Report: White House adviser John Podesta will join Clinton team

The Wall Street Journal reports that White House adviser John Podesta will take a prominent role on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign team if she chooses to run for president.

CBS News has confirmed that Podesta is expected to leave the Obama administration in February. He agreed to come on as a counselor for a year in late 2013 to help Mr. Obama recover from the flawed health care law rollout, and was also tasked with working on issues related to executive orders and climate change.

Podesta guided the president's 2008 transition team, but he also has a long history with the Clinton family. He served as former President Bill Clinton's chief of staff during his second term and worked for the Clinton Foundation, the family's charitable enterprise.

The Journal reports that the precise role he would play in a potential Clinton bid is still unclear, although its source said he would likely be the campaign chairman.

Asked about his role in a future Clinton campaign in a November 2014 interview on Charlie Rose, Podesta said, "If she runs, as I hope she will, I'll do whatever she asks me to do but right now she hasn't made a decision to run and so I'm expecting to return to what I was doing before which is teaching law at Georgetown Law school and working at a think tank."

He said he talked to Clinton, "from time to time."

Clinton has also reportedly tapped Joel Benenson, a former pollster for Mr. Obama's campaigns, and 2008 field staffer Robby Mook for a potential 2016 team.

Clinton has said she'll make a decision on a presidential bid in early 2015, although she recently accepted an invitation to deliver a paid speech to the American Camp Association in March and has a few paid speeches on the schedule for February. It is unlikely she would continue to give paid speeches once she announced a campaign.