Obama Names his Post-Presidency Staff

Obama assembles his post-presidential team

TheHill: President Obama has assembled a staff led by a longtime White House spokesman to help him navigate his post-presidential career.

Obama has tapped Eric Schultz,  (Getty) currently his principal deputy press secretary, as a senior adviser at his new personal office in Washington.

Schultz will develop a strategy for Obama’s public profile and coordinate with Democrats on Capitol Hill, liberal activists and alumni from the White House and his campaigns.

“President Obama asked Eric to do this not only because he’s a gifted communicator, but because he trusts his sound judgement,” Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said in a statement.

Jarrett said Schultz, who has worked on Obama’s White House staff for six years, “has the instincts, relationships, and experience to help the president manage this transition.”

Obama will be just 55 years old when he leaves the White House on Friday and has said he plans to have an active post-presidency.

During his last press conference Wednesday, Obama said he might speak out in situations “where I think our core values may be at stake” under his successor, Donald Trump.

That includes “systematic discrimination,” suppression of voters or the press, and mass deportations of immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Schultz, who got his start in politics on Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, will lead a small team of aides assisting Obama.

Former Justice Department official Kevin Lewis  will serve as primary spokesman for the former president and Caroline Adler Morales  will reprise her role as communications director to Michelle Obama.

“The president is a transformational figure in American history and he takes seriously his next role as citizen,” Schultz said in a statement. “Caroline and Kevin are two of the best communicators in the business and the president is enormously grateful they will be staying as part of his team.”

The hires were first reported by Politico.

Obama has reportedly leased office space at the World Wildlife Fund headquarters in Washington’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, located roughly a mile from his family’s rental home in Kalorama.

That office is separate from the Obama Foundation, which is based in Chicago and run by longtime friend Marty Nesbitt and former White House political director David Simas. The foundation is tasked with raising money for Obama’s presidential library on the city’s South Side.

 

Hey Trump Meet America Under Siege 2017

Add outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry who will not be attending and not providing a reason. Further, in Barack Obama’s last White House press briefing, he refused to comment on his thoughts as to those in his party that will not be attending.

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In his final press conference as president on Wednesday, Barack Obama declined to comment on the growing list of Democrats who are refusing to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday

FOX News’ Kevin Corke asked the 44th president if he supports the dozens of Democratic lawmakers who have vowed to boycott Trump’s inauguration.

“With respect to the inauguration, I’m not going to comment on those issues,” Obama responded. “All I know is I’m going to be there, so is Michelle.”

First lady Michelle Obama seemed to indicate her support for Rep. John Lewis, who is one of the most prominent lawmakers boycotting the inauguration, when she sent a tweet calling him a “great leader” on Monday. More here.

Related reading: A.N.S.W.E.R. Sued over Free Speech Space on Inauguration

Related reading: Here Are All the Members of Congress Who Are Boycotting Trump’s Inauguration — and Why

 

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