Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's attorneys, armed with the Department of Justice inspector general's report excoriating former FBI Director James Comey, now believe they can challenge any effort by the special counsel to pursue a subpoena seeking the President's testimony on obstruction of justice, according to sources familiar with their thinking.

Trump's attorneys huddled for several hours with the President Thursday to plan their next moves as they prepare to meet with special counsel Robert Mueller's team in the near future. It soon became clear that the report is now a central part of their strategy to fight the Russia probe and to prove there is no need for the President to testify.

The "insubordinate" Comey behavior, as it was described in the report, gives Trump's lawyers ammunition, according to sources, to argue that Trump had no improper motive in firing Comey -- which they claim had nothing to do with Russia.

Trump's lawyers will argue that the report's criticism of Comey makes it clear the President fired him for the right reasons -- and the decision was not part of an effort to obstruct justice. "Obstruction is dead. There was no obstruction," said one source close to Trump, adding that his team believes there is now no need to interview the President.

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