Subject: Staff and G-20
From: "Denis McDonough" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], "Anita Dunn" <[email-masked]>, [email-masked], "Stephanie Cutter" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Mark Lippert" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 21:14:50 -0600

Team -

Lippert and I want to be sure we're on the same page in re: staff mtgs and visiting foreign dignitaries around the G-20. 

I noticed in an email that Anita sent earlier that Dan T is in charge of arranging staff mtgs around the G-20. If that is the case, we want to be sure we are not off the reservation. 

In his protocol calls the last several days, the President-elect has demurred on mtg with visiting leaders (each has requested a meeting) and been equally non committal on meetings with staff. 

We had been thinking we would propose that a team of senior, recognizable Democrats (led the Sec. Albright, but also including a finance/econ expert) would take meetings with visiting delegations. Such a posture with get us the benefit of the input from the visiting delegations (as Albright et al would debrief staff or even the President-elect on their meetings) but give us enough distance (since none of these folks like Albright would eventually be serving in an Obama Admin) that we would not own what they say. 

Anita and Dan Tarullo, is this different from what you all are thinking/planning? If so, let's synchronize our watches before we get too far down the road. 

Thx,
DM