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IF YOU READ ONE THING TODAY: NYT’s Shane Goldmacher is up with a blockbuster story digging into the gaping cash disparity between the NRSC and the DSCC as Senate Republicans begin to fret about their prospects of flipping the chamber with a cabal of cash-strapped (and in some cases controversial) candidates.

The numbers: “By the end of July, the committee had collected a record $181.5 million — but had already spent more than 95 percent of what it had brought in. The Republican group entered August with just $23.2 million on hand, less than half of what the Senate Democratic committee had ahead of the final intense phase of the midterm elections.

“Now top Republicans are beginning to ask: Where did all the money go? The answer, chiefly, is that [Chair RICK] SCOTT’s enormous gamble on finding new online donors has been a costly financial flop in 2022, according to a New York Times analysis of federal records and interviews with people briefed on the committee’s finances. Today, the N.R.S.C. is raising less than before Mr. Scott’s digital splurge.”

The murky methods: “One fund-raising scheme used by the Senate committee, which has not previously been disclosed, involved sending an estimated millions of text messages that asked provocative questions — ‘Should [President JOE] BIDEN resign?’ — followed by a request for cash: ‘Reply YES to donate.’ Those who replied ‘YES’ had their donation processed immediately, though the text did not reveal in advance where the money was going.

“Privately, some Republicans complained the tactic was exploitative. WinRed, the party’s main donation-processing platform, recently stepped in and took the unusual step of blocking the committee from engaging in the practice, according to four people familiar with the matter. The texts had been part of a concerted push that successfully juiced fund-raising, though it used methods that experts say will eventually exhaust even the most loyal givers. … It is not clear how many people donated in response to the texts. But demands for N.R.S.C. refunds, a key metric of donor dissatisfaction, have soared, with the amount returned to donors quadrupling, from less than $2 million in 2020 to more than $8 million now.”

Where the money is going: “All told, the Senate committee has poured more than $26 million into expenses marked as texting-related since 2021, part of a digital budget that ballooned so quickly that Republicans, even inside the committee, are talking about a financial autopsy to examine whether there have been potential conflicts of interest.”

Who gets paid: “GARY COBY, Mr. Trump’s longtime digital director, is an adviser to the committee and widely seen as the main behind-the-scenes influence on the N.R.S.C.’s current digital operations. Two of his companies, Direct Persuasion, a digital agency, and Opn Sesame, a texting firm, have been paid by the Senate committee more than $4.6 million combined. Two others that he has promoted, DirectSnd and Red Spark Strategy, have received another $9.2 million.

“The N.R.S.C.’s digital director, DARIA GRASTARA, worked for Mr. Coby during the Trump 2020 campaign. She was a director for Direct Persuasion, according to her LinkedIn page. While at the Senate committee, Ms. Grastara has maintained financial ties to at one least firm that has been paid committee funds and informed the N.R.S.C. of the arrangement, according to a person briefed on the situation.”

The NRSC responded to the story with a lengthy statement from comms director CHRIS HARTLINE defending the committee’s digital fundraising push. “We will take back the Senate in 2022 and our digital investments will be a big part of the reason why and will ensure we are #1 in the 2024 cycle,” Hartline wrote in part.

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

BACK IN BUSINESS — Former President DONALD TRUMP returned to the rally circuit on Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., marking two major moments for Trump: It was his first rally of the general election season, and the first time he’s hit the stage since the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago compound.

The Philly Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari and William Bender report from the scene: “While the speech was billed as a rally to help Pennsylvania’s top GOP candidates, MEHMET OZ, for Senate, and State Sen. DOUG MASTRIANO, for governor, Trump spent most of his two-hour address airing his old personal grievances, and some new ones.

“He briefly mentioned Oz and Mastriano, before immediately pivoting to his anger at Biden, and the recent FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home as they tried to recover classified documents. He called it an ‘evil and demented persecution of you and me.’ It took about 80 minutes for Trump to return to the GOP candidates on the ballot this year. …

“Over the first hour of his talk he mostly railed against his two impeachments, the Russia investigation, the 2020 election outcome, and HILLARY CLINTON, the Democrat he defeated six years ago. He complained about electric cars and wind turbines. He condemned the Senate’s top Republican, Sen. MITCH McCONNELL, twice before getting to Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate candidate, Lt. Gov. JOHN FETTERMAN.”

Our Pennsylvania ace Holly Otterbein was also in Wilkes-Barre and, with Shayna Greene, has a download on how Oz is playing with the MAGA crowd: “Interviews with a dozen voters at the rally … revealed a complicated picture: Oz is making headway with the GOP base, and many Republicans are committed to voting for him even if they have to hold their nose. However, he is still struggling with an enthusiasm gap — and even far-right disinformation being spread about him.”

SUNDAY BEST …

— Rep. JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.) on new potential witnesses for the Jan. 6 committee, on CBS’ “Face the Nation”:

On VIRGINIA THOMAS: “I would say she has relevant testimony to render. She should come forward and give it.”

On former VP MIKE PENCE: “I would assume he is going to come forward and testify voluntarily.”

— New Jersey Gov. PHIL MURPHY on 2024 rumors, on “Fox News Sunday”: “I’ve said this publicly and to the president privately, he says he is running — I’d take him on his word. When he does run, he will have no bigger backer than yours truly.”

TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.

• Maureen Dowd in the NYT: “The Day Gorbachev Made D.C. Stand Still”

• Charles W. Cooke in National Review: “Biden’s Catastrophic Speech”

• Eugene Robinson in WaPo: “To sound the alarm on democracy, Biden chose the perfect stage”

• Laurence Tribe, Erwin Chemerinsky and Dennis Aftergut in WaPo: “The Electoral Count Act must be fixed. A new proposal doesn’t go far enough.”

