POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Dems drag Biden over migrants

 

BY LISA KASHINSKY Presented by ‘START PAYING ATTENTION’ — Top Massachusetts Democrats fed up with federal inaction on immigration are beginning to lash out at President Joe Biden. “The guy’s running for president. He better start paying attention to this,” an audibly frustrated House Speaker Ron Mariano said Wednesday. He had just been asked by Playbook whether the White House should designate a point person to coordinate states’ responses to the migrant surge, as Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker suggested in a letter to Biden this week. “We need to put a framework around this from the feds,” Mariano told reporters. “We need someone to take charge of this and say ‘this is what you can expect.’” Massachusetts House Speaker Ron Mariano at the State House | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO Massachusetts Democrats used to be careful not to name-drop Biden when talking about immigration issues even as they publicly pleaded with his administration for more money for the state’s emergency shelter system and expedited work permits for migrants. They instead made nonspecific references to the federal government and directed their concerns toward Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. But Biden is safe no longer as frustrations with his administration’s response — or lack thereof — to the deluge of new arrivals overwhelming Democratic strongholds begin to outweigh the potential political consequences of publicly berating the president. Mariano’s comments come as lawmakers weigh Gov. Maura Healey’s request for $250 million in additional funding for the emergency shelter system that’s now housing more than 6,700 homeless families, about half of which the state estimates are migrants. The Healey administration is burning through existing state money for the shelter program at a rapid clip. If families continue to flood the system at the current rate (about 25 per day) the Healey administration predicts it will exhaust the $325 million the state budgeted this fiscal year for the emergency shelter program in January — a full six months early. Money could run out even sooner for the administration’s “family welcome centers” and temporary emergency shelters at Eastern Nazarene College and Joint Base Cape Cod, and to pay the state's contracts with hotels housing homeless families. That's all according to the administration's responses to House leaders’ questions about the cost and mechanics of the shelter system that were provided to Playbook. The extra $250 million “would fund our current caseload through the end of the fiscal year,” the administration said. It includes $130 million for shelter and associated services, $33 million for the temporary emergency shelters and $87 million for “wraparound services and community supports” like school district reimbursements. But lawmakers are taking their time with this one as they work to understand the scope of the rapidly worsening shelter crisis. And the process could be further dragged out if they separate out the shelter funding from the rest of the $2 billion supplemental spending bill Healey filed to close out the last fiscal year. Shelter aid is “really not part of the closeout discussion, because that is fiscal ‘24 dollars that we’re supplementing,” Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues told Playbook. “My first priority is closing the books on fiscal ‘23.” GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips? Scoops? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com . TODAY — Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll launch their “Cutting Taxes, Saving You Money” tax-relief tour with stops at 11:30 a.m. at Gardner Elementary School and 2 p.m. at the Haverhill YMCA. Driscoll keynotes the Massachusetts Municipal Cybersecurity Summit at 9:30 a.m. in Worcester. Senate President Karen Spilka is on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” at 11 a.m. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at Estella restaurant’s anniversary celebration at 4 p.m.   A message from Delta Dental of Massachusetts: Delta Dental of Massachusetts is committed to educating communities around the state about how a healthy smile is a powerful thing. There are a multitude of connections between your oral and overall health, making it imperative to take care of your mouth. Healthy oral habits can help prevent more serious health concerns such as diabetes, heart disease, and depression later in life. Speak with your dentist or visit ExpressYourHealthMA.org for more information.   DATELINE BEACON HILL Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signs tax breaks into law on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at the State House. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO TOUTING THEIR TAX CUTS — Maura Healey is embarking on the tax-relief victory tour that Charlie Baker never got to take after the Democratic governor signed off on many of the tax-code changes her Republican predecessor put forward some 20 months ago. Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will traverse the state to tout savings for renters and low-income families and heirs and corporations. The slogan for their tour: "Cutting taxes, saving you money.” There’s even scissors on the graphic, for added emphasis. “Tax cuts are officially here in Massachusetts. The first major tax cuts in over 20 years,” a triumphant Healey declared minutes after inking into law one of her signature gubernatorial campaign promises. Not everyone is so thrilled. Progressives are still pushing back on elements of the tax package that they view as benefitting the wealthy and big corporations and undermining revenue gains from the so-called millionaires tax. And the Massachusetts High Technology Council is still considering legal action over changes to how future Chapter 62F rebates will be distributed. The tech trade group co-commissioned an Opinion Diagnostics poll that shows 62 percent of registered voters want the state to continue distributing refunds proportionally rather than making them equal for all taxpayers. But legislative leaders who spent the better part of two years haggling over tax relief were all smiles at the State House ceremony. And the detente between House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka appears to be continuing. The two publicly praised their partnership on the tax package and penned a joint op-ed for CommonWealth Magazine extolling its benefits. Top Democrats riding high on collaborative spirit also couldn’t resist poking fun at the chaos befalling their counterparts in Congress. “Isn’t it great to have a speaker actually in the House?” House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz quipped. — “Will $1 billion tax bill make Mass. more competitive? Don’t count on it,” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe. — “Healey makes first judicial nominations as governor, tapping commercial litigator and defense attorney,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Governor Maura Healey, a former civil rights lawyer and Massachusetts attorney general, began sketching her vision for the state’s judicial bench Wednesday, tapping a commercial litigator and defense attorney for two openings on the Superior Court. Adam L. Sisitsky, a Framingham resident and securities attorney at Mintz, and Tracy E. Duncan, a Springfield-based defense attorney, marked Healey’s first judicial nominations." — “Salary transparency in job postings would be required under new bill passed by Mass. House,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “Pitched as a way to help further combat racial and gender pay gaps, the bill would require businesses in the state with at least 25 employees to list a position's salary or wage range in their job postings.” — “A bill that would lower the stakes of the MCAS has its hearing on Beacon Hill,” by Max Larkin, WBUR: “Supporters of the Thrive Act said the MCAS doesn't reflect students’ full capacity and fails to close real achievement gaps between groups of students. Meanwhile, the bill’s opponents said the test provides a meaningful, high standard across a diverse state.”   GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     FROM THE HUB — “Over concerns, Boston council approves $3.4 million in controversial BRIC grants,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “With votes that broke along racial lines, the Boston City Council Wednesday passed a collection of grants totaling $3.4 million in additional funding for a controversial police intelligence gathering center amid concerns over potential civil liberties violations and racial profiling. The council approved the funding for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which maintains the city’s gang database and coordinates antiterrorism efforts with other law enforcement agencies, by a series of 7-5 votes. All councilors who voted in favor of the grants were white, while all those who voted against them were people of color.” Progressive activists are blasting Mayor Michelle Wu for pushing more money for the BRIC after previously calling to abolish its controversial gang database . And they don’t share Wu’s belief that “several consequential policy and leadership changes” at the BRIC and the Boston Police Department have created a “significantly different environment today.” More on the progressive pushback from WBUR’s Walter Wuthmann . MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS DESANTIS SLAMS MASS — Struggling Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis is trying to score political points off Massachusetts again. The Florida governor slammed the state on X for “housing illegal aliens on the taxpayers’ dime” after a Boston Herald columnist reported that military families were having their hotel reservations for the upcoming Army-Navy game canceled to make room for migrants and homeless families. But DeSantis got it wrong: While the state has been contracting with hotels and motels to house families in the emergency shelter system, wholly undocumented immigrants are not eligible for services under the state’s “right-to-shelter” law. Gov. Maura Healey said she’s “very distressed to learn that any veteran may have been moved from a hotel” and has instructed her veterans secretary, Jon Santiago , to reach out to anyone affected by the cancellations.   