May 5, 2022: The book J.D. Vance doesn’t want you to read

J.D. Vance owes his GOP Senate primary victory in Ohio to two people: Donald Trump and Peter Thiel. Trump’s endorsement put him over the top in a crowded primary, while Thiel’s support — funneled through a super PAC called Protect Ohio Values (aka POV) — enabled Vance to outsource many traditional campaign operations, including polling, advertising, GOTV and, it turns out, opposition research. One big problem with letting a super PAC do everything: Campaign finance law prohibits communication between a candidate’s own committee and a super PAC supporting them. But there are ways around that obstacle.  As Alex Isenstadt detailed Tuesday in a fascinating tick-tock of the Ohio race, POV set up an unadvertised-but-public Medium account, where it posted a trove of sensitive documents, polling reports, audio and video for Vance to use. Some of the files are boring, such as b-roll footage the Vance camp could include in ads. But the group also posted extensive opposition research reports — on both his primary opponents and Vance himself. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.