With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
Now that Joe Biden’s president, he’s encountered the same reality that hemmed in his predecessors: It’s much easier to say you’ll be tough on Saudi Arabia than to actually do so. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
JUST POSTED — “Pa. GOP gubernatorial nominee shares documents with Jan. 6 panel, agrees to interview,” by Betsy Woodruff Swan. This week, Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee DOUG MASTRIANO handed over materials to the House Jan. 6 committee, but “the vast majority of the materials Mastriano sent to the committee are public social media posts.”
The dilemma: “This leaves the committee with a tough choice: Does it accept the limited production from Mastriano, a DONALD TRUMP stalwart who embraced the former president’s unsuccessful quest to de-certify the 2020 election, or fight for more?”
PELOSI EYES GUN VOTE NEXT WEEK — Speaker NANCY PELOSI said at a rally in San Francisco on Wednesday night that “next week, she will bring forward legislation to ban military-style assault weapons,” CNN’s Kristin Wilson reports.
EXCLUSIVE: 9/11 FAMILIES PRESS BIDEN OVER MBS MEETING — When JOE BIDEN was a presidential candidate, he promised to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are,” and said that there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.”
But now that he’s president, he’s encountered the same reality that hemmed in his predecessors: It’s much easier to say you’ll be tough on Saudi Arabia than to actually do so.
WaPo’s David Ignatius reported this week that Biden will sit down with Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN during a trip to the region later in June. When White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE was asked about this on Wednesday, she was careful to neither confirm nor deny the report: “There’s really no discussion to have, because I don’t have a visit to even talk through at this time,” she said. (AP, notably, confirmed the Ignatius report this morning.)
The White House’s thinking here is pretty straightforward. The president has a gargantuan domestic political liability — high gas prices — that Saudi Arabia is in a position to help with. Combine that with the international political realities — MBS is young and will likely lead the kingdom for decades, the West needs new sources of oil given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia’s role as a regional power — and you have the makings of a rapprochement.
But even as the calculation is understandable, there are obvious moral costs to wooing MBS. There’s the matter of the murder of WaPo journalist JAMAL KHASHOGGI in 2018 — which came at the crown prince’s behest, and for which he has avoided any real responsibility. There’s a litany of other human rights abuses, ranging from torture to jailing dissidents to laws permitting the execution of people for the crime of being gay. And then there is the role that Saudi nationals played in planning and executing the 9/11 attacks.
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In a letter obtained exclusively by Playbook and being sent to Biden today, 9/11 Families United is demanding Biden bring up “accountability for 9/11 in any conversations” he has with MBS. If Biden doesn’t, the family members write, “it would signal to the world that you are willing to indulge years more of Saudi obfuscation and obstruction, and that America prioritizes the interests of foreign powers and economics more than the lives of its citizenry.” Read the letter
TERRY STRADA, the group’s national chair, whose husband TOM was in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, praised Biden for declassifying a trove of 9/11-related documents, but said it would be a “betrayal” to the families if Biden allowed strategic decisions to keep him from being stern with MBS.
“You don’t just release the documents and then say ‘we do nothing.’ This is the second half. Now you have to help facilitate the kingdom coming to grips with what they did and admitting it and stop — stop lying about it,” Strada told Playbook on Wednesday night. “It has to be part of resetting the relationship.”
The White House did not respond to a request to comment.
Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
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SANDBERG STEPS DOWN, CITING COMING ROE RULING — SHERYL SANDBERG said on Wednesday that she will step down as COO at Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, after 14 years at the company. She is planning to officially leave in the fall, The Verge’s Richard Lawler reports. Sandberg’s Facebook announcement
— Following the news, Sandberg told Fortune in an exclusive interview that the recent disclosure of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was a factor in her decision to step aside. Her decision signaled “a renewed effort to focus on advocacy at a time when women’s reproductive rights are under assault,” Phil Wahba and Alyson Shontell report. Said Sandberg: “This is a really important moment for women. This is a really important moment for me to be able to do more with my philanthropy.”
BIDEN’S THURSDAY:
— 10:15 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
— 11:15 a.m.: Biden will join a meeting with NATO Secretary-General JENS STOLTENBERG and national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN to discuss preparations for the NATO Summit in Madrid at the end of June.