A message from Delta Dental of Massachusetts:     DATELINE D.C. DEBT DOUBTS — President Joe Biden has canceled another $9 billion in federal student loan debt . But even as Sen. Elizabeth Warre n said on X that the president’s “focus on cancelling [sic] student debt is paying off,” she told Insider that she’s worried broader debt relief could again be stopped by the Supreme Court. CONGRESSIONAL CHAOS — The fight for the speakership has begun in Washington, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are the first in the ring, POLITICO’s Congress team reports . VIEW FROM THE LEFT — “McGovern, Neal rip ‘clown show,’ ‘spectacle’ on Capitol Hill,” by Maddie Fabian, Daily Hampshire Gazette. BALLOT BATTLES — “Galvin asks judge to delay Trump ballot ruling,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Secretary of State Bill Galvin is asking a federal judge to reject a request for a preliminary injunction sought by a long-shot Republican presidential candidate who is suing him to keep Donald Trump's name off the 2024 ballot.” IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN — “Healey announces 3-state offshore wind procurement,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Nervous about rising prices for offshore wind power, the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut are banding together to solicit larger wind farm projects that hopefully will come with lower price tags. … Individually, the three states were planning to solicit as much as 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind power in January; now they will solicit bids together.”   Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of new episodes – click here .     MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS — “Massachusetts cannabis sales may be up, but employment is down,” by Cassie McGrath, Boston Business Journal: “For months, industry leaders have been warning the market is reaching saturation, with too many stores and too much flower. Companies — even the largest ones — are tightening operations to stay alive. That's meant a reduction in jobs. For the first time, cannabis employment is down across Massachusetts." FROM THE 413 — “Embattled former Amherst superintendent gets HR director job in Westfield,” by Dave Eisenstadter, MassLive: “Former Amherst Regional Public Schools Superintendent Michael Morris, who left amid an ongoing controversy involving alleged staff mistreatment of transgender students, has taken a job as director of human resources for Westfield’s public schools.” — “Chicopee ballot will measure public support for 4-year mayoral term,” by Jonah Snowden, MassLive. THE LOCAL ANGLE — “Biden nominates New Hampshire federal prosecutor Seth Aframe for Boston-based US Circuit Court seat,” by Jim Puzzanghera, Boston Globe: “President Biden on Wednesday nominated New Hampshire federal prosecutor Seth R. Aframe to the First US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston in a second attempt to fill the appellate seat after the White House’s first choice, Michael Delaney, withdrew amid controversy last spring.” — “A developer proposed nearly 500 apartments on South Shore Plaza. Then residents killed it,” by Andrew Brinker, Boston Globe. — “MIT professor is latest Massachusetts scientist to win Nobel Prize,” by Sam Turken, GBH News. — “Foxboro schools to phase out use of Native American imagery in logo,” by Jeff Peterson, The Sun Chronicle.   A message from Delta Dental of Massachusetts: Snoozing or losing…sleep? Snoring is a widespread problem, affecting 30-45 percent of the population. It can have social consequences, disrupting marriages and roommate relationships, but can also be negatively impacting your overall health. Snoring often prevents a good night’s sleep, leaving individuals waking up fatigued or more seriously, it may be a by-product of obstructive sleep apnea. The good news is, your dentist may be able to help. Your dentist can help provide you with a wide array of plastic appliances, similar to mouthguards or orthodontic retainers, which can be worn while sleeping and assist with snoring. Some appliances reposition the lower jaw forward which, as a result, helps maintain an open, unobstructed airway in the throat. Speak with your dentist for more information on how to alleviate snoring or visit ExpressYourHealthMA.org to learn more.   HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH SPOTTED — at the tax-relief bill signing at the State House: former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey , Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne , Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon , Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle , Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur, Housing Secretary Ed Augustus Jr. and Tara Healey . TRANSITIONS — Melissa L. Gilliam will be the first woman and first Black person to lead Boston University . She takes over as president on July 1, 2024. Gilliam is currently EVP and provost of The Ohio State University. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Teresa Heinz Kerry. NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEPRESSION — Hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith are joined by the Boston Globe’s Taylor Dolven to take a trip through the myriad problems facing the MBTA. Host Lisa Kashinsky breaks down the MassGOP’s latest legal and financial woes. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud . Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com .   Follow us on Twitter Lisa Kashinsky @lisakashinsky   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters FOLLOW US

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Fed-Up Liz Cheney delivers BRUTAL TAKEDOWN of her OWN party ELECTING IDIOTS

 

Liz Cheney did not mince words when talking about her former Republican colleagues. Tennessee Brando reports.

