| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by Facebook | BULLETIN … WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT … DETROIT FREE PRESS: "Militia group planned to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, feds say," by Paul Egan and Tresa Baldas: "The federal government has charged six people with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to newly unsealed court records. "The FBI became aware early in 2020, through social media, that a militia group was 'discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components,' and 'agreed to take violent action,' according to a sworn affidavit. Members of the group, who were in the Kent County area, talked about 'murdering … tyrants' or 'taking' a sitting governor, according to the affidavit. "One of the relevant meetings the FBI monitored was held June 20 in Grand Rapids, the affidavit alleges. The group met for field exercises and training this year, the affidavit alleges. Discussions included using 200 men to 'storm' the Capitol Building in Lansing, kidnap hostages, including, Whitmer and try the governor for treason, according to the affidavit." The complaint OK EVERYONE, REPEAT AFTER US: Stimulus talks are in the same place they have been since July. THE TWO SIDES have not coalesced around a top-line figure, legislative language or any of the component parts of an agreement. The White House is divided on a deal, Hill Republicans are all over the place, and time is running out. This may be the longest negotiations we've seen outside of health care reform in 2009-2010 -- and yet so little has changed over the last 10 or so weeks. SO, WHILE WASHINGTON'S MOST EAGER DUO -- Speaker NANCY PELOSI of San Francisco and Treasury STEVEN MNUCHIN of New York, Massachusetts Avenue Heights, Los Angeles and the Hamptons -- may be heading back to the negotiating table, that would represent status quo. And status quo here is stasis. MNUCHIN told PELOSI in a Wednesday night call that he wanted to get back to talking about a big Covid deal. And PELOSI reassured the White House today she was ready to talk. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY HURDLES RIGHT NOW: -- THE TWO SIDES are currently trading legislative language, but remain far apart on details -- THE SENATE GOP is reluctant about a deal -- SCOTUS CONFIRMATION begins next week -- THE HOUSE IS OUT -- 26 DAYS until Election Day. PELOSI TO AIRLINES: NOT HAPPENING … THE SPEAKER on a stand-alone airline relief bill: "I have been very open to having a stand-alone bill for the airlines or part of a bigger bill. But there is no stand-alone bill without a bigger bill." More from Heather Caygle, Sarah Ferris and Sam Mintz SHADE from Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL, via NBC's JULIE TSIRKIN : "I haven't actually been to the White House since August the 6th. Because my impression was that their approach to how to handle this is different from mine and what I suggested that we do in the Senate, which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing." -- THAT'S THE CORRECT IMPRESSION! DEPT. OF 3D CHESS: President DONALD TRUMP said this morning on Fox Business Network that he would not participate in the next debate with JOE BIDEN, after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced it would take place virtually. TRUMP: "It's ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want." More from Quint Forgey -- WHAT IS HE THINKING? The president is down in virtually every poll. The debates get nearly 80 million views. A rally would get 1 million, maybe -- if a cable network picked it up. -- BILL STEPIEN , Trump's campaign manager, tries to put this cat back in the bag: "We agree that this should happen on October 22, and accordingly, the third debate should then be shifted back one week to October 29. The CPD and the media cannot hide Joe Biden forever. Americans deserve to hear directly from both presidential candidates on these dates, October 22 and 29." -- KATE BEDINGFIELD, Biden's deputy campaign manager and comms director: "Donald Trump doesn't make the debate schedule; the Debate Commission does. We accepted the three dates — Sept. 29, Oct. 15, and Oct. 22 — in June. Trump chose today to pull out of the October 15th debate. Trump's erratic behavior does not allow him to rewrite the calendar, and pick new dates of his choosing. We look forward to participating in the final debate, scheduled for October 22, which already is tied for the latest debate date in 40 years. Donald Trump can show up, or he can decline again. That's his choice." -- OH, REMEMBER WHEN: Republicans warned that BIDEN might try to pull out of the debates? -- CBS' @edokeefe: "JUST IN: @JoeBiden also will not participate in the Oct. 15 debate, his campaign announces. Instead, @KBeds says Biden 'will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on October 15th, as he has done on several occasions in recent weeks.'" AMAZING: TRUMP WORLD felt really good about VP MIKE PENCE'S performance Wednesday night. And TRUMP has stepped all over it. -- TRUMP twice called Sen. KAMALA HARRIS (D-Calif.) a "monster" on Fox Biz. -- AND THEN THERE'S THIS: "Trump says Gold Star families could have given him Covid-19," by Quint Forgey: "'Sometimes, I'd be in groups of, for instance, Gold Star families. I met with Gold Star families. I didn't want to cancel that,' he said. 'But they all came in, and they all talk about their son and daughter and father. And, you know, they all came up to me, and they tell me a story.'" Good Thursday afternoon. | | | | A message from Facebook: We support updated internet regulations.
