
 
 We’re going to admit something here, before the New York Times Magazine news article about Washington webzine sweatshop “The Politico” changes the very nature of Time/Space: We do not read Mike Allen’s daily email, and we don’t look at the Politico unless we absolutely have to — like, say, when a hundred readers keep sending the same link every two minutes, which is an Important Bat Signal for certain editors who lack the masochistic streak necessary for actually looking at political blogs. 
 
 So when we glanced at this hysterical single-paragraph excerpt from the NYT last night, we wondered, “Is this the same dumb collection of wire story ledes and birthday announcements and inconsequential chatter we saw, those few times we opened the Mike Allen email?” 
 
 Before he goes to sleep, between 11 and midnight, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, typically checks in by e-mail with the same reporter: Mike Allen of Politico, who is also the first reporter Pfeiffer corresponds with after he wakes up at 4:20. A hyperactive former Eagle Scout, Allen will have been up for hours, if he ever went to bed. Whether or not he did is one of the many little mysteries that surround him. The abiding certainty about Allen is that sometime between 5:30 and 8:30 a.m., seven days a week, he hits ‘send’ on a mass e-mail newsletter that some of America’s most influential people will read before they say a word to their spouses. 
 
 So we dug up yesterday’s Politico email from the gmail trash, deleted unread like so many mass-mailed things that clog the Wonkette tips box, and we opened it. 
 
 The items, in order from top to bottom: 
 
 A cut-and-paste paragraph from a Reuters bulletin about Goldman Sachs’ earnings, which the bank announced in a press release. 
 
 A cut-and-paste paragraph from a Chicago Tribune story summarizing Rahm Emanuel’s appearance on a nationally broadcast interview program from the night before. 
 
 story summarizing Rahm Emanuel’s appearance on a nationally broadcast interview program from the night before. An idiotic, unfunny joke about the SEC made by Joe Scarborough, the television host, on his cable news program, also available to anyone with basic cable. 
 
 Cut-and-pasted text from and a link to Politico’s article from the previous day, already widely reported at this point, about former Obama Administration counsel Gregory Craig advising Goldman Sachs. 
 
 A one-line addendum noting that the Politico reporter who wrote the article saw Gregory Craig at the Capitol, presumably working for clients. 
 
 Mention/link of a Bloomberg article about states continuing to issue muni bonds through Goldman Sachs. 
 
 Mention/link to New York tabloids, both of which have dull stories about Obama and his relations with Wall Street and Mayor Bloomberg. 
 
 A cut-and-paste paragraph from a Politico op-ed by someone who works for Al Gore’s climate-change group. 
 
 A text ad from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opposing climate-change legislation. 
 
 Six more pasted Rahm Emanuel quotes, from the Charlie Rose Show transcript. 
 
 transcript. A link to a chart in the Los Angeles Times . 
 
 . Quote from a USA Today article. 
 
 article. Names and ages of three people in Washington with a birthday, along with thanks to emailers for sending these birthday announcements to the Politico. 
 
 A quote from an article about insurance oversight. 
 
 Cut-and-pasted bits about President Obama’s fund-raising trip to California, from Bloomberg, AP, Reuters, the LA Times and the pool report. 
 
 and the pool report. A link without explanation to an image of the USA Today newspaper. 
 
 newspaper. Quotes from a Bloomberg article about Goldman Sachs, an AP story about some Republicans voted out of Congress in 2006, and something from the Politico about Eric Cantor. 
 
 Another text ad from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opposing climate-change legislation. 
 
 There is nothing in this banal pile of links and quoted text that wasn’t all over the Internet before Mike Allen so bravely “hit send.” The Gregory Craig story counts (in Washington) as a “scoop,” in which an expected thing happens, involving the expected people — but that was floating around both the Politico’s website and the political blogs for twelve hours before it made it to Mike Allen’s famous email forward. 
 
 Even lazy-ass Jim Newell, who writes comedy for Wonkette, posted his version of the Gregory Craig/Goldman story a whole 10 hours before the magic Playbook email went out to a loathsome group of Beltway people who so hate their spouses that they need to scan Mike Allen’s Best of the Web links before saying “Good morning” or “Let’s get a divorce.” 
 
 There is much to dislike about the Politico and its newsroom culture of pointless trivia and breathtaking lack of perspective, but pretending Mike Allen’s dumb email is anything more than links to the same shit everybody’s already reading is just bizarre. Why is the White House communications director talking to Mike Allen in the night? Is his wifi broken? Is he just lonely? 
 
