NEW YORK, May 27 (APP): The White House is reportedly considering
wholesale operational changes, including vetting President Donald
Trump’s tweets, as it seeks to sharpen its response to the
investigation into whether officials inappropriately engaged with
Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that the US
administration is planning to have a legal team approve Trump’s
social media posts to avoid unnecessary political and legal
troubles now that a special counsel has taken over the Russia
investigation.
During the presidential campaign, Trump used Twitter as his
main means of communicating with voters, a method that proved
effective and far cheaper than advertising campaigns used by
his opponents.
However, aides and officials had hoped that Trump would
be more cautious as president, but this has not been the case.
Some of the most lasting political damage Trump has incurred
in his first months in office has stemmed from his tweets. Trump
threatened former FBI director James Comey over Twitter,
suggesting he may have secretly recorded conversations with the
fired official, and he has accused former President Barack Obama
of wiretapping Trump Tower, without evidence.
The administration is also looking at adding to its roster of
outside legal counsel for the Russia matter, which is led by
longtime Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz, and is considering bolstering
the in-house legal team led by White House counsel Don McGahn,
the Journal reported.
The report comes as speculation runs rampant that the White
House has major changes in store when Trump returns to Washington
this weekend from his first trip abroad.
According to a media report, chief strategist Stephen Bannon
and chief of staff Reince Priebus are setting up a “war room”
for rapid response to breaking news about the Russia investigation.
There are rumours among Trump’s allies that the president could
be looking at bringing former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski
and former deputy campaign manager David Bossie back into the fold.
Those two and others could operate outside the White House as the administration looks to widen its net of surrogates.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski, Bossie and
veteran Republican operative David Urban are being considered for
as-of-yet unannounced positions.
The paper also reported that a senior staff shake-up could be
in the works.
Communications director Mike Dubke is said to be on the
chopping block, as is press secretary Sean Spicer, who could be
replaced by deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders, according to
the report.
Those rumours and others about a shake-up have circulated
for some time but none have materialized.
The Journal also reported that the administration could look
to cut back press briefings.
The White House appeared to be playing around with that idea
and others before Trump left town earlier this month.
Taking over for Spicer, National Security Adviser H.R.
McMaster became the administration’s public face in dealing with
a controversy over whether Trump had revealed classified
information in a meeting with Russian diplomats.
Sara Sanders also filled in at length for Spicer, who has
been catching up with military reserve duty. When Spicer returned
last week, he conducted several briefings,