POLITICO Nightly: How the debate game is played

 

BY CHARLIE MAHTESIAN AND CALDER MCHUGH Donald Trump and Joe Biden participate in the final 2020 presidential debate at Belmont University on October 22, 2020 in Nashville. | Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty Images RULES OF ENGAGEMENT — There’s an ongoing discussion within the political-media industry complex over whether Donald Trump got rolled in his debate agreement with Joe Biden. In his eagerness to debate the president, the argument goes, Trump gave away the farm by agreeing to nearly all the terms that the Biden campaign proposed. There will only be two debates, one in June and one in September, rather than the three or more the Trump campaign wanted. There won’t be a live audience for Trump to feed off. The criteria laid out by the Biden campaign also managed to eliminate the prospect of a Fox News hosted presidential debate. The president’s reelect played “Mar-A-Lago like a fiddle ,” said Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., a former Republican National Committee chairman and co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the longstanding institution rendered obsolete by the agreement. It’s an arguable point, as long as some key logistical details remain up in the air. Trump might have been a little too quick to accept the terms of engagement, but until all the venues, dates, conditions, rules — and participants — are settled, it won’t be clear if either campaign can claim an advantage. Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s status, for example, remains unresolved. The two-date proposal agreed to by Biden and Trump appears to exclude him because he falls short of several of the thresholds required to qualify for the debate. But that’s not a done deal. And every last detail matters — particularly in a contest between two bitter rivals, both of whom are seeking to make a point about each other’s fitness for office. In a considerably less toxic campaign, for example, the 2012 debate memorandum of understanding between the Obama and Romney campaigns ran more than 20 pages, covering minutiae such as how the candidates would be addressed by the moderators, TV cut-away shots and scores of other staging and format questions. The gamesmanship between the campaigns — not to mention the networks — is ongoing. Consider Fox’s play to get in the debate game. Frozen out of the presidential election debates by the Biden campaign, Fox responded by proposing a vice presidential event at Virginia State University. In December, Virginia State had been selected by the CPD as one of the three debate venues, the first HBCU ever to host a presidential debate. They lost that historic distinction when Biden and Trump sidelined the commission and cut their own deal. Fox’s proposal sought to force the Biden campaign’s hand. It had already accepted an invitation from CBS News for Vice President Kamala Harris to debate Trump’s running mate; the Fox proposal now places them in the awkward position of possibly having to deny an HBCU an opportunity to host a presidential debate at the very moment Biden is attempting to step up his outreach to Black voters. All of this went down on the eve of Biden’s scheduled commencement address at Morehouse College, the famed HBCU in Atlanta. Quick to recognize an opportunity to drive a wedge between Biden and Black voters, Trump accepted the Fox proposal the same day. “On behalf of the future Vice President of the United States, who I have not yet chosen, we hereby accept the Fox Vice Presidential Debate, hopefully at Virginia State University, the first Historically Black College or University to host a Debate - Date to be determined. I urge Vice President Kamala Harris to agree to this,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Fox-VSU partnership hasn’t been formalized, according to a source familiar with the discussions. The source said Fox News is “in talks” with VSU, while a VSU spokesperson noted, “Virginia State University continues to work with the Commission on Presidential Debates and at this point have made no commitments, outside of the CPD, regarding a debate.” The vice presidential standoff has no clear off-ramp yet, with the Biden camp committed to CBS and Trump committed to Fox. And the Trump campaign doesn’t even have a vice presidential nominee yet. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s authors at cmahtesian@politico.com and cmchugh@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie and @calder_mchugh .   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY .     TRUMP ON TRIAL AT REST — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial rested their case against the former president today, bringing an end to more than four weeks of testimony from witnesses they’ve called in their attempt to convince the jury that he orchestrated a scheme to cover up a payment to a porn star. The conclusion of the case from the Manhattan district attorney’s office moves the trial one step closer to determining whether Trump will become a convicted felon as he runs for president as the presumptive Republican nominee. Though Trump is indicted in three other criminal cases, the chances that any of those will go to trial before the November election have dwindled in recent weeks. It’s not clear how long the presentation of Trump’s defense will last, but the judge presiding over the case, Justice Juan Merchan, said he expects closing arguments to take place next Tuesday, after Memorial Day weekend. Then the jury will begin deliberating. DEFENSIVE POSTURE — The defense called Robert Costello, an ally of Rudy Giuliani who tried to persuade Cohen to