Playbook: The other trials hanging over 2024

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With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine

DRIVING THE DAY

THE BIG CHILL — “At private donor event, Haley thanks supporters and ignores Trump,” by Meridith McGraw: “[DONALD] TRUMP was barely mentioned even as [NIKKI] HALEY continues to rack up votes in primaries despite dropping out of the race in early March. As expected, Haley did not endorse the former president during the retreat, nor did she encourage her supporters to back his campaign, according to attendees at the event.”

Meanwhile … Haley took 20% in Maryland, 18% in Nebraska and 9% in West Virginia last night. More election results below

THE ELUSIVE CHILL — The latest inflation numbers are out at 8:30 a.m. “Economists forecast a slight cool down, with prices seen rising 3.4% from a year earlier,” WSJ notes, but the past three CPI releases have come in hot.

TRIAL HEAT — It’s Wednesday, which means the Trump hush-money trial is taking a rest. So we thought we’d catch you up on the other big criminal cases hanging over the 2024 election.

With Trump’s three other cases looking increasingly unlikely to come to trial this year, the biggest courtroom sensations left in 2024 might well involve first son HUNTER BIDEN, who is set to face trial on felony gun charges in just three weeks after a federal judge in Delaware yesterday refused to delay the proceedings any further. Another trial on tax charges is set to follow weeks later in California.

Lawyer ABBE LOWELL pleaded for a break, our colleague Betsy Woodruff Swan reported from the courtroom, citing difficulties retaining expert witnesses on issues relating to his client’s drug addiction. Three prospects, he said, had signed on tentatively but were “reluctant to become involved in this case” because of “the noise” surrounding it.

Tough luck, District Judge MARYELLEN NOREIKA said: Jury selection starts June 3.

The bigger picture is this: The Biden campaign, the White House and President JOE BIDEN himself are preparing to take an entirely hands-off approach to the cases, Eugene, Jonathan Lemire and Betsy write this morning — even as his son’s plight weighs heavily on the president.

Indeed, Biden aides are most worried about the personal impact more than any political blowback. The father has repeatedly expressed fear to advisers and family members that his son could serve time in prison.

As one of the advisers put it: “He worries about Hunter every single day, from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. That will only pick up during a trial.” He’s expected to keep abreast of the trials through the news and through his daily conversations with Hunter himself.

What there won’t be is any kind of organized war room, similar to what was stood up during House Republicans’ abortive impeachment push earlier this year. Nor will the outside allies who got involved in that effort get back on the field for Hunter’s criminal trials, according to four people previously involved.

“The thinking is that he has a solid legal and communications team around him, and the wider effort was focused on the president himself and that threat is clearly vastly diminished,” one person involved told Playbook.

Without the direct threat to the president, there’s a sense among seasoned Democratic operatives that the case — with the drugs and the guns and the sex — is not worth messing around with: “None of them wanna touch the Hunter stuff with a 10-foot pole,” another person described it to Playbook yesterday.

It’s helped calm nerves that Republicans and the conservative media appear to have let Hunter Biden out of their death grip in recent weeks. The impeachment probe — having turned up no smoking gun of presidential wrongdoing — has sputtered, and Trump — dealing with his own myriad legal issues — has mentioned the younger Biden a lot less as of late.

But not everyone in Biden world is so blithe. They warn that the elder Biden could get pulled into the drama at any point, and that there’s a risk to staying hands-off.

As one ally put it: “The fact that it will be in in the news and could disrupt the campaign or overshadow the president, it is concerning that there is no apparatus that is out there defending Hunter and giving him air cover, including an offensive strategy against the Republicans who continue to weaponize Hunter and his problems in the middle of a presidential campaign.”

BIDEN’S BLACK OUTREACH — We couldn’t help but notice that the rest of Biden’s week is packed with events focused on the constituency that made him president in 2020 — and that he will sorely need if he wants to remain president beyond 2025.

