Playbook PM: Putin sees ‘spark of hope’ after Biden summit

Jun 16, 2021

By Ryan Lizza, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

Presented by

President Joe Biden, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, talk during their meeting at the 'Villa la Grange' in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021.

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday, June 16. | Mikhail Metzel/Pool Photo via AP

LOW EXPECTATIONS, EASILY MET — President JOE BIDEN and Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN, who met for about three hours this morning, agreed that the two countries would return ambassadors to their respective posts in Washington and Moscow after they were recalled earlier this year.

Biden is scheduled to brief the press from Geneva at 1:30 p.m. EDT before returning to Washington. Watch live

Putin — who, in a break with recent practice, arrived to the Geneva summit ontime — just wrapped up his solo press conference.

— He suggested there could be some progress forthcoming on a prisoner exchange, denied responsibility for recent cyberattacks against U.S. institutions and said the issue will be the subject of follow-on consultations, which the NYT reports, "U.S. officials fear it is little more than a ploy to tie the matter up in committee."

— Putin brushed away a pointed question from ABC's Rachel Scott about "the list of your political opponents who are dead, imprisoned or jailed," by making a bizarre allusion to "very severe events" in the U.S. "after the killing of an African-American," presumably referring to the 2020 murder of GEORGE FLOYD. He added, "We don't want that to happen on our territory, and we are doing our utmost to not allow it to happen." Much of Putin's public remarks were taken up with this sort of classic Russian whataboutism. Clip via ABC

— Several reporters asked Putin for personal impressions about Biden. The Russian autocrat who has been in power since 1999, said Biden was "very balanced," "professional," "experienced." Putin, speaking through a translator, added that the American president "talked a bit about his family" and "what his mother told him."

As a student of Bidenisms attributed to JEAN FINNEGAN BIDEN, we imagine it was either: 1) "Remember, nobody is better than you, but you're better than nobody." or 2) "As long as you're alive, you have an obligation to strive."

Putin, who is known for making up stuff that didn't happen in his meetings with heads of state and telling the press that it did happen, allowed that perhaps the personal comments were "not quite relevant," but said they spoke to Biden's "moral values," which are "very attractive."

Putin emphasized the talks were "pragmatic," and that while he didn't "swear eternal friendship" to Biden, he said there was "a spark of hope in his eyes." More from Anita Kumar in Geneva and Quint Forgey

TENSE SCENE AT THE SUMMIT — "Media melee leaves journalists outside during Biden-Putin summit," by Anita Kumar in Geneva, Switzerland: "Journalists from both countries rushed to the site of the meeting — the Villa La Grange, an 18th century building located in a park near Lake Geneva — but were stopped by U.S. and Russian security and government officials and told to line up separately and in single file. … Instead, journalists and officials screamed as a Swiss official kept urging journalists and officials to be quiet. Eventually nine U.S. journalists and an unknown number of Russian journalists were allowed inside the villa's library, where Biden and Putin were seated.

"The shoving didn't stop. Journalists pushed and yelled at each other to move. After just a minute or two, Russian security pulled the red rope separating the media from the leaders to try to keep the media further away … Russian security yelled at journalists to get out of the room, and began pushing journalists. U.S. journalists and White House officials began screaming that the Russian security should stop touching them."

Good Wednesday afternoon.

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HAPPENING TODAY — @LeaderHoyer: "Today, the House will take up legislation to make #Juneteenth a federal holiday. I thank @JacksonLeeTX18, @SenMarkey, and @JohnCornyn for their leadership in advancing this important measure. I look forward to bringing this bill to the Floor, and urge bipartisan support."

AUMF REPEAL COMING SOON — "Senate will vote to repeal Iraq war authorization, Schumer says," by Andrew Desiderio: "Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER announced his support on Wednesday for repealing the 2002 war authorization for Iraq, vowing to hold a vote on scrapping the outdated measure later this year.

"The announcement from Schumer (D-N.Y.) comes as the House is expected to pass Rep. BARBARA LEE'S (D-Calif.) bill on Thursday that would repeal the 2002 law, which served as the legal basis for several military operations in Iraq. 'The Iraq War has been over for nearly a decade. The authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021,' Schumer said Wednesday on the Senate floor."

