There are plenty of signs that the Trump administration has been caught off guard by the explosive events of this week. The president’s lawyer trading barbs on Thursday with fellow Republicans over who was to blame for Trump’s Ukraine predicament, and the president himself talking in wild and ominous tones of “spies” inside his own government, are the clearest signs that the Republicans don’t yet have a coherent strategy.

Republicans have only begun to sketch out the rough outline of what their response will be to House Democrats’ official impeachment inquiry, which was announced Tuesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That response appears focused on a three-pronged strategy: discredit the whistle-blower, cast doubt on the most explosive elements of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and slow down and weaken the Democrats’ process in the House with procedural and historical arguments.

Rudy Giuliani, an attorney and adviser to Trump, said Thursday that the whistleblower was basing his allegations on second-hand information, a criticism that was picked up and repeated by Republican leaders.

“His information is questionable. He says ‘I was not a direct witness…’ and additionally states over 20 times ‘I was told,’ ‘I am concerned,’ ‘I learned,’ and not once did he say ‘I know,’” Giuliani tweeted.

“Under Anglo-American law, that is described as hearsay. Inadmissible because it is inherently unreliable,” Giuliani added. Read more

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There are plenty of signs that the Trump administration has been caught off guard by the explosive events of this week. The president’s lawyer trading barbs on Thursday with fellow Republicans over who was to blame for Trump’s Ukraine predicament, and the president himself talking in wild and ominous tones of “spies” inside his own government, are the clearest signs that the Republicans don’t yet have a coherent strategy.

There are plenty of signs that the Trump administration has been caught off guard by the explosive events of this week. The president’s lawyer trading barbs on Thursday with fellow Republicans over who was to blame for Trump’s Ukraine predicament, and the president himself talking in wild and ominous tones of “spies” inside his own government, are the clearest signs that the Republicans don’t yet have a coherent strategy.