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With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Yesterday came and went without the arrest of DONALD TRUMP.

Meanwhile, the contours of the 2024 Republican presidential race continue to evolve — even as the political, media and legal worlds hold their collective breath waiting for word from lower Manhattan.

Here are three key storylines emerging amid the indictment watch …

TRUMP IN GROWING PERIL: First off, the next steps in Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG’s investigation into the 2016 hush-money allegations lodged against Trump could come today, with the grand jury in the case meeting and possibly voting to indict the former president.

Even if charges are returned, it could be days before Trump appears in New York and there’s anything resembling a perp walk, according to our Erica Orden. White-collar cases typically involve a whole lot of negotiations over how and when the accused have to turn themselves in — and those talks will be further complicated by the fact that this is a former president with Secret Service protection. More from Erica on what to expect in New York

But we learned last night Trump is facing legal peril on a whole new front: ABC scooped that a federal judge in D.C. ruled in secret Friday that special counsel JACK SMITH’s team had gathered sufficient evidence to support the allegation that Trump “intentionally concealed” the existence of classified documents in his possession from his own lawyers — thus destroying any attorney-client privilege he enjoyed.

The judge, BERYL HOWELL, in other words, concluded in the sealed filing that Trump likely committed crimes — and thus ordered his attorney EVAN CORCORAN to testify before the D.C.-based grand jury investigating the documents affair and hand over records to prosecutors.

The Trump campaign’s response was, well, extremely Trump: “Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations from a Never Trump, now former chief judge, against the Trump legal team,” a spokesperson said in part.

But the fight over whether Corcoran will have to testify continues. As our Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report, the clash is now in the hands of a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel, which slapped a late hold on Howell’s order yesterday and told Trump lawyers and Smith’s team to file arguments overnight. The details of the proceedings remain sealed, but the rapid-fire action underscores how quickly the classified documents probe appears to be moving toward a climax.

DeSANTIS TURNS UP THE HEAT: While Trump fights legal battles left and right, his biggest potential rival for the 2024 nomination found a friendly home inside RUPERT MURDOCH’s media empire to fire some notable new barbs at the frontrunner.

With signs of poll slippage after a series of slashing attacks from Trump, Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS used an interview yesterday with Piers Morgan — one previewed in a N.Y. Post column last night and set to air in full on Fox Nation tomorrow — to try out some new attack lines of his own. While the jabs are mild by Trumpian standards, they’re downright biting by the docile standards of every other 2024 contender in the GOP race.

Wrote Morgan in his preview of the Tallahassee sitdown: “It was clear that the governor has had enough of Trump’s constant baiting and felt ready to take him on in what could end up being a ferocious battle for the White House.”

Some highlights from the interview:

• On his style vs. Trump’s: “It’s not important for me to be fighting with people on social media. It’s not accomplishing anything for the people I represent. So, we really just focus on knocking out victories, day after day, and if I got involved in all the under tow I would not be able to be an effective Governor.”
• On how he’d govern differently: “The approach to COVID was different. I would have fired somebody like [ANTHONY] FAUCI. I think he got way too big for his britches, and I think he did a lot of damage.”
• On Trump’s “Ron DeSanctimonious” nickname: “I don’t really know what it means, but I kinda like it, it’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels. We’ll go with that, that’s fine. I mean you can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because that’s what we’ve been able to do in Florida, is put a lot of points on the board and really take this State to the next level.”

Again: They might not be the most savage attacks, but they’re a road map to how DeSantis plans to make his case against Trump to GOP voters: Unlike some people, I’m about results and not drama, I’m careful with whom I surround myself, and I win elections. Bigly.

The big question going forward is whether other candidates, who have issued only the most glancing criticism, finally inch toward open season on Trump. With MIKE PENCE’s denunciation of Trump at the recent Gridiron Dinner and DeSantis’ new jabs, are we turning a corner?

— Related read: “Porn stars and grooming allegations: How the Trump-DeSantis cold war turned hot,” by NBC’s Jonathan Allen, Allan Smith and Ali Vitali

SCOTT GEARS UP: Well, if you’re looking for sharp new attacks on Trump, they probably aren’t going to be coming from mild-mannered Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.). But as the sparring escalates, Scott appears to be tiptoeing closer to a White House bid.

Next month he’s holding a “Faith in America Summit” for donors in Charleston, and he’s planning events in Iowa and New Hampshire that same week, our Natalie Allison reports. The April politicking follows multiple trips Scott has already made to Iowa, and one person close to the senator told Natalie that the senator expects to have “clarity” on his plans “sooner rather than later.”

