It began with a phone call. And if the White House defense strategy pays off, it will also end with the reconstructed transcript of that contentious phone call between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

With the impeachment investigation into Trump now into its second week of public hearings, the strategy to protect the commander-in-chief has moved from quiet meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill to television. And it shows a president in lockstep with his lieutenants in the House of Representatives.