In Transition

Sometimes breakfasts between friends are just that. But when they happen inside Washington, D.C., and involve members of President-Elect Obama’s transition team, it raises inevitable questions.

Wednesday morning, Mortimer L. Downey, who heads up Obama’s transition team in charge of transportation issues, was spotted having a Beltway power breakfast with Federico Pena, the former Transportation Secretary under Bill Clinton (and also a member of the Obama transition team’s advisory committee).

Steve Katich, a spokesman for Pena, confirmed that the two had breakfast together, but said it was nothing more than meets the eye. He noted that Downey was Pena’s deputy during Pena’s stint as DOT secretary.

“It was innocuous, they have remained friends through all the years and they were just catching up. Nothing should be read into it,” Katich said.

— Kathryn A. Wolfe