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Read why we support updated internet regulations | | | DAN DIAMOND EXCLUSIVE: "Verma, Meadows push to finalize $200 drug-card plan for seniors by Election Day" LATEST ON SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS … NYT'S JODI KANTOR: "Friends Recall Hearing Trump Accuser's Claims in 1997": "Three weeks ago, a news story caught the attention of Dawn Capp, a Texas math teacher. A former model had accused President Trump of assault, the latest in a long line of sexual misconduct complaints against him. At the United States Open tennis tournament in 1997, the woman told The Guardian, he groped and forcibly kissed her. "Ms. Capp voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. But she immediately believed the story, she said in a telephone interview, because she had heard it more than two decades ago from Amy Dorris, the woman making the allegation and one of Ms. Capp's oldest friends. … Kerri Whitfield, another friend, echoed those recollections, saying that Ms. Dorris had shared the story privately in the autumn of 1997. Neither friend has previously spoken publicly; both say they are confident of Ms. Dorris's truthfulness." THE JOBLESS PICTURE -- "U.S. Unemployment Claims Remain Elevated Above 800,000," by WSJ's Sarah Chaney: "U.S. unemployment claims remained elevated at 840,000 last week as the labor market flashes signs of a slowdown and more layoffs become permanent. Weekly jobless claims are down sharply from a peak of near 7 million in March but have clocked in between 800,000 and 900,000 for more than a month. Claims remain above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000. "The number of people collecting unemployment benefits through regular state programs, which cover most workers, fell to 11 million in the week ended Sept. 26 from 12 million the prior week, according to the Labor Department. A decline in so-called continuing claims indicates many unemployed people are returning to work." WSJ PENCE BEHIND THE SCENES … NYT: "Under Pence, Politics Regularly Seeped Into the Coronavirus Task Force," by Mark Mazzetti, Noah Weiland and Sheryl Gay Stolberg: "Aboard Air Force Two en route to the Mayo Clinic on April 28, White House aides walked down the aisle distributing masks to members of Vice President Mike Pence's entourage, a requirement for everyone entering the renowned hospital in Minnesota as the coronavirus spread. But Marc Short, the vice president's powerful chief of staff, said Mr. Pence, the leader of the White House's coronavirus task force, would not be wearing one. "Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, tried to intervene, saying it would be a bad message to the public if the vice president were to flout hospital rules. … Mr. Short responded that photographs of Mr. Pence in a mask could be used by Democrats as campaign ammunition against President Trump. … At the task force, grim science-based projections were sometimes de-emphasized for rosier predictions, and guidance from public health agencies — about schools and summer camps, for example — was sometimes massaged by the vice president's staff." NYT | | | | DON'T MISS A THING AT THE MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE : POLITICO's Ryan Heath and Ben White are teaming up to bring you exclusive coverage of the 23rd annual Milken Institute Global Conference featuring 4,000+ participants and 500 speakers from more than 70 countries. Don't miss out on insights from the most influential minds and thought leaders reinventing health, technology, philanthropy, industry and media. Subscribe to our special edition "Global Translations" newsletter for everything you need to know directly from #MIGlobal. | | | | | HMM … ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: "Top White House aide hosted lavish Atlanta wedding in May despite virus restrictions," by Patricia Murphy and Greg Bluestein: "White House chief of staff Mark Meadows hosted a lavish wedding for his daughter in Atlanta this May, despite a statewide order and city of Atlanta guidelines that banned gatherings of more than 10 people to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus. "The wedding took place May 31 at the Biltmore Ballrooms in Midtown Atlanta. The 70 or so guests, including U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, donned tuxedos and ball gowns for the indoor affair, but no masks, as Meadows walked his daughter, Haley, down the aisle through a path of soft white flower petals. … Pictures of the wedding reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show