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THE TALENTED MR. SANTOS — Rep. GEORGE SANTOS (R-N.Y.) today pleaded not guilty to 10 new federal counts against him, maintaining his innocence in the face of prosecutors’ superseding indictment. His trial on charges of fraud, false statements and other crimes was set for Sept. 9, 2024. At the Long Island hearing today, Santos also decided to stick with his current defense attorney. And the judge agreed to the congressman’s request that he be allowed to contact family members who are witnesses. More from Newsday

Of course, the more immediate political reckoning is expected to come next week, when the House votes on a resolution to expel Santos.

DIVIDE IN CONCORD — Rep. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-Minn.) made it official today in New Hampshire, jumping into the Democratic presidential contest against President JOE BIDEN. He told reporters that he supported New Hampshire’s primary going first in the presidential lineup, and he took some swings at liberal orthodoxies, like saying it’s “inhumane” to call those concerned about border security racist.

Phillips is the subject of a big new Atlantic feature from Tim Alberta, who calls him “someone so earnest as to be utterly suspicious,” a Minnesotan who remains ultra-polite — unless he thinks someone’s lying. Phillips is running out of sincere conviction that Biden’s weakness could get DONALD TRUMP back in the White House, alongside a frustration with a Democratic Party unwilling to acknowledge publicly that Biden is very vulnerable. Just two months ago, Phillips had given up on the idea of a primary challenge — and then Biden’s numbers kept getting worse.

“Phillips no longer wonders if there’s something wrong with him,” Alberta writes. “He believes there’s something wrong with the Democratic Party — a ‘disease’ that discourages competition and shuts down dialogue and crushes dissent,” not unlike how Republicans responded to Trump. Notably, BILLY SHAHEEN — husband of the Democratic senior senator — is helping Phillips in New Hampshire. But, but, but: What if Phillips’ candidacy could have the reverse effect from what he intends, weakening (though not beating) Biden and getting Trump elected? His friends — and other Democrats — worry about that, but Phillips can’t see it.

In a sign of Democrats’ official disdain for Phillips’ challenge, Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ today sent a Biden fundraising email that says some Minnesotans “make political side shows for themselves,” per The Messenger’s Dan Merica.

X marks the spot: Phillips’ campaign is calling on the social media platform to reinstate his campaign account, which appears to have been deactivated.

Get up to speed: “55 Things You Need to Know About Dean Phillips,” by POLITICO Magazine’s Ian Ward

INFLATION NATION — The latest inflation report today was a mixed bag, showing price increases largely holding steady despite the Fed’s efforts to tamp them down. The Personal Consumption Expenditures report found prices rising 0.4% month over month in September and 3.4% year over year, both unchanged from August. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, was slightly lower, but prices for services were particularly high.

Perhaps more notably, consumer spending stayed robust, beating economists’ expectations. Spending rose 0.7% on the month. That’s just the latest indicator that the economy is remaining fairly strong in the face of interest rate increases, but it also makes the job of getting inflation down to 2% even trickier. Still, the central bank is expected to hold rates steady at its meeting next week. More from the AP

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TRUMP CARDS

BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT — Though IVANKA TRUMP isn’t a defendant anymore in the Trump civil business fraud trial in New York, Judge ARTHUR ENGORON ruled today that she will have to testify, NBC’s Dareh Gregorian and Erica Byfield report. But she can’t be called before the start of November, so that she has space for a potential appeal. The former president’s attorneys had tried to prevent Ivanka from being called to the stand, but AG TISH JAMES’ office argued that she has relevant info.

CONGRESS

A PATH FORWARD FOR KYIV? — Prospects are suddenly looking slightly rosier for Ukraine aid in the Republican-controlled House, thanks to some tempered comments from Speaker MIKE JOHNSON and openness from far-right members to having separate votes on Ukraine and Israel aid, NBC’s Sahil Kapur and Julie Tsirkin report. It’s still far from what the Biden administration, which is seeking to link the issues, or Ukraine’s staunchest allies would like. But there’s “fresh optimism” among them that Republicans might allow stand-alone Ukraine aid to come up for a vote and pass.

THE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY — Now that they have a speaker again, House Republicans can return to their impeachment investigation into Biden — but it’s unclear where it’ll go now, CNN’s Annie Grayer reports. Not only have they failed so far to turn up any smoking gun showing Biden corruption, but their momentum was sapped by the speakership chaos. Time is running a bit shorter now, and House Judiciary Chair JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) took a hit by failing to win the election. But Johnson has said he wants the inquiry to proceed apace.

THE WHITE HOUSE

HOT ON THE LEFT — Progressive anger at Biden is reaching perhaps its highest peak of his presidency over his handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with younger and minority voters in particular weakening their support for him, NYT’s Reid Epstein and Anjali Huynh report. If it holds, that could pose a significant political threat to his reelection chances. (The election is a long way away, but he has little room for error.) “At its heart, the turbulence over Israel is a fundamental disagreement over policy, setting it apart from challenges like voters’ dissatisfaction with the economy.”

— “Muslim leaders criticize Biden over his Palestinian death toll remarks in private meeting,” by Holly Otterbein: “They pushed the president to show more empathy toward Palestinians and to support a cease-fire.”

2024 WATCH

WILD WEST — NYT’s Charles Homans has a fun dispatch from the chaotic presidential campaign of CORNEL WEST, which “has fueled suspicions that his bid is an improvisational performance as much as it is a political campaign. Asked about these suspicions, Mr. West emphatically agreed. ‘It’s jazz all the way down, brother,’ he said.” West sees his policy platforms as uniting an array of left-wing concerns across both domestic and international fronts. And he knows running as an independent will be harder than when he was in the Green Party primary: West says he’s aiming to qualify for the ballot in roughly 35 states.

