First Draft on Politics: Coffee With Ivanka?

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Friday, December 16, 2016 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Politics »] [The New York Times] Friday, December 16, 2016 [President-elect Donald J. Trump spoke at a rally in Hershey, Pa., on Thursday.] President-elect Donald J. Trump spoke at a rally in Hershey, Pa., on Thursday. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Good Friday morning. • Donald J. Trump continues to withstand pressure to acknowledge Russia’s election meddling. The president-elect on Thursday again [refused to accept Moscow’s][incursions], asking why the Obama administration had waited “so long to act” if Russia “or some other entity” had carried out cyberattacks. Mr. Trump is being pressed to acknowledge [intelligence agencies’ conclusions] that Russia was behind the hacking. Aides said any comments in that direction would be all but impossible before the Electoral College convenes on Monday. Even if Mr. Trump were to embrace the conclusions, there remains the question of [how to catch a Russian cybercriminal]. More often than not, we found, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department investigate and compile accusations and evidence against people who will almost certainly never stand trial. • First family in the West Wing, after all? Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are likely [to take formal roles] in the White House, Kellyanne Conway indicated on Thursday. “The anti-nepotism law apparently has an exception if you want to work in the West Wing, because the president is able to appoint his own staff,” Ms. Conway, Mr. Trump’s final campaign manager, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Democrats are unlikely to agree with that interpretation. • Coffee with Ivanka Trump? Maybe not. Ozan M. Ozkural, a London-based investment manager, found a creative way to gain one-on-one access to the new first family: [He bid nearly $60,000 to have a cup of coffee with Ms. Trump] for a charity event she was hosting. He was one of several high-profile bidders in a feverish competition to get time with a child of Mr. Trump just as he begins his term in office. But they may not now get the chance. Eric Trump told us on Thursday that he was considering shutting down the bidding — 10 days after it started — about an hour after we raised questions about the auction. • Another Democrat enters the party leadership race, as the Republicans settle theirs. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez officially added his name on Thursday to the list of candidates competing to lead the Democratic National Committee. In doing so, he is stepping into the middle of a [heated debate over the party’s future] — the outcome of which will shape Democrats’ post-Obama identity and carry major implications in both the midterm elections of 2018 and the next presidential race. Mr. Perez’s chief competitor: Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota. The Republicans [unveiled their own committee leadership] on Wednesday, when Mr. Trump announced that Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and a Trump loyalist, would lead the Republican National Committee. • A fight over gubernatorial powers is brewing in North Carolina. Roy Cooper, the incoming Democratic governor of North Carolina, [angrily attacked] the state’s Republican-led legislature on Thursday for what he called an unprecedented effort to strip his powers before he takes office. Mr. Cooper was responding to Republicans who had called a surprise special legislative session on Wednesday. In it, [they introduced measures] that included ending the new governor’s control over election boards, requiring State Senate approval of his cabinet members and stripping his power to appoint University of North Carolina trustees. If the measures pass, the departing Republican governor, Pat McCrory, could sign them into law before he leaves office. — NICHOLAS FANDOS  Got a confidential news tip? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn more »]  ADVERTISEMENT  What We’re Watching • President Obama will hold a news conference at the White House on Friday afternoon, before departing with his family for Hawaii for a last holiday vacation as president. He is scheduled to be on vacation into the new year. • Mr. Trump will hold a “thank you” rally with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Friday night in Orlando, Fla. • On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Trump will hold another rally, in Mobile, Ala., alongside Jeff Sessions, the state’s senior senator and Mr. Trump’s choice for attorney general. • The president-elect will end the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate, where he is expected to spend the holidays. • With the incoming and departing presidents set to go on vacation and Congress not in session, Washington is about to get very quiet.  [Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota, left Trump Tower after a meeting this month.] Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota, left Trump Tower after a meeting this month. Sam Hodgson for The New York Times Reaching Across the Aisle? President-elect Donald J. Trump campaigned on an unusual mix of policy positions that pulled from both Republican and Democratic orthodoxy. He drew support from the mostly white working class of rural America that once leaned blue. And he said he would gladly work with the rival party to strike deals once he took office. But with the top positions in his administration mostly filled out, it looks as if Mr. Trump could well pass on an early opportunity embraced by nearly every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to reach across the aisle: appointing a member of the opposing party to his cabinet. So far, of the [20 or so cabinet and other top-level advisory positions] Mr. Trump has announced, not one has been a Democrat. With only a few seats left at the table, Democrats hope it will stay that way. The reason is that an appointment from Democratic ranks — particularly from the Senate — would be more than just good optics for the Republicans. If Mr. Trump were to nominate a red-state Democrat, there would be a better than average shot that the nominee’s replacement would be a Republican, in that way padding the G.O.P.’ margins in Congress. Democrats know the strategy well. Working in an earlier, Democratic-dominated era, Mr. Obama’s staff used cabinet positions and other top jobs, like ambassadorships, to the same effect. Mr. Obama went so far as set a modern record when he initially named three Republicans to his first cabinet in 2009. One of those picks, Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, withdrew his name from consideration before the Senate ever considered his nomination as commerce secretary, but the