Trump’s team scrambles to contain fallout as Comey confirms investigation and debunks wiretapping claim

By Shane Goldmacher & Matthew Nussbaum @ Politico.com, Updated 03/20/17 02:54 PM EDT

[....] The White House scrambled to contain the fallout, deploying two simultaneous war rooms, according to two people familiar with the arrangement, one in the Executive Office Building to monitor the Comey hearing and another satellite war room in the Senate offices to keep tabs on Gorsuch.

But any hopes in the West Wing for a split-screen day were dashed with the revelation of an active probe into campaign associates of the president. At the White House, televisions in the press offices played the Comey hearing as it ran live on all the cable networks.

“I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counter-intelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” Comey said, “And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government.”