— 5:30 p.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he is scheduled to arrive at 6:30.
HARRIS’ THURSDAY:
— 1:20 p.m.: The VP will announce the Education Department’s plan to cancel all remaining federal student loans for borrowers who attended Corinthian Colleges.
Jean-Pierre and Covid coordinator ASHISH JHA will brief at 3 p.m.
THE HOUSE is out. The Judiciary Committee will mark up a big package of gun restriction legislation at 10 a.m.
THE SENATE is out.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Two women comfort each other during the burial service for Irma Garcia and her husband Joe Garcia in Uvalde, Texas, on Wednesday, June 1. | Jae C. Hong/AP Photo
SHOOTING FALLOUT
IN TEXAS — Gov. GREG ABBOTT asked the state legislature on Wednesday to “form special committees to make legislative recommendations in response to the Uvalde school shooting,” per the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek.
IN NEW YORK — “The white supremacist accused in the Tops Markets mass shooting that killed 10 people faces a 25-count indictment in Erie County Court, including a charge of domestic terrorism,” the Buffalo News’ Aaron Besecker reports. “He faces 10 counts of first-degree murder as a hate crime, 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime, three counts of attempted second-degree murder as a hate crime, as well as a second-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge.” Related read:“New York jumps to pass major gun restrictions after mass shootings,” by Marie French and Anna Gronewold
IN TULSA — “A man carrying a rifle and a handgun opened fire in a medical office building in Tulsa, Okla., on Wednesday afternoon, killing four people and injuring several others before apparently taking his own life in the latest mass shooting to shock the country, the authorities said,” writes NYT’s Jesus Jiménez.
AND IN WASHINGTON, D.C. — The AP’s Kevin Freking has a curtain-raiser to today’s gun control markup in the lower chamber: “The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to advance legislation that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic centerfire rifle from 18 to 21. The bill would make it a federal offense to import, manufacture or possess large-capacity magazines and would create a grant program to buy back such magazines. It also builds on the executive branch’s ban on bump-stock devices and so-called ghost guns that are privately made without serial numbers.”
In reality, however, all eyes are on the Senate, which leads us to…
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Today, in a letter signed by a bipartisan group of more than 250 mayors, the U.S. Conference of Mayors will call on the Senate to pass two gun safety bills already approved by the House: H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446. Driven by the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y, and Uvalde, Texas, the group echoes a call it originally made in 2019 — when the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, were fresh in the public memory — asking CHUCK SCHUMER and MITCH MCCONNELL to back to the legislation. Among the signatories: Republican mayors FRANCIS SUAREZ of Miami, DAVID HOLT of Oklahoma City and MATTIE PARKER of Fort Worth, and Democratic mayors ERIC ADAMS of New York City, ERIC GARCETTI of Los Angeles and BYRON W. BROWN of Buffalo. Read the letter
ALL POLITICS
IN PENNSYLVANIA …
— The gubernatorial race: On Wednesday, Mastriano shared a video from 2018 in which he compared U.S. gun control legislation to Nazi Germany, the Philly Inquirer’s Andrew Seidman writes. “It’s appalling to me any time there’s a shooting, the left will jump on that as a way to advance an agenda to remove our right to bear arms. … What other right will they suspend?” he says in the video. “We saw Hitler do the same thing in Germany in the ’30s. Where does it stop?”
— The Senate race: Democratic nominee JOHN FETTERMAN is getting a good bill of health from doctors after suffering a stroke last month, his wife GISELEtold our colleague Holly Otterbein in an exclusive interview. “The neurologists, they were really impressed with the progress. Cognitively, he’s perfect and well on his way to a full recovery,” Gisele said, also noting that his physicians did not say when he can return to the trail. However, she said, “the campaign will have an announcement for that soon.”
PAUL RYAN TO THE RESCUE? — “Former House Speaker PAUL RYAN said he is willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to reelect TOM RICE to Congress as the embattled Republican incumbent faces a crowded primary over his vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump,” the Post and Courier’s Nick Reynolds reports from Florence, S.C.
