Louisville Courier-Journal: McConnell Tape Contents Are "Despicable" and the "Real Story"

In a blistering editorial on Sunday, the Louisville Courier-Journal, the largest newspaper in Kentucky, weighed in on the controversy kicked up by the Mother Jones article disclosing a tape that captured Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and his campaign aides at a private strategy session laughing about using actor/activist Ashley Judd’s past struggles with depression and her religious views as political ammunition, should Judd challenge McConnell for his seat. The newspaper derided the super-PAC that reportedly was connected to the tape, but it unloaded on McConnell, who is up for reelection next year:

The contents of the audio are as despicable as they are damaging, leaving Mr. McConnell unable to defend them. Instead, he blustered he was the victim of “Watergate style” bugging by left-leaning enemies and demanded an FBI investigation.

The paper, which McConnell targeted for a “Whac-A-Mole” offensive at that meeting, blasted McConnell for ducking the true issue at hand:

More Mother Jones coverage of Mitch McConnell and the 2014 Kentucky Senate race.

• Secret Tape: McConnell and Aides Weighed Using Judd’s Mental Health and Religion As Political Ammo



• Did Mitch McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?



• Louisville Courier-Journal: McConnell Tape Contents Are “Despicable” and the “Real Story”



• Full Transcript and Audio of Mitch McConnell Campaign’s Meeting on Ashley Judd



• McConnell Asks FBI to Investigate Secret Tape—Then Fundraises Off It



• Watch: McConnell Says “Political Left Bugged My Headquarters”



• Mitch McConnell Will Fundraise With Billionaires After Saying the GOP Is Not The Party of Billionaires



• CPAC: Where Ashley Judd Rape Jokes Happen

Mr. McConnell has masterfully diverted public attention from the offensive content of the tape—which is the real story here—to his outrage over how it was obtained. McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton called the tactics “comparable only to Richard Nixon’s efforts to bug Democratic Party Headquarters.”

But how it was obtained—reportedly by at least one member of Progress Kentucky recording it outside the closed door of the McConnell campaign meeting—falls short of the “Watergate style” bugging Mr. McConnell and staff conjured up.

The tape, the newspaper contended, was just another reason why Kentucky needs to replace the five-term senator:

He has long ceased to serve the state, instead serving the corporate interests he counts on for contributions and leading obstruction that continues to plague Congress. He needs a credible opponent and a serious effort by people ready to advance the interests of Kentucky and its citizens.

With his I’m-the-victim act, McConnell may have nudged the narrative in his favor, but he did not win over the Courier-Journal.

Politics | Mother Jones

Louisville Courier-Journal: McConnell Tape Contents Are "Despicable" and the "Real Story"

Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against McConnell Over Judd Tape Revelations

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit government watchdog, has asked the Senate ethics committee and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to probe whether aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell improperly conducted political opposition research on federal government time.

A tape of a February McConnell campaign meeting that Mother Jones released Tuesday includes a section in which a McConnell aide states that McConnell’s “LAs”—congressional parlance for legislative assistants—helped gather background information on Ashley Judd, who was at the time considered a potential opponent in McConnell’s 2014 reelection race. The tape also refers to a “Josh” who worked on the research, which CREW’s complaint speculates might be Josh Holmes, McConnell’s congressional chief of staff.

Senate ethics rules forbid legislative assistants and other Senate employees from participating in political activities on government time. “In general, however, the ethics rules do not bar staffers from engaging in campaign activity provided they do it on their own time and do not involve government resources or property,” Tara Malloy, a government ethics expert at the Campaign Legal Center, told Mother Jones on Tuesday. You can read the relevant section of the ethics rules here. Bottom line: If McConnell’s aides did the research in their free time, they’re in the clear. But if they used government resources or worked on political matters on government time, they could be in trouble.

The Weekly Standard‘s Daniel Halper has suggested that the McConnell aide on the tape explicitly says that the LAs who worked on the opposition research did so “in their free time.” Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager, made the same argument in an interview with WHAS-11, a Louisville television station. But “it doesn’t really matter” whether the McConnell aide on the tape claimed that the political work was done in the LAs free time, explains Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. “The question isn’t what somebody said, it’s what they did,” she says. “We need to know if it was on office time and with office resources. Those are the relevant questions here.”

Benton has acknowledged that McConnell’s Senate staffers do campaign work, but says they only do it in their off hours. “We do have several legislative staff that do contribute their free time, which is perfectly fine, perfectly legal, and cleared ahead of time by the ethics committee,” he told WHAS-11.

The FBI is currently investigating how the tape of the McConnell meeting was made. But Sloan says the bureau should expand its probe. “McConnell should welcome a review of the tape,” she says. “If McConnell thought it was so important for the FBI to investigate, the FBI should investigate everything about the incident. I think that’s hard to argue against. The tape certainly gives you probable cause to believe something improper occurred. It clearly merits investigation.”

Politics | Mother Jones

Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against McConnell Over Judd Tape Revelations

BUDGET DAY, Weiner eyes comeback, McConnell: Our campaign was "bugged," Manchin-Toomey gun deal close, Immigration bill Thurs?, Kelly wins House seat, trivia

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BUDGET DAY: OBAMA’S $ 3.77T BUDGET CALLS FOR TAXES ON RICH BUT ALSO ENTITLEMENT CUTS – President Obama’s 2014 fiscal blueprint was being delivered to Capitol Hill this morning, but the White House had already released some of the highlights. Reid J. Epstein writes for the hometown paper: “The budget itself represents some level of concession, White House aides say, arguing that Obama still would prefer a grand bargain that would completely rethink spending and revenue — though only one that comes on his terms. But even after weeks of outreach to Republicans following Obama’s beat-‘em-up campaign to stop the sequester cuts failed, that kind of deal still isn’t on the table. So they’re back to the budget duel: House Republicans want major cuts. Obama wants big revenues from the rich.

– “His $ 3.77 trillion proposal would reduce the deficit by $ 1.8 trillion by adding $ 580 billion in new taxes on the wealthy, according to senior administration officials. It also includes an estimated $ 230 billion in savings by reducing cost-of-living adjustments for federal entitlement programs. But all of those cuts — which White House aides say the president is ready to make — depend on whether Republicans agree to new tax revenues, including requiring people who make $ 1 million or more to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes and limiting deductions for the top 2 percent of earners. ‘If they refuse to include revenues in any deal, then there will be no deal. It’s that simple,’ a senior administration official said in a briefing call with reporters Tuesday.” http://politi.co/ZMwXMt See an overview of Obama’s budget here: http://politi.co/YjbXlG

OBAMA’S BUDGET MUDDLE – Glenn Thrush and Byron Tau report for POLITICO: On Wednesday, Senate Republicans will break bread with President Barack Obama at the White House. On Tuesday, Bernie Sanders, the most liberal member of the Senate Democratic caucus, was standing outside the gates rebuking Obama for selling out seniors. That jarring juxtaposition captures the upside-down political dynamic of Obama’s new budget proposal, due to be released Wednesday: Its centerpiece is a highly controversial plan to trim Social Security cost-of-living increases — a move one longtime Obama adviser called a ‘goodwill gesture’ to Republicans and liberals decry as a shocking departure from Obama’s 2012 campaign rhetoric, a betrayal that warrants retribution. So far, there is scant evidence that Republicans view Obama’s ‘chained CPI’ proposal as a sign of good will. And there are plenty of people on the left who regard it as a sign of bad will—a departure from the message that won Obama a second-term and new occasion for doubting the president’s negotiating skills.” http://politi.co/ZMsp8P

– A dozen GOP senators are expected to dine with Obama tonight, including Sens. Johnny Isakson (Ga.), John Thune (S.D.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah.). Isakson will release the full list today but none are said to have attended last month’s dinner with senators at a nearby hotel.

