Podesta Dips His Toe in the Jury Pool

By Al Kamen
To Team Obama workers, it seemed the whole transition inexplicably slowed down for a few hours this morning. No one could figure out why. Turns out, transition chief John Podesta was not in -- he was cooling his heels down in D.C. Superior Court, waiting to see if he would be called for jury duty.

D.C. has a one-day/one-trial system that asks residents to spend a day in the jury pool and, if not picked for a trial, lets them off the hook for a couple years. If picked, they're there for the duration of the trial. Washingtonians can, as Podesta did, get one deferment. After that, though, they've gotta show.

So there Podesta was, sitting in that big Superior Court waiting room with scores of other local residents, doing his civic duty. We're told he even got so far as to be called for voire dire for a criminal trial. A kindly judge let him off the hook until after the inauguration. Podesta got back to the office shortly after lunch and the transition train chugged off down the track.