in whitehouse mood is perseverance amid the storm the White House believes it is
weathering the storm wrought by former national security adviser Michael
Flynn's guilty plea and staff remains optimistic president Trump will survive
their russia investigation that has clouded his first year in office the
mood largely reflects the cool attitude of attorney
Ty Cobb who is telling Trump and his aides the investigation will wrap up by
year's end or soon thereafter according to interviews with more than a dozen
current and former White House officials and outside advisers in touch with the
West Wing Mueller has come under attack recently by GOP lawmakers conservative
activists sent pro Trump television personalities who accuse his office of
being compromised by partisan bias and effort some in the White House believe
is taking its toll on the special counsels credibility but that sanguine
outlook is far from unanimous a small but significant segment of those in the
president's orbit say it's wishful thinking that the probe will end soon
reflecting their growing anxiety that Mueller is methodically working his way
up the food chain in an investigation that his months if not years from
completion former White House chief strategist Steven Bannon has spoken by
phone with Trump to warn him he is receiving a bunch of happy talk from his
legal team and to urge him to take a more aggressive stance against Mueller
according to someone familiar with bannon's thinking even if Mueller does
not prove the Trump campaign colluded with Russia's election meddling efforts
in 2016 some allies worry the White House is
suffering irreparable political damage under the weight of the investigation in
addition to exploring the possibility of collusion the centrepiece of the probe
Mueller's team is looking into alleged financial crimes committed by Trump
campaign aides and possible obstruction of justice
Flynn Trump's former national security adviser in the White House pleaded
guilty to one count of line to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's
ambassador to the US and later said he is cooperate
with the special counsels team it's an indication Mueller's probe could stretch
well into 2018 and possibly beyond despite Cobbs public and private
reassurances it's a political cancer and if you don't give the patient some
chemotherapy there is a good chance something bad happens said one person
close to the Trump administration asked about the legal advice Trump is
receiving the person responded they're giving him ibuprofen to cure cancer that
frustration with Trump's legal team and Cobb in particular is growing among some
critics who say it is not taking Mueller's threat to the administration
seriously enough the incompetence is staggering said one advisor with close
ties to the White House Cobb did not respond to requests to comment for this
story inside the West Wing it is hard to miss the constant turn of news about
their Russia investigation high-definition televisions mounted on
the walls of West Wing offices show a split screen of four major cable news
networks whose programming is often consumed by the latest Russia related
developments but for the most part aides say they aren't affected by the press
coverage and are staying focused on whatever happens to be the task at hand
according to one White House staffer there's a numbing effect to set a person
who is close to the administration if you work there you stop getting bothered
by every new thing that's coming out one former White House staffer called the
news reports background noise for a vast majority of folks new revelations this
week about alleged anti Trump sentiment among some key members of Mueller's team
are driving anger at the special counsel and a sense that his findings will be
dismissed as compromised by politics attacks against senior FBI agent Peter
Strahm who was reassigned from the probe and top muley lieutenant Andrew Wiseman
for private anti-trump messages they allegedly sent are being amplified every
night to conservative audiences tuning into Fox News
some junior White House staffers feel overworked a symptom of having to pick
up duties at agencies from Department of Energy to the State
Department that the administration has been slow to staff according to outside
advisers the White House nomination process is a black hole said one adviser
and there is concern that Trump's tendency to shoot from the hip on
Twitter and during impromptu press can dim in further legal jeopardy the White
House was forced to scramble into damage control mode after Trump tweeted last
Saturday that he fired Flynn for lying to vice president pence in the FBI
legal experts said the tweets could be used by Mueller's team in building an
obstruction of justice case against the president hours after the tweed appeared
trumpet turning Jon down said he wrote it a claim that if true could limit the
president's legal exposure many of trumps closest friends such as Newsmax
CEO chris ruddy are warning him to stay out of it and focus instead on muscling
through his legislative agenda the best approach for the president in my opinion
is to drive his popularity by creating a bipartisan consensus on such things as
infrastructure education in other matters ruudy said in an email Trump has
the ability to be a great unifier and popular presidents are not removed from
office
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