Ex-White House aide: Trump will use Mueller report as ‘political bludgeon’ in 2020

President Trump is likely to use special counsel Robert Mueller’s report as a “political bludgeon” against Democrats in the 2020 election, a former White House aide told CNN on Monday.

“In terms of political payback, the people that I’ve talked to in the White House over the last 24 hours talk about what this means for 2020 and where we go from here,” Cliff Sims, who once served as director of White House message strategy and as a special assistant to the president, said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“And I think you are going to see [Trump] use this as a political bludgeon,” he added.

{mosads}Attorney General William Barr on Sunday sent Congress a summary of Mueller’s report, saying Mueller made no conclusion as to whether Trump obstructed justice in the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. The letter also said Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined that they would not pursue an obstruction of justice charge after reviewing Mueller’s findings.

Trump and his allies have seized on the summary, with the president calling it a “complete and total exoneration.”

“In terms of political retribution, I think the main thing is going to be using this in the election in 2020 and the campaign to remind people that ‘Hey, this is [Democrats’] premise for beating me,'” Sims told CNN. “I think that’s the message you can expect to hear from him going toward 2020.”

Sims, who published a memoir about his time working in the Trump White House, is suing Trump, alleging the president sought to “impose civil liability” through selective use of nondisclosure agreements.