BIG SPEECH — “Ron DeSantis vows to ‘reorient’ U.S. foreign policy to counter China,” by Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski

STRIKING EXCHANGE — NBC’s Jonathan Allen and Allan Smith got their hands on video of VIVEK RAMASWAMY last week challenging Sen. JONI ERNST (R-Iowa) on Israel policy. “You might want to understand my Israel policy before commenting,” Ramaswamy told her during a tense and protracted handshake, after she’d seemingly criticized his comments as “abhorrent.” Ramaswamy has faced criticism from the GOP establishment for his more isolationist and unorthodox foreign policy views.

MORE POLITICS

AFTERNOON READ — “He Threatened to Kill the President. Did He Deserve to Die?” by Rowan Moore Gerety in Provo, Utah, for POLITICO Magazine: “CRAIG ROBERTSON’s killing by the FBI has [b]ecome a [Rorschach] test for America’s political divide.”

BATTLE FOR THE STATES — In the Kentucky gubernatorial race, guns are a significant issue and a personal one, after Democratic incumbent ANDY BESHEAR lost a close friend in a Louisville mass shooting earlier this year, AP’s Bruce Schreiner reports. Beshear and AG DANIEL CAMERON, his GOP challenger, disagree on whether to pass a new “red flag” law. Beshear has to tread carefully on guns in the conservative state, but he’s framed the issue in intimate terms.

Related read: “The killing of Breonna Taylor still reverberates in Kentucky politics,” by the 19th’s Grace Panetta

POLICY CORNER

TACKLING THE HOUSING CRISIS — Multiple federal agencies are taking new steps to try to improve affordable housing supply by turning vacant commercial properties into housing, the Biden administration announced today. That includes new guidance from the Transportation Department, the opening of a HUD program to provide $85 million for conversions and a resource guidebook from the White House, per CNN’s Donald Judd.

THE LOAN LURCH — The CFPB is leading a new investigation of customer service issues at student loan processing companies, WSJ’s Gabriel Rubin scooped. Authorities are probing wait time and guidance from these companies as student loan payments come back online after the pandemic.

VALLEY TALK

MUSK READ — We’re now one year out from ELON MUSK’s acquisition of X (nee Twitter), and it’s been largely a disastrous era for the site, WaPo’s Will Oremus, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Sarah Ellison and Jeremy Merrill report. Musk has succeeded in removing restrictions on speech on the platform and slanting it to the right politically. But the ranks of active tweeters have plunged 30%, and it’s still “hemorrhaging advertisers and revenue.” Its formerly prominent role as a global public square has diminished, and it’s “become a cacophony of misinformation and confusing reports,” new research shows. As the NYT wrote yesterday, X has become precisely the “free-for-all hellscape” Musk said it wouldn’t.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

KNOWING LYNNE TRACY — “America’s Top Diplomat in Russia Has One of the World’s Toughest Jobs,” by WSJ’s Ann Simmons: “Her outspokenness has ruffled feathers at times. … [T]asks as seemingly mundane as ensuring adequate staffing at the embassy or simply traveling around Russia — the basic mechanics of diplomatic work — are a challenge.”

PLAYBOOKERS

IN MEMORIAM — “Retired state, federal public servant Linda Combs dies,” by the Winston-Salem Journal’s Richard Craver: She “spent much of her life as a public servant, first for 15 years with various U.S. cabinet-level agency during the Reagan, Bush senior and Bush junior administrations. … Altogether, Combs is the lone woman to have [been] confirmed by the U.S. Senate for five different federal agency management positions.”

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED Tuesday night at a celebration for Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid’s 16th anniversary: Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), Mike Boots, Bruce Andrews, Laura McPherson, Shannon Penberthy and Austen Jensen.

— SPOTTED last night at the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Gala at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center honoring Condoleezza Rice, Robert Smith and Mike and Jacquelyne Love: Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Neil Bush, Doro Bush Koch, Lauren Bush, Jean Becker, Steve Benjamin, Arthur Blank, Christian Bray, Nick Calio, Nikki Clifton, Matthew Cutts, Chris Fetzer, Alan Fleischmann, Robert Grady, Stephanie Hall, Emily Jacobs, Ron Kaufman, Sam LeBlond, Richard Marx, Gregg Petersmeyer, James Richardson, Jennifer Sirangelo, John Stamos, Eric Tanenblatt, Dafna Tapiero, Andy and Marie Unanue, Justin Vail, Lynda Webster and Rob Wooley.

— SPOTTED at Blue Star Families’ annual celebration event last night at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where chefs created dishes to honor each branch of the armed forces and the history of women in the military in a culinary competition: Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Craig Newmark, Brianna Keilar, retired Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden Jr., Penny Bolden, Sheila Casey, Sheila Stevens, Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, Jenn Crovato, Sgt. Darnell Morris and David McIntyre Jr.

WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Lucas Acosta is leaving his role as director of broadcast media at the White House, The Messenger’s Amie Parnes scooped.

TRANSITIONS — Frank Eaton is now senior adviser for TV creative at BerlinRosen. He previously was SVP at Putnam Partners and is a longtime Democratic admaker. … Ella Wiley will be a voting rights comms strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union. She previously was a senior comms associate at the Legal Defense Fund.

BONUS BIRTHDAY: John Seibels of the House Natural Resources GOP

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