Scott’s working to carve out a lane with evangelical Christians, embracing a much calmer and optimistic style than other notable hopefuls and candidates. Whether it actually works in a party where Trump’s brand of politics has been dominant remains to be seen.

A key graf from the story: “In public polling of the potential Republican presidential field, Scott is still registering in the low single digits. But Scott, a prolific fundraiser popular with both the donor class and with small-dollar contributors, is the only prospective presidential candidate sitting on more than $20 million in hard federal campaign dollars.”

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

MORE FROM MANHATTAN — “Communications between Stormy Daniels and Trump attorney turned over to Manhattan DA,” by CNN’s Kristen Holmes and Tierney Sneed: “Communications between adult-film star STORMY DANIELS and an attorney who is now representing former President Donald Trump have been turned over to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Daniels’ lawyer told CNN. The exchanges – said to date back to 2018, when Daniels was seeking representation – raise the possibility that the Trump attorney, JOE TACOPINA, could be sidelined from his defense of the former president in a case pertaining to Trump’s alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to Daniels.”

The target … “Trump at Mar-a-Lago: Magical Thinking and a Perp-Walk Fixation,” by NYT’s Michael Bender and Maggie Haberman: “Behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, the former president has told friends and associates that he welcomes the idea of being paraded by the authorities before a throng of reporters and news cameras. He has even mused openly about whether he should smile for the assembled media, and he has pondered how the public would react and is said to have described the potential spectacle as a fun experience. No one is quite sure whether his remarks are bravado or genuine resignation about what lies ahead.”

The risks … “The Legal Intricacies That Could Make or Break the Case Against Trump,” by NYT’s Ben Protess, Jonah Bromwich, William Rashbaum and Kate Christobek: “A New York Times review and interviews with election law experts strongly suggest that New York state prosecutors have never before filed an election law case involving a federal campaign. Bringing an untested case against anyone, let alone a former president of the United States, carries the risk that a court could throw out or narrow the case.”

The procedures … “How the Potential Arrest of Donald Trump Could Unfold,” by WSJ’s Corinne Ramey and James Fanelli

The politics … “Dems play it cool on Trump’s legal jeopardy,” by Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Daniella Diaz

The scene … “MAGA protesters in Manhattan crowded out by anti-Trump rivals,” by Wesley Parnell in New York

The stepback … “Trump’s potential indictment caps decades of legal scrutiny,” by AP’s Jill Colvin

The timeline … “The porn star, the checks and the president: Trump’s tawdry path to peril,” by WaPo’s Rosalind Helderman

PHOTO OF THE DAY

2024 WATCH

PENCE PITCHES ‘SENSE’ — “Pence seeks ‘common sense’ Social Security, Medicare reform,” by AP’s Meg Kinnard: “Pence on Tuesday called for ‘common sense and compassionate solutions’ to reform entitlement programs and the nation’s debt burden, suggesting changes to Social Security and Medicare programs hurtling toward insolvency, particularly for younger generations, without naming specific recommendations.”

What Pence said: “What we need now is leadership because, if we act in this moment with the support of this generation, we can introduce common sense reforms that will never touch anyone who is in retirement, or anyone who will retire in the next 25 years,” Pence told an audience of college students at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. “It’ll just take courage to do it, and that’s where your generation will come in.”

The White House response: “Mike Pence — and congressional Republicans — are flat wrong about cutting Medicare and banning abortion,” White House deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES said in a statement to Playbook. “This continues an alarming trend of Republican leaders both selling out hardworking middle class families and undermining basic American freedoms — especially the right of women to make their own health care decisions.”

ENEMIES OF ENEMIES — Puck’s Theodore Schleifer reports that Democratic megadonor REID HOFFMAN is exploring ways to edge Trump out of the GOP presidential primary. “Hoffman’s team is currently studying early voting states — party registration requirements, demographic groups, state G.O.P. nominating rules, media ecosystems, etcetera — to see where they can move the needle. And if they do inadvertently elect a President DeSantis? I’m told that Hoffman and [adviser DMITRI] MEHLHORN, at a high level, don’t view the Florida governor as an existential threat to democracy, unlike Trump, and believe he may even have the ability to successfully govern.”