stay loyal to Trump in 2018 after the FBI raided Cohen’s properties. Last week, Costello appeared before a GOP-led House subcommittee and accused Cohen of repeatedly lying on the witness stand during the hush money trial. On the stand, Costello contradicted Michael Cohen’s sworn testimony regarding Trump’s knowledge of the Stormy Daniels hush money payment, saying Cohen told him numerous times that “Trump knew nothing about those payments.” COURTROOM CLEARED — Justice Juan Merchan ordered the courtroom cleared after he admonished Costello about “proper decorum” in his courtroom. The judge at first cleared the jury from the room and warned Costello not to give side-eye or roll his eyes at him if he didn’t agree with his ruling. “You don’t say geez,” the judge said. The judge then requested the jury be brought back in, but then snapped: “Are you staring me down right now?” He then said: “clear the courtroom.” Journalists in the gallery were then told to leave the room. Before kicking reporters out of the courtroom, Merchan admonished Costello: “When there’s a witness on the stand, if you don’t like my ruling you don’t say ‘geez.’ And then you don’t say ‘strike it’ You don’t give me side eye and you don’t roll your eyes.” COSTELLO CROSS — Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger kicked off the cross-examination of Costello by asking about how and why his firm reached out to Cohen in April 2018 . He resisted some questions by saying twice that an email she referred to “speaks for itself.” “You were hoping Mr. Cohen would hire you?” she asked. “I wasn’t hoping anything,” Costello said. “I didn’t know him from a hole in the wall.” He later accused Hoffinger of trying to “push me” into certain answers. “I didn’t want him as a client,” Costello insisted. The prosecution will pick back up their cross-examination of Costello on Tuesday. STICKY FINGERS — Under aggressive questioning by Trump attorney Todd Blanche, Michael Cohen admitted that he stole from the Trump Organization. Cohen sought a reimbursement from the company for $50,000 to pay a tech vendor, Red Finch, that attempted to skew online polls in Trump’s favor in 2016. But Cohen gave the owner of the firm only about $20,000 . “You stole it from the Trump Organization?” Blanche asked about the $30,000 difference. “Yes, sir,” Cohen responded calmly. The total theft actually amounted to $60,000, because all the sums were doubled to cover taxes Cohen might owe. WHAT'D I MISS? — Senate Banking Chair Brown calls on Biden to replace embattled FDIC head: Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown today called on President Joe Biden to replace FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg , after damning reports of a toxic workplace culture at the bank regulator where Gruenberg has served for nearly two decades. Brown said in a statement that there must be “fundamental change” at the FDIC, which insures more than $10 trillion in bank deposits and oversees thousands of financial institutions, in a move that is likely to turn the tide against the agency head with other Democrats as well. MAGA REPUBLICANS DEFENDING WAR CRIMES  & GENOCIDE! — Republican lawmakers blast ICC over Netanyahu warrant: Republicans are vowing retribution after the International Criminal Court said it would seek an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications for warrants against Netanyahu, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the commander of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Republicans on key foreign policy panels blasted the decision and warned that they would make good on threats from earlier this month to punish the international tribunal, of which neither the United States nor Israel are members, if it went after Israeli officials. — Biden’s top military adviser chides Israel for losing ground to Hamas: The Pentagon’s top general offered a rare critique of Israel’s war strategy today, warning Israeli troops’ failure to hold ground they had taken from Hamas in northern Gaza could have long-term effects. “Not only do you have to actually go in and clear out whatever adversary you are up against, you have to go in, hold the territory and then you’ve got to stabilize it,” said Gen. C.Q. Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, drawing on his years in the Middle East. Brown, who rarely chides Israeli forces, stressed that the Israeli tactic of pushing Hamas fighters out of one area and then leaving makes achieving lasting stability more difficult. NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 SPENDING BLITZ — The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ rights group in the United States, is launching a $15 million commitment to help Democratic President Joe Biden defeat Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 election. The spending blitz, shared first with NBC News, will cover the six key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. The group says it will include paid ads, staff hires, field campaigns and events in those states, which are poised to decide who wins the presidency and Congress. AROUND THE WORLD Rescue teams are seen near the site of the crash of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in northwestern Iran on May 19, 2024. | Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP DEATH IN IRAN — Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi — once seen as a potential successor to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — died after his helicopter crashed into trees in a mountainous northwestern region of the Islamic Republic on Sunday. The Iranian branch of the Red Crescent humanitarian network said today its search and rescue teams had reached the crash site and “found no signs of the helicopter’s occupants being alive.” The discovery of the burned-out wreckage of Raisi’s helicopter among blackened trees — with seemingly only the tail surviving the crash — followed hours of searches in the fog-bound mountain valleys of Dizmar forest near the border with Azerbaijan. