Mike Allen

John Dowd, President DonaldTrump's outside lawyer, outlined a new and highly controversial defense/theory in the Russia probe: A president cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice.  The "President cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution's Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case," Dowd claims.

David Plouffe, the former campaign manager and White House adviser to President Barack Obama, is taking his political secret sauce to Uber in late September as senior vice president of policy and strategy.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said Uber “is trying to win hearts and minds,” adding: “There’s an incumbent … the big-taxi cartel … and we’re the challenger.” Plouffe, 47, will be one of the top few executives at the booming transportation disruptor, in charge of global branding, communications and policy -- as Kalanick put it, Uber’s “campaign manager.”

Dag Vega -- the White House liaison to the TV networks, and one of the few original Obama staffers who moved into 1600 Pennsylvania five-and-a-half years ago -- will leave for a soon-to-be-announced job in the private sector on July 25.

Vega was hired by Dan Pfeiffer in June 2008 as director of surrogate press in the Chicago campaign office and has been with Team Obama ever since.