Ty Cobb out, Emmet Flood joins Trump counsel team
White House lawyer representing President Trump in the Russia investigation to retire at end of May.
Emmet Flood, the lawyer who defended former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial, has joined President Trump’s in-house legal team, Fox News has learned.
“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 Sanders said in a statement. “Ty Cobb, a friend of the President, who has done a terrific job, will be retiring at the end of the month.”
A partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly, the veteran Washington lawyer had reportedly previously turned down the chance to work for Trump.
Here’s a look at four things to know about Flood.
He counseled Clinton during his impeachment
During Clinton’s impeachment proceedings in 1998, Flood served as counsel for the embattled president before the U.S. Senate.
He also worked for the White House Counsel’s office for two years under former President George W. Bush, handling hundreds of congressional investigations and inquiries, according to his Williams & Connolly biography.
Flood represented Bush regarding executive privilege-related issues pertaining to the Obama administration and the House Judiciary Committee, as well, after Bush had left office, his biography states.
Additionally, Flood represented former Vice President Dick Cheney when he was sued by former CIA operative Valerie Plame.
He was reportedly on the administration’s “wish list"
As Fox News reported in March, Flood was pursued by the Trump administration to take over the lead role in dealing with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the president’s campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
He met with Trump earlier this year in the Oval Office, according to The New York Times. The newspaper reported in March that Flood’s job would be to help Trump with the Justice Department.
Flood counseled embattled former Gov. McDonnell
When former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was under a federal investigation regarding gifts he and his family received in office, Flood served as a counselor to the embattled Republican, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in 2013.
In 2010, Flood represented Cameron International Corporation, a company that provides "flow equipment services" to various oil and gas industries, during the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, The Washington Post reported at the time.
He clerked for Justice Scalia
Flood clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia before he joined Williams & Connolly in 1994, according to his biography.
He graduated from the University of Dallas and eventually got his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. Later, Flood attended Wesleyan University and Yale Law School, where he received his J.D.
Fox News’ Amy Lieu, John Roberts and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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