– In an interview with POLITICO’s Jon Allen and Mike Allen, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer says Democrats aren’t ready to embrace Obama’s ‘chained CPI” plan. Watch video of the interview and read the story here: http://politi.co/12GInoR

WEINER EYES COMEBACK, MAYOR’S RACE – Maggie Haberman writes for POLITICO: “In a sweeping confessional interview published Wednesday, Anthony Weiner provided his first explanation of the bizarre behavior that led to his downfall, compared his wife’s circumstance to that of Hillary Clinton’s after the Monica Lewinsky scandal — and acknowledged he’s eagerly looking at a political comeback this year. The New York Times Magazine interview with Weiner and his wife, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, has been the talk of New York’s political world for the past week. It is a building block of a political return by the former Queens congressman, who resigned after admitting that a lewd tweet sent from his account, which he’d claimed had been hacked, was in fact his own doing. The piece is the first time Weiner and Abedin have spoken at length about the rapid-fire events of 2011 that led him to resign his seat: the tweet he sent thinking it was a private message, the exposure by Andrew Breitbart’s site, the days of claiming he was the victim of a crime and then the ultimate, tearful confession at a Midtown press conference. http://politi.co/ZMtFss

– Jonathan Van Meter writes in the NYT Magazine piece: “At breakfast, Weiner quickly put all the speculation to rest: he is eyeing the mayor’s race. He told me that his political committee spent more than $ 100,000 on polling and research by Obama’s longtime pollster, David Binder (a detail that would be made public — and prompt a flurry of news reports — in mid-March when a spending report was filed with the city’s Campaign Finance Board). The focus of the poll, Binder says, was the question “Are voters willing to give him a second chance or not, regardless of what race or what contest?” And the answer? “There was this sense of ‘Yeah, he made a mistake. Let’s give him a second chance. But there are conditions on that, and there are a couple of things we’re going to want to know: What have you been doing since this incident occurred? Did you learn anything from this mistake? How did you deal with it?’ They want to know that they’ve put it behind them.” http://nyti.ms/10SLnMg

McCONNELL CLAIMS THE LEFT ‘BUGGED’ HIS CAMPAIGN HQ, ‘NIXONIAN’ TACTICS – Siobhan Hughes writes in the Wall Street Journal: “Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Tuesday accused ‘the political left in America’ of engaging in ‘Nixonian’ political tactics, reacting to the publication of an audio tape of a McConnell re-election strategy session. Mother Jones magazine published an article Tuesday based on the tape, in which campaign aides discussed how to attack potential rival Ashley Judd. Mr. McConnell told reporters:  ‘Last month, they were attacking my wife’s ethnicity’ — a reference to a tweet by a liberal group claiming wife Elaine Chao moved U.S. jobs to China– ‘and then apparently also unbeknownst to us they were bugging our headquarters – quite  a Nixonian move.’ He added:  ‘This is what you get from the political left in America.’ Ms. Chao, who was born in Taiwan, was labor secretary during the George W. Bush administration.

– “In a statement on its website, Mother Jones said: “As the story makes clear, we were recently provided the tape by a source who wished to remain anonymous. We were not involved in the making of the tape, but we published a story on the tape due to its obvious newsworthiness. It is our understanding that the tape was not the product of a Watergate-style bugging operation. We cannot comment beyond that.’ The tape of the McConnell strategy session begins with Mr. McConnell saying, ‘I assume most of you have played the, the game Whac-A-Mole? This is the Whac-A-Mole period of the campaign,’ to try to identify and attack potential contenders, according to the transcript posted by Mother Jones.” http://on.wsj.com/10SFQVZ

– Mother Jones’ David Korn, who broke the story, writes that the McConnell campaign discusses raising Judd’s past history with mental illness: “[T]he McConnell gang explored going far beyond Judd’s politics and policy preferences. This included her mental health. The meeting leader noted: ‘She’s clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced. I mean it’s been documented. Jesse can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she’s suffered some suicidal tendencies. She was hospitalized for 42 days when she had a mental breakdown in the ’90s.’” http://bit.ly/YjkHZ0

– At the request of the McConnell campaign, the FBI is looking into the matter, POLITICO’s Lois Romano and Kevin Robillard reports: http://politi.co/10OSxmn

MANCHIN, TOOMEY SAY THEY’RE CLOSE TO GUN DEAL – John Bresnahan and Reid Epstein reports for POLITICO: “Sen. Joe Manchin says he is on the verge of a bipartisan deal to expand background checks for gun sales, an agreement that could lead to the biggest change in U.S. gun laws in nearly 20 years. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, has been meeting with conservative GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania over the past week to try to forge a deal on background checks. Following a briefing with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Manchin told reporters the two sides were very close to an agreement. … Signaling that they had reached consensus, Manchin and Toomey announced Tuesday night they would be holding a joint press conference on expanded background checks on Wednesday at 11 a.m. …

– “Reid moved Tuesday night to start debate over a gun control package that is a wish list for gun control advocates. Reid filed a cloture motion that sets up a Thursday vote to end a GOP filibuster of the motion to proceed to that gun bill. In order to gather 60 votes, Reid and other senior Democrats believe they can hold on to their own nervous members from red states, while picking up 10 or so Republicans.” http://politi.co/Z6339T

–The WSJ editorial board’s lead op-ed says Ted Cruz and his fellow Republicans have “misfired” in filibustering the gun bill: “The President’s calculation seems to be that even if gun control fails, at least he’ll have a keep-kids-safe political issue to help flip the House back to Democratic control in the next midterm. In that sense his inflammatory rhetoric is meant to bait Republicans, some of whom are biting.  If conservatives want to prove their gun-control bona fides, the way to do it is to debate the merits and vote on the floor. They can always filibuster the final bill if they want to, but it makes no sense to paint themselves into a political box canyon before even knowing what they’re voting on.” http://on.wsj.com/ZEB3gP

‘GANG OF EIGHT’ IMMIGRATION BILL COULD COME THURSDAY – Mike Allen reports for POLITICO: “The Senate’s immigration Gang of Eight plans to announce a deal within a week but a committee markup is not expected until at least the week of May 6, providing a long period for debate and changes, Senate aides said Tuesday. Aides said the legislative proposal could be released as soon as Thursday, but is more likely to be ready early next week. The schedule outlined by the aides is meant to satisfy Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has said repeatedly that he wants a full debate and amendment process, to maximize the chances that the final vote is an overwhelming majority.” http://politi.co/ZgUwOD

Wall Street Journal, A1, “Senate Plan Sets High Bar On Border Security,” By Sara Murray: “Immigrants in the U.S. illegally would not gain green cards under a bipartisan Senate bill until law-enforcement officials are monitoring the entire southern border and stopping 90% of people crossing illegally in certain areas, according to people familiar with the plan. The border-security proposal, part of a broader immigration bill being written by eight senators, sets several goals that would have to be met before any of the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally could apply for permanent legal residency, also known as a green card, according to the people familiar with the Senate talks. Meeting all the goals is expected to take 10 years.

– “In a major change for businesses, all employers would be required after a five-year phase-in period to use the government’s E-Verify system, which screens for illegal workers. E-Verify now is largely voluntary, though some states require it. Some 409,000 employers had enrolled in the program as of last year, the federal government says, a tiny fraction of the estimated six million private U.S. employers, many of which have only a handful of employees.” http://on.wsj.com/ZMDhDz

– A House immigration bill is hung up on a disagreement over low-skilled workers, Jake Sherman and Kate Nocera report for POLITICO: http://politi.co/17pUsCE

IMMIGRATION POLITICS IS LOCAL – Manu Raju and Anna Palmer report for POLITICO: “Sen. Barbara Mikulski wants to help the Polish. Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to help the Irish. Sen. Marco Rubio wants to woo foreign workers to help after national emergencies. And Sen. Mazie Hirono wants to reunite Filipino World War II veterans with their families. As negotiations over a sweeping immigration deal comes to a head, senators are rapidly moving to resolve a bevy of narrow and parochial issues raised by lawmakers nervous about the impact of the far-reaching plan.

– “On Tuesday, one issue affecting rural America appeared closer to resolution: A new visa program for foreign workers on farms. A deal between labor and farm industry officials over wages for workers and caps on annual visas for migrant workers could come as soon as Wednesday, helping attract a range of rural-state lawmakers eager to appease farm interests back home. And Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he was close to resolving a lingering dispute with Rubio, the Florida Republican, over the number of H1-B visas to provide high-skill foreign workers.” http://politi.co/152xVwj

** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure ‘State of Pink’ Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Just form a team in your office and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. Winning teams will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more. http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hq_gr_2012_about_hill_teams   

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include @cshogan276 and @MatosJay.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is in at 9:30 a.m. resume consideration of a cloture motion on gun control legislation known as the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013. Unless the Senate comes to an agreement, the Senate will hold a cloture vote on the motion to proceed on Thursday.

