The White House is preparing to ramp up legal, communications and rapid-response teams in an effort to keep with the special counsel's Russia investigation, according to two news outlets.
"The White House is embracing the fight, which is going to last as long as Donald Trump is president," one Trump ally familiar with the preparations said, Axios reported. "We're getting street fighters ready to go."
The preparations come as administration officials express mounting concerns that the White House is not adequately responding to the constant news regarding the Russian probes, CNN reported.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon are already involved in plans, but other staffers are also being brought in, according to CNN.
"A lot of conversations," said one White House official who described the war room-like preparations as being in the early stages.
"Everyone realizes we have to bolster our efforts and it's still (to be decided) what that means," said the official who cautioned Trump would have to sign off on any plans.
"There's got to be a stronger rapid response and communications effort overall," the official said. "Whether it's the crisis of the moment or long term, it's got to improve. That's the discussion — how does that take shape."
The White House response effort could be helped by an outside response team staffed by those loyal to the president, CNN noted. One-time campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and ex-top campaign official David Bossie have been spotted at the White House in recent weeks.
"I don't think it should be any surprise that Corey wants to be involved in the White House," the official said.
And Axios noted the overall discussions revolve around making an effort to compartmentalize the revelations to allow some officials to focus on the probes so others can do their day jobs.
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