 A Little Preview on NYT’s Piece on Politico’s Allen: ‘The Insider’s Insider’ [Fishbowl DC] 
 
 Actual News Article About Politico [New York Times] ||||| POLITICO Playbook: Republicans try to address fundraising woes, and a new Pelosi book 
 
 President Donald Trump speaks at the RNC winter meeting on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo 
 
 DRIVING THE DAY 
 
 SIREN … ALEX ISENSTADT: “Exclusive: GOP reaches landmark agreement to juice small-dollar fundraising: ‘Patriot Pass’ is the Republican Party’s answer to ActBlue, Democrats’ online money behemoth”: “With the deal, Republicans hope to create a rival to ActBlue, the Democratic online fundraising behemoth that plowed over $700 million in small-dollar donations into Democratic coffers in the 2018 campaign. … 
 
 “The accord, revealed for the first time to POLITICO by officials at the center of the effort, has received the explicit blessing of party leaders. Under the arrangement, Data Trust, the RNC’s designated clearinghouse of voter information, will form a joint venture with Revv, a donation processor used by the Trump campaign. The two entities will form the nucleus of Patriot Pass.” POLITICO 
 
 -- MEANWHILE … MAGGIE SEVERNS and ALEX THOMPSON: “Tech billionaire, Democrats clash over campaign tactics and data” 
 
 SHUTDOWN … DAY 32: THIS WASHINGTON POST headline tells you all you need to know about the state of affairs in D.C.: “Congress to pursue divergent paths to reopening government, but stalemate no closer to resolution” 
 
 -- GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES are set to miss yet another paycheck this week. Will that pain be enough to spur action? Right now, it doesn’t seem likely. The White House is standing by its latest volley. And Senate Republicans are pushing forward with their massive package to reopen the government and fund PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S border wall that includes a few goodies to try and pick off moderate Democrats. Democrats remain unified against the gambit. 
 
 THE IMPACT … 
 
 -- WSJ’S GABRIEL RUBIN: “Shutdown Hits Industries Nationwide”: “The partial closure of the Securities and Exchange Commission is delaying the ability of companies to open the IPO market. … The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has dramatically curtailed inspections of domestic facilities at food-processing companies during the shutdown, though unpaid inspectors have resumed work inspecting higher-risk products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, seafood and dairy products. … 
 
 “At the Internal Revenue Service, the shutdown has created delays in getting some employer identification numbers, holding up some routine business deals. … The Small Business Administration has stopped approving routine loans that the agency backs to ensure entrepreneurs have access to funds, halting their plans for expansion and repairs and forcing some owners to consider costlier sources of cash. … 
 
 “The shutdown has spread into space. Lockheed Martin warned in a regulatory filing that furloughs threaten the launch of a commercial satellite for a Saudi Arabian customer, as well as some other SpaceX launches.” WSJ 
 
 -- “Shutdown’s Pain Cuts Deep for the Homeless and Other Vulnerable Americans,” by NYT’s Glenn Thrush: “One month after the government shutdown began, its effects have begun to hurt some of the most vulnerable Americans: not just homeless people, but also those who are one crisis away from the streets. And nonprofit groups dedicated to helping low-income renters are already scrambling to survive without the lifeblood payments from HUD that began being cut off on Jan. 1.” NYT 
 
 -- ON THE TRAVEL FRONT … CNN’S ELI WATKINS: “10% of TSA employees called out Sunday as shutdown continues” … WSJ’S ANDY PASZTOR and ALISON SIDER: “Air Travel Remains Safe During Shutdown, Data Show” 
 
 Good Tuesday morning. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- SUSAN PAGE, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, has signed a book deal to write a biography of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It is tentatively titled “Madame Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Arc of Power.” Twelve, which is publishing Page’s biography about Barbara Bush this April, will also publish the Pelosi book. It will cover her rise to power, return to the speakership and relationship with Trump. The deal was negotiated by Javelin. 
 
 Page told us: “She is the highest ranking woman in the history of American politics, and the most effective House Speaker since Sam Rayburn. Yet she is fundamentally misunderstood by many in the public. Her rise reflects the transitional generation for women in the United States. And for the next two years, she will be the Democratic point person for the investigative and legislative showdowns with President Trump.” 
 
