WASHINGTON _ John Podesta, the former White House chief of staff and Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, seems to occupy an odd corner of President Trump's mind. Periodically, for reasons unknown, Trump will say something about him.
And Podesta, who has never been known to shy away from a fight, is often happy to fire back.
Both were on display Friday, starting with a Twitter message from Trump that was unusual, even by the president's standards.
"Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful," Trump wrote.
Trump's claim that "everyone here" _ that would be Hamburg, Germany, at the Group of 20 economic summit _ had Podesta on their minds was almost surely untrue. Trump, though, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin later that day, apparently did have Podesta in his thoughts.
Trump's post appeared to get several aspects of the Clinton email and Russian hacking stories confused. Podesta had nothing to do with the Democratic National Committee's reluctance to turn its server over to the FBI. Russians separately hacked into his emails. The CIA had nothing to do with either case, so far as is known.
Several hours later, Podesta pointed that out, and more, as he responded with a Twitter storm, which began with his saying he was on a cross-country trip with his wife. Over seven posts, Podesta wrote:
"On a x-country road trip with my wife; Pulled in for a pit stop in E. Fairmont W. Va. to see that our whack job POTUS @realDonaldTrump is tweeting about me at the G20.
"Get a grip man, the Russians committed a crime when they stole my emails to help you get elected President. Maybe you might try to find a way to mention that to President Putin. BTW, I had nothing to do with the DNC.
"God only knows what you'll be raving about on twitter by the time we get to Utah. Dude, get your head in the game. You're representing the US at the G20."