Two radio interviews Biden recorded with Black journalists will air today, one in Milwaukee, and the other in Atlanta … on Thursday, Biden is set to meet with plaintiffs from the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case and their families … on Friday, he will give remarks at an NAACP event featuring the Brown plaintiffs and members of the Little Rock Nine … on Saturday, he heads to Atlanta for a campaign event … and on Sunday, he will give the commencement address at Morehouse College, the legendary all-male HBCU, before traveling to Detroit for the annual NAACP Freedom Fund dinner.

It’s quite the run of events, and while most of these have been planned for some time, we’re still struck by (1) the timing — coming just as the new NYT/Siena polls put a new spotlight on his persistent weakness with Black voters — and (2) the conventionality of the outreach here, which leans heavily on a civil-rights focus that might not be especially relevant to the young and politically unengaged voters who are dissatisfied with Biden and flirting with other candidates.

We asked a senior Biden aide to weigh in on the strategy here, and this person insisted our skepticism was misplaced: “We are treating our core constituencies, including black voters, like persuadable AND turnout voters — not expecting their support at the end but earning it now.”

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT — Maryland’s marquee Senate race will be ANGELA ALSOBROOKS vs. LARRY HOGAN in November. In the end, the Democratic Prince George’s County executive overcame Rep. DAVID TRONE’s tens of millions of dollars to dispatch him fairly easily, 54% to 42%. (If Trone is smart, he can look at it this way: He just saved himself having to spend another $60 million on the general.) And the GOP former governor faced few of the troubles moderate Republicans have had in other primaries, as the Maryland GOP mounts their strongest Senate bid in years: He took 62%.

In Maryland’s Democratic congressional primaries, local history trumped national name recognition as AIPAC-backed state Sen. SARAH ELFRETH beat former Capitol Police officer HARRY DUNN in the 3rd District. And in the state’s only potentially competitive district in November, being vacated by Trone, APRIL McCLAIN DELANEY (wife of JOHN) beat JOE VOGEL to the Democratic nomination, while NEIL PARROTT topped DAN COX for the GOP nod.

West Virginia had a slew of Republican races, but there was no real surprise in the highest-profile primary, as Gov. JIM JUSTICE easily beat Rep. ALEX MOONEY for the Senate nomination, 62% to 27%. (He’ll face Democrat GLENN ELLIOTT; it’s the end of the road for DON BLANKENSHIP, who came in third.) AG PATRICK MORRISEY landed the GOP gubernatorial nod in a fairly tight race. And Rep. CAROL MILLER handily turned away a challenge from Jan. 6 participant DERRICK EVANS.

Despite the Nebraska state GOP supporting challengers to the state’s Republican incumbents, they all won their primaries easily. (In the closest race, Rep. DON BACON still won by 24.)

The takeaways … “Warning signs for Trump, self-funders in Tuesday’s primaries,” by Steven Shepard and Madison Fernandez

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY

On the Hill

The House will meet at 10 a.m. FTC Chair LINA KHAN will testify before an Appropriations subcommittee at 10 a.m. EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN will testify before an Energy and Commerce subcommittee at 10 a.m. The Ways and Means Committee will mark up several bills at 10 a.m., including legislation to ban private funding for election administration. HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA will testify before the Education and the Workforce Committee at 10:15 a.m.

The Senate will meet at 10 a.m. and take up multiple nominations throughout the day, with an early-afternoon recess for weekly conference meetings. At 6 p.m., it will take up a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a Treasury rule on Covid relief funds. Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO will testify before an Appropriations subcommittee at 2:30 p.m. DNI AVRIL HAINES will testify before the Intelligence Community at 2:30 p.m.