The House is in at 10 a.m. with first votes expected between 1:30 and 2 p.m. and last votes expected between 5 and 6 p.m. on the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act.

AROUND THE HILL – President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget is delivered to Congress at 8 a.m. in Cannon 210 and at 8:15 a.m. in Dirksen 604. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks on guns at 9:30 a.m. in S-325. Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders hold a post-conference media availability at 10 a.m. in HC-8. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer holds a pen and pad briefing at 10:30 a.m. in H-144.

Reps. Chris Smith and Frank Wolf speak on Vietnamese victims on religious persecution in Vietnam at 10:30 a.m. at the House Triangle. Sens. Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin will speak on firearms background checks at 11 a.m. in S-325.

A news conference where Sens. Jerry Moran, Dick Blumenthal, Jim Inhofe, Amy Klobuchar, Kelly Ayotte and David Vitter planned to reintroduce legislation to stop air traffic control tower closings has been postponed due to a scheduling conflict.

Reps. Marcia Fudge and Chaka Fattah, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and others speak on the State of Black America at 11:30 a.m. at the House Triangle. Rep. Joe Crowley speaks on comprehensive immigration reform at 12:30 p.m. at the House Triangle. Steny Hoyer and House Democrats speak on Make It In America legislation at 1 p.m. in HVC Studio A. Rep. Frank Wolf speaks on Benghazi at 1:30 p.m. at the House Triangle.

The Small Business Committees hold a small business summit from 1 to 5:30 p.m. in Russell 428A. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions hold a conference call tomorrow in response to President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal, at 2 p.m. Call in: (888) 469-1370. Passcode: 224143. House Triangle. Rep. Bob Goodlatte speaks on RFS legislation at 2:30 p.m. at the House Triangle. Chairwoman Patty Murray’s Senate Budget Committee holds a hearing on President Obama’s budget at 3 p.m. in Dirksen 608. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger hold post-CISPA mark-up availability at 4 p.m. at the HVC Intel stakeout site.

‘OBAMA PHONES’ DRAW SCRUTINY ON CAPITOL HILL – Karen Tumulty writes on A1 of thwe Washington Post: “Obama phone” is the widely used — and misleading — nickname of a 28-year-old federal program known as Lifeline. It provides discounts, averaging $ 9.25 a month, on phone service for 13.3 million low-income subscribers. In the 31 / 2 years after false rumors started that the Obama administration was giving free cellphones to poor people — and six months after a racially charged video about it went viral — a once-obscure phone service subsidy is getting renewed scrutiny on Capitol Hill. There are growing calls in Congress to end or drastically cut back Lifeline; later this month, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing that could help determine its fate.  … Lifeline was begun not by President Obama but under Ronald Reagan. It expanded to include cellphone service during the presidency of another Republican, George W. Bush.” http://wapo.st/ZMCXoD

KELLY EASILY WINS JACKSON JR.S OLD HOUSE SEAT – Rick Pearson and Bill Ruthhart write on A1 of the Chicago Tribune: “Following Tuesday’s special election victory, Democrat Robin Kelly will start a new job in Congress as the least senior member of a House dominated by Republicans. That political reality is not lost on Kelly, who said her first task is to restore district offices and concentrate on constituent services as she replaces disgraced former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in the South Side and south suburban 2nd Congressional District. … Kelly, who launched her campaign on a strong gun-control theme, was joined at her victory party by Nathaniel Pendleton and Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, the parents of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old band majorette killed by gunfire on the South Side little more than a week after performing in Washington during President Barack Obama’s inauguration weekend festivities. ‘Watch us take on the NRA, the tea party and anyone else standing in the way of safety,’ Kelly said. With 80 percent of precincts counted in the low-turnout contest, Kelly had 74 percent of the vote to about 19 percent for Republican Paul McKinley, an unemployed political activist and ex-convict.” http://trib.in/10TPk5P

OBAMA’S NOMINEES COAST THROUGH SENATE HEARINGS – Matthew L. Wald and Robert Pear write for the New York Times: “President Obama’s three nominees to run Medicare and Medicaid, the Energy Department and the Office of Management and Budget sailed through their separate Senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday and appeared to be on track to win approval from the committees, though none of the panels voted on the nominations. Marilyn B. Tavenner, who has been chosen to run the government’s big health care programs, won endorsement from the House Republican leader, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, who said he had worked with her in his days as a state lawmaker. …

– “Similarly, Mr. Obama’s nominee for energy secretary, Ernest J. Moniz, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was under secretary of energy in the Clinton administration, faced no opposition Tuesday in a three-hour hearing held by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who has been nominated as director of the budget office, also appeared to have no serious opposition in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.” http://nyti.ms/12J1xug

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Adam Heider was first to correctly answer that Ted Yoho (Florida), David Price (UNC) and Joe Courtney (UConn) are the current House members who represent the districts that include the three universities that are tied for the most number of Division I NCAA basketball championships in the last 10 years. Each won two titles in the past decade.

CORRECTION: Monday’s trivia answer should have said Tom McMillen was elected to Congress in 1986, the same year he retired from the NBA.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – Claude Marx has today’s question: Which president signed legislation creating the Labor Department? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure ‘State of Pink’ Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Since 1990, Komen’s investments have helped drive down breast cancer mortality rates in the U.S. by 33% thanks to participants like you. Represent your state and keep the momentum going. Form a team in your office today and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. The largest congressional team and top fundraising team will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more. http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hq_gr_2012_about_hill_teams

POLITICO – Top 10 – The Huddle

BUDGET DAY, Weiner eyes comeback, McConnell: Our campaign was "bugged," Manchin-Toomey gun deal close, Immigration bill Thurs?, Kelly wins House seat, trivia

Did McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?

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A secret recording of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and aides discussing in February how they might attack actor/activist Ashley Judd, then a potential 2014 challenger to McConnell, attracted widespread attention after Mother Jones published it Tuesday morning. Much of the news coverage focused on the McConnell team’s comments about Judd’s religious views and her mental-health history. But the tape might raise ethics questions for McConnell and his staff.

Senate ethics rules prohibit Senate employees from participating in political activities while on government time. But the tape indicates that several of McConnell’s legislative aides, whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer, were involved with producing the oppo research on Judd that was discussed at the February 2 meeting.

More Mother Jones coverage of Mitch McConnell and the 2014 Kentucky Senate race.

• Secret Tape: McConnell and Aides Weighed Using Judd’s Mental Health and Religion as Political Ammo



• Did McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?



• McConnell Asks FBI to Investigate Secret Tape—Then Fundraises Off It



• Watch: McConnell Says “Political Left Bugged My Headquarters”



• Full Transcript and Audio of Mitch McConnell Campaign’s Meeting on Ashley Judd



• Mitch McConnell Will Fundraise With Billionaires After Saying the GOP Is Not The Party of Billionaires



• Mitch McConnell vs. the World



• Yes, Potential Senate Candidate Ashley Judd Has Gotten Naked on Screen. So Have These Political Figures.



• CPAC: Where Ashley Judd Rape Jokes Happen

Here’s the relevant section of the transcript:

Presenter: So I’ll just preface my comments that this reflects the work of a lot of folks: Josh, Jesse, Phil Maxson, a lot of LAs, thank them three times, so this is a compilation of work, all the way through. The first person we’ll focus on, Ashley Judd—basically I refer to her as sort of the oppo research situation where there’s a haystack of needles, just because truly, there’s such a wealth of material. [Laughter.]

Ah, you know Jesse slogged through her autobiography. She has innumerable video interviews, tweets, blog posts, articles, magazine articles.

