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A battalion of White House aides entered the Oval Office together to present a unified front after the bombshell.

The Justice Department had appointed a special prosecutor to oversee the probe into Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential election, White House counsel Don McGahn had just told President Donald Trump. Many of Trumps top aides gathered with the president Wednesday evening just after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein signed the order and called McGahn and just before the news exploded publicly in Washington.

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Trump handled it better than anyone expected, according to a person in the room. His reaction was extremely measured, another said.

He didn't yell or scream. He told the assembled crowd they had nothing to hide.

But that levelheadedness was quickly replaced Thursday morning by a wounded tweeter in chief lashing out as some of his staffers had been expecting the news would bring out.

With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed! Trump tweeted, after an unusually quiet 24 hours online.

He added in a second tweet: This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!

The change in attitude followed a typical pattern with Trump: accepting a defeat in real time, then later raging against it after talking to friends and watching television. After his first attempt at repealing and replacing Obamacare failed, he was calm and conciliatory, then later began blasting the House Freedom Caucus from his online pulpit.

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True to form, Thursdays screed was a stark contrast to the response Wednesday night in the Oval Office, according to aides present, where the mood in the room appeared to be one of resigned acceptance even though they were blindsided. Everyone knew this wasn't good news," this person said.

The announcement marked yet another severe blow to the 45th president just 118 days into his term. It followed eight days of chaos inside the White House after the president suddenly fired FBI Director James Comey, further crippling an administration already struggling with internal discord and mounting crises at home and abroad.

The president Wednesday afternoon had been interviewing candidates for FBI director when the news arrived. His staff had no advance notice that a special prosecutor would be appointed.

The crowd entering Trumps office was sizable, as is often the case: chief of staff Reince Priebus, McGahn and other lawyers, senior advisers Kellyanne Conway and Jared Kushner, communications aides Michael Dubke and Hope Hicks and others.

Aides outlined the background of the special counsel, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who Trump had met before. Some explained to the president what a special prosecutor can do.

Over the course of about 40 minutes, aides streamed in and out of the Oval Office. The team drafted a statement from the president for Trumps approval. A gaggle of reporters camped outside press secretary Sean Spicers office to wait for it.

It was released Wednesday at about 7:20 p.m., 80 minutes after the Justice Departments public announcement and two hours after staff first got word of the action.

As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, Trump said in the statement. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country.

Priebus and Trump together delivered a rally-the-troops message to the team: This is an opportunity to let them do their work so we can do ours, Priebus and Trump both reiterated multiple times to the aides gathered.

Outside the White House grounds, the news would soon be interpreted as a potential step that could drain the presidency for months to come.

Trump's upbeat response surprised some aides, though it brought the team together in the face of a common outside threat, according to a source who was present Wednesday.

No one really thinks having a special prosecutor is good and no one is happy" about it, a senior administration official said.

But the communications staff agreed on a positive message for the wrenching news: Because of the special prosecutor, the brewing Russia-related controversies would become something that we just can't talk about, one aide said.

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In the communications office, which has suffered some of the most brutal criticism internally from Trump, the feeling was the special counsel would be a burden off its shoulders.

In the weeks leading up to the decision to appoint a special counsel, Spicer and deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders both publicly said there was no need for the step Rosenstein finally took Wednesday.

Now, Spicer and other briefers would no longer have to look as if they were stonewalling on Russia questions, and could refer those elsewhere.

Aides are now urging Trump to tweet and speak cautiously. "I think he actually understands what a mess this is," one person said. "He has lawyers telling him nonstop what the stakes are here."

On Thursday, Trump was to meet at the White House with the president of Colombia and participate in a joint news conference in the afternoon.

He'll depart Friday for his first international trip as president: an eight-day, five-country journey from Saudi Arabia to Israel to the Vatican to Brussels to Sicily, where he is attempting to shift the narrative away from his domestic crises.

One of the things Trump is most looking forward to about his upcoming trip, according to a White House aide, is a reprieve from the daily press briefings.

On Wednesday night, a person close to him said, Trump was in the White House residence talking to friends and associates about how it was playing on TV.

Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.

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How Trump learned about the special prosecutor - Politico

I've been a Republican political consultant for almost 30 years, and I've dispensed a lot of private advice. But now it's time for me to reach out publicly to my fellow Republicans working in the Trump administration.

We really need to talk.

Whether you're a 20-something fresh off the campaign trail or a seasoned Washington insider serving in the Cabinet, by now you're painfully aware that you're not making America great again; you're barely making it to the end of the daily news cycle before your verbally incontinent boss, the putative leader of the free world, once again steers the proverbial car into a ditch. On every front, you're faced with legal, political and moral hazards. The president's job, and yours, is a lot harder than it looked, and you know the problem originates in the Oval Office.