TEMPERATURE CHECK — “Should President Biden Run for Re-election? A Nation Forum,” by The Nation’s D.D. Guttenplan and John Nichols

MORE POLITICS

LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH & FAMOUS — “National Republicans are looking for Senate candidates who are filthy rich,” by Ally Mutnick: “So far, at least 10 candidates with sizable net worth are seriously considering self-funded Senate campaigns in more than a half-dozen swing states — many of them at the behest of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Both parties have relied on self-funders before. But this approach has taken on increasing importance for Republicans because they failed to counter Democrats’ massive grassroots fundraising in Senate races during the past two cycles.”

BLOOMBERG’S NEW PHILANTHROPY — “Michael Bloomberg Has Found a New $5 Million Cause: Helping Hochul,” by NYT’s Nicholas Fandos

ON WISCONSIN — “5 takeaways from the only Supreme Court election debate. Daniel Kelly and Janet Protasiewicz take the gloves off,” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Molly Beck and Corrinne Hess

FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK — “Effort to recall New Orleans’ first female mayor fails,” AP

CONGRESS

GREAT NEWS — “Mitch McConnell makes calls to fellow senators as he continues recovery from fall,” by NBC’s Frank Thorp V, Ryan Nobles, Julie Tsirkin and Liz Brown-Kaiser

BETWEEN IRAQ AND A HARD PLACE — “McCarthy’s newest challenge: Keeping the House GOP peace on war powers,” by Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris in Orlando, Fla.: “[L]anding an agreement without exposing awkward internal divides may prove near-impossible. That’s because war powers are the rare topic that unite archconservatives with virtually every House Democrat in favor of repeal — while the majority of House Republicans, including many McCarthy allies, have opposed the idea of nixing the roughly 20-year Iraq War authorization.”

TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK — “Shou Zi Chew’s ‘death wish’ mission: Defend TikTok on Capitol Hill,” by WaPo’s Drew Harwell: “As TikTok’s chief executive, [SHOU ZI CHEW’s] become the face of what some Washington lawmakers have claimed, without evidence, is a shadowy Chinese spying and propaganda machine. When he takes the stand for his first congressional hearing Thursday, he is likely to face the grilling of a lifetime from lawmakers who argue that the app, now with 150 million U.S. users, can’t be trusted and must be banned or sold.

“Chew, a 40-year-old native of Singapore, has worked to counter American suspicions with hard logic, telling members of Congress in one-on-one meetings that his company is unaffiliated with the Chinese government and is committed to building a ‘sunny corner of the internet’ for colorful videos and creative speech. ‘I don’t want to go in and question anybody’s intentions. That’s not my job,’ he said in an interview last month at the company’s WeWork suite near Capitol Hill.” Read his prepared testimony

Related reads: “Fear the Wrath of the TikTok Voter,” by The New Republic’s Grace Segers … “Pulling the Plug on TikTok Will Be Harder Than It Looks,” by NYT’s David Sanger, David McCabe and Sapna Maheshwari … “TikTok Reassures Advertisers Over Ban Threat as Some Set Backup Plans,” by WSJ’s Patience Haggin and Suzanne Vranica

TOP-ED — GOP Sens. J.D. VANCE (Ohio), JOSH HAWLEY (Mo.) and MARCO RUBIO (Fla.) write for Fox News: “Here’s how we avoid another East Palestine train wreck before it’s too late”

JUDICIARY SQUARE

SCOTUS WATCH — “The Supreme Court has been paying Michael Chertoff’s firm for 5 years,” by Josh Gerstein: “The arrangement went undisclosed until this year because there was no requirement for the high court to reveal it. [MICHAEL] CHERTOFF’s acknowledgement of the work came in response to an inquiry from lawmakers who wanted more details on the role he and his firm played investigating the unprecedented leak of a draft of the pivotal Dobbs abortion ruling to POLITICO last year.”

POLICY CORNER

INSIDE STORY — “‘We Were Helpless’: Despair at the C.D.C. as the Pandemic Erupted,” by NYT’s Apoorva Mandavilli

THE WOKE WAR — “The Pentagon prepares for its next battle: GOP accusations of ‘wokeness,’” by Lara Seligman, Lee Hudson and Connor O’Brien

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

AID ARRIVAL — “U.S. speeds up deliveries of Abrams tanks, Patriot systems to Ukraine,” by Lara Seligman and Paul McLeary in Fort Sill, Okla.

XI IN MOSCOW — “Xi and Putin Bind China and Russia’s Economies Further, Despite War in Ukraine,” by NYT’s Valerie Hopkins and Chris Buckley in Moscow: “XI JINPING and VLADIMIR V. PUTIN declared an enduring economic partnership, in an effort to insulate their countries from punitive Western measures.”

