* “Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.”–President Barack Obama.
* “Vladimir Putin himself directed the covert cyberattacks against our electoral system, against our democracy, apparently because he has a personal beef against me.”–Hillary Clinton.
* “Earlier this week, I met separately with (FBI director) James Comey and (Director of National Intelligence) Jim Clapper, and there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election.”–CIA Director John Brennan.
* “(Russian hacks) simply cannot be a partisan issue. The Russians are not our friends.”–Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
* “Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you. But it is also important to us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way. Some of it, we will do publicly. Some of it we will do in a way that they know, but not everybody will.”–President Barack Obama.
* “If Trump had lost the Electoral College while winning the popular vote, an army of Republican lawyers would have descended on the courts and local election officials. … And they would have started on the morning of Nov. 9, using the rhetoric of patriotism and courage.”–David S. Cohen, Drexel University law professor.
* “It is deeply unsettling that our current secretary of energy (former MIT Professor Ernest Moniz), a renowned nuclear physicist, could be succeeded by a contestant on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ Governor (Rick) Perry is simply not qualified for this position and should be rejected.”–Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
* “Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind.”–Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the EPA.
* “Look at his Cabinet. These are the globalists his people hated. These are the Wall Street vulture capitalists his people hated, and for the most part his people have shown again and again they just don’t care.”–Florida Republican consultant Rick Wilson.
* “One thing (Trump) does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him.”–Bill Clinton.
* “We want you to keep going with the incredible innovation. Anything we can do to help this go on, we will be there for you. You’ll call my people, you’ll call me. We have no formal chain of command around here.”–Donald Trump, at the summit he convened for tech leaders.
* “If you’re talking about a political system that skews rural, that’s not as important if there isn’t a major cleavage between rural and urban voting behavior. But urban and rural voting behavior is so starkly different now so that this has major political consequences for who has power.”–Frances Lee, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland.
* “There is no mystery about Barack Obama’s greatest presidential achievement: He stopped the Great Recession from becoming the second Great Depression. … Suppose we had had a second Great Depression with, say, peak unemployment of 15 percent. Almost all our problems–from poverty to political polarization–would have worsened. Obama’s influence must be considered in this context. When historians do, they may be more impressed.”–Robert Samuelson, Washington Post.
* “We adopted the modern Social Security system at a time when the average person died before they were old enough to get Social Security.”–Newt Gingrich.
* “I look forward to working with him. But if he is going to rip the rug out from under families by privatizing Medicare or taking it to seniors in nursing homes or these small-business owners who finally have peace of mind and economic stability that health insurance provides, then he is going to have a battle on his hands.”–Florida Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, on what might lie ahead in her relationship with U.S. Rep. Tom Price, who has been nominated for HHS secretary.
* “Hit the reset button.”–What Florida DOT Secretary Jim Boxold said about TBX plans.
* “We are the brand behind the world’s best brands.”–Jabil CEO Mark Mondello.
* “This is a chamber that continues to embrace young professionals. There is no JV team at the chamber. If you raise your hand and follow through, nothing stops you.”–Mike Griffin, 37, the new–and youngest-ever–chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
* “I need to be able to audit them. I don’t just take checks not knowing where it came from.”–Tax Collector Doug Belden, on Hillsborough County’s priority in reaching an agreement to collect bed taxes from Airbnb.
* “The first question I asked when told about the statue was, ‘Do I have to die now?’ If that was required, then I wanted to let them know that I don’t want one.”–E.J. Salcines, upon learning that he will be immortalized with a bronze statue in front of the old Hillsborough County Courthouse in downtown Tampa.
* “I’m not going to throw stones or daggers, although I have plenty to throw and they’re plenty sharp. The time will come for that.”–Kyle Cockream, outgoing executive director of the Public Transportation Commission, in his final address to the board.