Hillary Clinton isn't running again in 2020, laughs former campaign chairman John Podesta
"Despite my Italian roots, vengeance doesn't run deep in my veins," Hillary Clinton's former campaign chairman John Podesta wrote in The Washington Post after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted Roger Stone. "But I admit I smiled when Roger Stone's arrest was announced Friday morning." He repeated that sentiment on Tuesday night, when CNN's Erin Burnett showed him footage of the FBI arresting Stone. "I think Stone has been lying for a very long time, and I think it's finally caught up with him," he said.
Stone was indicted for lying, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering, but not colluding with Russia via WikiLeaks or helping hype Podesta's pilfered emails, Burnett noted. "Do you think it's possible that Stone did not knowingly collude with Russia? Is it possible that charge isn't there because Mueller didn't think it happened?" Podesta said that seemed unlikely. "He was not charged with conspiracy, but there's not question that there was collusion going on."
Burnett asked about 2020 and Howard Shultz's possible run as a "centrist independent," and Podesta frowned at the idea. "I would think that, you know, Mr. Schultz would rather have as his legacy that fact that he became a billionaire selling Frappuccinos than he helped get Donald Trump re-elected president of the United States."
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The New York Times reports that Clinton hasn't shut the door on running again in 2020, Burnett said. "Do you think she would actually do it?" Podesta laughed. "First of all, I love her, I wish she was president — she got 3 million more votes than Donald Trump did, she would have been a great president — but she says she's not running for president and I think this is media catnip," he said. "I take her at her word: She's not running for president." Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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