POLITICO Nightly: Donald Trump’s bizarro legal strategy

BY ANKUSH KHARDORI Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media during the third day of his civil fraud trial in New York today. | Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION — Some free legal advice: If you’re in the process of losing a court case, it’s not a good idea to attack the presiding judge and his staff. Especially if the judge is also the jury. Today was the third day of Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York, but it was the first full day that Trump labored under a limited gag order imposed Tuesday by Justice Arthur Engoron. The judge issued the order after the former president publicly attacked Engoron’s principal law clerk in a social media post that was also circulated by Trump’s campaign. Trump appeared to dial down the running commentary today — and at least avoided publicly lashing out at the judge’s court staff again (though he did take a quick shot at Engeron during a lunch break ) — but there is a long way to go between now and the end of the trial, which is slated to last through December. Trump’s antics on Monday had already left many observers shaking their heads. He not only harshly criticized the New York attorney general’s office, which brought the case, but also said that the judge “should be disbarred” and that “some people” have said that he “could be charged criminally for what he’s doing.” For the record, no remotely credible observer has said anything like this, presumably because it is transparently absurd. “He’s interfering with an election,” Trump added, “and it’s a disgrace.” As legal strategy, this is more or less the exact opposite of what any sane litigant should be doing. The judge has already ruled against Trump on the core fraud claim brought by the state attorney general’s office — that he fraudulently inflated his net worth in financial statements provided to insurers and lenders for the Trump Organization — but there are significant claims remaining. The trial will also determine how much Trump will have to pay in monetary penalties. As for why it is the judge and not the jury deciding the outcome at trial, that is because Trump’s lawyers opted not to request a jury. Perhaps more ominously, the judge concluded in his ruling last week that Trump’s business certificates in the state should be canceled and said that he would appoint independent receivers to oversee the dissolution process. Even among experienced New York practitioners, there are very real questions about what the ruling means as a practical matter, how it will be carried out and whether it will be as serious as it sounds when all is said and done. The judge has said he will resolve the logistical questions concerning the process in the coming weeks, so here too, the judge holds Trump’s fate in his hands — at least unless an appeals court steps in to save him. Under the circumstances, perhaps the best that can be said for Trump’s bizarro legal strategy — recklessly antagonizing a judge who wields extraordinary influence in the near term over the former president’s finances and business operations — is that it is not a legal strategy at all, but a political strategy. ****TRIAL RECAP ON THIS LINK**** Some commentators have posited that Trump attended the proceedings this week because his business is vitally important to him, but we also saw the outlines of a strategy that Trump may attempt to carry through next year as he faces multiple criminal trials that are currently scheduled to begin in March. Trump attended the trial this week voluntarily, but he will have to attend the criminal trials whether he wants to or not, and if those cases proceed as planned, they will suck up a considerable amount of time that Trump could otherwise spend on the campaign trial and also figure prominently in the media’s coverage of next year’s election. The former president may hope that he can plow through all of these cases — potentially racking up loss after loss through next summer if he can’t delay as many of them as possible — but publicly discredit the proceedings with enough of his supporters to maintain his reelection bid. Which of course he could actually win . It’s a strange kamikaze-like mission that is rooted in both legal and political necessity, given the seriousness of some of the criminal charges that the former president faces — as well as his very evident understanding that winning his reelection bid may be the closest thing he can acquire to a get-out-of-jail free card . Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ankush.khardori@gmail.com .   GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE : POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE .     WHAT'D I MISS? — McCarthy never asked Trump for a bailout as his speakership disappeared: With his speakership in the balance on Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy made a last-ditch effort to convince fellow Republicans there was virtue in him keeping the gavel. But he didn’t reach out to the most powerful member of his party . The now deposed Speaker never called former President Donald Trump to help him retain his post, according to four people familiar with the matter. That he didn’t, even as he was drowning politically, was a remarkable twist in their complicated yearslong relationship. McCarthy’s decision not to ask Trump for a hand was driven by the belief that he didn’t have the political capital to make the request, said one Republican familiar with the thinking. — Reports: Menendez’s wife struck and killed a man while driving in 2018: Nadine Arslanian Menendez, the wife and co-defendant of recently indicted Sen. Robert Menendez, struck and killed a man while driving in New Jersey in 2018 , according to media reports. The Record and The New York Times, citing police reports and police dash cam video, reported that Nadine Menendez, who was dating the senator at the time, was found by police in the small borough of Bogota to be “not at fault” in