White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that President Trump will be retaining the services of former Clinton Attorney Emmet Flood. Flood is the attorney that represented former President Clinton in his impeachment hearings.
Flood is being brought in as an expert in legal issues pertaining to the Russia collusion investigation and will be replacing outgoing White House Counsel Ty Cobb who previously served as President Trump’s lead White House attorney for that investigation.
“Emmet Flood will be joining the White House Staff to represent the President and the administration against the Russia witch hunt,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
According to Sanders, this isn’t a surprise for the White House. Cobb has reportedly been discussing the idea of retirement with White House chief of staff John Kelly for weeks, and NBC News reports that Cobb’s legal strategy might to be in line with the President’s public statements.
According to NBC’s interview with Cobb, he favor’s President Trump granting Special Counsel Mueller with an interview, if certain conditions are met.
“He consistently encouraged the president and legal team to cooperate fully with Mueller to bring about what Cobb had hoped would be a swift end to the investigation.”
Flood’s recruitment is being seen by some as a warning that the White House legal team plans to lean into the legal strategy of White House Counsel Don McGahn, which is to rely on the President’s executive privilege.
Flood is joining recently recruited former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who joined the team after a longtime friendship with the President. Giuliani is also an ex-federal prosecutor and is expected to give the President advice primarily on the Russia investigation.
According to the Washington Post, Giuliani is already advising the President that he needs a “more aggressive” approach and assured them that any interview that the President grants to Mueller’s office will be limited.
“Some people have talked about a possible 12-hour interview, Giuliani said. “That’s not going to happen, I’ll tell you that. It’d be, max, two to three hours around a narrow set of questions.”
H/T: NBC News