liked. … We need to make sure HUD and FHA are fulfilling their missions to help people build up an asset, like a home.” Letter from four former HUD secretaries supporting Carson http://politi.co/2jatNYi
-- WHAT POMPEO WILL SAY: “Having been a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I understand full well that my job, if confirmed, will be to change roles from policymaker to information provider. The Director must stay clearly on the side of collecting intelligence and providing objective analysis to policymakers, including this committee. … This is the most complicated threat environment the United States has faced in recent memory. … We rely on intelligence from around the globe to avoid strategic or tactical surprise. Intelligence helps make other elements of national power effective, including economic and legal measures against weapons proliferators, terrorist financiers, and other criminals. … It will be the CIA’s mission, and my own, if confirmed, to ensure the Agency remains the best in the world at its core mission: collecting what our enemies do not want us to know. In short, the CIA must be the world’s premier espionage service. … I will lead the agency to aggressively pursue collection operations and ensure analysts have the time, political space, and resources to make objective and sound judgments.”
-- WHAT JIM MATTIS WILL SAY: “I will work to make sure our strategy and military calculus are employed to reinforce traditional tools of diplomacy, ensuring our president and our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength. In addition to ensuring collaboration across government and the adoption of an integrated strategy, we must also embrace our international alliances and security partnerships. History is clear: nations with strong allies thrive and those without them wither. If you confirm me, my watchwords will be solvency and security in providing for the protection of our people and the survival of our freedoms. My priorities as secretary of Defense will be to strengthen military readiness, strengthen our alliances in league with our diplomatic partners, and bring business reforms to the Department of Defense by instilling budget discipline and holding our leaders accountable. Our military is the envy of the world, representing America’s awesome determination to defend herself. Working with you I will endeavor to keep our unique all-volunteer force second-to-none …
“[O]n a personal note, I have worked at the Pentagon twice in my career. But few people may know I am not the first person in my family to do so. When, in the wartime spring of 1942, my mother was 20 years old and working in military intelligence, she was part of the first wave of government employees to move into the still-unfinished Pentagon. She had come to America as an infant and lives today on the banks of the Columbia in the Pacific Northwest. Little could she imagine in her youth that more than 90 years after she immigrated to this country, and 75 years after she first walked through the doors of the War Department, one of her sons would be sitting here today before the Senate.”
THE MAP – NYT A15, “Eric Holder to Lead Democrats’ Attack on Republican Gerrymandering,” by Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin: “Thwarted for much of his term by a confrontational Republican Congress, and criticized by his fellow Democrats for not devoting sufficient attention to their down-ballot candidates, [President Barack] Obama has decided to make the byzantine process of legislative redistricting a central political priority in his first years after the presidency. Emerging as Mr. Obama’s chief collaborator and proxy is Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general of the United States and a personal friend of the president. He has signed on to lead the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a newly formed political group aimed at untangling the creatively drawn districts that have helped cement the Republican Party in power in Washington and many state capitals.
“In an interview this week at Covington & Burling, the Washington law firm where he is now in private practice, Mr. Holder, 65, said that he and Mr. Obama believe Republicans have undermined the political system by creating a patchwork of legislative maps -- at both the state and federal levels -- that are designed to stifle the will of voters. Echoing a number of Mr. Obama’s top advisers, Mr. Holder described fighting Republican gerrymandering as a ‘primary concern’ for the president once he leaves the White House. ‘He thinks, and I think, that this is something that threatens our democracy,’ Mr. Holder said. ‘We have a system now where the politicians are picking their voters, as opposed to voters making selections about who they want to represent them.’” http://nyti.ms/2j41dFR
HILLWATCH -- “NRCC chairman sets team for 2018,” by Rachael Bade: “National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers has tapped a diverse array of lawmakers to serve as his top lieutenants — a move aimed at making good on his promise to diversify House Republicans’ fundraising arm. The Ohio Republican on Thursday will unveil a roster of vice-chairs and deputies that spans from centrist Republicans to arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus members. An early copy of the list, obtained by POLITICO, includes younger rising-star lawmakers like sophomore California Republican Mimi Walters, to more senior members of the conference, such as seven-term Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas.” http://politi.co/2jzi1U0