More from Ryan on the GOP’s Trump wing: There are “people who are just trying to be celebrities who may be trying to help Trump with his vengeance,” he said, per The State’s J. Dale Shoemaker. “There were a lot of people who wanted to vote like Tom, but who just didn’t have the guts to do it.”
BILL AND BLAIR BLAB — John Harris writes in his Altitude column: “Bill Clinton and Tony Blair Have A Warning For Progressives”
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THE WHITE HOUSE
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BIDEN: I DIDN’T FORESEE FORMULA CRISIS — At a meeting with manufacturers on Wednesday, Biden “defended his administration’s response to a national baby formula shortage, saying he acted as soon he became aware of the crisis in April — even as manufacturers told him Wednesday they saw it coming months earlier,” Bloomberg’s Nancy Cook, Justin Sink, Josh Wingrove, and Martine Paris write.
— Quite the admission from Biden: “After a reporter pointed out that the formula executives had just told him they foresaw the impact of the shutdown, Biden responded: ‘They did. I didn’t.’”
— Why it matters, as pointed out by WaPo’s Tyler Pager: “It was unclear from the discussion whether the responsibility lay primarily with the industry, for not alerting federal officials of the imminent shortage; or with federal agencies that monitor the industry for not sufficiently conveying the problems to the White House; or with the White House itself, for not reacting faster to the crisis.”
— Someone should ask that follow up:Where, exactly, was the communication breakdown?
TOP OP-ED — Progressive Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) writes in the NYT today that Biden’s plan to combat inflation isn’t good enough.
THE LOAN LURCH — The White House is continuing to define its student loan forgiveness plan and is offering “widespread relief” for former Corinthian Colleges students, The Hill’s Hanna Trudo, Amie Parnes and Alex Gangitano report. More on the rollout: On Thursday, VP Harris “will attend an event around the announcement during the afternoon, according to two sources directly familiar with the plans. … A second source who is aware of the forthcoming action but not authorized to speak on the record said advocates plan to use the declaration to ‘build momentum’ for larger-scale student debt cancellation and to promote the role grassroots politics is playing to generate results during Biden’s first term in office.” More from L.A. Times
JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH
COMING ATTRACTIONS — “J. MICHAEL LUTTIG, a former federal judge and lawyer who advised former Vice President MIKE PENCE, is expected to testify in the Jan. 6 select committee’s public hearings this month,” Axios’ Sophia Cai reports. “The desire to showcase Luttig — a judge lionized within the conservative legal movement — matches what sources have described as the committee’s strategy to reach as broad an audience as possible, including conservatives.” Pre-hearing must-listen: Luttig sat down with Ryan for an episode of “Playbook Deep Dive” to discuss the backstory of Pence’s Jan. 6 argument.
JUST POSTED — “How the Proud Boys Gripped the Miami-Dade Republican Party,” by NYT’s Patricia Mazzei and Alan Feuer.
CONGRESS
NEW GOP ENERGY/CLIMATE PLAN — House Republicans today are planning to roll out “a six-part strategy to try to tame surging gasoline prices and to combat climate change that calls for increasing production of all types of energy and sets no greenhouse gas targets,” Josh Siegel reports.
TASTE OF THE TOWN —Nick Wu has a fun one for Congress Minutes: “The first quarter’s statement of disbursements is out, which means we get a look inside how House offices are spending their money for official duties (not campaign expenses).” Among the highlights: MADISON CAWTHORN’s (R-N.C.) office spent $729.94 at Chick-Fil-A, Rep. TERRI SEWELL’s (D-Ala.) spent $1,543.74 at Subway, House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN’s dropped $5,507.95 at Hill Country Barbecue, and Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT’s (R-Colo.) office spent $1,304.16 at BLT Prime at — where else? — the Trump International Hotel.
John Hinckley was granted unconditional release that will take effect as of June 15.
The House Judiciary Committee GOP Twitter account celebrated the verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard lawsuit.
Jill Biden will unveil a new stamp in honor of Nancy Reagan next week.
José Andrés, like everyone else, is starting a Substack and a podcast.
Tucker Carlson encountered the wrath of the BTS army.
Washington Reagan National Airport is renaming its gates and terminals.