3 things to watch …

  1. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The White House, as expected, came out against the House bill that would force Biden to deliver offensive weapons to Israel. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON hits back this morning in an exclusive statement, accusing Biden of having “turned his back on Israel,” citing his Rafah ultimatum and a lack of “decisive action” after Iran attacked Israel last month: “[N]ow that Israel is fighting for its very survival, he is withholding weapons and threatening to veto legislation that would give the Israelis what they need to adequately defend themselves. The president and his administration need to reverse course immediately to stand with Israel and against the terrorism and atrocities of Iran and its proxies.”
  2. FDIC Chair MARTIN GRUENBERG begins two days of grueling hearings at 10 a.m. before the House Financial Services Committee, where he will be pressed on reports of a toxic workplace culture at his agency — first aired by the WSJ and confirmed in a recent internal investigation. In a bid to stave off calls to resign, Gruenberg is set to announce a new Office of Professional Conduct and tender a personal apology, according to prepared testimony. “To anyone who has experienced sexual harassment or other misconduct at the FDIC, I again want to apologize and express how deeply sorry I am,” he will say. He’ll do it all over again Thursday at Senate Banking. More from NYT
  3. Now that the Maryland Senate matchup is set, Democrats are wasting no time teeing off on Hogan — painting him not as an aisle-crossing dealmaker and Trump skeptic, but as a self-described “lifelong Republican” who will largely toe the party line once elected. A new DSCC digital ad and fundraising microsite compiles some of Hogan’s less-mavericky moments and shares a simple message: “A vote for Larry Hogan is a vote for a Republican Senate majority.”

At the White House

Biden will speak at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the Capitol at noon. He and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 2:45 p.m. Biden will host the joint chiefs and combatant commanders for a meeting at 4:30 p.m., and he and first lady JILL BIDEN will host the combatant commanders and spouses for a dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Harris and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will also host a Día de las Madres in the evening.

PLAYBOOK READS

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

BIDEN’S LATEST ISRAEL MOVE — The U.S. is proceeding with $1 billion in new arms deals for Israel, WSJ’s Nancy Youssef and Jared Malsin scooped. That’s the latest bit of whiplash in an Israel policy that lately seems tailor-made to anger just about every political side — or, as the administration might put it, strike a careful balance between supporting the U.S. ally and prodding it. The package potentially comprises “$700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds,” which could help replenish Israel’s stocks half a year into its war with Hamas, though they may not arrive for years. N.B.: The deal isn’t final yet, and congressional leaders could still block it, as Joe Gould notes.

The administration’s notification of Congress about the weapons deals yesterday was greeted with relative approval among Hill Democrats, Anthony Adragna, Daniella Diaz, Katherine Tully-McManus and Adam Cancryn report. But “members across the spectrum called for greater clarity on the administration’s overall approach to the ongoing conflict.” And progressives said Biden needs to be firm about a red line on Israel going into Rafah, which it increasingly seems intent on doing, U.S. finger-wagging be damned.

Even if PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU goes there, though, the U.S. doesn’t think Israel can fully achieve its goals in Gaza, Alex Ward reports. The administration has assessed that Israel can weaken Hamas to the point of preventing another Oct. 7 — but not stamp them out. That’s especially true because Netanyahu hasn’t envisioned a post-war plan for Palestinian governance, and because Israel’s killing of 35,000 Palestinians will “breathe life” into Hamas, as one official says.

More top reads:

  • Straight from the horse’s mouth: After announcing big new China tariffs, Biden told Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi that they’re essential to protect American jobs because “China is fundamentally underwriting their entire industries.”

2024 WATCH

CASH DASH — Trump is working to rack up fundraising dollars and catch up with Biden. The latest developments:

  • In a sign of steady support from the oil industry, which is attracting new ethical scrutiny, billionaires HAROLD HAMM and KELCY WARREN will host a Texas fundraiser for Trump next week, per WaPo’s Josh Dawsey.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM — “Secret Service appears unlikely to move RNC protest zone despite pressure from Republicans,” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Alison Dirr and Lawrence Andrea

WAR IN UKRAINE

THE NEXT ASK FROM KYIV — “Ukraine presses Biden to lift ban on using US weapons to strike Russia,” by Paul McLeary and Erin Banco: “Ukrainian officials watched for weeks as the Russians massed near the Ukrainian border, unable to use U.S.-supplied weapons to conduct a preemptive strike due to Washington’s policy.”

THE NEXT OFFER FROM WASHINGTON — “US Considers Sending Another Patriot Missile Battery to Ukraine,” by Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli, Jennifer Jacobs and Natalia Drozdiak

TRUMP CARDS

THREAT LEVEL — As Trump has repeatedly criticized the judges overseeing his various cases, supporters have threatened violence online — more than 150 times in the past couple of months against New York Justices JUAN MERCHAN and ARTHUR ENGORON and Georgia Judge SCOTT McAFEE, Reuters’ Peter Eisler, Ned Parker and Joseph Tanfani reveal in a new special report. Hundreds more posts use hostile or discriminatory language against the judges.