MAUREEN DOWD in the NYT, “Peter Thiel, Trump’s Tech Pal, Explains Himself”: “Let others tremble at the thought that Donald J. Trump may go too far. Peter Thiel worries that Mr. Trump may not go far enough. ‘Everyone says Trump is going to change everything way too much,’ says the famed venture capitalist, contrarian and member of the Trump transition team. ‘Well, maybe Trump is going to change everything way too little. That seems like the much more plausible risk to me.’ Mr. Thiel is comfortable being a walking oxymoron: He is driven to save the world from the apocalypse. Yet he helped boost the man regarded by many as a danger to the planet. ‘The election had an apocalyptic feel to it,’ says Mr. Thiel, wearing a gray Zegna suit and sipping white wine in a red leather booth at the Monkey Bar in Manhattan. ‘There was a way in which Trump was funny, so you could be apocalyptic and funny at the same time. It’s a strange combination, but it’s somehow very powerful psychologically.’” http://nyti.ms/2ifWC5Z
REMEMBER HIM? -- “Khizr Khan: ‘I Really Have No Animosity Towards’ President-Elect Trump,” by Breitbart’s Neil W. McCabe: “‘I really have no animosity towards him, but towards his policies? Yes,’ said Khizr Khan, a attorney and supporter of Hillary R. Clinton in the last presidential election. ‘If he says: “We must reconcile. We will treat all citizens equally in all of this and there is no discrimination based on religion or race and all that” I will support him,’ Khan said.” http://bit.ly/2ijwIJZ
IN MOSCOW – “Russia moves to decriminalize domestic violence,” by Politico Europe’s Zoya Sheftalovich: “A bill that seeks to downgrade domestic violence from a criminal to an administrative offense passed its first reading on Wednesday in the duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament. A total of 368 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, with one ‘no’ and one abstention. Under the proposed rule, the charge of ‘battery within the family,’ currently a criminal offense, would become an administrative one, with a fine, community service or a brief prison term levied against perpetrators.” http://politi.co/2in6hWO
HOLLYWOODLAND -- “Apple Sets Its Sights on Hollywood With Plans for Original Content,” by WSJ’s Ben Fritz, Tripp Mickle and Hannah Karp: “Apple Inc. is planning to build a significant new business in original television shows and movies, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that could make it a bigger player in Hollywood and offset slowing sales of iPhones and iPads. These people said the programming would be available to subscribers of Apple’s $10-a-month streaming-music service, which has struggled to catch up to the larger Spotify AB. Apple Music already includes a limited number of documentary-style segments on musicians, but nothing like the premium programming it is now seeking. The technology giant has been in talks with veteran producers in recent months about buying rights to scripted television programs. It also has approached experienced marketing executives at studios and networks to discuss hiring them to promote its content.” http://on.wsj.com/2jmBat0
MEDIAWATCH -- COMING ATTRACTIONS -- “President Barack Obama will appear in his last presidential interview on network television on 60 MINUTES PRESENTS ‘Barack Obama: Eight Years in the White House,’ an hour-long special to be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 15 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.” http://bit.ly/2ifWTpx
THE PUSHBACK -- STATEMENT FROM CNN ABOUT DONALD TRUMP’S CRITICISM OF THE NETWORK -- “CNN’s decision to publish carefully sourced reporting about the operations of our government is vastly different than Buzzfeed’s decision to publish unsubstantiated memos. The Trump team knows this. They are using Buzzfeed’s decision to deflect from CNN’s reporting, which has been matched by the other major news organizations. We are fully confident in our reporting. It represents the core of what the First Amendment protects, informing the people of the inner workings of their government; in this case, briefing materials prepared for President Obama and President-elect Trump last week. We made it clear that we were not publishing any of the details of the 35-page document because we have not corroborated the report’s allegations. Given that members of the Trump transition team have so vocally criticized our reporting, we encourage them to identify, specifically, what they believe to be inaccurate.”
--“Fox News host Shep Smith defends CNN in monologue: No journalist ‘should be subjected to belittling’ by president-elect” – Business Insider: 30-second video http://read.bi/2jaBn4U
SPOTTED -- Valerie Jarrett on the 4 p.m. United ORD-DCA Wednesday … Corey Lewandowski at Shelly’s Back Room holding court and enjoying celebratory Make America Great Again cigars. He was also spotted taking a celebratory birthday photo at Shelly’s with Ron Phillips, former Chairman of the D.C. Republican Party and an early Trump backer in Washington.
OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED at Mike Bloomberg’s party last night for Richard Haass and his new book “A World in Disarray”: Norah O’Donnell, Charlie Rose, Eric Schmidt, Katie Couric, Richard Plepler, Susan Mercandetti, Sam Haass, Amanda Burden, Bob Rubin, Joel Schumacher, Patti Harris, Tina Brown, Darren Walker, Alisyn Camerota, David Petraeus, Pete Peterson, Pete Dominick, Richard Falkenrath, David Miliband, Ray Kelly, Joanna Coles, Gideon Rose, Isobel Coleman, Warren Bass, François Delattre, David Westin, Richard Cohen, Kayce Freed, Rick Kaplan, Leon Black, Glenn Lowry, Neal Shapiro. $21 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2incDWh
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- Jon Kohan is joining Jamestown Associates as executive vice president. Kohan, who most recently served as campaign manager to former New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and ran Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s successful campaign in 2014, returns to Jamestown after two cycles away. He also previously served as chief of staff and campaign manager to South Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Sanford. ... After spending nearly 2 years at the DNC, Walter Garcia is going to be the national press secretary for Keith Ellison for DNC Chair. … Sarah K. Magruder Lyle has been named president of the Common Ground Alliance; she previously was with American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers.
WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE -- JAKE BRODER FINGERT, senior policy adviser for the National Economic Council, will be a partner at Camber Creek, a D.C.-based venture capital firm focused on real estate tech. Jake covers infrastructure and real estate at the White House and previously helped manage the federal government's real estate portfolio, acquisitions program, and IT as a senior adviser at GSA.
FRITZ BROGAN, a Republican fundraiser and D.C. restaurateur, has been named national co-chair of Maverick PAC, an organization that recruits young professionals to participate in GOP bundling. Brogan, who was the youngest member of Jeb Bush’s national finance committee, replaces Jay Zeidman, who was a national co-chair for the last decade. On Jan. 20, “MAVPAC,” as it’s known, will host a late night inaugural bash for its members at Hawthorne, the U Street bar that Brogan owns.
TRANSITIONS -- “DGA Names Former Rep. Steve Israel as Advisor to ‘Unrig the Map’”: “As the former chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Israel will work to advance the DGA’s strategic effort to elect Democratic governors who can make a meaningful difference in the 2021 redistricting process.” http://bit.ly/2jahGu5
WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Elizabeth Golding, manager of public affairs at EnLink Midstream and a Mary Bono and Chris Lee alum, and Garrett Golding, VP at consulting firm The Rapidan Group and a House E&C alum, have welcomed Quinn Rebecca Golding, 7 lb 6 oz. Pic http://politi.co/2jmzm3b
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Christiane Amanpour, celebrating “on the road, figuring out my bucket list!” -- read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2inceTG
BIRTHDAYS: Sidwell Friends School’s most famous alum Doug Thornell (hat tip: C.R. Wooters) … Theo Baker is 12 ... Jeff Bezos is 53 ... Rush Limbaugh is 66 ... Howard Stern is 63 ... Case Button, longtime HRC aide and speechwriter ... Sarah Karlin-Smith of Politico’s health team ... Stephanie Rigizadeh, senior associate at Hamilton Place Strategies ... Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee … Chris Laible, CBS News Asia bureau chief based in Beijing and a CNN and Fox alum ... AP’s Sam Hananel, covering the Supreme Court and legal affairs … A.J. Rice … Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) is 67 ... Will Nelligan …
… newly-wed Kevin Curran, managing director of Rock Creek Advisors and executive director of Maverick PAC, is 37. “He will be celebrating with his smart and smoking hot wife Sarah.” (h/t his wife Sarah) ... Jamie Kamlet, director of advocacy and comms at Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School, and older brother Ben (yes, born same day two years apart), producer at KickTV ... author John Aloysius Farrell … Bush 43 alum Chris Marston ... journalist Sarah Kershaw … Taylor Foran ... WTOP’s Debra Feinstein … Angela Foster Birdseye … Kate Noel … Lisa DePaulo … Julian Potter … Allison Cutler … Anne Mosle … Danny O’Brien, a Biden and Menendez alum now on GE’s global gov’t affairs team … ... Natalie Gregory ... Tien Hunter (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Dana Perri Miller, LD for Rep. Nita Lowey ... Kirstie Alley is 66 (h/t AP)