White House aides try disappearing act amid impeachment talk

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the impeachment inquiry swirls around 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., top White House officials have been largely absent from public view.

They’ve skipped the high-profile Sunday TV shows and avoided driveway gaggles with reporters. And many of those who are typically eager to defend the president have not appeared at all on television so far this month.

The disappearing act follows a well-worn strategy in the White House: senior officials conveniently finding themselves elsewhere when major controversy engulfs the building.

The press secretary during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Joe Lockhart, says President Donald Trump shouldn’t be left to be his own defender and instead should be focused on his duties.

Lockhart says one of the reasons Clinton’s impeachment strategy was effective was that Clinton almost never talked about it.