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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. I hope you had a great Veterans Day weekend. Thank you to those who have served.
TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS ON THE BRAIN — High-ranking House Democrats had one message for President Donald Trump on the Sunday morning shows: We're coming for you.
Now that Democrats hold the House majority in the next Congress, talk of impeachment is in the air and incoming committee chairs say investigating the president is among their top priorities. Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on ABC he wants to look into whether Trump is acting in his own interests rather than those of the American people. New York Rep. Jerry Nadler told CNN his first moves as House Judiciary Committee chairman are to protect the Mueller investigation and look into Trump's shakeup in the attorney general's office. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, confident she'll be elected Speaker, told The Atlantic transgressions special counsel Robert Mueller doesn't find worthy of an indictment could be worthy of impeachment.
And as longtime Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal prepares to take his likely role as head of the House Ways and Means Committee, he told reporters last week the committee has its eye on the president's tax returns. Neal is among the members of the upcoming Congress who were in office during one of the memorable investigations into a president in modern American history — Neal is one of some 100 lawmakers who were on Capitol Hill during the Clinton impeachment proceedings and now for the Trump era.
Neal slammed the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton on the House floor in December 1998, and his message decrying partisanship and party-line votes is similar to what we hear today from Republicans.
"What we have seen in this Congress really is the occurrence of 2 things: One, the rise of the Intimidator Caucus on the Republican side where they have intimidated moderate Republicans into voting for this impeachment proceeding," Neal said in 1998. "Secondly, we ask ourselves tonight, whatever happened to moderate Republicans?"
At that time, it was fresh off the 1998 midterms and Republicans had a narrow majority but failed to pick up any seats in the House — the first time since 1934 that a non-presidential party hadn't gained seats in a midterm year. Many saw the election as a referendum on the West Wing as the Lewinsky scandal drove headlines. For a video of Neal's speech, he starts at the 10:15:57 mark.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — The State House is closed in observance of Veterans Day.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Baker shows a Republican can do well in cities," by Rich Parr and Steve Koczela, CommonWealth Magazine: "ON HIS WAY to a landslide victory this week, Charlie Baker did something unusual for a Republican these days. He won urban areas, pulling 55 percent in the state's 20 largest cities and towns, according to unofficial returns from the AP. This is not normal fare for our politics here in Massachusetts, or really anywhere these days."
- "SENATE CHAMBER PIECES BEING PUT BACK TOGETHER," by Sam Doran, State House News Service: "As work wraps up on the 190th legislative session, contractors are putting the finishing touches on a structurally renovated and cosmetically redecorated Senate Chamber. Senators' desks, which will be aligned in a crescent array under the central dome, were hoisted off moving trucks and hauled up the Grand Staircase to the historic chamber last Thursday night."
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| DATELINE MERRIMACK VALLEY |
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- "Residents driven from homes assail Columbia Gas," by Alexi Cohan, Boston Herald: "In town halls one disgruntled and displaced resident called a 'media stunt,' confusion, inconsistency and lack of communication were complaints leveled against Columbia Gas executives at open houses in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence yesterday."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "County commissioner, Quincy official avoid charges at confidential court hearings," by Todd Wallack and Nicole Dungca, Boston Globe: " A Plymouth county commissioner and a high-ranking Quincy city employee quietly avoided criminal charges sought by police in secret court hearings over the past several months, the Globe has learned. The county commissioner was accused of slugging a patron at an Elks Lodge in Quincy so hard that the victim ultimately went to the hospital for observation. The Quincy engineering manager allegedly drove recklessly at a construction site, defied orders of a MBTA Transit police officer, and, according to the police report, declared he was on urgent business for the mayor."
- "At UMass Boston, dorms not yet a home away from home," by Laura Krantz, Boston Globe: 'The freshmen who moved into UMass Boston's first-ever dormitory on Labor Day made history, helping to turn the campus into something more than a commuter school. But two months into the school year, the dorm — two gleaming structures by the waterfront on Columbia Point, housing 1,077 students — is turning out to be more like the Tower of Tribulations than the Taj Mahal ."
- "Union boss who defended troopers faces his own fraud investigation," by Andrea Estes, Boston Globe: "As State Police trooper after trooper filed into court this year to face fraud or misconduct charges, they've had one staunch defender on their side. Passionate, profane, and often pugnacious, longtime union boss Dana Pullman has downplayed trooper wrongdoing, chiding politicians and blaming State Police officials for fostering a culture of corruption."
- "Protestors reenact slave auction to demand name change for Faneuil Hall," by Felicia Gans, Boston Globe: "The rain and biting wind had just paused early Saturday afternoon as Kevin Peterson — standing chained and barefoot on the wet pavement outside Faneuil Hall, head bowed — was auctioned off to a slave owner for 80 pounds. ... The reenactment was a piece of a larger rally, organized by social justice organizations in an effort to speak out against racism in Boston and encourage the city to change the name of Faneuil Hall, named for Peter Faneuil, a colonial slave owner."
- "Watertown's athenahealth to be bought by New York financial firms, report says," by Andy Rosen, Boston Globe: "Athenahealth, the Watertown health care software company, has agreed to a $5.5 billion buyout offer from a pair of New York financial firms, Veritas Capital and Elliott Management, according to a news report. The company has faced more than a year of uncertainty leading up to the decision."