Trump’s latest attempt to undo the gag order imposed on him in the Manhattan hush money criminal case — which, notably, does not include Merchan — fell short again yesterday with an appellate court, per CNN.

In court yesterday afternoon, the cross-examination of MICHAEL COHEN was the big story, with Trump’s attorneys seeking to portray him as unreliable and out for vengeance against Trump. But after some early sparks — including Cohen admitting he lied to ROBERT MUELLER’s team — it wasn’t quite the slugfest some had expected, Erica Orden, Ben Feuerherd and Kyle Cheney recap from NYC. Instead, “Cohen largely maintained his cool” and “it wasn’t clear if [TODD] BLANCHE managed to dent Cohen’s credibility.” Yes, Trump even appeared to fall asleep again.

In case you were wondering … Unlike Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, Senate GOP leaders have no plans to attend the trial, they told the Washington Examiner’s David Sivak.

POLICY CORNER

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Senators urge $32 billion in emergency spending on AI after finishing yearlong review,” by AP’s Mary Clare Jalonick: ““It’s complicated, it’s difficult, but we can’t afford to put our head in the sand,” said [Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER], who convened the group last year after AI chatbot ChatGPT entered the marketplace and showed that it could in many ways mimic human behavior.”

UP IN THE AIR — The House is expected to pass the FAA reauthorization today. But despite major concerns about recent safety problems at Boeing, the bill doesn’t have much to address them, Oriana Pawlyk reports. At the same time, DOJ said yesterday in a court filing that Boeing had breached the terms of an agreement and could now be vulnerable to prosecution, per ABC.

MORE POLITICS

MORE POWERFUL THAN YOUR GROUP CHAT — “The friendships forged in a governors group chat,” by The 19th’s Jennifer Gerson: “The eight Democratic women leading their states — MAURA HEALEY in Massachusetts, KATIE HOBBS in Arizona, KATHY HOCHUL in New York, LAURA KELLY in Kansas, TINA KOTEK in Oregon, MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM in New Mexico, JANET MILLS in Maine and GRETCHEN WHITMER in Michigan — … have made their relationships with one another a critical part of their own leadership.”

THE EUGENE VINDMAN PRIMARY — “A ‘Resistance’ Hero Is Running for Congress. Local Democrats Are Frustrated,” by NOTUS’ Alex Roarty in Stafford, Virginia

JUDICIARY SQUARE

DAILY RUDY — It was a rough day for RUDY GIULIANI in his various legal entanglements. As Giuliani seeks to stave off the massive defamation judgment against him via bankruptcy proceedings, the bankruptcy judge said yesterday that he was “disturbed” by Giuliani’s inertia in getting his finances in order, AP’s Michael Hill reports. Judge SEAN LANE refused to let Giuliani’s appeal of the defamation verdict go forward for now. Giuliani’s lawyer said “they finally have, I think, gotten things on track.”

Giuliani faces criminal legal peril in Arizona, where he was indicted for alleged 2020 election subversion. But AG KRIS MAYES hasn’t been able to serve Giuliani, despite multiple efforts, WaPo’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Holly Bailey report from Phoenix. Giuliani is now due in court Tuesday, and contempt or an arrest warrant are on the table if he doesn’t show.

MEDIAWATCH

NEW ON THE SCENE — Former GOP Hill staffers GARRETT VENTRY and BRIAN COLAS are launching a new media outlet, Washington Reporter, that aims to offer a conservative newsletter for D.C. Republicans, Axios’ Sara Fischer reports. MATTHEW FOLDI is the lead reporter.

— Vox is launching a new “SCOTUS, Explained” newsletter from IAN MILLHISER.

— And The Atlantic is debuting a new podcast, “Good on Paper,” next month, which will feature host JERUSALEM DEMSAS diving into policy questions to challenge conventional wisdom.

PLAYBOOKERS

Kristi Noem has now been banned from a seventh South Dakota tribal reservation.

