| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | Presented by The National Association of REALTORS® | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | | 
Donald Trump is now due to go on criminal trial April 15. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | It was a tale of two New York legal threats for DONALD TRUMP today, as he scored a major (if temporary) reprieve in his civil business fraud judgment but failed to stave off his first criminal trial any further. THE HUSH MONEY CASE: As an unhappy Trump sat in the courtroom in Manhattan, Justice JUAN MERCHAN delivered the news the former president had tried to avoid: He will go to trial April 15 on charges that he falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment meant to hide his affair with porn star STORMY DANIELS during the 2016 election. The 34 felony charges in this case, from Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG, are the least grave of any of the four criminal imbroglios Trump faces this year, but it’s now set to be the first — and possibly only — to go to trial before the November election. Merchan shot down arguments from Trump’s attorneys that a recent federal document dump warrants further delays, declaring that the “defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time,” and seemed frustrated with their arguments — a warning sign for Trump. April 15 will now be a historic date as jury selection kicks off and Trump becomes “the first American president to stand trial,” the NYT notes. THE CIVIL BUSINESS FRAUD CASE: Meanwhile, a panel of appellate judges gave Trump and the other defendants 10 days of breathing room, extending the deadline for them to post bond for the corporate fraud judgment and reducing the amount they need to cover from $454 million to $175 million. Trump told reporters today that his collateral on the bond was cash. Details from Erica Orden in New York Trump now has more time to try to hold off New York AG TISH JAMES from collecting on the massive penalty he incurred for fraudulent practices at the Trump Organization, which undercut the core of his public persona as a successful businessman. James had set today as the end of her monthlong grace period for Trump to find the money before she began to collect (perhaps through asset seizures). But Trump’s legal team said last week they failed to find anyone to put up a bond for the $454 million judgment, despite asking dozens of underwriters, and asked for a $100 million bond instead. Today’s brief order from a panel of five judges says Trump can put up less than half that amount as his appeal proceeds. They also stayed parts of the lower-court ruling that blocked Trump, DONALD TRUMP JR. and ERIC TRUMP from some elements of practicing business in New York. Read it here MIDDLE EAST LATEST — The U.S. abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote today calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages in the Israel-Hamas war — the furthest the U.S. has gone yet in taking action against Israel at the U.N. The White House maintained that today’s abstention did not reflect any shift in U.S. policy on the war. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD said the U.S. didn’t vote yes on the resolution because its proposed additions, including a condemnation of Hamas, were left out, per CNN’s Kylie Atwood. But Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU quickly made good on a threat he’d made earlier this morning, canceling an Israeli delegation to the White House that was due to discuss Rafah, in protest of the Biden administration not vetoing the U.N. resolution. More from Reuters PULL UP A CHAIR — Speaker MIKE JOHNSON tapped Rep. JOHN MOOLENAAR (R-Mich.) to become the new chair of the House’s select committee on China competition, following Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER’s (R-Wis.) announcement that he’d leave Congress mid-term, per Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke. Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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That’s why REALTORS® are focused on fixing the affordable housing crisis and bringing relief to the American people. See our bipartisan plan at flyin.realtor. | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could face a big procedural setback in Nevada. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. WAKING UP IN VEGAS: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. might have a Nevada mess on his hands. Though his campaign has said they’ve tallied the requisite 15,000 signatures to get on the November ballot, he ran afoul of state rules that say the petitions have to include the vice presidential candidate’s name too, CBS’ Allison Novelo scooped. With Kennedy set to reveal his VP pick tomorrow, he could be forced to start all over gathering signatures in Nevada — though he’ll have until August to do so. Kennedy’s campaign didn’t respond to CBS’ requests for comment. 2. HACK ATTACKS: The U.S. is planning to unveil a sweeping response — criminal charges, sanctions and more — to what it will label as a major Chinese hacking campaign against American corporations, CNN’s Sean Lyngaas and Evan Perez report. The Biden administration will accuse China’s Ministry of State Security of having hackers conduct cyber-espionage while “using a Chinese technology company as a front.” And the U.S. announcement, anticipated this week, is going to name names. 3. YOWZA: A new investigation from The Washington Free Beacon’s Joseph Simonson and Andrew Kerr raises major questions about a story President JOE BIDEN has long told: when he successfully defended a construction company as a young lawyer from an injured welder’s lawsuit. Biden said feeling guilty over his role pushed him to switch to public defense and politics. But the Free Beacon finds that “this story is almost certainly a complete work of fiction” — that the case in question seems to have happened while Biden was still in law school, and the welder actually won. Since Biden told the story in his interview with special counsel ROBERT HUR, they write, he could be “at the risk of facing criminal charges for lying to a federal agent.” The White House didn’t respond to the Free Beacon’s requests for comment. 4. HIT THE ROAD, JOE: The White House is enlarging its scheduling and advance team, The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports — a leading indicator that with the campaign really getting underway, Biden will be traveling around the country a lot more. The Biden campaign is making similar moves. “This is a sign of all systems go,” one source says.