the crash in the because the victim, Richard Koop, was jaywalking. She was allowed to leave the scene. Nadine, whose Mercedes was severely damaged, was not taken into custody or tested for drugs and alcohol, according to The Record. — Say goodbye to the Covid-19 vaccination card: It’s the end of an era for a once-critical pandemic document: The ubiquitous white Covid-19 vaccination cards are being phased out . Now that Covid-19 vaccines are not being distributed by the federal government, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped printing new cards. The federal government shipped more than 980 million cards between late 2020, when the first vaccines came out, through May 10, according to the latest available data from the CDC. NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 ‘A GIFT TO DEMOCRATS’ — Republican presidential candidates are calling the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “predictable,” “performative” and “a gift to Democrats,” writes POLITICO. In a historic move Tuesday, the House voted 216-210 to oust McCarthy, with a handful of conservatives joining Democrats to remove him. “What I saw yesterday was unfortunately incredibly predictable,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Wednesday. “As with most things in politics ... it was not policy, it was personal. Matt Gaetz doesn’t like Kevin McCarthy and was intent upon executing this type of assassination, and that’s what he did. It was a political assassination yesterday of Kevin McCarthy.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Scripps News on Tuesday before the vote to oust McCarthy that he opposed McCarthy “when it wasn’t cool, years ago,” while he was in Congress. DeSantis also said that the motion to vacate was “performative” and the “typical theatrics” that happen in Washington, D.C. “He is really somebody that Donald Trump has backed and put in that position. I think they have not delivered results,” DeSantis said. IOWA PUSH — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign said today that it raised $15 million over the last quarter and will move a large number of staffers from Florida to Iowa as he intensifies his push in the first-in-the-nation caucus state , reports POLITICO. “The significant fundraising haul not only provides us with the resources we need in the fight for Iowa and beyond, but it also shuts down the doubters who counted out Ron DeSantis for far too long,” campaign manager James Uthmeier said in a statement. News of the cash infusion and staff transfers from Tallahassee to Des Moines — which were reported Wednesday by The New York Times and confirmed by a campaign spokesperson — come as DeSantis has fallen back in primary polling. The transfers amount to one-third of his total staff, the campaign said. The $15 million, which the campaign said was raised between his campaign committee, leadership PAC and joint fundraising committee, is less than the $20 million DeSantis brought in during the previous fundraising quarter. AROUND THE WORLD A Helicopter crew member of the 18th Separate Army Aviation Brigade carries boxes of ammunition in Eastern Ukraine on February 9. | Ihor Tkachov/AFP via Getty Images MOVING PIECES — The Pentagon has transferred more than 1 million rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine , the U.S. military announced today, a move that comes as congressional infighting threatens to delay or derail aid to Kyiv, writes Lara Seligman . The transfer, which took place Monday, is aimed at helping Kyiv’s forces push through Russia’s defensive lines before winter arrives. It comes as funding for Ukraine has fallen victim to political infighting in the House, where a group of hardline Republican members are opposing any additional aid to the conflict. Lawmakers over the weekend passed a last-minute spending bill to avert a government shutdown through mid-November, but stripped the legislation of Ukraine funding. The shipment of 1.1 million 7.62 mm rounds to the Ukrainian armed forces has been in the works for months, according to U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Abigail Hammock. The Pentagon has $5.4 billion left in funding authority to send weapons to Ukraine, yet has only $1.6 billion left to replenish its own stocks, spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Tuesday. That money will soon run out if Congress does not act to authorize additional funding.   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS  – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID .     NIGHTLY NUMBER Around 75,000 The number of Kaiser Permanente health care workers going on strike today across five states over wages and staffing shortages , marking the latest major labor unrest in the United States. Kaiser Permanente is one of the country’s larger insurers and health care system operators, with 39 hospitals nationwide. The nonprofit company, based in Oakland, Calif., provides health coverage for nearly 13 million people. RADAR SWEEP THE WHOLE PICTURE — In February 2022, the journalist Sean Williams got an out of the blue WhatsApp message from a man who referred to himself as Maverick Miles Nehemiah, who’d swindled the U.S. government out of $20 million in the 1980s using counterfeit savings bonds and a team of white Americans (Nehemiah is Black; he called them the “All-American Team”) to avoid the suspicion of racist bank tellers. Nehemiah wanted press for his story and transformation. It turned out, he wasn’t telling close to the full truth about his life story . Williams traces Nehemiah’s attempt to con him and his real, fascinating story of a con-artist who hasn’t stopped conning for Rolling Stone. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1933: A throng of over 10,000 unemployed join in a "hunger march" as they gather at the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District to listen to Communist speakers. | AP Photo 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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