By Bethany Irvine

Hundreds of pages of detailed memos, research and internal polls aimed at guiding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' high-stakes debate were posted online last week. | AP

THEY GOT THE MEMO — With the first Republican presidential debate less than a week out, it’s a prime moment for how-the-candidates-are-preparing stories. Rarely, however, do they look anything like this.

Hundreds of pages of detailed memos, research and internal polls aimed at guiding Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS’s high-stakes debate appearance ended up in the hands of NYT’s Jonathan Swan, Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman after being surreptitiously posted on the website of Axiom Strategies, the consulting firm of top DeSantis super PAC official JEFF ROE.

Now it’s not uncommon for outside groups to quietly post memos or polls in a place where candidates and campaigns can see them in order to sidestep federal anti-coordination rules. What is unusual, the NYT crew notes, is for a political firm “to post documents on its own website — and in such expansive detail.”

The advice is certainly revealing:

• On the “four basic must-dos” for the debate stage … “Ron DeSantis needs ‘to take a sledgehammer’ to VIVEK RAMASWAMY, the political newcomer who is rising in the polls. He should ‘defend DONALD TRUMP’ when CHRIS CHRISTIE inevitably attacks the former president. And he needs to ‘attack JOE BIDEN and the media’ no less than three to five times.”

• On the exact language to use on Trump … “He could say that Mr. Trump was ‘a breath of fresh air and the first president to tell the elite where to shove it,’ then add that the former president ‘was attacked all the time, provoked attacks all the time, and it was nonstop.’ Mr. DeSantis could then argue that Mr. Trump, who has now been indicted four times, faces ‘so many distractions that it’s almost impossible for him to focus on moving the country forward.’” 

The response … “After The Times reached out to Never Back Down for comment on Thursday, the group removed from the website a key memo summarizing the suggested strategy for the debate.” Neither the super PAC nor the DeSantis campaign commented for the story.

An old pro reacts … “Now, if and when @RonDeSantis does any of these things in next week's debate, he'll look utterly inauthentic,” writes DAVID AXELROD. “It's insane!”

Meanwhile … As questions swirl around whether Trump will actually attend the Fox-hosted debate, the former president took to Truth Social this morning to lament, among other things, the network’s photo choices.

“[T]hey purposely show the absolutely worst pictures of me, especially the big ‘orange’ one with my chin pulled way back,” Trump posted, “They think they are getting away with something, they’re not. Just like 2016 all over again … And then they want me to debate!”

GEORGIA ON MY MIND — Trump’s promised press conference next week aimed at refuting the latest charges brought by Fulton County District Attorney FANI WILLIS is in serious doubt as his legal advisers urge him to cancel, ABC’s Katherine Faulders and Jonathan Karl scoop this morning.

“Sources tell ABC News that Trump's legal advisers have told him that holding such a press conference with dubious claims of voter fraud will only complicate his legal problems and some of his attorneys have advised him to cancel it.”

Meanwhile … Georgia Gov. BRIAN KEMP and other top Republican officials in Georgia are brushing off Trump supporters' calls for the state to overhaul its obscure pardon rules, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein reports. The state’s unique pardon system could spell trouble for Trump, who, if reelected, would not be able to pardon himself or shut down the investigation. And he couldn;t rely on a friendly governor to do it, either.

Not only would an overhaul require a constitutional amendment backed by a two-thirds of a majority of the state legislature, making it an “political impossibility,” Bluestein notes, but it’s unlikely Kemp would play along: “The second-term Republican is no ally of Trump, who tried to oust him from office last year. And, like his recent predecessors, Kemp has made no attempt to exert direct control over the pardons process.”

That isn’t stopping the political theater in the Peach State, of course — pro-Trump state Sen. COLTON MOORE called on Kemp today to call a special legislative session to address “the actions of Fani Willis.” It’s a “publicity play,” Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Stephen Fowler points out, noting that any special session would require a sudden change of heart from Kemp or Democratic buy-in — neither of which are realistic.

Related read: “Weary of harassment, Black female election workers in Ga. welcome Trump charges,” by WaPo’s Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Camila DeChalus

Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop me a line: [email protected].

A message from Climate Power:

Biden’s Clean Energy Plan is creating more career opportunities for hard-working Americans like Brian, a supervisor at a clean energy site outside of Pittsburgh. Since August 2022, over 270 clean energy projects like this one have been created in the U.S., paving the way for more good-paying jobs everywhere. Watch Brian’s story.

TRUMP CARDS 

ONE FOR THE MONEY, TWO FOR THE SHOW — RUDY GIULIANI is facing a new pricey

lawsuit from two farming magnates, who claim the former Trump lawyer was paid $300,000 while pitching investors on an anti-Biden documentary that was never released, Business Insider’s Mattathias Schwartz, Jack Newsham, and Katherine Long scoop. The filers, two brothers, BALDEV and KEWEL MUNGER, say they invested $1 million in 2019 into a documentary that would expose then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his family of corruption.

Notably … the new lawsuit comes as Guiliani is already struggling under the weight of his seven-figure legal bills, with CNN reporting overnight that Guiliani recently traveled Florida to make an “impassioned plea” to Trump to help pay them off.

SPEAKING OF BILLS — NYT’s Rebecca Davis O’Brien is up with a breakdown of the mechanisms behind Trump's use of donations from supporters to pay his own ballooning legal fees: “Over the past two years, [Trump] has drawn tens of millions of dollars from a political action committee he controls called Save America PAC. … Experts say the practice is most likely legal but that it raises ethical questions about how Mr. Trump treats his donors.”

Duly noted … “Neither the indictments nor the reports about how [Trump] is paying for his legal expenses have dented his popularity in polls.”