other two, Ray LaHood and Robert M. Gates, went on to serve. There have been others since. The custom is as old as the nation itself, dating (at least in spirit) to George Washington’s choice of Thomas Jefferson, a leading critic of his administration, as the first secretary of state. More recently, President George W. Bush had only one Democrat, former Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, serve in his cabinet during eight years in office. The same was true of President Bill Clinton, who made William S. Cohen, a moderate Republican senator, secretary of defense for his second term. Mr. Trump, of course, still has time and jobs to spare. He has yet to announce picks for secretary of veterans affairs, secretary of agriculture, director of the Office of Management and Budget or U.S. trade representative — cabinet-level positions that have gone to members of the opposing party in the past. As Mr. Trump weighs his final picks, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from the deep red state of North Dakota, appears to be the most likely member of her party still in the running. She met with Mr. Trump in New York on Dec. 2. At the time, Ms. Heitkamp was said to be under consideration for several positions, but she is now a top contender to lead the Department of Agriculture. A choice of Ms. Heitkamp, a centrist Democrat, would have an added advantage for Mr. Trump and the Republicans: It would quickly trigger a special election to fill the vacancy in a state that leans heavily to the right. — NICHOLAS FANDOS [Robert E. Anderson Jr., center, served until last year as the F.B.I.’s most senior executive overseeing computer investigations.] Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency [U.S. Faces Tall Hurdles in Detaining or Deterring Russian Hackers] By ADAM GOLDMAN AND MATT APUZZO Moscow says American efforts to capture those responsible may violate international law. And the Kremlin has shown that it will not be easily influenced by public shaming. [President-elect Donald J. Trump at a “thank you” rally in West Allis, Wis., on Tuesday.] Todd Heisler/The New York Times [Trump Falsely Says U.S. Claim of Russian Hacking Came After Election] By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS AND DAVID E. SANGER The president-elect’s Twitter messages, while misstating the facts, did raise questions over the Obama administration’s response to the cyberattack by Russia. [An exhibit at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, including a 1930s radio and an image of President-elect Franklin D Roosevelt. He and his wife, Eleanor, lived in the building for most of 25 years.] Joshua Bright for The New York Times About New York [Before That Gilded Tower, Another President-Elect Had a Manhattan Base] By JIM DWYER A double-width townhouse on the city’s East Side was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s residence for years, and his early administration took shape within. [President Obama is leaving behind an economy in much better shape than the one he inherited, but also with long-term weaknesses that his Council of Economic Advisers acknowledge in a new report.] Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Economic Trends [The Obama Economy Has Unfinished Business] By NEIL IRWIN The economy is clearly in much better shape than it was eight years ago — but that is a slightly misleading comparison. What We’re Reading • Is the Trump Tower’s Trump Grill the [worst restaurant in America]? In a restaurant review, Vanity Fair says it could be. Mr. Trump responded in [a message on Twitter], saying Vanity Fair was “way down, big trouble, dead!” • Whitley County, Ky., saw its uninsured rate fall by more than half under Obamacare. But its voters overwhelmingly supported Mr. Trump. Vox zeros in on these [Obamacare enrollees who voted for Trump] to try to decipher what swayed their decision. [Vox] • Watchdog groups say they are worried that the coming Trump government could do harm to data collection and transparency, according to FiveThirtyEight. It [investigates the decisions] that the Trump administration could take to “subtly and more systematically” compromise government-collected data should his team so choose.  [Ivanka Trump, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s older daughter, at Trump Tower in Manhattan last month.] [Available to the Highest Bidder: Coffee With Ivanka Trump] By ERIC LIPTON AND MAGGIE HABERMAN Proceeds were going to charity, but ethics lawyers questioned the fund-raising method and Eric Trump said he might shut it down. [Gov.-elect Roy Cooper of North Carolina criticized state Republicans for calling a special session of the General Assembly to introduce measures that would strip his powers.] [North Carolina’s Partisan Rift Widens in Fight Over Gubernatorial Powers] By RICHARD FAUSSET AND TRIP GABRIEL During a surprise special session, Republican lawmakers introduced a flurry of bills to undermine Roy Cooper, the incoming Democratic governor. [President-elect Donald J. Trump wishing supporters a “merry Christmas” at the start of a rally in Hershey, Pa., on Thursday.] [‘It’s So Sad,’ Trump Says of Syria, Promising ‘Safe Zones’] By MARK LANDLER The president-elect’s first reference since the election to an American role in Syria’s civil war came amid a humanitarian catastrophe in Aleppo. [Speaker Paul D. Ryan portrayed repeal of the health law not as an ideological crusade, but as a form of urgently needed relief.] [G.O.P. Plans to Replace Health Care Law With ‘Universal Access’] By ROBERT PEAR AND THOMAS KAPLAN Republicans said that by repealing the Affordable Care Act, and then delaying the effective date, they hoped to guarantee access to health care, not just to health insurance.  [Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Washington on Tuesday. He lamented last week that Hillary Clinton had not done enough to reach white working-class voters during her bid for the White House.] Al Drago/The New York Times [Democrats at Crossroads: Win Back Working-Class Whites, or Let Them Go?] By JONATHAN MARTIN AND ALEXANDER BURNS The party is at odds over whether it should tailor its message to the constituencies that propelled President Obama, or make an effort to court more moderate voters. [The new fake news feature on Facebook, as the site makes an effort to flag articles that are not true.]  [Facebook Mounts an Effort to Limit the Tide of Fake News] By MIKE ISAAC The social network said on Thursday that it had begun introducing a series of experiments to limit misinformation and false articles on its site. FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK] [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics] Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »] | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2016 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018