BEHIND BARS — Scott Allen Bolger was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for threatening Richard Grenell over text. THAT AWKWARD MOMENT — Former President Joe Biden crashed Jill Biden’s book talk last night in Manhattan, wandering up to the 92nd Street Y stage as she was still speaking to ask: “Who do you love most in the whole world?” Jill jokingly answered that it was Whoopi Goldberg, who was moderating the discussion before eventually saying it was Joe. “Do I have to remind him that this is my event?” she joked. More from NY Post’s Zoe Hussain BRAVE NEW WORLD — AI is already a firm fixture in the world of campaign professionals, Katie Harbath tracks in her Anchor Change Substack. Some staggering stats: “87% of campaign professionals are using AI daily or several times a week — 63% daily, another 24% several times a week. Seventy-four percent believe it will be essential to staying competitive in the next 1–2 election cycles.” And there’s an interesting breakdown among party lines: “Claude is the dominant choice among Democrats — 82% use it, compared to 58% of Republicans. ChatGPT runs the other direction: 74% of Republicans, 43% of Democrats. And Grok has become almost exclusively a Republican tool — 14 of 18 Grok users in our sample are Republican, with only one Democrat.” PAY UP — The Trump administration is using at least $90 million in entry fees from national parks across the country to foot the bill for the president’s elaborate America 250 celebrations in D.C. — including $1.6 million for a fireworks display and $76 million for fountain repairs and the repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, WaPo’s Jake Spring, Dan Diamond and Naema Ahmed report. “That money is being spent in Washington at the expense of the rest of the nation’s park system, advocates say, which has a $24 billion backlog of badly needed infrastructure repairs and improvements.” OUT AND ABOUT — The American Compass last night hosted a New World Gala toasting the launch of the organization’s new initiative, “Reclaiming American Citizenship.” SPOTTED: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson, deputy NSAs Andy Baker and Michael Needham, Labor Department Solicitor Jonathan Berry, U.K. Amb. Sir Christian Turner, French Amb. Laurent Bili, Dutch Amb. Birgitta Tazelaar, Japan's DCM Takehiro Shimada, Taiwan's Amb. Alexander Yui, Jacob Reses, James Hitchcock, Wells King, and James Lloyd. — SPOTTED yesterday at Playground Global’s inaugural America by Design Summit: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, OSTP Director Michael Kratsios, Education Department Under Secretary for Science Dario Gil, Corin Stone, DDNI Alli Curran and Pat Gelsinger. TRANSITIONS — Evangel Penumaka is now director of polling at CAP. She most recently was polling principal and research director at Data for Progress. … Matt Slavoski has been named federal comms director at TechNet. He most recently was deputy comms director for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and previously led comms for former Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.). … … Jocelyn Quinn is now a rapid response specialist at the RNC and is working on the team behind @RNCResearch. She most recently worked for the House Homeland Security Committee. … Giovanna M. Cinelli is now deputy general counsel at the Pentagon. She most recently worked at the State Department and is a DHS alum. MEDIA MOVE — Antonio Olivo is joining CNN as director of weekends for CNN Washington News. He previously was D.C. regional editor at WaPo. … Jacob Ward is now an on-air contributor at CNN. He is the founder of The Rip Current and most recently was a reporter-in-residence at the Omidyar Network. WEEKEND WEDDING — Jackson Gross, campaign manager for John James' Michigan gubernatorial campaign, on Saturday married Priscilla Ivasco, senior comms director at Invest in Education, in Mackinac Island, Michigan. The couple met working together at the NRSC in 2021. Pic by Andrejka Photography and Planning … SPOTTED: Rep. John James (R-Mich.), Stu Sandler, Chris Gustafson and Victoria LaCivita, Danny Gustafson, Robert Shultz, Charlie and Lisa Spies, Tori Sachs, Chris Hartline, Caroline Kaardal, Sam Kaardal and Joanna Burgos. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — James Martin, a Democratic congressional candidate in Florida who served as chief of staff for former VP Kamala Harris’ national security team, and Stevie Martin, talent manager at Boston Consulting Group, on May 27 welcomed Annie Jeanne Martin, who joins big sister Scout. Pic ... Another pic Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.
|