THE ECONOMY

PRODDING POWELL — “‘Reckless’: Lawmakers press Powell to halt rate hikes amid wreckage of SVB failure,” by Victoria Guida and Eleanor Mueller: JEROME POWELL’s Fed, “which will vote Wednesday on whether to hike rates for the ninth-straight time, has been drawing flak for months from progressives for jeopardizing American jobs with the war on inflation. Now, in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and another regional lender, those calls have become louder.”

Related reads: “A Big Question for the Fed: What Went Wrong With Bank Oversight?” by NYT’s Jeanna Smialek … “Fed Facing A Blurrier Outlook As It Meets To Weigh Rate Hike,” by AP’s Christopher Rugaber

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

THE NEW TIPPING POINT — “Progressives have a new minimum wage goal: $20 and up,” by Nick Niedzwiadek: “After inflation rocketed upward last year, those pushing for higher minimum wages see a new opening to gain ground on raising worker pay.”

ABORTION FALLOUT — “Abortion pill access threatened in Nevada amid legal uncertainty,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein … “Oklahoma court OK’s abortion to preserve mother’s life,” by AP’s Ken Miller in Oklahoma City … “Idaho hospital to stop delivering babies, partly due to ‘political climate,’” by WaPo’s Brittany Shammas and Marisa Iati

WHERE’S KAREN BASS? — “Staying out of the fight: LA’s new mayor avoids public role in school strike,” by Alexander Nieves in Sacramento

Donald J. Trump the Saint Bernard made an appearance at the Proud Boys trial.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) bought a new home earlier this year in a close-in Alexandria neighborhood, a person familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman. The purchase, for more than $1.5 million, has some neighbors in the liberal enclave scratching their heads about why the conservative senator who ran against the Washington establishment would choose to live among them. One neighbor described the area to our Katy O’Donnell as “filled with Pride flags and Kindness posters” and noted that Vance was recently welcomed to the neighborhood with a “yarn bombing” — according to a photo shared with Playbook, rainbow knitting now covers a signpost near the residence. A spokesperson for the senator declined to comment.

IN MEMORIAM — “Former Hotline Editor Vaughn Ververs Dies at 54,” by National Journal’s Kirk Bado: “Returning to Hotline for the 1998 midterms, he authored the ‘Talking Heads’ media column … He then moved on to CBS as the founding editor of its ‘Public Eye’ blog. … Ververs went on to other senior leadership roles at CBS News, Politico, and NBC News, where he was a top digital editor in their Washington bureau for the last 13 years.”

TRANSITIONS — Caroline McKay is now senior adviser to U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy. She was previously chief of staff for the White House counsel and deputy associate counsel. … Michael Leahy is now a VP at Government Sourcing Solutions. He previously was secretary of information technology and CIO for the state of Maryland. … John Cooper is now a senior adviser with the House Homeland Security Committee. He most recently was senior adviser for comms at the Heritage Foundation. …

… Clare Considine and Annabelle Jefferies have joined National Public Affairs as senior research analyst in the research & strategy department and digital account manager, respectively. Considine previously was an analyst at brilliant corners Research & Strategies and Jefferies previously was digital fundraising manager at the RNC. … Karina Lipsman is now associate director of comms for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. She previously ran for Congress in Virginia and was corporate strategy development lead at Peraton.

ENGAGED — Dylan Jones, comms director for Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.), proposed to Sofia Herring, operations manager for the House Appropriations Committee, on the Capitol steps Monday, when she thought she was getting headshots taken. The couple met almost four years ago through a mutual friend during a night out at Whitlow’s on Wilson. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) (5-0) … Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) … Wolf Blitzer … NBC’s Ali Vitali … Judge Neomi Rao (5-0) … Rebecca Miller Spicer of Airlines for America … Lyzz Schwegler … Sarah Feldman of Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-Mont.) office … Kathryn Jean Lopez … POLITICO’s Josh Siegel, Emma Dumain, Alex Wang and Scott Streater … Ann Oliveira … Connor Rose of Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson’s (R-Pa.) office … Dan Backer … Matt Williams of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee … Sarah Mars Bowie … AARP’s Myrna Blyth … Patrick Manion … former Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) … former Rep. Thomas Andrews (D-Maine) (7-0) … Jeff Cohen … former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay (9-0) … Alan Williams … Public Agenda’s Andrew Seligsohn … Jeffrey Vinik … Time’s Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna

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