The presenter was explaining that the opposition research on Judd was compiled by several people. “LAs” is congressional parlance for legislative assistants; one of the legislative assistants, Phil Maxson, gets his own shout-out. The question is whether Maxson and the other McConnell LAs were digging up material on Judd while on government time. If they were engaged in this research while on annual leave or vacation—or working outside Senate hours—they wouldn’t be violating Senate rules. But if this was done on Senate time, McConnell could have a problem. Here’s how Tara Malloy, an expert on ethics rules at the Campaign Legal Center, described the issue in an email:

Any assessment under the Ethics rules would require some more facts—most particularly whether any official resources were used in connection to the conversation or oppo research, and/or whether the conversation or other activities took place on government property. In general, however, the ethics rules do not bar staffers from engaging in campaign activity provided they do it on their own time and do not involve government resources or property.

Here is the relevant excerpt from the Senate Ethics Manual:

As discussed more fully below, Senate Rule 41 prohibits Senate staff, with the exception of specified “political fund designees,” from handling federal campaign funds. Subject to that restriction, however, and as long as they do not neglect their official duties, Senate employees are free to engage in campaign activities on their own time, as volunteers or for pay, provided they do not do so in congressional offices or otherwise use official resources.  An employee’s “own time” includes time beyond regular working hours, any accrued annual leave, or non-government hours of a part-time employee. Staff may not be required to do political work as a condition of Senate employment. Just as Senate employees are free to campaign for their employing Members on their own time, they may also use their free time or, with the permission of their employing Members, reduce their Senate hours (with a commensurate reduction in pay) to campaign for presidential candidates, other federal candidates, or state or local aspirants. With respect to the question of leave time to perform campaign activities, it is the Committee’s understanding that the Senate does not recognize a “leave of absence.”

We asked Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager; Allison Moore, a spokeswoman for his Senate office; and Phil Maxson, the LA named on the tape, to explain whether the oppo work was done on Senate time, but they did not respond.

Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is working to defeat McConnell, sent out a series of tweets on Tuesday noting this issue:

@zekejmiller Neither does using official Senate staff to do opposition research on potential opponents.

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

How many McConnell Senate staffers participated in gathering opposition research on Democrats? Was this part of their day-to-work?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

Did McConnell know that his legislative assistants were engaging in negative political research? Did the NRSC?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

@hotlinejosh @alex_roarty @kasie Does he think it is OK for his Senate Legislative Assistants to do opposition political research?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

@rebeccagberg Did they comment on the legislative staff who was doing opposition political research?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

Politics | Mother Jones

Did McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?

New immigration attack: Bill too pricey, Kaine backs gun-control measures, Portman joins MM breakfast, Landry launches PAC, McConnell celebrates Louisville win, trivia

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NEW IMMIGRATION ATTACK: BILL TOO PRICEY – Carrie Budoff Brown and Jake Sherman report for the hometown paper: “Immigration reform opponents are opening a new front in their bid to derail an overhaul bill: the price tag. Conservatives contend that costs would be prohibitive — it’s not just about paying for beefed-up border and employer enforcement, but accounting for the burden it would place on Obamacare, Medicare and other government programs in the decades to come. The exact costs won’t be clear until details of the bill are released and independent budget experts assess the impact of legalizing 11 million undocumented immigrants.

– “[A]rmed with their own body of research, a network of opponents from Capitol Hill, a prominent Washington think tank and border-first groups are preparing to use the specter of the potential cost of an immigration overhaul and its drain on entitlements as their main line of attack. … The Senate’s Gang of Eight acknowledges the stakes: Sensitive to the current political environment, it’s expected to produce a bill that the Congressional Budget Office would score as at least deficit-neutral over the next decade. They recognize that they won’t be able to persuade many Republicans and some Democratic moderates to support a bill without it. …

– “‘These costs are far larger than anyone imagines and would be increased substantially under amnesty,’ said former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who now heads The Heritage Foundation. ‘In a time of trillion-dollar deficits and $ 17 trillion in debt, the cost of every federal program should be of tremendous concern — especially if it’s a program that will add new costs to a budget that’s already severely in the red.’ http://politi.co/17ofhOT

– “The American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, will release an analysis on Tuesday that projects that an overhaul of immigration laws could boost gross domestic product growth by a percentage point each year over the next decade,” Jim Tankersley writes in the Washington Post. “That growth would produce tax revenue that would reduce federal deficits by a combined $ 2.5 trillion, according to the group’s president, the economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin.” http://wapo.st/XAIkgn

– Gang of Eight immigration talks in the Senate are now turning to agriculture, POLITICO’s Manu Raju and Anna Palmer report: “After a bitter fight between interest groups late last week, Republican and Democrats are closely monitoring sensitive talks between labor and industry over a new program to woo foreign farmworkers. Negotiators reported progress Monday over setting wages for farmworkers. But they cautioned that the issue of wages and the overall number of visas that would be allowed under the proposal is far from settled. Regional differences are also causing rifts among senators. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy is pushing to make sure any immigration overhaul includes favorable treatment for dairy farmers who have a major presence in his home state of Vermont. And New York Sen. Chuck Schumer — whose home state houses many apple growers — is urging Western growers …  to ensure that an eventual deal doesn’t undercut wages paid by the agriculture industry on the East Coast.” http://politi.co/17ofoK5

Wall Street Journal, A1, “Evangelicals Push Immigration Path,” By Miriam Jordan: http://on.wsj.com/10E3sQL

– In a POLITICO op-ed, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, the 2012 DNC keynote speaker, calls on Congress to pass immigration reform, saying he’s “constantly reminded that immigration is more than a political issue. It’s who we are.” “From Plymouth Rock to Ellis Island and Galveston, Texas, to the sandy shores of Florida and the rocky coasts of California, immigrants have helped make our country the greatest in the world. That spirit, however, is in jeopardy today. We have a badly broken immigration system. But there is hope. We’re on the cusp of real progress.” http://politi.co/17ofQbr

KAINE SAYS HE BACKS BACKROUND CHECKS, BAN ON SOME ASSAULT WEAPONS – Writing an op-ed in the Virginian-Pilot, freshman Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) calls for a vote on gun measures: “Like [John] McCain, I’m not afraid of the debate. Since joining the Senate, I’ve heard from thousands of citizens by phone, email, letter and in person. A Virginian, James Madison, drafted the Bill of Rights, and we in the commonwealth believe strongly in the Second Amendment. But just as we know that the First Amendment’s protection of free speech gives no protection to slander or child pornography, we also understand that the individual right to bear arms is tempered by a responsibility to society.

– “That’s why – after extensive discussion with our citizens (many are gun-owners like me) – I’m prepared to vote. We need a better background record check system. The horrible shooting at Virginia Tech happened after a dangerous young man illegally bought weapons due to a loophole in the records check system. When we fixed it, we made Virginia safer. But too many gaps still exist, and more than 40 percent of gun sales occur with no check to ensure that purchasers are legally able to possess weapons. I’m also convinced that reasonable limits on gun trafficking across state lines, super-size magazines and certain combat-style weapons make sense, and I’ll be pleased to vote in support of such measures. There is no piece of legislation that will eliminate violence. But if we take concrete steps, we can make our communities safer.

– “I don’t want to have this opportunity and shrink from the responsibility. And I especially don’t want a tiny minority of senators and powerful lobbyists to block the legislative branch from even considering and voting on these proposals.” http://bit.ly/YI7ND3

New York Times, A1, “Invoking Newtown dead, Obama Presses Gun Laws,” By Peter Applebome and Jonathan Weisman in Hartford: “President Obama came here on Monday before a roaring, enthusiastic crowd to remember the tragedy of 20 children and 6 educators slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School and put new pressure on a recalcitrant Congress to honor them with gun-control legislation. In an impassioned speech that at times took on the tone of a campaign rally, Mr. Obama told an audience of 3,100 at the University of Hartford that he came to Connecticut to ensure that the deaths in the school in Newtown would not recede and to remind Americans how important their voice is as the gun debates unfold.