You hate that people are shying away from the administration jobs in droves: Just this week, in rapid succession, both Texas Sen. John Cornyn and South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy withdrew their names from consideration as replacements for former FBI Director James Comey, the guy your boss fired. Whatever department you're in, it's a safe bet that it's a whispering graveyard of empty appointments and unfilled jobs.

I know: many of you serving in Cabinet, sub-Cabinet and White House roles joined Team Trump in good faith, believing you could help steady the ship, smooth the rough edges and, just maybe, put some conservative policy wins up on the board. You could see that President Donald Trump's undisciplined style was risky, but you hoped the big show playing over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would provide you with cover to work steadily and enthusiastically on the administration's legislative priorities. Some of you even bought into the 'Merica First new nationalism. Many of you quietly assured friends in the Washington ecosystem that Trump would settle into his job - after all, just a few days after taking office, he assured us, "I can be the most presidential person ever."

You figured Trump would turn his political capital into big wins, and that his lack of interest in policy details would let you and your friends in Congress set the agenda. Sure, you knew you'd have to feed Trump's ego and let him take a victory lap after every success, but you also thought you might claim a smidgen of credit for a popular infrastructure bill, a big tax cut, repeal of Obamacare or a host of other "easy" lifts. Because we're all ambitious, right? It's OK to admit it.

Instead, your president botched Trumpcare 1.0 and contributed little as Speaker Paul Ryan managed to ram the public-relations nightmare, Trumpcare 2.0, through the House at the cost of much political blood and treasure. Instead, Trump's fumbles have left many members of Congress ducking town hall meetings as if they're in the Witness Protection Program. The DOA tax bill and the rest of Trump's agenda are deader and more pungent than six-day-old fish. Maybe your particular bureau is still afloat, but you're really not doing much except playing defense and wondering which of your colleagues is leaking to The Post.

You learned quickly that your job isn't actually to serve the nation, manage your agency or fulfill the role you ostensibly play according to the White House org chart. In reality, you spend most of your time fluffing Trump's ego. Either that or you're making excuses for not being a more aggressive suck-up. If you've been ordained to appear on television as an administration surrogate, you know by now that your task isn't to advocate for your agency or issue, but to lavish the president with praise.

Now, you see the daily train wreck; you see a White House in turmoil and a president drawing an ever-tighter circle of family and corporate vassals around himself. You worry that the scandals and legal troubles, that have been rumbling on the horizon like a summer thunderstorm, are drawing nearer. You should worry.

Every day you get up, slide into the seat of your Prius or Tahoe (and, if you're senior enough, exchange a few polite words with your driver) and start checking Twitter. Whatever it is that you're feeling, it doesn't feel anything like Morning in America. It feels like some far-away kleptocracy where the center hasn't held, the airfield and radio station have fallen to the rebels, and the Maximum Leader is holed up in his secret bunker waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Soon (and by soon, I mean now) you'll have to make a choice. You'll have to decide if "I'm here to help" has morphed into "I'm helping this president dismantle the republic." In D.C., principle is as rare as hen's teeth, but, GOP friends, I'm here to help you.

You already know you can't save the president because he doesn't want to be saved. You already know there's not another, better version of Trump getting ready to show up. You're smart. You're loyal. You're sniffing the wind like a gazelle, nose filled with the scents of predators. You don't want to break from the pack too soon, but there's greater risk in waiting too long.

When regimes collapse, dead-enders are the most fascinating to watch the ones who end up with the profitable concessions and sought after mistresses. You know already, though, that's probably not you. So, when this regime falls, ask yourself, do you want to be among those who said "not me," or do you want to go out like a Ba'ath Party generalissimo?

Sticking with Trump to the bitter end and pretending the unfolding chaos is just "fake news" won't save your reputation as the walls close in. It won't ease the judgment of history. It won't do anything to polish up your future Wikipedia entry.

Cutting ties with a man who is destructive to our values, profoundly divisive, contemptuous of the rule of law and incontrovertibly unfit to serve in the highest office in the land just might. Do it now.

Washington Post

Rick Wilson is a Republican consultant and a columnist for the Daily Beast.

What to read next:

And now, a special counsel. How Trump still could save his disaster-prone presidency.

Dear Republicans: It is possible to say no to Trump

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If you work for President Trump, it's time to quit - Chicago Tribune

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, before his departure to Groton, Connecticut, May 17, 2017.Yuri GripasReuters

Ferguson is an internationally ranked chess player and the Attorney General for Washington state.

