Obama Campaign: "A Lot Of Disinformation" About Transition Advisers

Barack Obama's transition team pushed back on Wednesday morning against an AP report claiming that former Sen. Sam Nunn and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher are playing an integral role in the presidential transition.

"Senator Sam Nunn will play an informal senior adviser role throughout the defense transition process. His expertise and the respect he has earned will be invaluable to ensure a smooth transition," Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Spokesperson Stephanie Cutter said in a statement.

"Secretary Christopher is deeply respected in the United States and throughout the international community. However, he is not playing a role in the transition process. There's a lot of disinformation out there. We're working hard to put the agency review teams together and expect they'll be announced this week and inside the agencies by the end of the week."

The AP reported:

Nunn's role has been described by others, speaking anonymously because the transition teams have not been announced, as the leader of Obama's defense transition. Similarly, a senior administration official said former Secretary of State Warren Christopher would advise Obama on his State Department transition...

Nunn and Christopher would be part of a national security brain trust for Obama that is heavy on former Clinton administration officials, including possible national security adviser James Steinberg, a former State Department official.

The wire service has since updated their story to include Cutter's response.

The fact that disinformation is creeping out is not terribly surprising. With literally thousands of journalists attempting to ferret out snippets of news from what appears to be a highly disciplined and tight-lipped transition team, half-true rumors and innuendo can be easily magnified beyond their importance.

Comments

[legalgirl]

I've noticed that since the recent change in ownership, the truthfulness of stories from AP has become unreliable. What a shame -- another one bites the dust. It's not every writer, but apparently the author of this story is the not-too-truthy type. AP needs to be outed. More real information, as provided in this article, would be useful. Keep it coming, Obama transition team!

[danyll]

You get 'em!

I love it.

[NationalTreasure]

President-Elect Obama should rethink his incorporation of former Clinton staffers, advisors and appointees. The Clintonites are going to be the undoing of his presidency. These people are going to willfully undermine him.

These leaks and stories that are getting out from "sources within the Obama campaign," are making the Obama/Biden team look incompetent and weak.

By having so many of the former Clinton people around it looks like Obama is nothing more than a puppet of the Clintons and with the arrogant comment that Hillary made about Rahm Emanuel being available to her makes it look like Rahm Emanuel and the Clintons will be the ones in control.

[loper2008]

You sound a little paranoid.

Most Clinton staffers are not loyal to the Clintons. Bill lied to them all and many of them felt betrayed. Clinton staffers bring knowledge and expertise to the Obama camp and he should not discount them.

[Fabienne]

And Obama has proven that he is not the kind of man to be pushed around by the Clintons.

[Sumocat]

Who else can Obama get for his transition team who have knowledge of the White House? The Clinton administration is the only Democratic administration in the past twenty-five years. Is he supposed to ask former Bush and Reagan people for advice? Is he supposed to get no advice from people with White House experience? No way Bush and Cheney are just going to hand over the keys and keep no secrets for themselves. He needs people who know the White House to aid the transition.

[reaganomics]

Maybe he could get the best people for the job instead of the best name for the job. The Clintonista retreads are hardly the best people for the job, unless you plan on losing the white house again in four years.

[CalliDem]

Hey I know ... Let's blame the CLINTONS LOL

[pupbayer]

LOL!!!

[lincheryl]

I would also be leary of using very many of them. They may want Clinton to run in 2012, which would not make for a supportive and loyal team.

[Fabienne]

As was said above, the ex-Clinton team is probably well sick of their emotional soap operas. Robert Reich, for one, never support Senator Clinton but was always in the Obama camp, even though he was not quick to admit it. Obama knows what he is doing; the Clintons do not necessarily know what they are doing. He has proven to be savvier than they. Why don't we stop worrying about this?

[ListenPeople]

I think Clinton staffers would be happy to be a part of an Obama adminstration so that they can be a part of this face life in Washington. I, personally, would be relieved to have more than one administration under my belt.

[jimdog1954]

The Obama team has been extremely efficient in squashing any untrue rumors or outright lies during the campaign, and let's hope they will continue as they govern. Be especially wary of the right-wing spin machine. They have just suffered a tremendous defeat and they will not go gently into that good night.

[SpoxLogic]

As usual, we are getting reporting from folks who think they know what is going on. I doubt many of these reporters have the "ins" with the Obama camp like they had with the old Washington crowd.

So, they just end up guessing and get eggs on their faces.

[ajax2]

The WSJ appears to be leading the disinformation campaign with false reports about Lieberman and Torture.

[onedivasinger]

They consistently pull things out from where the sun don't shine. Right wing circle jerk.

[legalgirl]

Yes, WSJ has been one of the worst.

[legalgirl]

And from that same article published in Bloomberg on 11/12/08:

"With less than half that amount coming from federal appropriations, Obama's transition team will raise money privately, he said. As in the campaign, Obama won't accept money from registered lobbyists and political action committees, Podesta said."

Read the entire article (it's easily accessed online) and your comments makes a lot more sense.

[Cinnamonape]

Yep! It's ol' Rupert Murdoch's right-wing calliope of "facts" that has taken over.

What's happening now is two things. There are people who are claiming to have a lot more input than they actually have...and this is self-serving because they can then get approached by those seeking infuence.

Then there are those trying to throw divisive "bombs" into the process by turning Obama allies against one another, and making him out as someone that isn't as "transformative" as they thought. Foilks like Murdoch, Drudge, and lots in the MSM who would be the LAST people that Obama's inner circle would leak to.

[Scott1560]

Would this CNN story be considered disinformation:
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/10/22/ufo.records/

???

[DocJerome]

I love it.