– “But as Mr. Obama spoke, Republicans on Capitol Hill were threatening to prevent a gun-control measure from even coming up for debate. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, announced Monday that he would join at least 13 other Republicans who have vowed to block consideration of gun legislation passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and assembled by the Democratic leadership. That effectively made the threatened filibuster a test of Republican unity. … Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, took steps to force a vote to start a broad review of gun-control proposals and accused those threatening a filibuster of ‘blatant obstruction,’ even as they showed no signs of backing down. ‘Shame on them,’ said Mr. Reid, a Democrat.” http://nyti.ms/10E9gKf

GUN RIGHTS GROUPS FLEX MUSCLES – Kate Nocera writes for the hometown paper: “Several Senate GOP staffers have complained to POLITICO about the National Association for Gun Rights in particular, saying its hardball tactics have made life difficult for their offices with its email and phone campaign. Along with the Gun Owners of America, the NAGR, its state affiliates and smaller grass-roots groups are using the playbook of the Club for Growth and tea party outlets — conservative organizations that have forced GOP lawmakers to the right on fiscal issues and punished moderates with primary campaigns. NAGR is airing attack ads in Virginia against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and GOP Rep. Scott Rigell, accusing them of helping President Barack Obama create a national gun registry. The group has launched a targeted campaign on social media and email against an array of Republican senators, including Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, saying the lawmakers are working ‘with the gun grabbers to push gun control through Congress.’ And Georgia Rep. Phil Gingrey, Republican Senate candidate, has been accused of being a ‘gun-grabber’ by Georgia Gun Owners — an NAGR state affiliate supporting one of Gingrey’s rivals, Rep. Paul Broun.” http://politi.co/YcYvzG

8 A.M.: PORTMAN JOINS INAUGURAL MORNING MONEY BREAKFAST – POLITICO’ Ben White and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) kick off the first Morning Money Breakfast Briefing at the Newseum. They’ll discuss the state of the economy and fiscal negotiations on Capitol Hill; President Obama’s budget, expected on Wednesday; the prospects for comprehensive tax reform; the possibility of a big debt ceiling fight; the future of the CFPB and Dodd-Frank. … POLITICO Playbook’s Mike Allen will make a special appearance to join the questioning. You can join as well by Tweeting your questions with hashtag #MorningMoney. http://bit.ly/16gAdWo

MORNING MONEY BREAKFAST LIVE-STREAM for those who can’t join us in person: http://www.politico.com/livestream/

POLITICO PRO UNVEILS NEW ‘PRO REPORT’ — Yesterday POLITICO Pro launched “Pro Report,” an end of the day newsletter with the most essential policy news that broke since the morning cycle — all in one place. The roundup will also offer a sneak peek into the next day’s biggest story lines. Pro Report will be sent to all Pro subscribers by 6 p.m. every weekday, and an excerpt will be published in the next morning’s print edition of POLITICO.

Washington Post, A1, “Baucus seeks bipartisan road on tax reform: Maverick Democrat rallies conservatives and riles liberals,” By Lori Montgomery: “Last month, Sen. Max Baucus summoned members of the Senate Finance Committee to a closed-door meeting to discuss the first full-scale rewrite of the 5,600-page U.S. tax code in more than 25 years. The task would be gargantuan, and much of Washington has called it impossible in these contentious times. But after two years of watching President Obama and congressional leaders take on tax policy and other areas of the committee’s vast jurisdiction, the Montana Democrat who is the panel’s chairman was ready to reclaim his turf.

– “Senators arrived in a Finance Committee conference room to find crystal bowls filled with green and white M&Ms imprinted with pictures of President Ronald Reagan, as well as Democratic Rep. Dan Rostenkowski and Republican Sen. Bob Packwood, the committee chairmen who engineered the last tax overhaul, in 1986. They found a detailed schedule of 10 more meetings, where committee staff members will present option papers for achieving such popular goals as simpler filing rules. And they found Baucus in emphatic agreement with Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), the ranking Republican on the panel, according to notes taken by a Democratic aide in attendance, that the committee should aim to produce a tax-reform plan by August, when Congress will once again need a face-saving deal to justify raising the legal limit on the $ 16.8 trillion in federal debt.

– “The move throws Baucus, a conservative maverick who often infuriates Democratic leaders, into uneasy contention with his more liberal colleagues to shape the next phase of the federal budget battle. With Republicans and Democrats advocating vastly different plans for getting the nation’s debt under control — and the White House due this week to offer a proposal — Baucus argues that his committee is best positioned to forge a bipartisan compromise and avoid another economy-shattering showdown.” http://wapo.st/10OelOI

LOUISVILLE DEFEATS MICHIGAN 82-76 TO WIN NATIONAL TITLE – The AP: “What a week for Rick Pitino! He’s elected to the Hall of Fame. His horse is headed to the Kentucky Derby. His son gets a prominent head coaching job. Then he caps it off with what he wanted most. Another national championship. For that, he can thank 13 of the grittiest guys he’s ever coached. Luke Hancock produced another huge game off the bench, scoring 22 points, and Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools when Louisville rallied from another 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night. ‘This team is one of the most together, toughest and hard-nosed teams,’ the coach said. ‘Being down never bothers us. They just come back.’ More like relentless to the very end. They’re not stopping now, either. The players intend to hold Pitino to a promise he made: If they won a national title, he’d get a tattoo.” http://es.pn/16KaIgr

– Some Senate observers speculated that Monday votes had been postponed until Tuesday so senators could attend — or at least watch — the NCAA title game. Mitch McConnell, who traveled to Atlanta for the game, said in a statement after Louisville’s win: “Congratulations to Coach Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball team for their triumphant march to the 2013 NCAA National Championship. Cards fans will always remember this historic season. This team won the Big East Tournament, made a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, and inspired the nation the way they came together to win their last two games for their injured teammate, Kevin Ware. They truly deserve this victory, and Kentucky is proud of them. Go Cards!”

I GOT #99PROBLEMS&DICTATORSAREONE – News reports that the U.S. treasury Department had sanctioned pop star Beyonce and rapper husband Jay-Z’s trip to Cuba has caught the attention of lawmakers including Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban American and huge rap music fan. He called on the U.S. government to enforce the law banning American tourism to Cuba: “U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime.  Since their inception, the Obama Administration’s ‘people to people’ cultural exchange programs have been abused by tourists who have no interest in the Cuban people’s freedom and either don’t realize or don’t care that they’re essentially funding the regime’s systematic trampling of people’s human rights.

– “According to recent news reports, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Cuba trip, which the regime seized on for propaganda purposes, was fully licensed by the Treasury Department.  If true, the Obama Administration should explain exactly how trips like these comply with U.S. law and regulations governing travel to Cuba and it should disclose how many more of these trips they have licensed.”

TWITTER TRAFFIC — @marcorubio: If interested in what life really like in #Cuba @S_C_ should have visited persecuted rapper #AngelYunierRemon #99problems&dictatorsareone

** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure ‘State of Pink’ Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Just form a team in your office and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. Winning teams will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more. http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hq_gr_2012_about_hill_teams

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 9, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include @BradleySaull and @ClotureClub.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and at noon will vote on the nomination of Patty Shwartz to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit. The Senate will then recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. for weekly party caucus luncheons.

The House meets at 2 p.m. and will consider three bills under suspension of the rules: the Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act, the Black Hills Cemetery Act and the American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act.

AROUND THE HILL – Reps. Louise Slaughter, Lance Leonard, Suzanne Bonamici, John Lewis, Rosa DeLauro and Rush Holt join the Americans for the Arts’ Congressional Arts Kick Off on Capitol Hill during Arts Advocacy Day, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. in the Cannon Caucus Room. Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin will be awarded the 2013 National Award for Congressional Arts Leadership Award.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Brad Sherman speak on Too Big to Fail at 11 a.m. in the Senate Studio.  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer will deliver a policy speech at the Center for American Progress Action Fund unveiling an updated “Make It In America” plan to strengthen domestic manufacturing and job creation at 11:30 a.m. at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, 1333 H Street NW.

Rep. Scott Garrett and Louise Bennetts, associate director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute have a discussion on the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Law, 1 p.m. in Rayburn 2203. Blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who won his freedom in a daring night-time escape from Chinese secret police in 2012, will testify before Chairman Chris Smith’s global human rights subcommittee at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2172.

