Washington Week With The Atlantic Episode 52.20 Special counsel will oversee Russia investigations

Donald Trump is facing the harsh reality of being president just 118 days into his administration. The plume of scandals emanating from the White House grew larger each day this week as Trump continues to push back against investigations into Russia's meddling in the U.S. presidential election and possible ties to his campaign.

The uproar that started with the firing of FBI Director James Comey last week intensified with the revelation of memos Comey wrote that said Trump asked him to end the inquiry into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. By Thursday, the president used Twitter (link is external) to call the appointment of a special prosecutor to oversee the Russia investigations a "witch hunt."

Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are publicly committed to continue their own investigations. While more Democrats openly discuss impeaching the president, Republicans are starting to distance themselves from the Trump administration.

Robert Costa will make sense of another busy week in Washington with:

Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The New York Times

Alexis Simendinger of Real Clear Politics

Michael Scherer of TIME Magazine

Manu Raju of CNN