• Jack McCain in USA Today: “Four years after the death of John McCain, my father’s legacy is more important than ever”

• Ruth Marcus in WaPo: “I usually ignore the sexism and ageism directed at me. Now I’m calling it out”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR

1. MAR-A-LAGO LATEST: Among Trump’s defenses since the Mar-a-Lago search is the claim that the recovered records were eventually headed for a future Trump presidential library. But NBC’s Peter Nicholas writes that “a library has been a little more than an afterthought, six past and present advisers say. As an ex-president bent on being a future president, Trump hasn’t wanted to leave an impression that his focus has shifted to his legacy. Erecting a library at this point would be the political equivalent of building a mausoleum: a sign that his career in elective politics was dead, some close to him said.

2. BACK TO WORK: “Lawmakers Plan to Confirm More Judges in First Actions After Summer Break,” by WSJ’s Natalie Andrews and Katy Stech Ferek

3. BACK TO SCHOOL: More students are interested in college for this fall, but inflation is making it increasingly unaffordable. College presidents are deploying one-time federal Covid relief dollars to help students out in a pinch, but with that cash running out, it’s leaving some college leaders worried about how they’ll sustain many of the programs they’ve built to act as a lifeline for their students, Bianca Quilantan reports.

— “They Have Debt but No Degree. Could Loan Forgiveness Send Them Back to School?” by NYT’s Eliza Fawcett and Jacey Fortin: “Millions took on debt for college but left without graduating, making it harder to repay their loans. Will the Biden administration’s relief plan get them to try again?”

4. WHERE CONSPIRACIES GROW: AP’s Margery Beck and Christina Cassidy look at where election conspiracy theories are still blooming. Reporting from Omaha, Neb., they write that one event there “featured some of the nation’s most prominent figures pushing conspiracy theories that the last presidential election was stolen from Trump through widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines.” It was “just one of dozens of similar events” across the country the past year, they note.

5. 2022 WATCH: “In the California Desert, L.G.B.T.Q. Voters Could Sway a Key House Race,” by NYT’s Stephanie Lai: “Representative KEN CALVERT, a long-serving Republican, is facing a tough re-election race in a redrawn district that now includes Palm Springs, proclaimed to be the gayest city in America.”

— “Biden Loves Labor Unions But Blue-Collar Workers Don’t Love Him Back,” by Bloomberg’s Katia Dmitrieva and Jordan Fabian: “The union vote in November's election in a swing state will help decide whether Democrats keep Congress and foretell the party's odds in 2024.”

6. ABORTION FALLOUT: “Abortion Pill Providers Experiment With Ways to Broaden Access,” by NYT’s Pam Belluck: “These new efforts, which test the legal boundaries, have sprung up since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and many states restricted abortion.”

— “Texas governor says rape victims can take Plan B morning-after pill,” by CNN’s Keith Allen, Paradise Afshar and Paul LeBlanc

7. ON THE BALLOT: “GOP escalates fight against citizen-led ballot initiatives,” by AP’s David Lieb: “Hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions this year backing proposed ballot initiatives to expand voting access, ensure abortion rights and legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona, Arkansas and Michigan. Yet voters might not get a say because Republican officials or judges have blocked the proposals from the November elections, citing flawed wording, procedural shortcomings or insufficient petition signatures.”

8. THE PANDEMIC: “Covid forecast: Major fall surge unlikely, but variants are a wild card,” by WaPo’s Joel Achenbach and Lena Sun

9. INFLATION NATION: “Consumers Feel Worse Now Than They Did During Covid Lockdowns,” by WSJ’s Aziz Sunderji and Peter Santilli: “Sentiment has fallen to levels typically associated with worse financial and economic conditions than today’s.”

Barack Obama won an Emmy for his narrating work.

Gretchen Whitmer rocked out at a Wu-Tang Clan and Nas concert.

Allen West joined the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, Knights Templar.

Commander is celebrating his first birthday.

IN MEMORIAM — “Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German killed outside home,” by the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Wilson: “Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, one of Nevada’s most accomplished and trusted journalists, was found dead with stab wounds outside his home Saturday morning. German, whose work in Las Vegas spanned more than three decades, made a career of breaking big stories about everything from organized crime and government malfeasance to political scandals and the Oct. 1 mass shooting.”

WHAT PLAYBOOKERS ARE READING: A roundup of the most-clicked links from the past week in Playbook.

1. “A New York City Rug Expert Weighs In On Mar-a-Lago’s Flooring,” Talking Points Memo

2. “How Trump Taught Everybody to Be Obnoxious and Cruel,” by John Harris

3. “Trump’s Tastes in Intelligence: Power and Leverage,” NYT

4. Herschel Walker’sphotographic evidence that he was once a “special deputy sheriff” of Cobb County, Ga.

5. “Zombie ice from Greenland will raise sea level 10 inches,” AP

BIRTHWEEK (was Saturday): Eddie Glaude Jr.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) … Zach Leighton … CRC Advisors’ Laura Schlapp … POLITICO’s Kierra Frazier and Dave Brown … NYT’s Blake Hounshell … Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio and Jerry Dunleavy … Dana Gartzke … Kelu Chao … Claire Bischoff … SBA’s Matt Sonneborn … Emily Armstrong of Rep. Jahana Hayes’ (D-Conn.) office … Will Taliaferro … DoorDash’s Chad Horrell … Michael McAuliff … Jared Allen of the National Automobile Dealers Association … Harold Ickes … former acting CIA Director Mike Morell … Jordan Fischer … Victoria (Cram) Hood … former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer … Grady Means … Hagar Hajjar Chemali … Victoria Coates … Bob Kenney … Alex Travelli ... Anu Rangappa ... Sam Dagher ... Graham Weinschenk

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, reporter Eli Okun and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.