A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Debbie Stabenow calls for the passage of the Excellence in Mental Health Act as an amendment to gun safety legislation, 2:45 p.m. in the Capitol’s Hugh Scott room S-120.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE … JOHNSON BACKS GAY MARRIAGE – David Montgomery writes for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader: “U.S. Senator Tim Johnson endorsed same-sex marriage today, the latest in a string of Democratic senators to change their positions on the issue. ‘After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation,’ Johnson said in a statement. ‘This position doesn’t require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom.’ … His endorsement followed that of two colleagues on Friday: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind. Fifty-four U.S. senators now endorse same-sex marriage. Only three Democratic senators do not: Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.” http://argusne.ws/YH1v6T

LANDRY LAUNCHES PAC FOR HARD-RIGHT REPUBLICANS – Alex Burns has the story for POLITICO: “A former one-term congressman from Louisiana aims to keep stirring up trouble on Capitol Hill from the outside with a new super PAC to support hard-right conservatives in the House of Representatives. Former Rep. Jeff Landry, who lost his bid for reelection last year, will helm a group dubbed Restore Our Republic. The goal of the super PAC, he told POLITICO, is to give conservatives aligned with the GOP’s activist base the same outside support that establishment-side Republicans get from independent expenditure groups. Assisting Landry in the enterprise is Republican strategist Nachama Soloveichik, a former senior aide to Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and a onetime spokesperson for the conservative Club for Growth.

– “Landry, who has been viewed as a possible Louisiana Senate candidate in 2014, said launching Restore Our Republic doesn’t necessarily close other doors for his political future. But he emphasized that the super PAC is a long-term project, which most likely lowers the odds of a challenge next year to Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.” http://politi.co/YcTJlG

THE IRON LADY’S LASTING U.S. LEGACY – Jonathan Martin writes for POLITICO: “Margaret Thatcher shaped a generation of liberals and conservatives, tugging the left to the middle and enjoying a civic canonization of sorts on the right. And that’s just in the United States. Thatcher, who succumbed to a stroke Monday at 87, arguably affected the course of American politics more than any other elected foreign leader in modern times. Along with her comrade-in-arms, Ronald Reagan, the former British prime minister ushered in a free-market consensus in the 1980s and 1990s that liberals eventually concluded had to be accommodated, not thwarted.

– “‘She staked out an anti-government position and anti-union position in British politics which was quite a dramatic departure from what the U.K. had been used to since World War II,’ said former Vice President Walter Mondale in an interview. ‘And her example excited a lot of support for similar efforts here in the United States. I think now it’s finally changing some, but for the better part of two or three decades that was the dominant, abiding political philosophy that seemed to resonate in our country.’ …

– “Former Virginia Sen. John Warner, an Anglophile who became friends with Thatcher and her husband, recalled holding a campaign event with Thatcher in Williamsburg, Va., when he was locked in a tight reelection in 1996. Thatcher, who after leaving government was affiliated with the College of William & Mary, was in town and agreed to help her old friend. ‘She said, ‘I don’t do American fundraisers, but maybe if I was just walking by, I could say hello and that wouldn’t be fundraising,’’ said Warner with a laugh. ‘I support the senator and I hope he will have the biggest majority in November,’ Thatcher told the ‘adoring crowd,’ as one news account put it at the time. As Warner remembered Monday, ‘Holy mackerel, all the contributions doubled!’” http://politi.co/16Jz345

SENATE CONFIRMS WHITE AS SEC CHAIR – Seung Min Kim reports for POLITICO: “The Senate on Monday confirmed Mary Jo White as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing the former federal prosecutor to take control of the agency as it tries to finish key rulemakings required by the 2010 financial reform law and last year’s JOBS Act. The swift confirmation — which was done by unanimous consent on the first day of the Senate following a two-week recess — came as no surprise; White sailed through the Senate Banking Committee on a 21-1 last month. White’s confirmation is the first of several potential openings at the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that may surface this year.” http://politi.co/16JlstD

MONDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Jim Brewer was first to correctly answer that Tom McMillen was the only person elected to Congress the same year they also played in the NBA. The Maryland Democrat was elected to the House in 1986, the same year he retired from the Washington Bullets.

A number of folks guessed Bill Bradley, but he was elected to the Senate in 1978, a year after he retired from the New York Knicks.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – Jim Brewer has today’s question: Which current House members represent the districts that include the three universities that are tied for the most number of Division I NCAA basketball championships in the last 10 years? Which universities do they represent?

First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure ‘State of Pink’ Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Since 1990, Komen’s investments have helped drive down breast cancer mortality rates in the U.S. by 33% thanks to participants like you. Represent your state and keep the momentum going. Form a team in your office today and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. The largest congressional team and top fundraising team will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more. http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hq_gr_2012_about_hill_teams

POLITICO – Top 10 – The Huddle

New immigration attack: Bill too pricey, Kaine backs gun-control measures, Portman joins MM breakfast, Landry launches PAC, McConnell celebrates Louisville win, trivia

Did McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?

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A secret recording of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and aides discussing in February how they might attack actor/activist Ashley Judd, then a potential 2014 challenger to McConnell, attracted widespread attention after Mother Jones published it Tuesday morning. Much of the news coverage focused on the McConnell team’s comments about Judd’s religious views and her mental health history. But the tape might raise ethics questions for McConnell and his staff.

Senate ethics rules prohibit Senate employees from participating in political activities while on government time. But the tape indicates that several of McConnell’s legislative aides, whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer, were involved with producing the oppo research on Judd that was discussed at the February 2 meeting.

More Mother Jones coverage of Mitch McConnell and the 2014 Kentucky Senate race.

• Did McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?



• Secret Tape: McConnell and Aides Weighed Using Judd’s Mental Health and Religion as Political Ammo



• McConnell Asks FBI to Investigate Secret Tape—Then Fundraises Off It



• Full Transcript and Audio of Mitch McConnell Campaign’s Meeting on Ashley Judd



• Mitch McConnell Will Fundraise With Billionaires After Saying the GOP Is Not The Party of Billionaires



• Mitch McConnell vs. the World



• Yes, Potential Senate Candidate Ashley Judd Has Gotten Naked on Screen. So Have These Political Figures.



• CPAC: Where Ashley Judd Rape Jokes Happen



• Ashley Judd: I’m Not Running

Here’s the relevant section of the transcript:

Presenter: So I’ll just preface my comments that this reflects the work of a lot of folks: Josh, Jesse, Phil Maxson, a lot of LAs, thank them three times, so this is a compilation of work, all the way through. The first person we’ll focus on, Ashley Judd—basically I refer to her as sort of the oppo research situation where there’s a haystack of needles, just because truly, there’s such a wealth of material. [Laughter.]

Ah, you know Jesse slogged through her autobiography. She has innumerable video interviews, tweets, blog posts, articles, magazine articles.

The presenter was explaining that the opposition research on Judd was compiled by several people. “LAs” is congressional parlance for legislative assistants; one of the legislative assistants, Phil Maxson, gets his own shout-out. The question is whether Maxson and the other McConnell LAs were digging up material on Judd while on government time. If they were engaged in this research while on annual leave or vacation—or working outside Senate hours—they wouldn’t be violating Senate rules. But if this was done on Senate time, McConnell could have a problem. Here’s how Tara Malloy, an expert on ethics rules at the Campaign Legal Center, described the issue in an email:

Any assessment under the Ethics rules would require some more facts—most particularly whether any official resources were used in connection to the conversation or oppo research, and/or whether the conversation or other activities took place on government property. In general, however, the ethics rules do not bar staffers from engaging in campaign activity provided they do it on their own time and do not involve government resources or property.

Here is the relevant excerpt from the Senate Ethics Manual:

As discussed more fully below, Senate Rule 41 prohibits Senate staff, with the exception of specified “political fund designees,” from handling federal campaign funds. Subject to that restriction, however, and as long as they do not neglect their official duties, Senate employees are free to engage in campaign activities on their own time, as volunteers or for pay, provided they do not do so in congressional offices or otherwise use official resources.  An employee’s “own time” includes time beyond regular working hours, any accrued annual leave, or non-government hours of a part-time employee. Staff may not be required to do political work as a condition of Senate employment. Just as Senate employees are free to campaign for their employing Members on their own time, they may also use their free time or, with the permission of their employing Members, reduce their Senate hours (with a commensurate reduction in pay) to campaign for presidential candidates, other federal candidates, or state or local aspirants. With respect to the question of leave time to perform campaign activities, it is the Committee’s understanding that the Senate does not recognize a “leave of absence.”

