Democratic Party builds ‘war room’ to battle Trump

The Democratic National Committee is building a “war room” to battle President-elect Donald Trump, pressure the new Republican administration on policy matters and train a spotlight on Russia’s alleged cyberattacks to influence the 2016 election.

The DNC’s new communications and research operation will be one of several efforts to take on Trump, among them the office of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the Center for American Progress and American Bridge.

The DNC has hired John Neffinger, who runs the Franklin Forum, to serve as interim communications director and oversee the party’s operation. He will be joined by two Clinton veterans who spent the campaign researching Trump’s background, monitoring his statements and trying to drive negative media coverage of his candidacy.

Zac Petkanas, the Clinton campaign’s rapid-response director, will serve as a senior adviser to the DNC and direct the Trump war room, while Adrienne Watson, a Clinton campaign spokeswoman, will be the national press secretary. Tessa Simonds, already at the DNC, focusing on digital organizing, state parties and down-ballot campaigns, will be digital director.

The DNC is in flux pending the February election of a new party chair. The winner may choose to re-imagine the operation and hire new staff, but interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile decided that would be too long to wait for a campaignstyle operation to take on Trump in the weeks leading to his inauguration, when his Cabinet nominees go through Senate confirmation hearings, and into the early days of his presidency.