groups of people clustered closely together in the same room throughout the evening. Under that emergency order, law enforcement could have potentially written citations to the venue for exceeding the gathering size, state officials said." AJC DISINFORMATION DIGEST -- "Facebook bans marketing firm running 'troll farm' for pro-Trump youth group," by WaPo's Isaac Stanley-Becker: "The firm, Rally Forge, was 'working on behalf of Turning Point USA,' Facebook concluded in an investigation that led to the removal of 200 accounts and 55 pages, as well as 76 Instagram accounts — many of them operated by teenagers in the Phoenix area. The fake accounts, some with either cartoonlike Bitmoji profiles or images generated by artificial intelligence, complemented the real accounts of users involved in the effort, which largely entailed leaving comments sympathetic to President Trump and other conservative causes across social media. "Facebook stopped short of penalizing Turning Point USA, the prominent conservative youth organization based in Phoenix, or its 26-year-old president, Charlie Kirk … Twitter also acted against the operation on Thursday, suspending 262 accounts involved in 'platform manipulation and spam' — in addition to the several hundred accounts already removed last month following questions from The Post — but similarly did not boot Turning Point USA." DEPT. OF DIRTY TRICKS -- "Political provocateurs accused of racist robocalls surrender in Michigan fraud case," by the Detroit Free Press' Dave Boucher: "Jacob Wohl, a 22-year-old Los Angeles resident, and Jack Burkman, a 54-year-old resident of Arlington, Virginia, will be arraigned Thursday on several felony charges related to allegations of voter intimidation and other election law violations. The pair have denied involvement in orchestrating the robocalls." Freep | | | | NEW EPISODES: LISTEN TO POLITICO'S GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST : The world has always been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, but in 2020 many of those issues have exploded. Are world leaders and political actors up to the task of solving them? Is the private sector? Our Global Translations podcast unpacks the roadblocks to smart policy decisions and examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. Subscribe now for Season Two, launching Oct. 21. | | | | | LITTLE ROCKET MAN -- "North Korea may show new missiles at weekend military parade," by AP's Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung in Seoul, South Korea: "For months, North Korea has been relatively uncombative, as leader Kim Jong Un grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, natural disasters and the deepening economic pain under years of tough U.S.-led sanctions. "But ahead of the 75th founding anniversary of his ruling party this weekend, speculation has risen that Kim may hold a massive military parade and unveil newly developed, powerful missiles. The goal, experts say, would be to bolster internal unity and draw U.S. attention amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy between the countries." AP AFTERNOON READ -- "The True Story of the Antifa Invasion of Forks, Washington," by Wired's Lauren Smiley: "A false report on Twitter exploded into a call to arms. Then a bus, carrying a family and two dogs, rolled into a remote Northwestern town." MEDIAWATCH -- "Tom Toles Will Leave the Washington Post," by Washingtonian's Andrew Beaujon: "Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles will retire from the Washington Post on November 1, Post staffers learned in a memo Thursday. Toles moved to the Post from the Buffalo News in 2002, and he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. Toles 'set an almost unimaginable standard of consistent excellence,' editorial page editor Fred Hiatt wrote in the memo." Washingtonian -- "ProPublica to Launch New Regional Units in the South and Southwest; ProPublica Illinois to Expand to Midwest Regional Newsroom": "[T]his new investment into local journalism will allow for: A seven-person reporting unit, based in Atlanta … A six-person reporting unit based in Phoenix … An additional four reporters will join the existing Chicago-based staff to create a new Midwest regional hub … Three-year grants to six ProPublica Distinguished Fellows." IN MEMORIAM -- "Jim Dwyer, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist, Dies at 63," by NYT's Robert McFadden: "Jim Dwyer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, columnist and author whose stylish journalism captured the human dramas of New York City for readers of New York Newsday, The Daily News and The New York Times for nearly four decades, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 63. His death, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, was announced by Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, and Clifford Levy, the paper's metropolitan editor, in an email to the Times staff. The cause was complications of lung cancer." | | | |   | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