We asked Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager; Allison Moore, a spokeswoman for his Senate office; and Phil Maxson, the LA named on the tape, to explain whether the oppo work was done on Senate time, but they did not respond.

Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is working to defeat McConnell, sent out a series of tweets on Tuesday noting this issue:

@zekejmiller Neither does using official Senate staff to do opposition research on potential opponents.

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

How many McConnell Senate staffers participated in gathering opposition research on Democrats? Was this part of their day-to-work?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

Did McConnell know that his legislative assistants were engaging in negative political research? Did the NRSC?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

@hotlinejosh @alex_roarty @kasie Does he think it is OK for his Senate Legislative Assistants to do opposition political research?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

@rebeccagberg Did they comment on the legislative staff who was doing opposition political research?

— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

Politics | Mother Jones

Did McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?

McConnell taking no prisoners, Judd: I"m not running, Grassley writes GOP gun bill, Sens. watch woman scale border fence, Senate"s Lonely Hearts Club, Markey/Lynch tangle on TV

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McCONNELL TAKING NO PRISONERS – POLITICO’s Manu Raju reports from Frankfort, Ky.: “Kentucky is the Bluegrass State, but by the time Mitch McConnell is done with his reelection campaign, it may be better known for scorched earth. The top Senate Republican is preparing to wage a ruthless campaign to hang on to his job. He’s already on the air with nearly $ 200,000 in TV and radio ads, is assembling streams of data to target voters with tailor-made messages, and has quietly moved to lock down support from virtually every state GOP legislator. He says he’ll use ‘every penny’ of a war chest certain to exceed the $ 21 million he spent in 2008. He may have already scared away one contender: Ashley Judd, who Wednesday decided to forgo a bid for the Democratic nomination. McConnell’s strategy is similar to recent efforts by Senate stalwarts Majority Leader Harry Reid and John McCain, who each won reelection with big fundraising numbers to discourage possible opponents and constant attack ads to discredit those who do run.

– “The bull’s-eye on McConnell’s back has never been larger — tea party foes are unhappy with some of his compromises over his three-decade career, and Democrats see both a prime pick-up opportunity and a chance to knock off the opposition GOP leader. But neither have recruited a challenger yet, and McConnell isn’t waiting for his opponents to field one. ‘My view is if you’re going to be a bigger target, you’re going to adopt different tactics,’ McConnell told POLITICO in a wide-ranging interview this week before Judd dropped out. ‘I think we’ve made it pretty clear … that we intend to be very aggressive from Day One. And we are. And that involves not ignoring any potential opponent.’

– “The focus now shifts to Alison Lundergan Grimes, the 34-year-old Kentucky secretary of state. If Grimes doesn’t run, which is quite possible, Democrats could be without a top-tier candidate to take on the GOP leader. With GOP primaries threatening entrenched incumbents all over the country, the 71-year-old McConnell has worked aggressively to win over major players in the tea party movement through aggressive outreach, fundraising and efforts to help them politically … but also touting his efforts to cut bipartisan deals that could appeal to middle-of-the-road voters.” http://politi.co/YVk6Yd

JUDD made her announcement Wednesday afternoon in a series of tweets from her account @AshleyJudd: “After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate. I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader. While that won’t be me at this time, I will continue to work as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people & their needs, dreams, and great potential. Thanks for even considering me as that person & know how much I love our Commonwealth. Thank you!”

– In a blog post, Judd later took a jab at McConnell and left the door open to a potential run down the road: “[I]t’s time Kentucky had an alternative to the cynical politics and self-serving tactics of Mitch McConnell. It would be the greatest honor of my life to be entrusted as a public servant to our beloved Kentucky. Perhaps someday I will be. However, with the help of my pastors and mentors, I have thoughtfully and prayerfully concluded that I won’t run for the United States Senate at this time.” http://bit.ly/YVs0ku

McCONNELL NOT CAVING TO OBAMACARE – National Journal’s Chris Frates reports: “A few minutes after the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision upholding President Obama’s health care law last summer, a senior adviser to Mitch McConnell walked into the Senate Republican leader’s office to gauge his reaction. McConnell was clearly disappointed, and for good reason. For many conservatives, the decision was the death knell in a three-year fight to defeat reforms that epitomized everything they thought was wrong with Obama’s governing philosophy. But where some saw finality, McConnell saw opportunity — and still does….

– “McConnell, a master of byzantine Senate procedure, immediately realized that, as a tax, the individual mandate would be subject to the budget reconciliation process, which exempted it from the filibuster. In other words, McConnell had just struck upon how to repeal Obamacare with a simple majority vote. The Kentucky Republican called a handful of top aides into his office and told them, “Figure out how to repeal this through reconciliation. I want to do this.” McConnell ordered a repeal plan ready in the event the GOP took back control of the Senate in November — ironic considering Democrats used the same process more than two years earlier in a successful, last-shot effort to muscle the reforms into law. …

– “By Election Day, Senate Republicans were ready to, as McConnell put it, ‘take this monstrosity down.’ ‘We were prepared to do that had we had the votes to do it after the election. Well, the election didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,’ McConnell told National Journal in an interview. ‘The monstrosity has … begun to be implemented and we’re not giving up the fight.’” http://bit.ly/102hKtU

GRASSLEY WRITING GOP GUN BILL – John Bresnahan and Manu Raju write for the hometown paper: “Sen. Chuck Grassley is crafting an alternative Republican gun control bill, a move that could further complicate what will already be a difficult lift for Democrats and the White House. The Iowa Republican has strongly opposed expanded background checks for gun sales, the key provision of the Democratic gun bill set for debate next month, as well as an assault weapons ban or limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines. But Grassley was the only GOP lawmaker on the Senate Judiciary Committee who supported beefed-up penalties for ‘straw purchases’ of guns as part of a gun-trafficking provision approved by the panel. And Grassley has said he would back additional school-safety measures as well.” Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told POLITICO this week “it might be something I can support.” http://politi.co/14q6jkd

– Manu also reports that President Obama has set a second date with Senate Republicans for April 10. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is organizing the dinner. http://politi.co/YfZm1K

AT THE BORDER, SENATORS WATCH WOMAN JUMP THE FENCE – The Arizona Republic’s Dan Nowicki in Nogales, Ariz.: “The top Democratic and Republican Senate negotiators on forthcoming immigration-reform legislation toured the Arizona-Mexico border on Wednesday, watching as U.S. authorities apprehended a woman who had scaled a border fence and reiterating their commitment to strengthening security along the international line. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., are leading the ongoing bipartisan ‘Gang of Eight’ talks that many hope will result in the introduction of a sweeping bill when the Senate returns to session after a two-week Easter break. The two veteran lawmakers were joined on the tour, which included a helicopter ride, by two other Gang of Eight members: Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. The senators have been struggling to come to terms on big issues such as the future flow of foreign workers into the country, but the message from the quartet in southern Arizona was that the bill is moving forward.

– “At one point during the border tour, the senators witnessed a woman scaling an 18-foot fence a few yards from the entourage. McCain tweeted about the incident, telling his Twitter audience that the Border Patrol took the woman into custody. ‘One of the sad things about all of this is that most of those people who jump over the fence are doing that because they want a better life, and I understand that,” McCain elaborated to reporters later. “So we separate the drug cartels from individuals who are simply trying to cross over so that they can improve their lives, but at the same time, we have to have a legal way of doing that.’” http://bit.ly/WYgubq

@SenJohnMcCain: Just witnessed a woman successfully climb an 18-ft bollard fence a few yards from us in #Nogales pic.twitter.com/GnMwEeQwDB

– Schumer said the Gang of Eight was “90 percent” of the way toward a deal, our own Anna Palmer reports: http://politi.co/16Z5qPi

–Obama told Spanish-language network Telemundo that he expects immigration reform legislation to be ready next month and that it could pass by the end of summer. http://usat.ly/102cwOJ

New York Times, A1, “Success on Political Front Can Be Setback in Gay Rights,” By Peter Baker: “As the justices of the Supreme Court struggled with the question of same-sex marriage this week, politicians in Congress kept handing down their own verdict. One after another, a series of lawmakers in recent days endorsed allowing gay men and lesbians to wed. But momentum in the political world for gay rights could actually limit momentum in the legal world. While the court may throw out a federal law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the justices signaled over two days of arguments that they might not feel compelled to intervene further, since the democratic process seems to be playing out on its own, state by state, elected official by elected official.

