John Podesta: “As a former White House chief of staff, the best advice I could have given Gen. John F. Kelly has been overtaken by events: Don’t take the job.”
“To have any chance of succeeding, he will have to accomplish three extraordinary tasks, all at odds with President Trump’s instincts.”
John Podesta responds to President Trump’s earlier tweet that everyone was talking about him at the G20 summit in Germany:
On a x-country road trip with my wife.
Pulled in for a pit stop in E. Fairmont W. Va. to see that our whack job POTUS @realDonaldTrump is tweeting about me at the G20.
Get a grip man, the Russians committed a crime when they stole my emails to help get you elected President.
Maybe you might try to find a way to mention that to President Putin.
BTW, I had nothing to do with the DNC.
God only knows what you’ll be raving about on Twitter by the time we get to Utah.
Dude, get your head in the game. You’re representing the U.S. at the G20.
“Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!”
— President Trump, tweeting from the G20 summit in Germany.
John Podesta, the chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, spoke with John Heilemann about “The Hacked Election.”
Podesta calls for a 9/11-style commission to investigate all the unresolved questions about Russia’s meddling in the election, its role in the hacking, and its possible ties to the Trump campaign.
“Hillary Clinton’s campaign has thrown its support behind an effort to provide members of the Electoral College with intelligence briefings on Russian breaches of U.S. political organizations before the College formally votes to elect Donald Trump president next week,” NBC News reports.
Said campaign chairman John Podesta: “The bipartisan electors’ letter raises very grave issues involving our national security. Electors have a solemn responsibility under the Constitution and we support their efforts to have their questions addressed.”
“Podesta’s strongly worded statement signals a clear shift in strategy from Clinton and her team, who have until now shown no interest in questioning the legitimacy of last month’s election.”
The day the original story about Hillary Clinton’s private email server broke, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta wrote to another top Clinton aide that the campaign was “going to have to dump all those emails,” CBS News reports.
The Clinton campaign has said that by “dump,” Podesta meant release to the public—like in a document dump—and not deleting or getting rid of them.
“Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta, said that the FBI is investigating a ‘criminal hack’ of his private email account, which he blamed on Russia and suggested that the campaign of Republican Donald Trump could have known what was coming,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Podesta: “I’ve been involved in politics for nearly five decades, and this definitely is the first campaign that I’ve been involved with in which I’ve had to tangle with Russian intelligence agencies, who seem to be doing everything they can on behalf of our opponent.”
“The chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign urged U.S. intelligence agencies on Wednesday to get an ironclad agreement from Donald Trump that he would not leak information to the Russians before providing him with presidential candidate briefings,” the Huffington Post reports.
Said John Podesta: “I think it’s an issue that… Jim Clapper’s going to have to come to grips with. And I think they’ll have to find a way to negotiate with him and with his campaign to get … more than assurances ― sort of some proof that they can be able to hold on to that information.”
“I think that’s a matchup that works very well for us, because she’s out listening to the American people offering real solutions, talking about the fight she’ll fight for them, and he’s out, you know, hurling insults.”
— Clinton campaign Chair John Podesta, in an interview with ABC News, on Donald Trump as the GOP nominee.
New York Times: “Wiry, ascetic, profane and relentless, John Podesta has become the Democratic Party’s marathon man in more ways than one. He helped save Bill Clinton’s presidency from the fires of scandal and impeachment. He spent the last year trying to salvage Barack Obama’s presidency from gridlock and malaise. And now he has handed in his White House pass to try to create a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency from the ashes of her last failed campaign.”
“Perhaps no other unelected Democrat has shaped his party as much over the last two decades.”
“With the end of Barack Obama’s presidency looming on the horizon, the question buzzing inside the White House is who will be there to turn off the lights on the last day of his administration,” CNN reports.
“The departures of senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama veteran from his first presidential campaign, and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, are expected as soon as early March, leaving White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough with some big shoes to fill. That’s on top of the recent news that Counselor to the President, John Podesta will step aside in mid-February for a senior role in Hillary Clinton’s expected race for the White House.”
White House adviser John Podesta “will take on a senior advisory role in Hillary Clinton’s emerging presidential bid after he leaves the administration in February, three people familiar with the matter said. The move is one of the most definitive signs yet that Mrs. Clinton is building the apparatus to launch a 2016 campaign,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mrs. Clinton isn’t likely to announce her decision on whether to enter the race until the spring. But her advisers are making preparations for such a campaign, as evidenced by Mr. Podesta signing on.”
Obama adviser John Podesta told Reuters he’ll leave the White House soon.
Said Podesta: “I’m probably going to leave in early February. Then I’ve got to figure out what I’m doing in life.”
Figuring that out will depend largely on whether Hillary Clinton decides to run for president again, as she is expected to do. Podesta has been mentioned frequently as a likely chairman of her campaign.
Sources tell Al Hunt that Hillary Clinton has discussed bringing John Podesta to served as chairman of her possible presidential campaign.
“There may be no one in Democratic circles who commands more respect than Podesta. His standing is similar that of James Baker, the former secretary of state, in Republican circles three decades ago. Podesta was chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and then started the most successful Democratic think tank, the Center for American Progress. He was the major player in the negotiations with China, which culminated in this week’s joint agreement to cut greenhouse emissions.”
“The unsuccessful Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign was marked by chaotic infighting and, at least initially, a lack of direction. Prominent Democrats believe it’ll take someone of Podesta’s stature to bring order to her expected 2016 quest.”
Earlier on Political Wire: Jockeying begins for Clinton campaign jobs
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.