The Playbook Podcast

Just before 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, 2020, then-President Donald Trump went before a group of supporters at the White House and prematurely declared victory over Joe Biden in an election he ultimately lost.Today at 10 a.m., that moment — and the avalanche of lies about the election that followed — will be front and center as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack (1) highlights the origins of the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election, (2) shows how it spread and (3) attempts to prove that in the weeks and months following Election Day, even as Trump continued to falsely claim that he’d actually won, he privately knew he’d lost — and that his public insistence otherwise led to the insurrection.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Jan. 6 investigation can sometimes seem sprawling and complicated. The story of that day is filled with weird groups, conspiracy-minded lawyers, and fringe characters. Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. John Eastman and Sidney Powell. The “QAnon Shaman” and “caveman rioter.”The big message from the first public hearing of the Jan. 6 committee was that it’s a lot simpler than all of that. It’s really about one person: Donald Trump.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

At 8 p.m., the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack plans to start unveiling the most complete and visceral dissection to date of the mob of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of a democratic election.Drawing on months of interviews and thousands of documents, the committee has thus far kept most of its findings close to its vest — so we expect a lot of new information and some of the most terrifying video from that day that hasn’t been shown to the public yet.As one committee aide told reporters in a background call on Wednesday, they see their job as showing “that the violence of Jan. 6 was the result of a coordinated, multistep effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election and stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Seven states held elections on Tuesday. We stayed up overnight as the returns from California continued to roll in, and we have the key takeaways for you:— Five of the 35 House Republicans who voted to establish a Jan. 6 Commission faced primaries on Tuesday. Trump vowed to exact revenge on all of them. How’d they fare?— A bad night for progressives in two big California cities facing upticks in crime…— Political dynasties are alive and well in New Jersey…Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Today, seven states hold primaries: Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and California.What should you be watching for? The day’s biggest news will likely come from the Golden State, where voters are poised to make major statements about the directions of their respective parties.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Senate is back today, with all eyes on whether 10 Republican votes materialize for a gun legislation deal. … On Tuesday, it’s primary day in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. … On Wednesday, President Joe Biden heads to L.A. to host the Summit of the Americas. … On Thursday, the House Jan. 6 committee holds a hearing on its investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. … On Friday, the next big Consumer Price Index report is released.And Jonathan Lemire goes deep inside the Biden White House to bring back this juicy report detailing frustrations at the top and sinking morale throughout the building.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Three key leaders who are committed to firearms legislation in the wake of a string of horrific massacres spoke Thursday about what they want in a bill. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi blessed the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” which passed out of the Judiciary Committee after a raucous markup that included one Republican member, Greg Steube (Fla.), appearing via Zoom while brandishing his Sig Sauer handgun to make a point about high-capacity magazine bans.In the Senate, John Cornyn (Texas), the lead GOP senator tasked by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to strike a bipartisan deal on gun legislation, spoke to our Marianne LeVine about the state of the talks.At the White House at the end of the day, Biden made a rare primetime address to talk about the recent massacres and urge Congress to act.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported this week that President Joe Biden will sit down with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during a trip to the region later in June. 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.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 letterSubscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Heidi Przybyla has an enormously important and carefully reported article for POLITICO that just went live: “‘It’s going to be an army’: Tapes reveal GOP plan to contest elections”Przybyla obtained video recordings of GOP operatives assembling a disturbing multipronged network of party loyalists that could cause chaos on Election Day. She documents evidence of four different networks being created:1. Poll workers steeped in 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories who are being trained to contest votes, especially in Democrat-heavy areas.2. GOP lawyers who the poll workers can quickly connect with to document alleged voter fraud.3. “Party-friendly district attorneys who could intervene to block vote counts at certain precincts.”4. “Installing party loyalists on the Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for certifying the election, also appears to be part of the GOP strategy.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio. 

The Biden White House is rolling out a new monthlong economic campaign today to try to “communicate on our accomplishments to date on the economy,” according to a White House official.President Joe Biden's kicked off the effort with a WSJ op-ed that posted Monday evening, in which he boasted that his “administration’s economic and vaccination plans helped achieve the most robust recovery in modern history.”But Biden’s desire to turn June into an inflection point for his trajectory has some serious challenges.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.