"If You Leak, You're Gone": Obama Transition Team

Marc Ambinder reports on the Obama team's somewhat unsuccessful attempt to run a tight ship:

Several Obama transition staffers have put a version of that quotation in transition co-chief John Podesta's mouth.

Many of the major staff appointments so far - Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff, Greg Craig as White House counsel, the fact of the Clinton meeting, along with details about internal thinking on Gitmo and other subjects - have escaped whatever barriers the Obama team has set in place.

Every transition staffer and adviser has signed a non-disclosure agreement, and staff members are regularly warned by their superiors not to talk to the press.

My guess is that the sheer size of the universe that Obama's now dealing with - huge agency teams, reams of outside advisers being asked for their opinions - renders silence virtually impossible.

Read more about Obama's transition team here.

Comments

[Tom Payned]

But if you try to sabotage my campaign and those of other dems up for election, I forgive you and have the Senate give you your chairmanship.

Sorry Barrack you no longer have my trust or support. Change we can beleive in my butt.

[TheGuide]

Did he ever have it? I don't you voted for Obama.

[skahimself]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Politics 101.

I suggest you read a book or two on gamesmanship before you start flapping your gums. Anything by Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl Von Clauswitch [sic], or Robert Green would be a great place to start.

[justoverit333]

Tom - I seriously doubt you ever really did
support him. If so, you wouldn't be jumping
ship so soon.

[peggyleg]

I thought the same thing, but I read his comments on his bio and he was a die-hard BO fan...

Tom, welcome to the party of the thinking person...the Republcans!..!!!.

[metalpipe]

To use a valley quote: Whatever

[Sabreen60]

He never had it. You must think people here are st00pid. Go on over to the rightwing numbnuts web sites.

[RBChicago]

Whoa, that's scary, what happens if you leak -get a senate committee chairmanship?

[Bobbi112947]

Remember that old WW11 warning...oh.. not me of course,I wasn't around until way after the war..lol
Loose lips sink ships..

[Shake-A-Spear]

Different context, different era. Ask your grandfather
Reminds me of the gift a kid got recently. A spinning top that came boxed with a length of string. No batteries. No batteries needed. No moving parts. Nothing to assemble..Just the top and the string. -- and the printed directions that read simply: ASK YOUR GRANDFATHER.

[cjgnew]

I agree totally with the MO that if you leak you are out of there. I also agree with the distribution of the non-disclosure agreement. There is a time for transparency. But there is also a time for confidentiality, especially when someone's privacy is at stake. Professionalism requires confidentiality. If President-elect Obama cannot trust your word on a non-disclosure agreement, you have no business being in his administration. Leaks are an embarrassment to the President and his administration, and there should be zero tolerance for them. What most likely happened is that someone on the transition team who disagreed with HRC being appointed Secretary of State leaked the information, as I am sure BO already knows.

Carlos Jean-Gilles
Saint Louis, MO

[CaptD]

If they can't hold secrets then they cannot/should not work for Obama!

[peggyleg]

Hmm, then maybe he should hire Bush's administration, eh?

I thought the libs wanted "full transparancy"...so much for that,eh?

[smithshaw08]

No not the bush admin...............that would require us to lock up anyone we don't like in Gitmo :)

[Pupadup4oBama]

as a rethuglican I wouldn't expect you to understand. Pegleg.

[Quotidien]

leak #1: Rahm Emanuel - Chief of Staff

leak #2: Hillary Clinton - Secretary of State

leak #3: Eric Holder - Attorney General.

Somebody didn't get the memo.

[Quotidien]

With all this leaking, he may need to hire a plumber...hehe

[Bobbi112947]

Hey! McCain knows just the guy..lol

[Kate4Change]

Joe the Plumber is for hire, for a discounted price of $250,000.

[Chaucea]

Hmmm...

"Change We Can Leak In"

or

"Leaks We Can Believe In"

[MadeinAmericaProud]

It is time to remove the blackberry and the cell phones. All informations go through Canada
per verizon contract.

[foius]

To think that there will not be any media leaks during this transition period borders on the illogical. There are obviously leaks being made, who is making them is not relevant to the issue of who is being considered for Cabinet posts. I hope that these statements that are being made by President-elect Obama's transition staff does not set any precedents for his Administration come Jan.20, 2009. We desperately need transparency after the boondoggles of the Bush Administration and its' toxic aftermath.