– “The prospect that gay rights advocates may become a victim of their own political success was underscored during arguments on Wednesday over the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Opponents of the law were left to make the paradoxical argument that the nation has come to accept that gay men and lesbians deserve the same right to marriage as heterosexuals while maintaining that they are a politically oppressed class deserving the protection of the courts. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. pressed that point with the lawyer for the plaintiff, a New York woman suing to recover federal estate taxes she would not have had to pay had her spouse been a man. ‘You don’t doubt that the lobby supporting the enactment of same-sex marriage laws in different states is politically powerful, do you?’ he asked the lawyer. For purposes of the law, said the lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, ‘I would, your honor.’ ‘Really?’ the chief justice asked skeptically. ‘As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case.’” http://nyti.ms/XiiVXw

Washington Post, A1, “Voters shift on marriage issue, and Senate Democrats follow,” By David A. Fahrenthold and Paul Kane: http://wapo.st/15YjRzL

LONELY HEARTS CLUB: THE DEM HOLDOUTS ON GAY MARRIAGE – Jonathan Allen has he story for POLITICO: “Only nine of the 55 Democratic senators don’t currently back gay marriage — and some of them are starting to feel the heat from frustrated base voters at home and from the example of their peers in Washington. President Barack Obama, the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, and all of the serious potential contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, are now firmly in support of gay marriage. That makes it increasingly difficult for Democratic lawmakers to defend positions that stop short of endorsing what proponents call ‘marriage equality.’ They’re seen as being on the wrong side of history — even bigoted — in the eyes of progressives, establishment Democrats and no small number of Republicans and political independents. …

–“The nine Democrats who haven’t endorsed gay marriage are Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Lousiana, Bill Nelson of Florida, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Carper, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.” http://politi.co/Yg1IO3

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GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 28, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include @JohnJSpears and @SenBrianSchatz.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – The House and Senate are in recess this week and next week.

AROUND THE HILL – Join POLITICO at 8 a.m. on April 9 as our Chief Economic Correspondent Ben White takes his daily newsletter live for the first-ever Morning Money Breakfast Briefing featuring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). RSVP here: http://bit.ly/Zr2aEJ

BUDGET CUTS: SENATE TO PRIVATIZE ITS BARBERSHOP – Jeremy W. Peters writes in the New York Times: “They have survived the Civil War, the Great Depression and even Newt Gingrich. They are the caretakers of a Congressional institution that has often operated more like a gentleman’s club than a house of government, complete with a gilded members-only dining room, chandeliered sitting parlors and Carrara marble bath tubs. But the barbers of the United States Senate — along with a shoeshine attendant, a manicurist and the stylists who clip, color, feather and fluff senatorial locks from a basement salon across the street from the Capitol — may finally be losing their coveted status. Because of the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, which are forcing government agencies to trim their spending and suspend some programs, the Senate will soon start privatizing its money-losing Hair Care Services unit, a cherished amenity that dates back to the early 19th century, when many senators lived in rooming houses with no running water. ‘It’s time,’ said Senator John McCain of Arizona, a longtime patron who, like many others in the Capitol, said he recognized the infeasibility of government-subsidized haircuts for senators and their staff. ‘In fact, I was talking to some of my friends there the other day,” Mr. McCain added, his thinning head of white hair looking freshly shorn, “and they said they recognized too that the time has come.’” http://nyti.ms/Yhg1BY

MARKEY, LYNCH TANGLE OVER OBAMACARE IN FIRST TV DEBATE – Martin Finucane reports for the Boston Globe: “US Representatives Edward J. Markey and Stephen F. Lynch tangled over Lynch’s vote against President Obama’s health care law in a televised debate tonight between the two contenders for the Democratic nomination in the special election race for US Senate.  Lynch said he didn’t vote for the bill because ‘it was a very flawed bill and we missed a real opportunity to create real health care reform.’ Markey described his own vote for the Affordable Care Act as ‘the proudest vote of my career’ and said, ‘Steve, when that vote came up, you were wrong.’ Lynch responded, ‘What we did there was wrong,’ describing what he said were several flaws in the law and calling it a giveaway to health insurance companies. The half-hour debate between Markey and Lynch followed another half-hour debate that featured the Republican candidates, State Representative Daniel B. Winslow, former US attorney Michael J. Sullivan, and Gabriel E. Gomez, a private equity investor and former Navy SEAL.” http://bo.st/15YrKVQ

RECORDS DETAIL LOUGHNER’S BEHAVIOR BEFORE TUCSON SHOOTING – “In hindsight, the red flags seem to be everywhere,” the L.A. Times’ Cindy Carcamo and Michael Mello write from Tucson. “By the time Jared Lee Loughner shot and killed six people, wounding 13 — including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — his parents had already taken away his shotgun, tested him for drugs and forbade him from using the family vehicle after dusk. Months earlier, officials at his community college had refused to allow him to return to campus until he passed a mental evaluation. Hours before he went on a shooting rampage, a Wal-Mart clerk had declined to sell him ammunition.

– “These details emerged Wednesday when authorities released nearly 3,000 pages of investigative reports, painting a picture of a man who had become unhinged and the people who had tried to intervene, worried he was a danger to himself and others. The disclosure of the case documents — previously kept under seal — comes after Loughner was sentenced in November to life in prison without parole. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges in the rampage at a constituent event Giffords, a Democrat, was hosting at a grocery store parking lot in north Tucson in 2011. In an interview with law enforcement officials, Loughner’s mother, Amy Loughner, said her son had been acting strangely for about a year, often talking or laughing to himself, and was angry with the government, though she did not say why.” http://lat.ms/YVuj6U

GOHMERT PULLS RANK ON COPS OVER PARKING TICKET – Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan have the scoop for POLITICO: “A Texas Republican congressman got into a late-night verbal altercation with U.S. Park Police officers earlier this month, pulling rank in an attempt to get out of a parking ticket near the Lincoln Memorial. Shortly after 11 p.m. on March 13, officers wrote Rep. Louie Gohmert a citation for parking his black Ford SUV in a spot reserved for National Park Service vehicles, according to a Park Police report obtained by POLITICO. But Gohmert wasn’t having it: He told the Park Police that his congressional parking placard allows him to park in that spot, and he’s on the committee that oversees the agency. Gohmert took the ticket off his windshield and placed it on a police car along with his business card with a written message: ‘Oversight of Park Service is my job! Natural Resources Thus the Congressional Plate in window.’

– “He was ‘rude and irate,’ one officer reported. Another wrote that Gohmert was ‘ranting.’ ‘I was issued a ticket and I am a congressman and parked my vehicle in the NPS parking only because I have a Congress placard, see,’ Gohmert told one officer, according to the report. ‘I am going to a meeting on the Hill and I am the one who oversees the National Park Services Natural Resources.’” http://politi.co/11LXHnI

WEDNSDAY’S TRIVIA – We only got one correct answer to yesterday’s question. Shawn Hils answered that the only Democrat Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) says he’s donated to in the past was his son-in-law, Ed Ableser, who serves in the Arizona state House of Representatives.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – Shawn Hils has today’s question: Former New York Knicks star Bill Bradley played ran for president in 2000 only to drop out during the Democratic primary. Name another presidential candidate who also played in the NBA and lost in a presidential primary. First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

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POLITICO – Top 10 – The Huddle

McConnell taking no prisoners, Judd: I"m not running, Grassley writes GOP gun bill, Sens. watch woman scale border fence, Senate"s Lonely Hearts Club, Markey/Lynch tangle on TV