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U.S. NEWS Thursday 3 May 2018
Trump hires lawyer who represented Clinton in impeachment

By CHAD DAY and ERIC tions on a broad array
TUCKER of topics he'd like to ask.
Associated Press Trump initially said he was
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- eager for an interview, but
dent Donald Trump on he hasn't said so recently.
Wednesday hired a veter- His view of Mueller soured
an attorney who represent- further after raids last
ed Bill Clinton during his im- month that targeted one
peachment process as the of his personal lawyers, Mi-
White House shifted to a chael Cohen, in a separate
more aggressive approach investigation.
to a special counsel investi- Those interview nego-
gation that has reached a tiations are hugely con-
critical stage. sequential, especially af-
The White House an- ter Dowd confirmed to
nounced the hiring of law- The Associated Press this
yer Emmet Flood after dis- week that Mueller's team
closing the retirement of in March raised the pros-
Ty Cobb, who for months pect of issuing a grand jury
has been the administra- subpoena for Trump, an
tion's point person dealing extraordinary move that
with special counsel Robert President Donald Trump speaks to media as he meets with crew and passengers of Southwest would seek to force a sit-
Mueller. Airlines Flight 1380 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. ting president to testify un-
It's the latest shakeup for a Associated Press der oath.
legal team grappling with It was not immediately
unresolved questions on Yet Flood, who was em- counsel investigation. president two weeks ago clear in what context the
how to protect the presi- broiled in the bitterly parti- Cobb's retirement, though added former New York possibility of a subpoena
dent from legal and po- san Clinton impeachment not a surprise, was none- Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a was raised or how serious
litical jeopardy in Mueller's fight 20 years ago, may theless the latest evolution pair of former prosecutors, Mueller's prosecutors were
Russia probe, which is near- well advocate a more con- for a legal team marked by Martin and Jane Raskin, to about such a move. Muel-
ing the one-year mark. frontational approach. His turnover. work alongside mainstay ler is probing not only Rus-
White House press secretary law firm, Williams & Con- Trump's lead personal law- lawyer Jay Sekulow. sian election interference
Sarah Huckabee Sanders nolly, is one of Washing- yer, John Dowd, left in Critical decisions lie ahead. and possible coordination
said that Cobb had been ton's most prominent, with March. Another attorney The president's legal team with Trump associates but
discussing the decision for a reputation for aggressive whom Trump tried to bring has not committed him to also possible obstruction of
weeks and would retire at advocacy for its clients and on ultimately passed be- an interview with Mueller, justice by Trump after he
the end of May and that a history of tangling with cause of conflicts, and the who has dozens of ques- took office.q
Flood would be joining the the government. It has also
White House staff to "repre- represented senior White
sent the president and the House officials, including
administration against the presidents.
Russia witch hunt." Flood, a former law clerk
The replacement of Cobb to the late Supreme Court
with Flood may usher in a justice Antonin Scalia, has
more adversarial stance defended former Vice
toward the Mueller team President Dick Cheney in a
as Trump's lawyers de- lawsuit brought by former
bate whether to make the CIA official Valerie Plame
president available for an and represented President
interview with the special George W. Bush in execu-
counsel and brace for the tive-privilege disputes with
prospect of a grand jury Congress - suggesting he
subpoena if they refuse. is well-versed in the powers
Although Cobb does not of the presidency and may
personally represent the invoke those authorities as
president, he has func- the Mueller investigation
tioned as a critical point moves forward.
person for Mueller's docu- Flood was always the top
ment and interview re- choice of White House
quests, coordinated deal- counsel Don McGahn for
ings with prosecutors and the job Cobb was given
worked closely with Trump's last summer, according to
personal lawyers. He has a person familiar with the
repeatedly urged coop- hiring decision who de-
eration with the investiga- scribed Flood as a "fighter."
tion in hopes of bringing it The person spoke on condi-
to a quick end, and he has tion of anonymity to discuss
viewed his role as largely private conversations.
finished now that interviews Cobb and McGahn hold
with current and former different views on how co-
White House officials have operative the White House
been completed. should be with the special