| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | With an assist from Andrew Desiderio
|  House Committee on Oversight and Reform ranking member Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is ready to take the gavel. | Getty Images | PRESENT AND POTENTIAL PROBES — As outrage and suspense builds among Republicans around the investigations into Trump world, a Republican is waiting in the wings to take the reins and launch investigations… into Democrats, of course. Rep. James Comer, third-term Kentucky Republican, is the chair-in-waiting of the House Oversight Committee and will have a key role channeling his party's energy into investigative priorities if Republicans take the House. "I'm not going to be chasing some of these right-wing blogs and some of their conspiracy theories," Comer told Olivia in a rented RV trailer that his campaign had parked at the iconic Kentucky Fancy Farm picnic. "We'll look into anything, but we're not going to declare a probe or an investigation unless we have proof. But his style, less pugnacious and vitriolic than some of his colleagues, could collide with a GOP conference itching for a knock down, drag out annihilation of President Joe Biden, his family and allies. "This isn't a dog-and-pony show. This isn't a committee where everybody's gonna scream and be outraged and try to make the witnesses look like fools," he said. But nearly half the Oversight panel's current GOP members are Freedom Caucus members and incendiary newcomers, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), have approached him about joining. That's not a recipe for the solemnity he envisions. Read more from Olivia's swing through Kentucky and time with Comer: Meet the GOP's future king of Biden investigations MEANWHILE, WHAT SETS SCOTT PERRY APART — It isn't clear if Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) has his phone back from the FBI yet . But his lawyer John Irving said in a statement Wednesday night that the Justice Department informed them that Perry was "not a target of its investigation." "Representative Perry has directed us to cooperate with the Justice Department in order to ensure that it gets the information it is entitled to, but to also protect information that it is not entitled to, including communications that are protected under the Speech and Debate Clause of the United States Constitution and communications with counsel," Irving said. Perry has tied the seizure of his phone to the FBI's search of Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago, but Nicholas and Kyle lay out a case that it is more likely the two FBI actions are part of separate investigations. Of the dozens of GOP lawmakers caught up in the Jan. 6 select committee's investigation for aiding or amplifying Trump's attempt to upend the 2020 election results, Perry was in a league of his own: Why Scott Perry stands out in the FBI's investigations of Trump allies RELATED: FBI delivers subpoenas to several Pa. Republican lawmakers: sources say , from Jan Murphy and Charles Thompson at PennLive
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today . | | | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, August 11, where we're still wrapping our heads around a Friday fly-in day. PAYING THEIR RESPECTS — House lawmakers gather today in Granger, Indiana, for the funeral of their colleague Rep. Jackie Walorksi (R-Ind.), who died last week in a car crash along with two staffers. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who counted Walorski as both a friend and ally, is expected to speak at the services. Members are taking a shared flight out of Joint Base Andrews this morning, a signal of just how many members are traveling to pay their respects. The burial ceremony is open to the public and will include the trappings of a career of public service, including a flag folding, a gun volley and the playing of taps. The House Rules Committee honored Walorksi and her staff Emma Thomson and Zachery Potts at the start of Wednesday's hearing. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), who was once Thompson's boss, spoke from a Sheetz gas station on his way back from her funeral in Pennsylvania. "I feel like we were better off," having worked with her, he told the panel. Chair Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and ranking member Tom Cole (R-Okla.) highlighted Walorski's passionate work on ending hunger and her tough and thankless position on the House Ethics Committee. Cole praised "the fairness she extended to colleagues on both sides of the aisle" in Ethics cases, along with her "fierce determination to defend the integrity of the institution if somebody had gotten out of line." Your Huddle host missed this column from Fox News' Chad Pergram last week, but it's worth a read: Reporter's Notebook: The unseen heroes of Congress SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED (FOR MORE) — Congress approved a $107 billion financial overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service in the spring, with the hope that the beleaguered agency could get on stronger financial footing. But USPS is now looking at holiday-season rate hikes for packages, depending on the weight of the package and the distance it needs to travel. The peak-season pricing plan would go into effect Oct. 2 and remain until Jan. 22, 2023. On Wednesday, USPS filed a notice seeking final review of the pricing plan from the Postal Regulatory Commission. Jory Heckman at the Federal News Network has more: USPS expects to raise mail rates again next year, warns it remains in 'financial hole'
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a press conference on the House Indo-Pacific delegation's recent visit to Taiwan and other countries at the U.S. Capitol Aug. 10, 2022. (Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO) | Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO | STANDING HER GROUND — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delivered an impassioned defense of her Taiwan trip yesterday, and in the process seemed to contradict President Joe Biden's earlier claim that the military "thinks it's not a good idea" for her to visit the self-governing island. "I don't remember them ever telling us not to go," Pelosi told Andrew during a press conference with the other CODEL members. "Their preparation actually, I think, minimized the impact of the Chinese on our trip." Pelosi went on to accuse Beijing of using her trip as a "pretext" to create a "new normal" through its provocative military drills, adding: "We just can't let that happen." The speaker also laughed off (literally) China's new sanctions targeting her and her family. Andrew has much more on the after-effects of Pelosi's trip . THREATS KEEP COMING — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are facing wild and serious threats against them and their families. On Wednesday, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) shared yet another voicemail that included racist, homophomic language and advocated that he, his wife and kids be beheaded. The same day, an Oklahoma man pleaded guilty to cyberstalking Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) and threatening to "kidnap and assault" Hern and his wife, court papers show.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY . | | | | | | | | Utah loves burner accounts… Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has been running a personal Twitter account @BasedMikeLee since July, his office confirmed to HuffPost on Wednesday. The Salt Lake Tribune's Bryan Schott first reported Tuesday that Lee was behind the account. Along with a mix of serious and snarky tweets, Lee has posted facts like "I'm taller than @RandPaul," and phrases we cannot imagine him ever saying in real life, like "This account is no cap — bussin, forreal forreal." #TBT to 2019 when Lee's colleague Sen. Mitt Romney, also of Utah, told The Atlantic he had a secret Twitter account, which was later found out to be named Pierre Delecto . Photo credit… Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) doling out credit to his most junior colleague Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who he says "knows how to use portrait mode." Please tell us this was a vote-a-rama photo shoot. We want the outtakes. QUICK LINKS Yuh-Line Niou wants to become the first openly autistic member of Congress , from Sara Luterman at The 19th* Congress May Finally Do Right by Afghan Evacuees , from Grace Segers at The New Republic TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate is out. AROUND THE HILL Looking like a quiet one.
| | | WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: Heather Chapman correctly answered that Jeannette Rankin from Montana was the first woman elected to Congress. She voted against the U.S. entering both the First and Second World Wars. TODAY'S QUESTION from Heather: Which U.S. president has the most Grammy awards? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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