Trump allies raise alarm over expected impeachment as president's legal team shrinks

White House reportedly struggling to fill vacancies as top candidates steer clear of US leader

Staffing shortages and struggles to recruit top-class talent have left Donald Trump’s administration unprepared for the looming prospect of impeachment, White House insiders fear.

Allies of the president reportedly believe job changes and firings have severely weakened the president’s legal and communications teams, two departments crucial to him staving off growing threats to his position.

November’s midterm elections could hand the Democrats the power to impeach Mr Trump, as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential vote edges closer to the Oval Office.

Nine current and former White House staffers and administration allies expressed concerns that the West Wing was unprepared for the potential troubles ahead. They spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

The upcoming departure of White House counsel Don McGahn has highlighted the challenges facing Mr Trump’s legal department, an office that has shrunk by a third since last year.

Mr McGahn’s deputy and chief of staff, Annie Donaldson, is also expected to leave soon after her superior departs, two staffers said.

Meanwhile, the White House media office is down to four press secretaries working on day-to-day White House matters, and the regional and Cabinet affairs teams in the communications office have been hollowed out.

Former Fox News executive Bill Shine, who joined the White House earlier this summer as communications director and deputy chief of staff, is looking to rebuild a shrunken media affairs team in anticipation of the challenges ahead.

Mr Shine is said to be looking for experienced staff to handle questions about the Mueller probe and congressional oversight.

“He’s doing a lot of thinking about how to properly structure everything, not only for a Trump White House but for what the next couple of years will be like,” said former White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

But filling the job vacancies is proving difficult, with qualified candidates steering clear of the volatile West Wing because of fears about their reputation and even potential legal exposure, according to current and former officials and one candidate who was approached by the White House.

Others are wary of joining the team to defend the president, knowing he will often ignore their advice or could turn on them by tweet.

A White House official disputed that the administration has had difficulty filling positions.

Mr Trump’s allies reportedly fear the staffing shortages have left him ill-prepared to handle the legal onslaught expected to be triggered by Mr Mueller’s probe and the flood of congressional investigations that could follow a Democratic takeover of the House.

Despite the looming threat, the president is not thought to have advised his legal teams or political advisers to begin preparing action plans in the event of his impeachment.

“I don’t know if he’s really thought about it in depth yet,” Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s person lawyer, told the Washington Post this week.

On Thursday Mr ​Trump signalled that he has settled on a successor for Mr McGahn, tweeting: ”I am very excited about the person who will be taking the place of Don McGahn as White House Councel!

He later published another tweet that spelled “counsel” correctly.

Emmet Flood, who joined Mr Trump’s White House in May as in-house counsel for the Mueller probe, has been tipped to replace Mr McGahn, who has given him his backing.

Mr Flood is a veteran lawyer who defended Bill Clinton during his impeachment process and represented George W Bush during disputes over his refusal to disclose information to Congress.

"You couldn't ask for a more qualified and better-prepared attorney," said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president's outside legal team.

That experience may well be vital to Mr Trump, he added.

If the Democrats win a majority in the House in November, the president is expected to face not only possible impeachment hearings, but a bombardment of Congressional subpoenas, inquires and hearings that his opponents hope will hobble his administration.

"At that point the president's going to need some very skilled attorneys," said Mr Corallo.