As former FBI director James Comey prepares for the release of his new book coupled with a media blitz beginning Sunday, the Republican National Committee has prepared an aggressive response to discredit him. 
 
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 Talking points prepared by the RNC and obtained by ABC News will be distributed to surrogates and allies of the president and are aimed at attacking what are called Comey’s “misstatements and misconduct,” contradictions and credibility. 
 
 Comey sits down for an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos airing Sunday. 
 
 The RNC is also preparing to set up a “war room” to monitor media appearances and respond in real time, according to the RNC plan. 
 
 “James Comey’s publicity tour is a self-serving attempt to make money and rehabilitate his own image. Comey is a liar and a leaker, and his misconduct led both Republicans and Democrats to call for his firing,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “If Comey wants the spotlight back on him, we’ll make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility.” 
 
 The plan includes a newly launched website named “lyincomey.com” – which currently consists of mostly a collection of Democrats saying Comey behaved inappropriately and news coverage of contradictions in his testimony and actions. 
 
 It will be updated as Comey’s book and interviews roll out, according to an RNC official. 
 
 The RNC has been preparing the plan for the past week and while the White House has no plan to respond specifically, they did sign off on the Republican response effort, according to a source familiar with the discussions. 
 
 The details of the response effort were first reported by CNN. 
 
 Comey has been a thorn in Trump’s side since his firing last year and has remained vocal on Twitter ever since. The president has often taken to Twitter to attack Comey as a liar and a leaker. 
 
 In the wake of Comey’s firing, special counsel Robert Mueller’s team told the Justice Department to turn over any email and other documents related to, among other things, the May 9, 2017 firing of James Comey as FBI director. 
 
 The nature of the interactions and any alleged directives shared between the White House and the key Department of Justice officials before the Comey dismissal is a part of special counsel Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 
 
 Trump has defended himself, saying he simply fired Comey “very simply” because “he wasn’t doing a good job.” ||||| Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's allies are preparing an extensive campaign to fight back against James Comey's publicity tour, trying to undermine the credibility of the former FBI director by reviving the blistering Democratic criticism of him before he was fired nearly a year ago. 
 
 The battle plan against Comey, obtained by CNN, calls for branding the nation's former top law enforcement official as "Lyin' Comey" through a website , digital advertising and talking points to be sent to Republicans across the country before his memoir is released next week. The White House signed off on the plan, which is being overseen by the Republican National Committee. 
 
 "Comey is a liar and a leaker and his misconduct led both Republicans and Democrats to call for his firing," Republican chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to CNN. "If Comey wants the spotlight back on him, we'll make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility." 
 
 While it's an open question how successful Republicans will be in making their case against Comey, given that Trump unceremoniously dismissed him last May 9, there is no doubt that many Democrats remain furious at how the former FBI director treated Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. 
 
 Republicans hope to remind Democrats why they disliked Comey by assailing his credibility, shining a new light on his conduct and pointing out his contradictions -- or the three Cs. 
 
 An old quotation from Clinton is prominently displayed on the "Lyin'Comey" website, with Trump's former Democratic rival saying that Comey "badly overstepped his bounds." 
 
 Comey's media blitz 
 
 The Comey memoir, "A Higher Loyalty," is set to be released next Tuesday. His media blitz begins Sunday evening in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, who says Comey compared Trump to a " mob boss ." 
 
 The President's firing of Comey set into motion a cascading series of events that continue to complicate and cloud the Trump presidency. The Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel in the Russia probe after it was revealed that Trump had asked Comey to drop the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 
 
 The White House is bracing for Comey to share his story, with aides fearful of how the President will react and how it could influence the escalating Mueller investigation. The well-orchestrated RNC strategy could, of course, be upended by the President himself through a tweet or off-the-cuff comments about Comey. 
 
 The exhaustive plan to attack Comey illustrates how seriously Trump's allies are taking the memoir and a round of television interviews Comey is set to give, including on CNN starting next week followed by a town hall April 25. 
 
 The Republican plan against Comey is built around several aggressive arguments, according to the plan obtained by CNN, including these: 
 
 1) "Comey has a long history of misstatements and misconduct," including damage caused to the FBI because of "bizarre decisions, contradictory statements and acting against Department of Justice and FBI protocol." 
 
 2) "Attempts to smear the Trump administration are nothing more than retaliation by a disgraced former official." 
 
 3) "Comey isn't credible -- just ask Democrats." The digital ads will show several Democrats calling for Comey's resignation after he injected himself into the 2016 presidential race, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who is shown saying: "All I can tell you is the FBI Director has no credibility." 
 
 A image taken from a video that the GOP posted to Youtube. 
 
 Political contradictions 
 
 The political contradictions surrounding Comey are underscored by how such a central part of the Republican plan is built around reminding Americans of how Democrats had disdain for him, particularly those from the Clinton campaign. Republicans will argue that Comey "repeatedly usurped" the authority of then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and violated protocol by "publicly acknowledging the existence of ongoing FBI investigations." 
 
 The Republican plan also takes a closer look at Comey's appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee last June, when he testified that the President had asked him to stop investigating Flynn. That contradicted a remark he made earlier when testifying that the President did not ask him to stop an investigation for political reasons. 
 