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DEMS UP PRESSURE ON DOJ — "Dems want to un-Trump the DOJ — fast," by Andrew Desiderio and Marianne LeVine: "Hill Democrats are intensifying pressure on Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND to clean house at the Justice Department following revelations that DONALD TRUMP'S DOJ secretly seized communication records belonging to Democratic lawmakers, congressional staffers and journalists.

"Garland, who served as a federal judge for two decades, has worked to reassure Democrats that he's taking the issue seriously and pledged to support an independent inspector general's investigation into the matter. But Democrats are quickly growing impatient and already taking matters into their own hands — opening a formal probe this week to determine who was responsible and hold them accountable."

A NEW PANDEMIC COMMISSION? — "As Pandemic Recedes in U.S., Calls Are Growing for an Investigative Commission," by NYT's Sheryl Gay Stolberg: "Bipartisan bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, and have the backing of three former homeland security secretaries — two Republicans and a Democrat — as well as health groups and victims and their families.

"Unlike the rancorous debate that doomed the proposal for a panel to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, discussion of a Covid-19 commission has not produced partisan discord — at least, not yet. Senator BOB MENENDEZ, Democrat of New Jersey and a lead sponsor of the Senate bill, noted that its work would cover both the Trump and Biden administrations. 'If I can get past what I consider to be the biggest hurdle, which is not to have this viewed through a partisan political lens, then I think there should be strong support for it moving forward,' Mr. Menendez said in an interview on Tuesday."

THE VACCINATION EFFORT — "U.S. to Buy 200 Million More Doses of Moderna Covid Vaccine," Bloomberg

— "Inside Pfizer's race to produce the world's biggest supply of covid vaccine," by WaPo's Christopher Rowland in Portage, Mich.

DISINFO DIGEST — "Hamburgers, Fauci and election fraud: How Biden World combats disinformation," by Natasha Korecki: "The White House has two dozen staffers working on it. And they've outsourced even more."

DON'T MISS THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT: POLITICO will feature a special edition of our Future Pulse newsletter at the 2021 Milken Institute Future of Health Summit. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of global health industry leaders and innovators who are turning lessons learned from the past year into a healthier, more resilient and more equitable future. Covid-19 threatened our health and well-being, while simultaneously leading to extraordinary coordination to improve pandemic preparedness, disease prevention, diversity in clinical trials, mental health resources, food access and more. SUBSCRIBE TODAY to receive exclusive coverage from June 22-24.

STUDENT DEBT RELIEF — "Biden administration delivers debt relief to some former ITT Tech students," WaPo: "Education Secretary MIGUEL CARDONA said Wednesday that 18,000 former ITT Technical Institute students defrauded by the defunct for-profit chain will have their federal loans fully canceled, a move that some advocacy groups say chips away too slowly at an urgent problem.

"This is the first significant step the Education Department has taken to address debt relief claims filed by ITT Tech students since the school shut down in 2016. Thirty-four thousand former students have petitioned the department to cancel their debt under a statute known as 'borrower defense to repayment,' but were rebuffed by the Trump administration."

THE TRUMP EFFECT IN PA. — "How a Trump ally rode Trump's election fraud lie to political prominence," by David Siders: "As recently as three years ago, DOUG MASTRIANO was a political nobody who finished fourth in a House primary in Pennsylvania. Now, having hitched himself to Donald Trump's election fraud lie, his fortunes have changed dramatically. RUDY GIULIANI recently headlined a fundraiser for him. Over the weekend, Mastriano finished first in a gubernatorial straw poll at the conservative Pennsylvania Leadership Conference. …

"Mastriano's sudden ascent from failed congressional candidate to state senator to leading voice in the national movement to discredit the 2020 election results is a familiar portrait of political ambition. But it's also a revealing snapshot of Trump-era GOP politics, and how the baseless claims of 2020 election fraud are shaping next year's election landscape."

