Trump's top lawyer Ty Cobb retiring from White House role
Attorney led White House response to special counsel investigation
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump's attorney Ty Cobb is reportedly retiring from his White House role, where he led the administration's response to the Russia investigation.
Mr Trump plans to hire Emmet Flood – the attorney who helped represent Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings – to replace Mr Cobb, according to the New York Times.
“It has been an honour to serve the country in this capacity at the White House,” Mr Cobb told the Times. “I wish everybody well moving forward.”
Mr Cobb said he told Mr Trump that he wanted to retire weeks ago, but would likely remain in the White House through the end of the month to ease Mr Flood's transition.
Mr Cobb took the lead on the White House's response to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation after joining the president's legal team last summer. The former white collar defence lawyer reportedly quashed suggestions of firing Mr Mueller, and instead pushed for full cooperation with the probe.
He also repeatedly claimed the investigation would be over by the end of last year.
The Times reported that Mr Flood, an adviser to several prominent politicians over the last two decades, would likely take a more adversarial tack than his predecessor.
The Republican previously spent two years in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George W Bush, handling the administration's response to several congressional investigations. He also advised Mr Clinton during his 1998 impeachment hearings. His firm, Williams and Connolly, represented Hillary Clinton during the FBI investigation of her email server.
Rumours of Mr Flood joining the White House circulated two months ago, when the Times reported Mr Trump had met with the veteran attorney. The president denied the story at the time, tweeting that he was "VERY happy" with his current legal team.
But Mr Cobb had reportedly said for some time that he viewed his White House role as temporary, and that his goal of helping Mr Mueller arrange staff interviews was nearly complete. He also clashed with White House Counsel Don McGahn, who thought he was too liberal in handing over information to the special counsel, according to the Times.
Mr Cobb's departure comes as Mr Mueller's team is negotiating for an interview with the president. Mr Trump has previously said he would be open to sitting down with the special counsel, but his attorneys have pushed for a written set of questions instead.
A copy of Mr Mueller's proposed questions published by the Times last week showed the investigator was looking for more information on Mr Trump's ties to Russia, and whether he attempted to obstruct investigations into those same ties.
In an interview with ABC shortly before news of his departure broke, Mr Cobb said a special counsel interview was "certainly not off the table".
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