[HmblDog]

leaks generally serve a purpose for the leaker. the leak itself does not provide "transparency."
if transparency is what you seek then begin by asking what is gained by the leaker.

Cheney leaked like a seive. The problem is his leaks were carefully crafted falsehoods.

if you are ever thinking about changing jobs maybe it will help to post a memo about it on your breakroom bulletin board. it will be so much more helpful for you if you handle it in a tranparent manner.

[MadeinAmericaProud]

Cheney leaked to the New York times so he could quote them on "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning.

[Matt7]

*

"Transparency" is one thing. Breach of confidentiality is another.

And NO we don't have a "right" to know what someone has SWORN to keep confidential.

*

[peggyleg]

When did the libs start thinking like this?

All I ever heard in the last 8 years is "Bush is NOT telling us everything"...

It works both ways, with both parties....sorry, libs, your hypocrisy is showing...hahaha

[ailbhe]

How can silence be a good thing? Transparancy and accountability go hand in hand. Silence is what allows corruption to fester.

Preventing the public from knowledge of what is going on and selling to them the finished product in an image you want to project is reminiscent of the authoritarian Bush years.

Change?

[DiBaskin]

Maybe he wants to make his final decision before word gets out to avoid anyone being embarrassed or having public pressure put on them.

[CaptD]

Decision makers must be able to discuss things in private without them being seen in the evening news. Transparency and accountability have nothing to do with it...

[postboy]

there is a difference between transpa rency and stu pidity. They should wait until the decisions are finalized

[theiccemann]

This new admin., doesn't need to be scrutinized at every breath that is taken. They aren't in office yet, and the process of choosing members would be a fairly tedious task. The media should have no influence.

Now that everyone knows that Obama spoke with Clinton, apparently about secretary of state, does it place more pressure on both sides for this to happen? What if Obama changes his mind, or , maybe Hillary doesn't want the position?

What if Richardson proved to be a better interview? Sometimes, the media, needs to step back and just wait, and spend their time reporting real news.

[peggyleg]

So the New Administration gets a pass, eh? OK, till Jan. 20, and then, they will be held to the same scrutiny as Bush has been held to for 8 years...and I can't wait!!!

[realiybased2]

These leaks should STOP. We don't need ublic or REPUBs questioning every move being made and vetting anyone and everyone that might be mentioned in passing. The public and the media will know the confirmed choices when made. It doesn't matter who Obama chooses for what, there is always going to be someone or some group that opposes his choice.

These so-called reliable sources need to KEEP THEIR BIG MOUTH SHUT. What if you were applying for jobs because you had an unfair Boss, you would not want that BOSS to know that you were seeking other employment.

Obama needs a chance to pick his staff and cabinets without every Tom, Dick and Harry homing in on it. Due the corruption of the Republican party, he doesn't need their constant nick picking during this processs.

[unfiltered]

don't assume incompetence or a lack of control of his people because the media calls them leaks. he's done little to suggest that these are little more than strategic placements to keep interest and propagate additional vetting by bloggers and the such.

the media knew well in advance of the biden announcement; and, i'm sure some journalists called them leaks instead of putting the info in its proper context, but hey, maybe we' the readers are more interested if they're 'leaks.'

[peggyleg]

Why not? The same thing happened to Bush and all of his decisions were questioned....come on, nut up, BO is a big boy...quit whining!!! BO isn't whining....

[truth2008]

F--k Bush, stop bringing the i-d-i-o-t-s name up. I bet you voted for him twice, didn't you peg leg!

[eden4barack08]

Yup, I miss the good old days of the disciplined, tight knit, well run Obama Campaign. Those were the good old days, lol. I guess this was unavoidable given the sheer increase in size and diversity of new people added from campaign to transition, people not used to, or careless about Obama's attention to discipline. Too bad.

[FixTheBroken]

And here is another leak:

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/poweringup/archive/2008/11/18/obama-s-attorney-general.aspx

[adv2int]

This is how it should be.

Shut your mouths

[txgal44]

You tell em baby!!!

[frictionlessmatter3]

Wow, this would have meant so much more had it been said after the leak of the private conversations with Bush.

[aedelbert]

So I guess that means Clinton is out?