IN MEMORIAM — “Nancy Clark Reynolds, Reagan confidante and D.C. power broker, dies at 94,” by WaPo’s Emily Langer: “Nancy Clark Reynolds, a confidante and aide to Ronald and Nancy Reagan who parlayed her influence within Republican circles into a long career as a Washington lobbyist and power broker, died May 23 at an assisted-living facility in Santa Fe, N.M. She was 94. … The daughter of a Democratic congressman and then senator from Idaho, Mrs. Reynolds came of age in Washington in the 1930s and ’40s, a time when most women could scarcely imagine pursuing professional lives like the one she eventually achieved.”
OUT AND ABOUT — The E Street Cinema hosted the D.C. premiere of “18 1/2” — a fictional story of a White House transcriber thrust into the Watergate scandal when she obtains the only copy of the infamous 18 and 1/2 minute gap in the Nixon tapes — on Wednesday night, where Michael Isikoff hosted a Q&A with writer and director Dan Mirvish and co-executive producer Paul Orzulak following the screening. Guests gathered after for a meet-and-greet at the Watergate Hotel. SPOTTED:Steve Rochlin, Christina Sevilla, Sara Cook, Ali Dukakis, Liz Sizer, John Sullivan, Laura Meckler, Leora Mirvish, Jon Gann, Jennifer Smith Bent, Holly Kinnamon, Marie Smeallie, David White, Kimball Stroud and Larry Duncan.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Cristóbal Alex is now a managing director at Tusk Strategies, where he’ll help advise tech, crypto and other startup clients and help lead Tusk Philanthropies’ mobile voting work. He most recently was deputy Cabinet secretary in the White House, and was the founding president of the Latino Victory Fund.
— Michael Signer is joining Airbnb as North America policy director. He previously was mayor of Charlottesville, Va., from 2016 to 2018.
TRANSITIONS — Edgar Estrada, personal aide to Doug Emhoff, is leaving the second gentleman’s office. The office threw him a going away party that Emhoff also attended. No word yet on where Estrada is going but he was one of the first members of Team Doug during the 2020 election. … Lisa Shields is now EVP for strategic comms at Access Industries. She previously was VP of global comms and media relations at the Council on Foreign Relations. … Robert Mathias is joining Forbes Tate Partners as a managing partner. He most recently was chief of external affairs for the National Park Foundation and is an Ogilvy alum. …
… Joelle Lawrence is now a press assistant for Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.). She previously was a staff assistant/legislative correspondent for Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.). … Mary Beth Hervig is now federal affairs assistant at the National Beer Wholesalers Association. She most recently was a research assistant for the Irish Embassy and is a Brendan Boyle alum. … Diane Staheli has been named chief of DoD’s Responsible Artificial Intelligence Division. She previously was MIT Lincoln Lab’s assistant group leader of AI technology.
WEEKEND WEDDING – Cooper Teboe, founder of CDT Strategies and a Democratic donor adviser, and Brooke Weisenfluh, a financial consultant, got married in Sonoma, California, last Saturday. The couple met at a country bar in San Francisco when they both reached for the same Coors Light.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Nate Rawlings, head of comms at RockCreek and an Obama White House and State Department alum, and Katie Johnson, a partner at Jenner & Block and an Obama White House alum, on May 23 welcomed Charles Barrett Rawlings, who joins big sister Georgia and big brother Gus. Pic … Another pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: DNC’s Alex Hornbrook … Rainey Center’s Mia Heck … Mike Lynch of the DPCC and Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) office … Jeanine Pirro … Crooked Media’s Jon Favreau … Nicole Schiegg (45), who wants to bring attention to the colon cancer screening age after being diagnosed with stage 4 in 2020 at age 43 … Ian Byrne … Rich Ashooh … former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) … Jen Tumminio … Ben Cassidy of the BLC Group … Reason’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown … Clarence Page … Vanessa Day … POLITICO’s Katie Wojcik … JP Schnapper-Casteras … Airbnb’s Chris Lehane … Alex Joyce of the American Conservation Coalition … Jason Rosenbaum … Zach Isakowitz of Rep. Michael McCaul’s (R-Texas) office
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