Even Trump's confidants reportedly think the Ukraine scandal is different

A number of President Trump's confidants don't think it's a wise idea for the White House to try to equate the Ukraine scandal and the Russia investigation, Politico reports.

"Russia was never real," an outside Trump adviser said. "Ukraine is." Another source close to the Trump re-election campaign called the Russia investigation a "complete and utter fantasy," but said that Trump's communications with Ukraine's governments were "unseemly...not a ghost like Russia."

Trump's allies told Politico that they're reluctant to challenge the president directly about how to handle the impeachment inquiry, but they don't think he'll be able to skirt around this as successfully as he did the Russia probe. One Republican close to Trump said that his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, showed a "lack of sophistication" and "familiarity with how the government works and the campaign works."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

As for the campaign? That's what the advisers and consultants are most concerned about. Politico notes that the sources don't believe Trump will ultimately be removed from office because of the Ukraine situation, but they don't buy the campaign's argument that the impeachment inquiry could actually help boost his support, and believe that it could do real damage to his 2020 hopes. Read more at Politico.