Tammy Duckworth wants to save from Gaza the doctor who saved her life.

Steve Bannon will go to prison stat if prosecutors have their way.

Anna Paulina Luna wants to give the Congressional Gold Medal to Donald Trump.

Antony Blinken rocked out in Kyiv.

IN MEMORIAM — “Agri-Pulse trade editor Bill Tomson dies after fight with cancer: He was 55. … Tomson joined Agri-Pulse in 2016 and quickly stood out for his ability to get scoops on trade topics. … He previously covered agriculture and food issues for Politico and worked as a reporter for Dow Jones and its flagship publication, the Wall Street Journal.”

HAPPENING TODAY — Stagwell hosts its inaugural Future of News Summit this evening in NYC in conjunction with media partners including POLITICO. Reporters and newsroom leaders including our own Josh Gerstein will join a panel on the practice of journalism today as Stagwell and its partners challenge the advertising industry to reinvest in news — including the debut today of a Future of News Study, based on a survey of nearly 50,000 Americans, demonstrating it is safe for brands to advertise adjacent to quality news content.

OUT AND ABOUT — Sally Quinn hosted a party last night to celebrate David Ignatius’ new spy thriller, “Phantom Orbit” ($29.99). During his remarks, Ignatius paid tribute to the late Ben Bradlee and gave a shout-out to his 103-year-old father, Paul Ignatius, who was in attendance. In her toast to Ignatius, Quinn recommended the book but joked that it didn’t have enough sex in it for her taste. Gesturing to the white-haired CIA director who just returned from the Middle East and was standing discreetly in the back of her living room, Quinn also joked that she now knew Bill Burns was an Ignatius source. SPOTTED: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Tanya Mayorkas, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), John McCarthy, Kara Voght, Will Lewis, Sally Buzbee, Phil Rucker, Tammy Haddad, Jane Mayer and Bill Hamilton, Carlos Lozada, Amanda Katz, David Shipley, Elisabeth Bumiller and Steven Weisman, Judy Woodruff and Al Hunt, Andrea Mitchell, Josh Dawsey, Margaret Carlson, Tyler Pager, David Sanger, Alex Karp, Katharine Weymouth, Quinn Bradlee, Brian Goldsmith, Kathy O’Hearn, Kathy Baird, Bert Kaufman, Mike Allen, Elsa Walsh, Mark Leibovich and David Maraniss.

TRANSITIONS — Nico Delgado is now Senate campaigns comms director at American Bridge 21st Century. He previously was comms director for Strategies 360’s Colorado team, and is a John Hickenlooper campaign alum. … Kaya Singleton is now director of federal government relations at Roku. She most recently was director of federal government relations at H&R Block. …

… Savannah Newhouse will be comms director for Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) reelect. She most recently has been press secretary in Blackburn’s Senate office. … Trident DMG is adding Logan Booth as an SVP and Kai Bernier-Chen and Brinsley Eriksen as associate directors. Booth and Eriksen previously were at Brunswick Group, and Bernier-Chen previously was at Teneo. … Mike Holtzman is now a senior adviser at Laurel Strategies. He is a longtime crisis comms operative and a State Department alum.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Helena Bottemiller Evich, editor-in-chief of Food Fix and a POLITICO alum, and Jordan Evich, principal at Monument Advocacy, welcomed Eleanor May Evich on May 5. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT’s Eli Saslow, Elisabeth Bumiller and Nick Confessore … WaPo’s Ruth Marcus … Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet … Rob Simms … POLITICO’s Rachel Loeffler … Anne Marie Malecha … Nick Papas of Airbnb … Jacqueline Cortese … Varun Krovi … James Glueck … Philo Hall … Rachel Kelly of Mastercard … Billy Brawner of Brawner Communications … Jennifer Jose … Diane Cullo … former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius … David Watts … Donna Leinwand Leger … Barry LaSala … Dan Rothschild of GMU’s Mercatus Center … Jen Stout … Herald Group’s CC Jaeger … Aaron Morrissey … Linda Hall Daschle … Nora Kohli of Rep. Jim Himes’ (D-Conn.) office

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