'Sum of all fears': White House aides consider lawyering up as 'precaution' as Trump Jr's emails surface

When Donald Trump, Jr. decided to publicize the emails setting up his now-infamous meeting with a Russian lawyer to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton, the repercussions were felt strongly and swiftly in the White House.

“This is sum of all fears stuff. It’s what we’ve all been dreading,” an unnamed White House aide told The Daily Beast. That same official also claimed they are considering hiring an attorney for "purely precautionary reasons."

Condemnations of Trump Jr., President Donald Trump's oldest son who now controls much of the president's real estate empire, didn't end with his actions. According to the Beast's report, this controversy has, for many White House sources, solidified a "vanishingly low" opinion of the president's junior.

Two White House staffers, who like most spoke on condition of anonymity, independently referred to Trump Jr. as an "idiot," and the report anecdotally describes a "behind-his-back nickname for Trump Jr. within among these advisers has been 'Fredo,' referring to Fredo Corleone, the insecure and weak failure of a son in The Godfather series who ends up causing major damage to the family."

The blowback from the Russian lawyer meeting is so severe that usually-chatty White House staffers have, according to the Beast, been uniformly referring questions to Trump Jr.'s legal and press teams, and emphasizing that he is not a White House employee.