SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:06 P.M. ET: 

NO ENDORSEMENT FROM THE CHIEF – From Fox:   President Obama will not endorse a Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential primary race, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Sunday.  "That's not our job,” McDonough said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “That's the job of the party to make those decisions and then they'll take a look at the agendas and the positions of those candidates."  McDonough said that Obama, in the final 11 months of his presidency, will wait until voters pick a nominee, as he has in the past.  Squirm, Hillary, squirm.  What does Obama know about you that prevents him from nominating his first secretary of state?

HILLARY'S NIGHTMARE – From Newsmax:  The FBI and intelligence community "would go ballistic" if there's no indictment in the case of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of her private email server to conduct government business, former federal prosecutor Joseph diGenova tells Newsmax TV.  In an interview with "Newsmax Now" hosts John Bachman and Miranda Khan on Friday, the former U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia says the FBI will wrap up its probe of Clinton's email use in the next two to three months.  "This case is about the future of enforcement of classified information," diGenova declared. "[Clinton] has gotten a pass up to this point on any accusation being made public. But those days are going to be short lived."  Put some gas in Joe Biden's car.  He's ready.

TRUMP ON CRUZ –  Donald Trump renewed pressure Sunday on fellow GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz to resolve questions over his eligibility to run, warning that the matter could be used against him by Democrats in a general election.  Trump, in a tight race with Cruz in the fast-approaching Iowa caucus vote, said on “Fox News Sunday” that he was unsure whether the Texas senator, born in Canada to a U.S. citizen mother and a Cuban citizen father, is a natural-born American citizen.  “I really don't know,” he said. “Does natural born mean born to the land? In that case he's not. But nobody knows what it means. And … it hasn't gone to the Supreme Court. I speak well of Ted. I'm only saying that Ted has to get this problem solved because if he's running against a Democrat, and they bring a lawsuit, he's got a hell of a thing over his head.”  Trump again said he thinks Cruz should get a declaratory judgment to clear up the matter.  This is absurd.  Ted Cruz's mother is an American, born in Delaware.  Trump was born in Canada while his parents were working there.  I doubt if any federal court, including the Supreme Court, would have the audacity to declare ineligible a presidential candidate, especially if he has his party's nomination, unless his citizenship was based on outright fraud.  The American people would never tolerate such blatant interference in the political process.

January 10,  2016