 JUST POSTED … ABC’S MATTHEW MOSK, KATHERINE FAULDERS and JOHN SANTUCCI: “U.S. banker with ties to Putin’s inner circle sought access to Trump transition: Sources”: “Nine days after Donald Trump won the presidency, as scores of supporters clamored for meetings with his transition team, the Hollywood producer of ‘The Apprentice,’ Mark Burnett, reached out to one of Trump’s closest advisers to see if he would sit down with a banker who has long held ties to Russia. 
 
 “The banker, Robert Foresman, never got the role he was seeking with the fledgling Trump administration. But he has recently attracted the attention of congressional investigators as one more name on an expanding list of Americans with established ties inside the Kremlin who appears to have been seeking access to the newly elected president’s inner circle, according to three sources familiar with the matter.” ABC 
 
 AH, GOT IT … NYT’S MAGGIE HABERMAN: “Giuliani Says His Moscow Trump Tower Comments Were ‘Hypothetical’”: “President Trump’s personal lawyer on Monday walked back the timeline he had offered a day earlier on when negotiations ended with Russian officials about a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow, calling his comments “hypothetical” and not intended to convey facts. 
 
 “The latest statement from the lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was described as a clarification of remarks he made to The New York Times in an interview on Sunday, as well as other remarks he made in interviews on Sunday television news shows. 
 
 “Mr. Giuliani originally quoted Mr. Trump as telling him the negotiations over a Moscow skyscraper continued through ‘the day I won.’ He also said that the president recalled ‘fleeting conversations’ about the deal after the Trump Organization signed a letter of intent to pursue it.” NYT 
 
 ANOTHER GEM FROM THE PRESIDENT'S LAWYER ... NEW YORKER'S ISAAC CHOTINER interviews Rudy: "Because I have been through all the tapes, I have been through all the texts, I have been through all the e-mails, and I knew none existed. And then, basically, when the special counsel said that, just in case there are any others I might not know about, they probably went through others and found the same thing. 
 
 "Wait, what tapes have you gone through? I shouldn’t have said tapes. They alleged there were texts and e-mails that corroborated that Cohen was saying the President told him to lie. There were no texts, there were no e-mails, and the President never told him to lie. 
 
 "So, there were no tapes you listened to, though? No tapes. Well, I have listened to tapes, but none of them concern this." New Yorker 
 
 The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. 
 
 NYT’S KEN VOGEL: “Russian Oligarch and Allies Could Benefit From Sanctions Deal, Document Shows”: “When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch, arguing that he had to make painful concessions to get the sanctions lifted. 
 
 “But a binding confidential document signed by both sides suggests that the agreement the administration negotiated with the companies controlled by the oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, may have been less punitive than advertised. The deal contains provisions that free him from hundreds of millions of dollars in debt while leaving him and his allies with majority ownership of his most important company, the document shows.” NYT 
 
 COHEN WATCH -- “Cohen Threatened CNBC That Trump Would Sue After 2014 Poll Disappointment,” by WSJ’s Joe Palazzolo, Michael Siconolfi and Michael Rothfeld: “Donald Trump and his then-attorney Michael Cohen pressured CNBC in 2014 to place the real-estate tycoon higher in its list of the country’s top business leaders after Mr. Cohen failed to manipulate the rankings in Mr. Trump’s favor, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Cohen called CNBC and threatened that Mr. Trump would sue over his poor standing in the ranking, arguing that the news channel was ‘ignoring the will of the people,’ the people familiar with the matter said. 
 
 “CNBC didn’t respond to the threat, and Mr. Trump didn’t sue. Mr. Cohen didn’t respond to requests for comment. Mr. Trump also called network executives to complain, the people familiar with the matter said, in addition to griping publicly on Twitter about it. Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said, ‘The president stands by his tweets.’” WSJ 
 
 2020 WATCH -- NATASHA KORECKI: ‘WE HAVE TO PREPARE LIKE IT’S ARMAGEDDON’ … “Democrats are planning major changes to the 2020 Iowa caucuses, including the possibility of a tele-caucus”: “Bracing for record turnout and fearful of a repeat of the chaos that marred the 2016 caucuses, Iowa Democrats are racing to implement some of the most significant changes in the history of the first-in-the-nation event. 
 
