The Note: What The 'Clinton Cash' Author Is Saying

— -- NOTABLES

--'CLINTON CASH' AUTHOR PLAYS DEFENSE: The author of a forthcoming book on Hillary Clinton and foreign donations made to her family's foundation defended the accuracy of his research, saying in an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday that while he found "no direct evidence" she took official action at the State Department to benefit donors to her family's foundation, the "smoking gun is in the pattern of behavior." Peter Schweizer's book, "Clinton Cash" highlights instances in which domestic and foreign companies with pending interests before the State Department made large donations to the Clinton's charitable enterprises or, in some cases, helped underwrite the former president's speeches. "I think the real question here is...when you ever have an issue with the flow of funds to political candidates, whether that's to campaigns, whether that's to private foundations, whether that's to their spouse - is there evidence of a pattern of favorable decisions being made for those individuals?" Schweizer told ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS. "I think the point that we make in the book is that there is a troubling pattern." ABC's LIZ KREUTZ has more. http://abcn.ws/1bId8ED

--HILLARY CLINTON POPS UP IN THE DES MOINES REGISTER: In an Op-Ed in the newspaper today, she writes: "When I came to Iowa, I wanted to do something a little different. No big speeches or rallies. Just talking directly with everyday Iowans. Because this campaign isn't going to be about me, it's going to be about Iowans and people across our country who are ready for a better future. It's not enough to just get by, you deserve to get ahead and stay ahead. And everywhere I went, I met Iowans with great ideas for how we can get there." READ MORE: http://dmreg.co/1DsCZpi

--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: "Was she here?" former Gov. Martin O'Malley asked, quite rhetorically, after speaking to the South Carolina Democratic convention Saturday, according to The Washington Post. Everyone there, of course, knew that Hillary Clinton was represented in Columbia only by staffers and surrogates, plus a glitchy video message that appeared to run at the wrong time of day, as Philip Rucker and John Wagner report. Those are the kinds of details that will either live forever or be entirely forgotten in nine months or so. Team Clinton is rolling out its candidate on its own terms, calculating that grumbles from early-state activists will be forgotten as soon as those same folks get a chance to cheer Clinton in person. That's almost certainly correct, but only almost. The left is anxious for action, as the trade debate is demonstrating in too-vivid terms. And a Clinton vacuum, however brief, will be amply filled by the very many candidates in both parties who see an upside in taking her down a notch. http://wapo.st/1J31qyO

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

5 STORIES YOU'LL CARE ABOUT IN POLITICS THIS WEEK. ABC's RICK KLEIN highlights the five stories the ABC News political team will be tracking in the week ahead. http://abcn.ws/1bH0R3h