2022 WATCH — "Matt Salmon returns to gubernatorial arena, launches 2022 campaign," by Arizona Mirror's Jeremy Duda: "Former Republican Congressman MATT SALMON is running for governor, looking to win the prize that eluded him 20 years ago in one of Arizona's closest gubernatorial elections. Salmon launched his gubernatorial campaign Wednesday morning, running on a platform of border security, immigration enforcement, election integrity, expanding school choice and eliminating Arizona's income tax."

RIPPLE EFFECT — "'Potential crisis for democracy': Threats to election workers could spur mass retirements," by Zach Montellaro: "A new survey of over 200 local election officials — the people responsible for running polling places, maintaining voter rolls and counting and certifying the results of elections — found that roughly one-third were either very or somewhat concerned about 'being harassed on the job' or 'feeling unsafe' at work during the 2020 election cycle.

"Nearly 4-in-10 respondents in the survey, which was conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice and Bipartisan Policy Center, reported the same level of concern about 'facing pressure to certify election results.'" The survey

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NYC MAYOR DISPATCH — "'Anyone's race': The debate that could decide New York's next mayor," by Erin Durkin, Danielle Muoio and Madina Touré: "New York City's eight leading mayoral candidates will take the stage Wednesday night in the last debate of the primary — and with less than a week until election day, none can claim to be the undisputed front-runner. But a few hope to be, by the end of the night."

AP INVESTIGATION — "For years, U.S. Army hid, downplayed extent of firearms loss," by Kristin Hall, James Laporta and Justin Pritchard: "Military guns aren't just disappearing. Stolen guns have been used in shootings, brandished to rob and threaten people and recovered in the hands of felons. Thieves sold assault rifles to a street gang. Army officials cited information that suggests only a couple of hundred firearms vanished during the 2010s. Internal Army memos that AP obtained show losses many times higher.

"Efforts to suppress information date to 2012, when AP filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records from a registry where all four armed services are supposed to report firearms loss or theft. … As AP continued to press for information, including through legal challenges, the Army produced a list of missing weapons that was so clearly incomplete officials later disavowed it. They then produced a second set of records that also did not give a full count."

FOR YOUR RADAR — "Obama Presidential Center to Set Modern Record for Timetable to Opening," by WSJ's John McCormick in Chicago: "The groundbreaking for the center to celebrate [BARACK] OBAMA and press its mission of fostering future leaders could finally happen late this summer after years of lawsuits, fundraising and federal reviews. … Presidential libraries opened in recent decades have done so in about half the time as what is expected for Mr. Obama's center, Wall Street Journal calculations show.

"The RONALD REAGAN Presidential Library welcomed visitors just more than 1,000 days after Mr. Reagan's last day in office. BILL CLINTON'S took 1,398 days. Monuments to GEORGE H.W. BUSH and GEORGE W. BUSH averaged 1,653 days. It is likely the Obama center will open more than 3,100 days after the 44th president left the White House if construction starts in early September and takes no more than the four years now estimated."

HEADS UP — "EU members agree to lift travel restrictions on U.S. tourists," AP

LONG MAY YOU RUN — Remember that SPOTTED from last week of a shirtless Sen. TOM CARPER (D-Del.) gassing up his minivan? Well, Delaware News Journal reports that Carper's trusty 2001 Chrysler Town & Country is being replaced with a red Model Y Tesla later this summer.

SPOTTED Tuesday night at Imperfecto (which is excellent, try the Octopus!): Jamie Dimon.

SPOTTED at a virtual reunion for former Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) hosted by the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement on Tuesday night: Linda Moore, Jim Hawley, Lee Godown, Donna Brazile, Steve Elmendorf, Richard Sullivan, Noah Mamet, David Jones, Mark Sump, Robert Koch, John Haber, Mike Wessel and Sean Kennedy.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jennifer Mack is now a non-resident senior associate for the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She previously was the global water coordinator and deputy assistant administrator at USAID's Bureau for Resilience and Food Security.

TRANSITION — Trey McKenzie is joining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as an executive director of government affairs, focusing on transportation and technology policy. He previously was a professional staff member for the House Transportation Highways and Transit Subcommittee.