Document xjJ63eQxbQYV1xoZXN9Dg9xOQ

http://apple.co/2nEa7y0 HMM -- "Democratic 2020 contenders? Voters haven't heard of them," by Steven Shepard: "President Donald Trump's poor poll numbers have dozens of Democrats reportedly considering challenging him in 2020. But voters haven't heard of the vast majority of them. According to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll that tested voters' views of 19 potential Democratic presidential candidates - a list that includes eight senators, five governors, one congressman, a big-city mayor and a failed Senate candidate - most of the prospects are unknown among at least half the electorate. Since the next presidential election won't start in earnest for at least 18 months, that leaves a limited time for no-name candidates to build name recognition and familiarity among voters." http://politi.co/2tvjmzi IMPORTANT READ -- "Trump threatens to break the glass on DOJ succession plan," by Annie Karni: "An abstract, in-case-of-emergency-break-glass executive order drafted by the Trump administration in March may become real-world applicable as the president, raging publicly at his Justice Department, mulls firing special counsel Robert Mueller. "Since taking office, the Trump administration has twice rewritten an executive order that outlines the order of succession at the Justice Department -- once after President Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to defend his travel ban, and then again two months later. The executive order outlines a list of who would be elevated to the position of acting attorney general if the person up the food chain recuses himself, resigns, gets fired or is no longer in a position to serve. "In the past, former Justice Department officials and legal experts said, the order of succession is no more than an academic exercise -- a chain of command applicable only in the event of an attack or crisis when government officials are killed and it is not clear who should be in charge. But Trump and the Russia investigation that is tightening around him have changed the game." http://politi.co/2sJnRdC KNOW HER NOW -- RACHEL BRAND PROFILE - "The Obscure Lawyer Who Might Become the Most Powerful Woman in Washington : If the deputy attorney general resigns or gets fired, oversight of the Trump-Russia investigation would fall to the Justice Department's No. 3, Rachel Brand," by Philip Shenon in POLITICO Magazine: "Brand has enjoyed a glittering career, one that marked her early for a top job at the Justice Department in a Republican administration. Raised with three siblings on an Iowa farm, she graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1995 and, three years later, from Harvard Law School. ... Brand was part of the legal team representing Bush in the Florida vote recount in 2000. She went on to be hired as a Supreme Court clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy before joining Bush's Justice Department. There, she helped shepherd the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito. In 2011, Brand became a top lawyer for the United States Chamber of Commerce, dealing with regulatory issues." http://politi.co/2sAEacw SCOOP -- "House Russia investigators want to bring in Trump digital director," by CNN's Tom LoBianco: "House Russia investigators are planning to call on Brad Parscale, the digital director of President Donald Trump's campaign, as the congressional and federal probes dig into any possible connections between the Trump digital operation and Russian operatives. ... The House Russia investigation is planning to send an invite to Parscale soon, as they begin scheduling witnesses over the summer ... The Senate intelligence committee is also interested in how Russian bots were able to target political messages in specific districts in critical swing states, although it is not clear if Parscale will be called before the Senate panel as well." http://cnn.it/2tyo2oX BOB COSTA ON GEORGIA'S SIXTH -- "Trump's shadow and stalled GOP agenda loom over close Georgia race": "The unfolding drama over Russian meddling in the 2016 election and President Trump's handling of ensuing investigations has transfixed Washington - and bored Mather Lindsay. "'Probably a little overdone,' Lindsay, a 46-year-old economist and father of three girls, said during lunch this week at the Salt Factory Pub. What grabbed Lindsay's attention was the GOP's stalled legislative agenda -- in particular, the promised overhauls of the tax code and the nation's health-care law. 'Trump's self-inflicted wounds are my biggest disappointment,' Lindsay said. 'He has squandered a huge opportunity to get all that done.' 'Someone,' he added, 'needs to take his Twitter away.' "Republicans in this wealthy community on the outskirts of Atlanta -- and in traditionally right-leaning suburbs nationally -- are facing a reckoning. So far, they have been willing to stomach a torrent of Trump outbursts and worrying twists in the Russia probes, but they are beginning to wonder if their patience is worth it. A crucial test of that patience will come Tuesday in Georgia's 6th Congressional District, home not only to well-educated, mostly white Republicans but also to what has become the most expensive House race in history." http://wapo.st/2sAxQBE