 For Comey, who once enjoyed wide bipartisan support in Washington, the book tour comes with high stakes. A former deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the FBI in 2013. 
 
 Since Trump dismissed Comey during the fourth year of a 10-year term he has remained largely silent, with the exception of testifying last summer on Capitol Hill and a handful of searing tweets aimed at the President. The memoir's release is the first major opportunity for Comey to speak aloud -- and be subjected to questions -- about his interaction with Trump before being fired. 
 
 "Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon," Comey wrote last month on Twitter. "And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not." 
 
 The RNC plan, which was approved by the White House, attempts to portray Comey as a man simply out for himself. 
 
 "James Comey's publicity tour is a self-serving attempt to make money and rehabilitate his own image," said McDaniel, the RNC chairwoman. ||||| THE TRUTH: 
 
 While Democrats feigned outrage over President Trump’s firing of James Comey, they had long questioned Comey’s ability to lead the FBI and even called for him to be fired. 
 
 Nancy Pelosi suggested that Comey was “not in the right job.” 
 
 Bernie Sanders said, “It would not be a bad thing for the American people if [Comey] did step down.” 
 
 Chuck Schumer said, “I do not have confidence in [Comey] any longer.” 
 
 Maxine Waters said Comey “has no credibility” and deserved to be fired. 
 
 
 
 Click here for the facts. ||||| Washington (CNN) The White House is preparing talking points designed to undermine Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's credibility, according to sources familiar with the plan. 
 
 The plan calls on President Donald Trump's allies to cast Rosenstein as too conflicted to fairly oversee the Russia investigation. 
 
 The talking points are still in their preliminary form, and not yet finalized, people familiar with their preparation said. 
 
 A White House spokesperson said the swipes at Rosenstein were not part of a coordinated communications effort, unlike the coordinated strategy with the Republican National Committee to take on former FBI Director James Comey 
 
 The Justice Department declined to comment. 
 
 Already, a number of Trump's associates have called for Rosenstein's firing in appearances on television and in public remarks over the past few days, but not all of them did so at the request of the White House. 
 
 As special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump encroaches further into the President's inner circle, his allies outside the White House are ramping up their efforts both to defend him and to encourage a tougher stance against a probe they claim has dramatically overstepped its bounds. FBI agents relied on search warrants that had been executed by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in conducting the raid. They obtained the warrants after receiving a referral from Mueller's office. 
 
 Firing Rosenstein or Mueller himself could inject new turbulence into Trump's presidency. Legal experts, Democrats and some Republicans have said it could prompt a constitutional crisis. It would almost certainly derail policy efforts as Trump works to enact his agenda ahead of congressional elections in November. 
 
 Weighing Rosenstein's fate 
 
 Efforts to undermine Rosenstein in the media come as the President is weighing whether to fire the top official overseeing the Russia investigation. 
 
 Trump is still livid about the raid on his private attorney Michael Cohen -- "He'll be pissed about it until he dies," another source said -- and he and his allies are increasingly convinced that Mueller and Rosenstein have overstepped their bounds. 
 
 One area of conflict the White House wants its surrogates to highlight: Rosenstein's role as a key witness to the Comey firing, sources said. Rosenstein wrote the memo justifying Comey's dismissal. It centered on his conduct in investigating Hillary Clinton's use of private email. 
 
 In a somewhat illogical pairing, the White House is also looking for Trump's allies to cast Rosenstein and Comey as close colleagues -- even though Rosenstein helped provide the basis for Comey's firing 
 
 The White House is hoping Trump's defenders will use the notion that Comey and Rosenstein are close to argue that Rosenstein is approving an ever-expanding investigation against Trump and his associates as retribution. 
 
 "It's payback for the President firing one of his best friends," a source said. 
 
 A source close to Rosenstein noted, however, that the two men are not friends. 
 
 A White House official said the President has been particularly galled by a recently disclosed memo Rosenstein wrote in August authorizing Mueller to investigate allegations that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was "colluding with Russian government officials" to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. 
 
 The President and some of his aides were upset Rosenstein didn't give the White House a heads up about the additional memo, according to a person familiar with the matter. As officials seek to learn what was included in the memo's redactions, they are building a case against Rosenstein that he should have recused himself from the probe in the first place. 
 
 That view has been echoed by a key Trump legal defender, Alan Dershowitz, who has insisted Rosenstein cannot oversee an investigation in which he may himself be a witness. 
 
 While many of Trump's friends and staffers have discouraged him from firing anyone in the past, that has shifted in the wake of the Cohen raid, even though it was carried out by the Southern District of New York and not Mueller's team. 
 
 Nevertheless, multiple Trump allies have agreed with the President's thinking that Mueller has overstepped his mandate and that someone should be held accountable. 
 
 Public show of force 
 
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 The animosity toward Rosenstein that has emerged on Capitol Hill, including from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, could also make the President feel as those he has more cover to fire Rosenstein, a source said. 
 
 Trump himself has remained preoccupied with the Russia investigation, even as his administration weighs launching strikes in Syria in response to a chemical gas attack. Twelve minutes before Sean Hannity was set to hit the airwaves on Wednesday, his most powerful regular viewer seemed to know what was in store. 
 