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| EYE ON 2020 |
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- "AFTER TRUMP," by Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker: "On Election Night last week, Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, went out to dinner with his wife, Diane, near their apartment, in Boston's Back Bay. They propped up their iPads on the table, trying to synchronize their schedules after a hectic couple of months."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Baker And Warren Are Popular Among Almost All Demographics In Mass." by Maeve Duggan, WBUR: "Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, both won their elections this year by large margins. The standout success of both a Republican and Democrat for statewide office means that many voters supported both Baker and Warren. We don't know to the person who these voters are, but exit polling gives a sense of their demographics."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "After The Midterms, Massachusetts Women May Take New Policies To Public Office," by Sharon Brody and Hanna Chanatry, WBUR: "The 2018 midterms saw Massachusetts' voters electing a record number of women into public office, including the first woman of color in the state's congressional delegation. Massachusetts now has four women in Congress, and 28.5 percent of the state legislature is comprised of women."
- "Senator Urges Trump to Ease Ban on Aid Workers Traveling to North Korea," by Edward Wong, New York Times: "A Democratic senator has urged President Trump to allow American humanitarian aid workers into North Korea, despite a recent ban on travel to what officials consider a hostile nuclear state but also one of the world's poorest nations."
- "McGovern: I'll let House debate marijuana reform," by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: "The pot-law logjam created by Sessions is about to break. Not only did Sessions lose his seat on Election Day to Democrat and former NFL player Colin Allred, but following the Democratic takeover of the House, Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts will soon assume control of the Rules Committee."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "CONGRESSMAN SETH MOULTON PAYS TRIBUTE TO MILITARY VETERANS IN MARBLEHEAD," by Bella DiGrazia, Daily Item:"Emotions were raw as Congressman Seth Moulton brought his Veterans Town Hall back to where it all began Saturday at Abbot Hall. ... The event is a way to provide a safe platform for veterans to share their stories. Moulton first brought it to Marblehead's Abbot Hall in 2015, after the idea was conceived by author Sebastian Junger, according to Moulton's website."
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| BEHIND THE TOFU CURTAIN |
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- "As Northampton shop preps for Massachusetts' retail marijuana launch, it's also planning for the traffic that comes with it," by Lucas Ropek, MassLive.com: "As NETA prepares to become one of the first retail marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts, the Conz Street business says it is collaborating with local officials to mitigate the expected traffic influx that will come with opening."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "UNSPOKEN BOND" — Globe: "Rhode Island bets on sports gambling," "Ex-boss of troopers union faces scrutiny." |
| SOMETHING TO KEEP AN EYE ON |
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- "Legal sports betting will begin in R.I. casinos later this month," by Andy Rosen, Boston Globe: "It's a far cry from Vegas, the humble betting window under construction on the grandstand of the Twin River Casino's former horse- and dog-racing track. But in New England's first experiment with sports betting, fans will be able to place legal wagers on their favorite teams here by the end of Thanksgiving week."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "A century later, local World War I hero honored," by Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe: "Sergeant Simeon Nickerson, a shoe-factory worker from Middleborough, crouched in the woods 60 miles east of Paris as German bullets crackled all around Company D of the 101st Infantry Regiment. The day was July 23, 1918, and the company was pinned down in an Allied offensive during World War I, unable to detect the location of the enemy's machine-gun nest."
"Married again — and this time, no bridesmaids got scammed," by Lucas Phillips, Boston Globe: "Ashley Veilleux hasn't quite made up her mind about when she'll celebrate her anniversary. For now, she's just glad she's officially married. On Saturday night, she and now-husband David Mellen reknotted the knot in their second beachside Cape Cod wedding, after their first officiant turned out to have a lengthy rap sheet but no license to marry in Massachusetts."
- "Green jobs growing across Central Mass." by Paula J. Owen, Telegram & Gazette: "Most people wouldn't think of driving a tractor-trailer as a green job, but when it is transporting recycled material, it falls into that category, along with other nontraditional green jobs, as the sector continues to expand."
SPOTTED - En route to freshmen orientation in Washington, D.C. ... Congresswoman-elect Ayanna Pressley. Tweet.
TRANSITIONS - Jenn Abelson, a writer for the Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, is joining the Washington Post's Investigative Unit.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former Senate President Stan Rosenberg, Seekonk state Rep. Steven Howitt, Berkshire Eagle reporter Haven Orecchio Egresitz, and MassINC alum Winthrop Roosevelt.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and CK Strategies founder Chris Keohan, who celebrated Sunday, and to Saturday birthday-ers MassINC Polling Group president Steve Koczela, Jason Wentworth, CK Strategies VP of government and public affairs Shawn Duhamel, Massachusetts State Lottery analyst David O'Reilly, Cindy Rowe, chair of the Brookline Democratic Town Committee; and Steve Hoffman, Newton Democratic activist and deputy division chief in the AGs Office.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes and no! The Bruins beat the Golden Knights 4-1. The Titans beat the Patriots 34-10. The Trail Blazers beat the Celtics 100-94.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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