New White House attorney replacing Cobb
Emmet Flood called aggressive advocate
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday hired a veteran attorney who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment process as the White House shifted to a more aggressive approach to the Russia investigation that has reached a critical stage.
The White House announced the hiring of lawyer Emmet Flood after disclosing the retirement of Ty Cobb, who for months has been the administration’s point person dealing with special counsel Robert Mueller.
It’s the latest shake-up for a legal team grappling with unresolved questions on how to protect the president from legal and political jeopardy in Mueller’s Russia probe, which is nearing its oneyear anniversary.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Cobb had been discussing the decision for weeks and would retire at the end of May, and that Flood would be joining the White House staff to “represent the president and the administration against the Russia witch hunt.”
The replacement of Cobb with Flood may herald a more adversarial stance toward the Mueller team as Trump’s lawyers debate whether to make the president available for an interview with the special counsel and brace for the prospect of a grand jury subpoena if they refuse.
Though Cobb did not personally represent the president, he functioned as a critical point person for Mueller’s document and interview requests, coordinated dealings with prosecutors and worked closely with Trump’s personal lawyers. He had repeatedly urged cooperation with the investigation in hopes of bringing it to a quick end and viewed his role as largely finished now that interviews with dozens of current and former White House official have been completed.
Yet Flood, who was embroiled in the bitterly partisan Clinton impeachment fight 20 years ago, may well advocate a more confrontational approach. His law firm, Williams & Connolly, is one of Washington’s most prominent, with a reputation for aggressive advocacy for its clients and a history of tangling with the government — but also representing senior White House officials, including presidents.
Flood, a former law clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, has defended former Vice President Dick Cheney in a lawsuit brought by former CIA official Valerie Plame and represented George W. Bush in executive-privilege disputes with Congress — suggesting he is well-versed in the powers of the presidency and may invoke those authorities as the Mueller investigation moves forward.
Flood was thought to be the top choice of White House counsel Don McGahn for the job Cobb was given last summer.