 “The party is shopping for larger facilities to fit expected overflow crowds, investing in new technology to stave off check-in and head counting snafus and pushing individual 2020 campaigns to create their own voter registration programs. And to abide by new rules set out by the national party, Iowa Democrats are even studying the possibility of what once would have been unthinkable: ‘Tele-caucusing,’ which would allow absentee voting by phone or possibly online for any Democrat who couldn’t make it on caucus day. 
 
 “It’s all an attempt to prepare for what’s expected to be the mother of all caucuses – a historic turnout next year in the Feb. 3 presidential caucuses, powered by a sprawling field of candidates and boiling hot anti-Trump sentiment.” POLITICO 
 
 KAMALA HARRIS’ TEAM … Campaign manager: Juan Rodriguez … Chair: Maya Harris … General counsel: Marc Elias … Senior adviser: David Huynh … National finance director: Angelique Cannon … Advisers: Ace Smith, Sean Clegg and Laphonza Butler … 
 
 … Communications director: Lily Adams … National press secretary: Ian Sams … Deputy national press secretary and director of African-American media: Kirsten Allen. 
 
 TRUMP’S TUESDAY -- He will have lunch with VP Mike Pence in the private dining room. 
 
 PLAYBOOK READS 
 
 PHOTO DU JOUR: Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump and acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Monday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo 
 
 FOR YOUR RADAR -- “U.S. and North Korean Spies Have Held Secret Talks for a Decade,” by WSJ’s Michael Gordon and Warren Strobel: “U.S. intelligence officials have met with North Korean counterparts secretly for a decade, a covert channel that allowed communications during tense times, aided in the release of detainees and helped pave the way for President Trump’s historic summit last year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 “The secret channel between the Central Intelligence Agency and spies from America’s bitter adversary included two missions to Pyongyang in 2012 during the Obama administration by Michael Morell, then deputy CIA director, and at least one by his successor, Avril Haines, say current and former U.S. officials. 
 
 “The channel appears to have gone dormant late in the Obama administration. Mike Pompeo re-energized it while CIA director, sending an agency officer to meet with North Korean counterparts in Singapore in August 2017.” WSJ 
 
 WAR REPORT -- “After Deadly Assault on Afghan Base, Taliban Sit for Talks With U.S. Diplomats,” by NYT’s Mujib Mashal, Fahim Abed and Fatima Faizi in Kabul: “The Taliban infiltrated an Afghan intelligence base on Monday, killing dozens of people in what Afghan officials said was one of the deadliest attacks against the intelligence service in the 17-year war with the Taliban. ... 
 
 “The attack, early Monday morning, came hours before the Taliban announced they had resumed peace talks with American officials. It was a sign, analysts said, of how violence is likely to grow deadlier even as the sides of the long war have indicated a willingness to seek a negotiated settlement.” NYT 
 
 -- “Exclusive: Iraqi scientist says he helped ISIS make chemical weapons,” by WaPo’s Joby Warrick in Irbil 
 
 AP’S LISA MARIE PANE: “Political shifts, sales slump cast shadow over gun industry”: “When gunmakers and dealers gather this week in Las Vegas for the industry’s largest annual conference, they will be grappling with slumping sales and a shift in politics that many didn’t envision two years ago when gun-friendly Donald Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress took office. 
 
 “Some of the top priorities for the industry — expanding the reach of concealed carry permits and easing restrictions on so-called ‘silencers’ — remain in limbo, and prospects for expanding gun rights are nil for the foreseeable future.” AP 
 
 VALLEY TALK -- “Google Fined $57 Million in Biggest Penalty Yet Under New European Law,” by WSJ’s Sam Schechner: “A French regulator fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google 50 million euros ($56.8 million)—the biggest penalty so far under a new European privacy law—alleging the search-engine giant didn’t go far enough getting valid user consent to gather data for targeted advertising. 
 
 “The fine represents one of the highest profile regulatory actions so far stemming from GDPR, the European Union-wide ‘General Data Protection Regulation,’ which went into effect last year. The law requires companies to abide by strict data-protection and privacy rules protecting EU residents.” WSJ 
 
 MEDIAWATCH -- Katy McKegney, advertising director of The Hill for the past four years, has been named publisher of the Washington City Paper. 
 
