Trump hires Clinton impeachment lawyer

The Associated Press

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 a special counsel 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 — and who repeatedly urged cooperation with the special counsel while assuring the president such a strategy could shorten the investigation.

But a swift end has not happened.

It’s the latest shakeup for a legal team grappling with unresolved questions on how to protect the president from legal and political jeopardy in Mr. Mueller’s Russia probe, which is nearing the one-year mark. And it was perceived as a sign that the White House sees no immediate end to its legal problems and is girding for a combative relationship with a new Congress after the midterm elections.

The hiring of Mr. Flood — who brings experience wrangling with investigators — came at the same time that Mr. Trump plunged into an angry dispute on Wednesday between conservative House Republicans and the deputy attorney general, siding with hard-line lawmakers over his own Justice Department as they pressed for access to sensitive documents related to the special counsel’s investigation and other politically charged cases.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr. Cobb had been discussing the decision for weeks and would retire at the end of May and that Mr. Flood would be joining the White House staff to “represent the president and the administration against the Russia witch hunt.”

The replacement of Mr. Cobb with Mr. Flood may usher in a more adversarial stance toward the Mueller team as Mr. Trump’s lawyers debate whether to make the president available for an interview with the special counsel .

Although Mr. Cobb does not personally represent the president, he has functioned as a critical point person for Mr. Mueller’s document and interview requests, coordinated dealings with prosecutors and worked closely with Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers. He has repeatedly urged cooperation with the investigation in hopes of bringing it to a quick end.

Yet Mr. Flood, who was embroiled in the 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. It has also represented senior White House officials, including presidents.

Mr. 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 President 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.