The most aggressive opening in chess is called the King's Gambit. On the second move, White sacrifices a pawn that typically protects his king for a blitzkrieg assault on Black. It's audacious. With no preparation, no careful groundwork, White signals his intent to wipe his opponent off the board. In the early 20th century, the King's Gambit led to many brilliant victories. But through careful preparation, grand masters discovered that they could place White on the defensive by capitalizing on weaknesses created by the aggressive opening.

President Trump is playing the political version of the King's Gambit--and his electoral victory was certainly an example of early success. But his approach leaves vulnerabilities that undermine his attacks.

Trump's first defeat--his travel ban targeting people from Muslim-majority countries --is a good example. My office brought a lawsuit challenging that Executive Order and, within a week, stopped it nationwide. How did we do it?

First, we studied Trump's moves and prepared. During his campaign, Trump said he wanted to create "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." His adviser Rudy Giuliani explained to Fox News, "When he first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'" Like White sacrificing a pawn on the second move, the President telegraphed his intent to act aggressively. Once Trump told the nation he wanted the travel ban, we marshalled our resources and prepared arguments for the move we knew was coming.

Second, we did not accept Trump's playing field as he presented it. We blunted his action by moving the field of battle to the courtroom. In that setting, Trump was on the defensive. After all, it isn't the loudest voice that prevails before a federal judge--it's the Constitution.

Third, we capitalized on the weaknesses created by Trump's early moves. For example, Trump's team did little, if any, vetting of the travel ban. They failed to ask their own executive agencies to review the Executive Order. In short, it was sloppy.

Additionally, we used Trump's words against him. Those statements about creating a "Muslim ban"? They became evidence in our complaint that the Executive Order was partly motivated by animus against Muslims.

After we stopped the President's original travel ban, Trump issued an all-caps tweet: "See you in court!" But we had already seen him in court--and defeated him there twice. His tweet revealed only one thing: that the President was playing two moves behind.

Trump's aggressive nature will be his undoing. His firing of FBI Director James Comey is the latest egregious example.

We have seen this story before: disregard for the rule of law. Sloppy execution with shifting rationales. A President's own Administration caught off guard.

The key to restoring the rule of law is to blunt Trump's aggression and put him on the defensive. That's why I joined 19 fellow attorneys general in calling for the appointment of an independent special counsel to continue Comey's work investigating Russian interference in our elections.

We will see more reckless and aggressive behavior from this Administration. And I will continue to meet weekly with key members of my team to anticipate Trump's next moves.

When Trump recently signed an Executive Order designed to threaten our national monuments, we were prepared. I penned a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, warning that any harm to our treasured landmarks would run contrary to federal precedent dating back to Theodore Roosevelt--and would result in legal action from my office.

Additionally, the President recently restarted a coal-leasing program on federal land, despite his refusal to obtain an updated environmental assessment, as required by law. Together with the attorneys general of California, New Mexico and New York, I challenged the Administration's action, filing suit in federal court.

My fellow attorneys general and I will continue to anticipate Trump's aggressive moves and hold him accountable. We will be prepared. And we will counter his unlawful, ill-conceived gambits. Frankly, that's our job. We represent the first line of defense to uphold the rule of law.

What became of the King's Gambit? Today it is rarely seen at the top levels of international chess, because elite players know how to react--by turning aggression into weakness.

Ferguson is an internationally rated chess master and the attorney general for Washington State

View original post here:
Washington AG: President Trump's Aggression Will Be His Undoing - TIME

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russia's foreign minister about a planned Islamic State operation, two U.S. officials said on Monday, plunging the White House into another controversy just months into Trump's short tenure in office.

The intelligence, shared at a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, was supplied by a U.S. ally in the fight against the militant group, both officials with knowledge of the situation said.

The White House declared the allegations, first reported by the Washington Post, incorrect.

"The story that came out tonight as reported is false," H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, told reporters at the White House, adding that the leaders reviewed a range of common threats including to civil aviation.

"At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known...I was in the room. It didn't happen," he said.

Russia's foreign ministry said reports that Trump had revealed highly classified information were "fake", according to the Interfax news agency.

The White House also released a statement from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said the Oval Office meeting focused on counterterrorism, and from Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, who called the Washington Post story false.

Still, the news triggered concern in Congress.

The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, called Trump's conduct "dangerous" and "reckless".

Bob Corker, the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the allegations "very, very troubling" if true.

Obviously, theyre in a downward spiral right now and theyve got to come to grips with all thats happening," he said of the White House.

SECRET COMPARTMENT

The latest controversy came as Trump's administration reels from the fallout over his abrupt dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey and amid congressional calls for an independent investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

One of the officials said the intelligence discussed by Trump in his meeting with Lavrov was classified "Top Secret" and held in a secure compartment to which only a handful of intelligence officials have access.

