Speaker Pelosi says she spoke to top US general about Trump and nuclear codes

Outside lawyers are being sought for consultation by the White House about the prospect of a last minute, rapid impeachment of President Trump, a source familiar with the matter said. 

The source said at this point lawyers advising the White House believe there is not enough time logistically for Democrats to move articles of impeachment out of the House and into the hands of Senators for a speedy removal of the president before January 20th. But the source said lawyers for the president have started to game out the impeachment possibility as the likelihood of the vice president and Cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment seems remote. 

The source added the President’s attorneys have been consulted about the language used in Trump’s video messages in the aftermath of the Capitol riots. During that process, White House counsel Pat Cippolone and chief of staff Mark Meadows went to Trump to urge him to record the videos to save his presidency and hold off efforts to remove him from office. 

The White House is in “crisis management” mode following the siege at the Capitol, the source said. 

“The lawyers are involved,” the source said. 

Meetings have been almost non-stop inside the White House to hash out plans to bring the Trump presidency to an end in the least chaotic way possible, the source said. 

“Can you land the plane with 12 days left,” the source said, summing up the goal of the remaining staffers and advisers around the president.