 "Big show tonight on @seanhannity!" Trump wrote on Twitter. "9:00 P.M. on @FoxNews." 
 
 What followed was a nearly hour-long screed on the swirl of perceived Justice Department offenses against Trump and a preemptive strike against James Comey, the FBI director Trump fired who embarks next week on a book tour. 
 
 Thirty minutes into the television program that Trump promoted on Wednesday, attorney Joseph DiGenova -- who nearly joined Trump's legal team before withdrawing because of conflicts -- barked his instructions. 
 
 "Rod Rosenstein is so incompetent, compromised and conflicted that he can no longer serve as deputy attorney general, and Jeff Sessions now has an obligation to the President of the United States to fire Rod Rostenstein," he said, his voice raised in anger. 
 
 He wasn't alone. Earlier on Fox, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich described Rosenstein as ineffective at keeping Mueller within bounds. 
 
 "The fact is Rod Rosenstein has not done his job. He has not supervised Mueller. This whole thing is an absurdity," Gingrich declared on "Fox and Friends," the regular soundtrack of Trump's early mornings. "The fact is, this is a left-wing bureaucracy at Justice. It is anti-Trump. It is anti-Republican." 
 
 Across the Atlantic, one of Trump's former campaign aides was espousing the same view during a Wall Street Journal panel in London. Citing, among other things, Rosenstein's authorization of FBI raids on the office and hotel room of Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski declared there was cause for dismissal. 
 
 "I think any or all of those are justification for firing the deputy attorney general," he said. 
 
 And Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, has begun advocating for Rosenstein's firing in conversations with Trump allies and advisers, according to people familiar with his efforts, who also say Bannon is warning that Trump's legal team is woefully outmatched by Mueller's team. 
 
 The Washington Post also first reported on Wednesday that Bannon was calling on Trump to fire the White House attorney assigned to the Mueller probe, Ty Cobb. Trump dismissed that suggestion in a tweet on Thursday. 
 
 "I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!)," Trump wrote. "I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process." 
 
 Bannon's campaign hasn't necessarily included direct conversations with Trump himself. But his views reflect a concerted effort by Trump's allies to convince the President that harsher action is necessary to short circuit the Russia probe. 
 
 An administration official says all of the outside voices calling for Rosenstein's firing have been compiled and given to the president, though much of the action has come on the airwaves of Fox News, which Trump views regularly. 
 
 Political fallout 
 
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 Trump has considered firing Mueller and Rosenstein at various points over the past year, but has stopped short of taking such drastic steps. He's been advised by Republican lawmakers and other allies that the political fallout of such a move could prove devastating for his agenda. 
 
 He's also recalled another firing that proved to have damaging consequences: it was his firing of James Comey last year that resulted in the appointment of Mueller as special counsel. 
 
 Trump on Thursday pushed back on reports he's considered firing Mueller, including a story this week that he'd threatened to dismiss the special counsel in December. 
 
 If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him. Just more Fake News from a biased newspaper! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018 
 
 "If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him. Just more Fake News from a biased newspaper!" he wrote. 
 
 That pushback aside, Trump continues to consider taking action to short-circuit the Russia probe, including firing Rosenstein, CNN has reported . Officials say if Trump acts, Rosenstein is his most likely target, but it's unclear whether even such a dramatic firing like this would be enough to satisfy the President. 
 
 Lawmakers have warned such a step could prove politically disastrous, though the topic did not arise during a Wednesday dinner with top Republican leaders, according to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn. 
 
 On Thursday, a top Republican took his warnings against firing Mueller public. 
 
 "Anyone advising the President -- in public or over the airwaves -- to fire Bob Mueller does not have the President or the nation's best interest at heart," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, wrote on Twitter. "Full stop." 
 
 CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Laura Jarrett contributed to this report.
– James Comey has a book coming out and an accompanying "media blitz" starting Sunday—and the Republican National Committee, in turn, has its own plan to discredit the fired former FBI director, according to CNN and ABC News, which have obtained copies of talking points the RNC prepared to distribute to "surrogates and allies" of President Trump. The talking points call Comey's credibility into question by focusing on what the RNC calls his "long history of misstatements and misconduct." ABC calls the RNC's plan "aggressive" and CNN calls it "extensive," noting that the RNC is also setting up a war room to track Comey's media appearances and respond in real time. There's even an accompanying website, lyincomey.com, which will be updated as Comey's media tour continues and his book is released. Digital ads will also be rolled out. "James Comey’s publicity tour is a self-serving attempt to make money and rehabilitate his own image. Comey is a liar and a leaker, and his misconduct led both Republicans and Democrats to call for his firing," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says in a statement. "If Comey wants the spotlight back on him, we’ll make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility." A source says the White House has signed off on the plan, though it is not plotting its own specific response to Comey, and sources add that aides are concerned about how Comey's media tour might influence Robert Mueller's investigation. But sources tell CNN the White House is preparing its own talking points aimed at discrediting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, painting him as too conflicted to objectively oversee the Russia investigation.