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | 5. WHAT JENNIFER GRANHOLM IS UP TO: “US Announces $6 Billion to Clean Up Heavy Manufacturing,” by Bloomberg’s Ari Natter: “The first new US aluminum smelter in 45 years may be built as part of about $6 billion in grants the Biden administration is awarding to companies in a bid to clean-up hard to decarbonize industries including metal, paper and glass. … That would double the size of the nation’s current domestic production of the energy-intensive metal [aluminum] while also reducing emissions by an estimated 75%.” 6. TARA McGOWAN’S BLURRED LINES: “How a Former Democratic Operative Is Testing the Limits of What a Newsroom Can Be,” by NOTUS’ Maggie Severns: “Courier [Newsroom]’s undisclosed funders and glowing coverage of Democratic candidates should raise questions about its reliability, said McKENZIE SADEGHI, editor at NewsGuard … Courier does not aim to spew misinformation, former employees say. Its articles are usually written by journalists, some of whom have years of experience covering local politics. But in many cases described to NOTUS, Democratic political operatives like McGowan call the shots for Courier.” 7. READ HIS LIPS: NYT’s Jim Tankersley clocks a somewhat surprising statistic: Overall, Biden has cut taxes during his presidency, despite his push to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy (and Republicans’ commensurate political attacks). That’s because, as a new Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center study shows, the tax increases Biden has imposed are smaller than the cuts he’s implemented for individuals and corporations — to the tune of a net $600 billion decrease across four years. (This is based solely on the tax code, not taking into account the countervailing effects of inflation, spending and regulation.) And the number reflects the political reality that Biden has had to compromise to get his tax plans through Congress. 8. THE WELFARE STATE: “Can This Forgotten Anti-Poverty Program Be Saved?” by The New Republic’s Grace Segers: “The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was created to get low-income families back on their feet. But does it actually work? … TANF is not a popular program to legislate in Congress, which may explain why the amount hasn’t increased in nearly 30 years or been indexed to inflation. … [O]ther than the Fiscal Responsibility Act, TANF is under-discussed and little considered in Congress.” 9. WHAT FAMILY SEPARATIONS LOOK LIKE NOW: “‘Yo Soy la Mamá’: A Migrant Mother’s Struggle to Get Back Her Son,” by NYT’s Deborah Sontag: “[W]hen immigration and child welfare are involved — two contentious issues and their beleaguered systems — nothing is straightforward. Under an interstate compact, Massachusetts formally asked Florida to approve the relocation. Florida said no. … Asked whether it was now Florida’s policy to refuse custody based on immigration status, MIGUEL NEVAREZ, press secretary for the state’s Department of Children and Families, neither answered directly nor denied it.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Jamie Raskin officially endorsed Angela Alsobrooks. John Paulson, Rebekah Mercer and others from Donald Trump’s “old cast” are coming back into the fundraising fold. Jared Golden and his wife, Izzy, welcomed their second daughter. TRANSITIONS — Sasha Baker is leaving her role as acting undersecretary of Defense for policy, Lara Seligman scooped, to be replaced by Amanda Dory, as the DOD policy shop continues to face personnel upheaval. … Martin Luther King III is joining the U.Va. Center for Politics as a professor of practice, on the anniversary of his father addressing the campus 61 years ago. … Krista Wunsche is now legislative director for Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.). She previously was senior policy adviser for Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii), and is a Blue Dog Coalition alum. ENGAGED — Matthew Bishop, legislative director for Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.), and Tanner Hishta, an analyst at DOD, got engaged last weekend at their home in Navy Yard, followed by dinner at Capital Burger, where they had their first date. They met while working on Capitol Hill. Pic — Erin Keaveny, digital marketing manager at the Leadership Institute, and Jonathan Treichler, founder of JWT Digital and marketing manager at the American Bankers Association, got engaged recently in Coronado, California. They met working at the RNC. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Emily Keith, managing director for business strategy and growth at POLITICO, and Rob Keith, membership and policy director at Ameripen, on March 7 welcomed Charlotte Caroline Keith, who joins big brother Samuel. Pic Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Friday’s Playbook PM misspelled Victoria Guida’s name.
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