The Mueller report will be 'damaging' for Trump, Politico's Playbook writers tell Stephen Colbert

Jake Sherman told Stephen Colbert on Wednesday's Late Show that the Politico Playbook he puts together twice a day with fellow reporter Anna Palmer is basically a combination "between Walter Cronkite and Gossip Girl." Colbert called it "the most influential newsletter in D.C.," and he asked Sherman and Palmer: "Is anybody talking about anything in Washington, D.C., other than the looming Mueller report?" They agreed: No.

The reaction to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report, which Attorney General William Barr will release Thursday afternoon, "depends on where you sit," Palmer said. "If you were in the White House and you were interviewed, you're very nervous about what could come out," because "you could become a target of the president." Colbert asked why, and Sherman explained it "might not look great for you" if you shared a conversation involving Trump with "a former FBI agent who's investigating the president." Colbert rephrased that: "So you'd be in trouble for taking an oath and not lying?"

"There's no way Democrats are going to be satisfied, no matter what happens," Sherman said, but timing-wise, "this couldn't be better for the president and the White House. Congress is out of session," and "the Capitol's empty" for 10 to 12 days, thanks to the Easter-Passover break. Colbert suggested "that's got to be purposeful," and Palmer conceded "it's very fortuitous, at the least." Right, Colbert deadpanned, "Barr just luckily put it out when there's no one around to talk about it."

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So what happens next? Impeachment seems unlikely, Sherman said, "but we'll see how bad this is for the president. We have no idea how damaging this could be or might not be for the president." "But we do believe that it is going to be damaging," Palmer added. "This is not going to be, like, sunshine and roses that are going to come up after the Mueller report for this administration." Watch the interview below. Peter Weber