Trump Is Looking To Bring On Another Lawyer For The Russia Investigation
The executive branch has contacted a lawyer experienced in Washington with aiding presidents who are being probed to find out if he would affiliate with the legal unit assisting President Donald Trump to manage special counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, reported the Washington Post.
An individual with knowledge of the approach remarked that Emmet Flood, one of the co-owners of the firm Williams & Connolly, got together last week with Trump in the Oval Office to talk about the proposal. The individual stated the deliberations were exploratory. The Post reported that The New York Times broke details of the discussions.
Ty Cobb, a White House attorney who had been guiding Trump’s replies to the investigation, has been estimating that Mueller’s investigation is nearly concluded. Cobb had estimated it would conclude by Christmas, followed by Jan. 1. Contacting Flood may indicate that the executive branch has seen that the probe will likely keep going for a while, according to the Post.
Cobb remarked he is not planning to depart in the near future. However, he has repeatedly said to Trump that he sees his position as short-term and will remain until he’s completed his assignments. He has remarked that that time will come when Trump’s interview is over and the entirety of people from the executive branch who may have observed related events have been questioned by Mueller’s group. The executive branch is now working with Mueller regarding an interview with Trump, the Post reported.
Flood and Cobb each did not make any remarks when contacted Saturday, according to the Post.
An executive branch staff member did say Flood may also get the White House counsel position, the Post reported.
He’s a Republican, but Flood assisted President Bill Clinton during Clinton’s 1998 impeachment undertakings. Additionally, he worked in the White House Counsel’s Office for President George W. Bush and for vice president Dick Cheney, according to the Post.
Flood was questioned in the middle of last year regarding coming aboard the White House Counsel’s Office to handle the Mueller investigation. But he joined other attorneys in turning down the opportunity to aid Trump, the Post reported.
However, Trump has made major alterations to his legal unit since then. Marc Kasowitz, a New York attorney known to battle with others who had Trump as a client in business arguments, was removed in favor of John Dowd as the leader of Trump’s personal legal team. Dowd had more experience in Washington. He is supported by Jay Sekulow, who has a reputation in civil litigations for aiding conservative entities.
Trump also brought Cobb on board for the executive branch to assign him specifically to the Russian investigation, organize written communication Mueller sought, and handle inquiries to question executive branch personnel, according to the Post.
Experts have wondered why Trump’s legal unit is so small, considering that the moving parts of the probe would likely make him eventually need to expand, the Post reported.
Trump tweeted Sunday that it was “wrong” to state he was dissatisfied regarding his attorneys’ management of the Russia issue.
The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
…have shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
