The White House, Trump campaign and other allies have been laying plans for a variety of conclusions in the special counsel’s just-completed investigation.
President Donald Trump’s aides don’t yet know what special counsel Robert Mueller’s report says. But they have tried to prepare for almost any outcome.
Staff at the White House, Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee have quietly plotted in recent weeks to launch an aggressive campaign to defend the president after Mueller’s long-awaited findings become public, three of them told POLITICO.
Working in earnest since last fall, at the first signs that Mueller might be finishing up, they have prepared statements and talking points for loyal surrogates, including congressional Republicans and state GOP officials. Different versions aim to cover multiple different conclusions of the Justice Department investigation into whether Trump associates conspired with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election, ranging from the most damning conclusions likely to trigger impeachment calls to a potential exoneration of the president.
View the complete March 22 article by Anita Kumar on the Politico website here.