Trump decides against Russia investigation ‘war room’: report

President Trump will not establish a White House “war room” to deal with the mounting controversies surrounding probes into Russian election interference and possible collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, according to a Tuesday report.

A White House official told Reuters that it made more legal sense not to have such a team working within the White House itself, and said that Trump’s outside counsel, Marc Kasowitz, would likely take on the role of responding to questions and controversies.

“If it exists, it won’t be here,” the official said. “It would most likely be outside the White House.”

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The White House has reportedly been exploring setting up a rapid response team, possibly headed by Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, that would be responsible for heading up the administration’s response to the steady stream of controversies and possible legal threats that have emerged around the White House.

The FBI and at least four congressional committees are investigating Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election, as well as the possibility that members of Trump’s campaign coordinated with Moscow to swing the contest in the president’s favor.

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion or improper contact with Russia, and has called the investigations a “witch hunt” intended to disrupt his presidency. 

The president has not shied away from addressing the controversies himself, particularly on Twitter. Yahoo News reported on Tuesday that, before he hired Kasowitz as his outside counsel, four high-profile law firms turned down offers to represent Trump, because they feared the president would not take their advice and make comments that publicly knock down or hurt his legal standing.