2024 WATCH 

BREAKING DOWN THE MODERN GOP — No longer the “three-legged stool” of the RONALD REAGAN era nor the Trump-era “MAGA-monolith,” the modern Republican party remains hard to neatly define. Yet the results of a NYT’s Nate Cohn’s latest analysis of GOP voters seeks to do just that, with data from NYT/Siena College polls dividing the 2024 Republican voting base into six distinct coalitions:

• The Moderate Establishment (14%)
• The Traditional Conservatives (26%)
• The Right Wing (26%)
• The Blue Collar Populists (12%). 
• The Libertarian Conservatives (14%)
• The Newcomers (8%)

ON THE BOOKS — “What Alex Jones, Woody Allen and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Share,” by NYT’s Elizabeth Harris: “Skyhorse Publishing is not a large company, but it has an outsize reputation for taking on authors that others avoid. … What has garnered significantly less attention is the way in which the publisher’s founder, TONY LYONS, has supported the political ambitions of one of his authors: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., whose campaign for president has been rife with misinformation, including false theories about coronavirus vaccines.”

THE WHITE HOUSE 

WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — The Biden Administration announced White House counsel, STUART DELERY, will depart his role next month after three years on Biden’s legal team, AP’s Aamer Madhani reports: “Delery served as deputy counsel before he was elevated to the top job last summer after Biden’s first counsel, DANA REMUS, left the White House. … A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Delery’s departure had been long planned.”

GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE.

CONGRESS 

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER — WaPo’s Glenn Kessler is up with a lengthy analysis of the GOP’s partisan messaging surrounding the evidence in the House Oversight Committee ongoing investigation into HUNTER BIDEN: “The [committee’s] memos themselves have careful language that is often hedged. Then [Oversight Chair JAMES] COMER [R-Ky.] and other GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY (Calif.), go on Twitter or speak to conservative media using hyperbolic language that goes well beyond what the memos say.”

Notably … “Republicans are pursuing the case with vigor, but Comer undercuts the findings of his investigation by hyping what has been found. He claims there were more than 20 ‘shell companies,’ but upon inspection most of the companies named had legitimate business transactions or investments. He claims the Bidens received more than $20 million from foreign sources, leaving off the caveat in the staff reports that two-thirds of the payments went to Hunter Biden’s business partners”

WAR OF WORDS — “A nonprofit fights GOP allegations that it supported a ‘censorship regime’,” by WaPo’s Cat Zakrzewski. After Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) launched an investigation into the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the group “responded with a full-throated defense of its research and communications with government officials, dismissing Jordan’s allegations as ‘confusion about the organization’ in a letter.”

POLICY CORNER

KNOWING DAVID UHLMANN —  NYT’s Lisa Friedman is up with a deep dive profile of the EPA’s new enforcement and compliance chief as he looks to ramp up the agency’s efforts to crack down on environmental crimes: “He enters the role at a consequential moment for the Biden administration. The president has made bold promises to hold polluters accountable, particularly in low-income communities that have faced disproportionate levels of environmental contamination. But a recent study found that the White House’s signature environmental justice program may not shrink racial disparities when it comes to exposure to pollution.”

KNOWING ERICKA WILLIAMS — A year in, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chair has ramped up enforcement efforts in the department, though not without consequences, WSJ’s Mark Maurer reports: “Enforcement staff feel pressure to get significantly larger fines from accounting firms and auditors than in the past. … And that ramped-up rule-making has laid bare some policy fissures.”

HOW FAR I’LL GO — “Cyber experts say regulators aren't going far enough with their rules,” by WaPo’s Tim Starks

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

FOOD FIGHT — The Biden administration announced a round of new tariffs on food imports from China, Germany and Canada after an investigation found that the countries were selling canned products at distorted prices, WSJ’s Yuka Hayashi scoops: “Chinese products would be subject to the highest tariffs of the three countries — a levy of 122.52% of their import value. … Food manufacturers have countered that new levies will mean higher prices for canned soups, vegetables and other products at a time when food prices have already been driven upward by inflation.”

SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.

TRANSITIONS — Ella Lipin is now deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the State Department. She most recently was senior adviser to the principal deputy national security adviser. … Liya Rechtman is now a policy adviser at DOT. She most recently was a climate policy adviser for the California State Transportation Agency. …

… Lee Zeldin is now chair of America First Policy Institute’s Pathway to 2025 initiative. He previously was a Republican representative for New York. … Tiana Lyew is now assistant VP at Rich Feuer Anderson. She previously was deputy press secretary for Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).

WEDDINGS — Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship in D.C. and a senior contributor for Axios, and Jon Garcia, White House coordinating producer for ABC News, recently got married at at Esperanza resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, at the Sea of Cortez. The couple met covering the Obama White House; his assigned seat on Air Force One was directly behind Margaret’s. Pic by Jay Newton-Small … Another pic by Shawna Thomas

— Drew Teitelbaum, director of alliances at Allegiant and a Trump NSC and Treasury alum, married Jillian DeStefano, a senior recruiting manager at Breef, on Sunday at the OceanCliff Resort in Newport, R.I. The couple met on Hinge in D.C. in late 2018. Pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Steve Pavlick, partner and head of policy at Renaissance Macro and a Trump Treasury Dept. alum, and Rachel Pavlick, director of talent acquisition at Geico, recently welcomed George Edward Pavlick, who joins big brother Stephen. Pic ... Another pic

BONUS BIRTHDAY: Rebecca Alcorn of Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) office

Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.

A message from Climate Power:

“I did not go to college, I did not have any special training.” - Brian

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  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook

View all our politics and policy newsletters

Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to [email protected] by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.