 PLAYBOOKERS 
 
 GRIDIRON SPEAKER … SUSAN PAGE (@susanpage): “#Breaking: The Democratic speaker at the 134th annual Gridiron Dinner in March will be @amyklobuchar, Gridiron President @GeraldFSeib announces. She is not only a presidential aspirant but also the daughter of a journalist--speaking at the oldest association of journalists in DC.” 
 
 SPOTTED at National Action Network’s annual MLK Breakfast on Monday: Al Sharpton, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Martin Luther King III, Sherrilyn Ifill, Tony West, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Hill Harper, Michelle Ebanks, Vanita Gupta, Rev. Everett Kelly, Rev. Yolanda Pierce, Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Scott Stringer and Nate Tinbite. 
 
 TRANSITIONS -- Pam Bondi will lead Ballard Partners’ new corporate regulatory compliance practice. She previously was Florida’s attorney general. (hat tip: Florida Playbook) ... Zach Hunter will be VP of American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund and also manage all communications efforts. He previously was comms director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Emma Nelson, former NRCC finance director, will be director of development. 
 
 BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Marisa Renee Lee, co-founder of Supportal and former managing director of My Brother’s Keeper Alliance ... Oliver Griswold, director of brand strategy at GMMB (h/ts Melanie Fonder Kaye) 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Rob Collins, a partner at S-3 Public Affairs and former NRSC executive director. What he’s been reading recently: “Not new, but one that I think should be required reading for all incoming congressional freshmen is ‘How American Politics Went Insane,’ by Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic. Why: The Framers worried about demagogic excess and populist caprice, so they created buffers and gatekeepers between voters and the government.” Playbook Plus Q&A 
 
 BIRTHDAYS: Josh Earnest, chief comms officer and SVP at United Airlines, is 44 ... Kendra Barkoff Lamy (hubby tip: Jonathan) ... Jack St. John of GSA ... Rebecca Wasserstein of the WH travel office ... Dave Schnittger, principal at Squire Patton Boggs, is 48 ... Jim Oliphant, national politics correspondent at Reuters ... former Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) is 91 ... POLITICO’s Zach Warmbrodt, Brianna Ehley and Jesse Shapiro ... Dan Scandling, senior director at APCO Worldwide (h/t Brianna Puccini) ... Gregg Pitts (h/t Tim Burger) ... Ado Machida is 55 ... Chris Lowe ... Elizabeth Ashford ... Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) is 66 ... Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) is 53 (h/ts Tim Griffin) ... Patrick Mendoza ... Josh Riley, partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner ... CNN’s Kevin Bohn (h/t Ed Meagher) ... Kian Hudson, Indiana deputy solicitor general (h/t wife Lexi Hudson and Trey Herr) ... 
 
 ... Ken Gross, Skadden’s political practice chair ... Netflix’s Sarah Ryan ... Francie Harris of EMILY’s List ... Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is 45 ... Bram Weinstein is 46 … Heather Kennedy, VP of gov’t relations at the Home Depot ... AHIP’s Adam Beck is 31 … Alexander Wells ... Ashley Codianni, executive producer of social and emerging media at CNN (h/t Josiah Ryan) … Elise Flick ... Chris Lavery … Derek Dye ... WaPo’s Julie Zauzmer (h/t Sarah Gadsden) ... Andrea Mucasey ... Ginny Simmons ... Mark Solomons is 58 ... Charlie Meyerson ... Nicholas Monck ... Carla Jacobs ... Laura Allen ... Cara Baldari ... Seema Ibrahim ... Anna Sperling McAlvanah ... Mike Simmons ... Jason Forrester ... Paul Roales ... David Sanders ... Chase Burgess ... Carol McDonald (h/t Teresa Vilmain)
– The New York Times' breathlessly awaited cover story on Politico's Mike Allen, who's breathlessly called the most important journalist in Washington, to the chagrin of the Times and other major news organizations, is online today—all 8,100 words of it. But the much quicker and more amusing take on the story is Mike Allen's own, here, where he grabs, in his signature staccato manner, all the most flattering bits about himself. Like the fact that Allen's early morning Playbook post has "become the cheat sheet of record for a time-starved city in which the power-and-information hierarchy has been upended." And David Axelrod saying he reads it on the way to the White House. Even the writer, Mark Liebovich, confesses: "I read Playbook every morning on my BlackBerry, usually while my copies of the New York Times and the Washington Post are in plastic bags." For an antidote to this panegyric, see Wonkette's effort to keep Allen's head from swelling any more here.