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also on board and is presumed dead, along with the head of the presidential guard Mehdi Mousavi, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader in East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem and the helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot and crew. Raisi, 63, was a conservative cleric and former judiciary chief who was responsible for decades of vicious crackdowns against his own people’s aspirations for greater personal freedoms and democracy, arresting, torturing and executing tens of thousands of the Islamist regime’s opponents. Educated in the seminary city of Qom and dubbed “the butcher,” he was alleged to have been involved in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s, according to Iran’s opposition. As judiciary chief, he was also directly responsible for the wave of arrests and executions that followed massive anti-regime protests in 2019-2020.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST:  Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today .     NIGHTLY NUMBER $1,000 The amount that billionaire philanthropist Rob Hale gave each graduating student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth , under the condition that they keep $500 and give $500 away. RADAR SWEEP CAPTURE, BABY, CAPTURE — Kern County, California, has been struggling with the transition away from fossil fuels. The town of Taft was once a booming oil producer, bringing jobs and money to the region. But the cash has dried up, and many residents of Taft who once worked on oil-related jobs have been forced to take lower paying jobs elsewhere or go on unemployment. But now, they’re trying a bold new strategy — working together with the oil company California Resources Corporation in order to try to build out a carbon capture industry , creating new manufacturing jobs and becoming one of the leaders in producing renewable energy. For Grist, Jake Bittle reports on the shift, its advocates and its critics. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1970: Participants carry American flags in a rally supporting President Richard Nixon's Vietnam War policy in downtown Manhattan. | AP Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .   Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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POLITICO Nightly: Putin’s shrinking circle of friends

BY GABRIEL GAVIN Presented by  Traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a gift shop in Moscow on March 11, 2024. | Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images THE EASTERN FRONT — Russian President Vladimir Putin will touch down in Beijing Thursday as part of a state visit that he is hoping will help shore up his country’s wartime economy in the face of Western sanctions. It’s the second time the longtime strongman has flown to China in less than a year, and comes just a week after he was sworn in for an unprecedented fifth term in office following an election widely understood to have been rigged in his favor. The message is clear: for Russia, the wind is blowing East. Ahead of the visit, Putin declared that ties between the two nations have reached “unprecedented” levels, only two years after they formally announced a “no limits” partnership. Now, analysts say stronger trade ties, energy sales and access to military hardware are likely to be high on the agenda as Moscow continues to grapple with the consequences of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Putin is set to get a warm welcome from his counterpart, Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, he’s likely to find his hosts are less interested in his lofty notions of an anti-Western alliance, and more focused on what they can get out of him in his hour of need. “China is very much a pragmatic country still — it gives off ideological noises, but it has almost a purely transactional approach,” Ian Garner, a historian of Russian culture and war propaganda, told Nightly. “Right now, it’s in [China’s] interests to use Russia as a wedge to frustrate the West and achieve its own economic ambitions, but the second it’s not in their own interests, they will drop Putin like a stone.” Cracks are already beginning to show in the relationship between the two Eurasian powers. For years, Moscow has been talking about a potential pivot towards Asia, insisting Europe needed it more than it ever needed Europe. But Western embargoes on Russian fossil fuels have created a huge dent in the Kremlin’s budget, one that Beijing simply can’t fill. While Russian deliveries of natural gas to China peaked late last year, a long-mooted infrastructure project, designed to help replace EU customers and branded the Power of Siberia 2, has faced serious delays and an apparent lack of interest from Beijing. With sluggish economic growth of its own, China has little need for even more Russian gas and, if it buys it at all, will only do so at a major discount — something Putin’s inner circle has glossed over when they promise a new era of economic relations. There are other reasons Xi might be hesitant to ride to Putin’s rescue. Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed a new round of almost 300 sanctions against Chinese firms that it says help Moscow’s military-industrial complex circumvent restrictions on sensitive technologies. While Beijing has claimed the measures “lack international legal basis and authorization from the United Nations Security Council,” it is unlikely to want to risk further Western ire without clear reward. Far from being an ideological bedfellow, Beijing has even sought to rein in an increasingly belligerent and paranoid Russian government. On the eve of the visit, the Kremlin publicly backed Chinese calls for an end to the war in Ukraine, including opening peace talks. While Moscow evidently isn’t ready to do any deal with Kyiv that isn’t entirely on its own terms, the move shows just how much pressure the country is under to show it isn’t trying to drag Beijing into a ‘forever war’ that it wants no part of. And, as the circle of leaders willing to host Putin continues to shrink, Xi’s power in the relationship continues to grow — as does the sense that it’s Putin who is becoming bad for business. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ggavin@politico.eu or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @GabrielCSGavin .   A message from Safety Runs First: ADVANCING EQUINE SAFETY IN HORSERACING: Thoroughbred racing is applying unprecedented resources to protect the wellbeing of our horses. For the first time ever, all horses now run under the same safety and anti-doping rules, overseen by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Advanced diagnostic technologies and big data add a new layer of protection. Combining uniform rules and hands-on care with the latest technologies ensures safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com.   TRUMP ON TRIAL ON HOLD — The Trump trial was once again paused, as has become customary on Wednesdays throughout the trial. GETTING IN LINE — A large House GOP group is discussing a trip to New York to back up Donald Trump at his hush money trial, according to four Republicans familiar with the matter — joining a growing GOP trend. Those lawmakers considering a Thursday visit, which is not yet finalized, include a chunk of the House Freedom Caucus, two of those people told POLITICO, granted anonymity to discuss fluid discussions. Members of that conservative group are being particularly tight-lipped in case a busy House schedule this week delays their plans. Roughly 16 people from the House Freedom Caucus are eyeing a trip to New York, one of those people said. Chair Bob Good (R-Va.), whose primary opponent has made Good’s initial backing of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a wedge issue in the race, is among those included in the discussions, according to that person. “Every Republican should go support President Trump,” said Good, who declined to comment on whether he was making the trip and whether he has spoken to the former president about attending.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY .     WHAT'D I MISS? — Congress clears major aviation policy bill, after months of delays: The House voted today to send the biggest aviation bill in five years to President Joe Biden’s desk . The bill, H.R. 3935, cleared on a 387-26 vote, would inject $105 billion into the Federal Aviation Administration over five years and guide policy for everything from drones and air taxis to technology intended to help planes avoid runway collisions. It will also add five long-haul, round-trip flights a day to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, despite objections from D.C.-area lawmakers.  However, it contains no significant provisions to clamp down on oversight of Boeing, whose quality control problems have spiraled since a door panel blew off mid-air on one of its 737 MAX 9 jets in January. — Bipartisan group of senators unveil long-awaited guidance on AI bills: A bipartisan group of senators has taken a critical step forward in regulating artificial intelligence , releasing a long-awaited, Chuck Schumer-endorsed “roadmap” for addressing AI that Congress could take up this term. The bipartisan working group, which consists of Schumer, Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), has been developing the report for months, looking to outline areas of AI ripe for bipartisan regulation. The quartet hosted a number of AI briefings this term for senators, hoping to educate sometimes tech-averse lawmakers. Top line AI priorities in the report include: Boosting funding for AI innovation; tackling nationwide standards for AI safety and fairness; using AI to strengthen U.S. national security; addressing potential job displacement for U.S. workers caused by AI; tackling so-called “deepfakes” being used in elections, and “non-consensual distribution of intimate images”; ensuring that opportunities to partake in AI innovation reach schools and companies. — Lawmakers blast FDIC chief over toxic workplace: FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg faced a bipartisan grilling on Capitol Hill today over a blistering report that found pervasive harassment and mistreatment of employees at the agency on his watch. Democrats blasted Gruenberg’s leadership and openly questioned whether he should stay at the agency. But they stopped short of joining Republicans in calling for his removal, which would imperil a crackdown on big banks and halt other pending financial rules opposed by the industry. Gruenberg appeared before lawmakers for the first time since the independent report last week portrayed a workplace culture that for years was rife with sexual misconduct, discrimination and other mistreatment of employees that managers did little to stop. NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 DEBATE AGREEMENT — Having spent months