After Trump's disclosure of the information, which one of the officials described as spontaneous, officials immediately called the CIA and the National Security Agency, both of which have agreements with a number of allied intelligence services around the world, and informed them what had happened.

While the president has the authority to disclose even the most highly classified information at will, in this case he did so without consulting the ally that provided it, which threatens to jeopardize a long-standing intelligence-sharing agreement, the U.S. officials said.

Since taking office in January, Trump has careened from controversy to controversy, complaining on the first day about news coverage of his inauguration crowds; charging his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, with wiretapping; and just last week firing the FBI director who was overseeing an investigation into potential ties between Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government.

Trump, a Republican who has called allegations of links between his campaign team and Russia a "total scam," sharply criticized his 2016 election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, for her handling of classified information as secretary of state, when she used a private email server.

The FBI concluded that no criminal charges against Clinton were warranted, but Comey said she and her colleagues had been "careless" with classified information.

'NO FILTER'

In his conversations with the Russian officials, Trump appeared to be boasting about his knowledge of the looming threats, telling them he was briefed on "great intel every day," an official with knowledge of the exchange said, according to the Post.

Some U.S. officials have told Reuters they have been concerned about disclosing highly classified intelligence to Trump.

One official, who requested anonymity to discuss dealing with the president, said last month: He has no filter; its in one ear and out the mouth.

One of the officials with knowledge of Trump's meeting with the Russian called the timing of the disclosure particularly unfortunate, as the President prepares for a White House meeting on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, an ally in the fight against Islamic State.

Trump's first foreign trip also begins later this week and includes a stop in Saudi Arabia, another Islamic State foe, and a May 25 NATO meeting in Brussels attended by other important U.S. allies. He also has stops planned in Israel and the Vatican.

The president's trip and latest uproar over his meeting with Russian officials come amid rumors that he might shake-up his senior staff in a bid to refocus his administration.

(Additional reporting by David Alexander, Mark Hosenball, Susan Cornwell, Ayesha Rascoe and Steve Holland; Editing by Kieran Murray and Bill Tarrant, Ralph Boulton)

NEW YORK A majority of Americans, including a growing number of Republicans, want to see an "independent investigation" sort out any connections between Russia and President Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO Ramin Forouzandeh had applied to 13 PhD economics programs in the United States, but after President Donald Trump signed his first travel ban in January, the 25-year-old Iranian turned to Canada for other options.

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO President Donald Trump said he would seek to keep his tough immigration enforcement policies from harming the U.S. farm industry and its largely immigrant workforce, according to farmers and officials who met with him.

Read more from the original source:
Trump revealed intelligence secrets to Russians in Oval Office: officials - Reuters

House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wondered Monday if the Russians are holding something over President Trump's head in order to get him to cater to their needs.

"Theres something wrong with this picture," Pelosi said at a special CNN town hall with host Chris Cuomo. "And every day I ask the question, 'What do the Russians have on Donald TrumpDonald TrumpState Dept. surprised by Tillerson defending Trump: report GOP strategist: GOP would have 'rightly' tried to impeach Clinton for classified disclosure Pelosi: 'What do the Russians have on Donald Trump?' MORE financially, politically or personally that hes always catering to them?'"

Pelosi was discussing Trump's dismissal of FBI Director James Comey last week, in the midst of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The Washington Post broke news Monday evening that Trump shared high classified intelligence aboutthe Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) with top Russian diplomats in a meeting last week. Trump did not receive permission from the source, a U.S. partner, to disclose the information with the Kremlin officials.

While it is within the president's rights to declassify information as he sees fit, many say he could have burned a source with rare insight and access into ISIS's inner workings.

"This is sloppy and he can correct it, but we have to know more about it. He cant do it again," Pelosi added about Trump's reported disclosure.

Pelosi also questioned the president's competency, suggesting he is unprepared for his role.

"It goes to the preparedness or the lack thereof of President Donald Trump to be president."

The California lawmaker touted her 20 years as a member of the House Intelligence and Ethics committees, saying Congress must follow the facts and the law as it digs into Trump's reported disclosure.

"Only about the facts, the rules, and the law and so we have to see what the facts are in this situation. And how far did he go and what this is about?" She said.

Pelosi also said this is a "very damaging" report.

"In some ways Im sorry that this is all so public because its very, very, very damaging ... but the fact is it is public and the president has to answer for this. We expect to have some briefings in the Congress about this," the Democratic lawmaker said.

She also expressed hope that Trump would allow "the investigation of the Russian connection continue."

Read the rest here:
Pelosi: 'What do the Russians have on Donald Trump?' - The Hill