avoiding direct engagement on when and where to debate, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden seemed to agree on a time and place in a matter of minutes today , setting up high-stakes showdowns in late June and mid September, reports POLITICO. The former president’s campaign announced that it accepted an invitation to debate the current president on CNN on June 27 and on ABC on September 10. Biden, having previously said that he had “received and accepted an invitation” from CNN then agreed to participate in ABC News’ forum, too. SQUEEZED OUT — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is lashing out after being left out of the upcoming presidential debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump that are scheduled for June and September, writes POLITICO. Kennedy, who is unlikely to meet the debate qualification requirements laid out by CNN, said in a social media post that the president and former president are “trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win.” RFK JR IS NOT ON BALLOTS! ALWAYS A WHINER! excerpt:   He’s officially made the ballot in Michigan and is still attempting to qualify in other key states. According to CNN’s rules, a candidate must be on the ballot in enough states to earn a majority of Electoral College votes by June 20. Although the Kennedy campaign is making efforts to meet the state-by-state qualifications to get on the ballot, many of the states won’t certify the candidates who have qualified until later in the summer.   A message from Safety Runs First:   AROUND THE WORLD Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is transported from a helicopter by medics to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia today. | AFP via Getty Images ‘ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT’ — Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is in critical condition after he was shot five times following a government meeting . “He is fighting for his life,” Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák told press outside the hospital where Fico is being operated on. “We are hoping that he is strong enough to make it.” “He suffered a polytrauma,” Kaliňák said, adding that 59 year-old Fico has been in surgery for three and half hours. “It’s a really complicated health condition.” More detailed health information will be available later, Kaliňák said, adding that for now there is “no good news.” The shooting shocked politicians in Europe, where such incidents are rare. World leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attack and sent their thoughts to Fico and his family. Police identified the shooter as 71 year-old “Juraj C.” Witnesses alleged that after a government meeting, the attacker shouted to Fico to approach him, offering his hand, after which shots were fired. According to local media reports, the shooter was a published poet and in his retirement worked for a security firm. Some government officials blamed the violence on Slovakia’s polarized political debate and climate of intolerance for differing viewpoints.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST:  Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today .     NIGHTLY NUMBER 3.4 percent The percentage that the consumer price index — one of the key measures of inflation — has risen over a 12-month period , according to a report from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released today. Inflation eased slightly in April, beating estimates. RADAR SWEEP THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR — Formerly iconic streets in American cities around the country now look remarkably similar to one another. Trendy restaurant chains like Blue Bottle, Salt & Straw, Shake Shack and sweetgreen, to name a few, are all popping up right near each other in places that were once cultural landmarks for cities . These places are often convenient and deliver on their promise to deliver tasty or healthy meals. But they’ve also served to create a kind of cultural flatness around the country that didn’t used to exist — you might now get a remarkably similar dining experience on many streets in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Austin. Meghan McCarron writes about the trend and what it’s done to the country in Eater. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1944: U.S. soldiers pile huge rolls of wire fence at an army supply depot in England for the coming invasion of the European continent. | AP Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .   A message from Safety Runs First: BRINGING RACING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: Three years ago, Congress created the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to enhance the safety and integrity of Thoroughbred racing. Under HISA, for the first time in the sport’s 200-year history, every horse across the country is now running under the same safety and anti-doping rules. In addition, HISA is partnering with leading technology providers, including AWS and Palantir, to create new data-enabled tools to assist veterinary screenings. These tools add a new layer of protection by helping identify at-risk horses before they reach the starting gate. The industry is also investing in the latest technologies for diagnostic imaging and wearable biometric devices. Combining enhanced, uniform rules, data analytics and cutting-edge technologies is improving safety outcomes and enhancing the ecosystems of care at every track nationwide, ensuring safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com.     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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