White House Hires New Lawyer Expected To Help With Russia Response

The White House is seen near sunset on May 1, 2014, in Washington, from Pennsylvania Avenue. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
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The White House announced Saturday the appointment of Washington lawyer Ty Cobb as special counsel, after reports that President Trump’s advisors were looking to beef up the in-house team defending him in the growing Russia scandal.

Cobb is a partner in the investigations practice of Hogan Lovells, a white collar D.C. law firm. His hiring was first reported by Bloomberg Friday.

He joins the White House’s team of lawyers after a particularly tumultuous week of the ongoing allegations of ties between Russia and Trump-connected figures during the 2016 campaign. A week ago it was revealed the Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. met with Kremlin-aligned figures in June 2016—a meeting attended by then-campaign chair Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law and a top adviser.

The White House was reportedly blindsided by the revelations. The initial response from Donald Trump Jr. was undermined by Don Jr.’s own emails leading up to the meeting. The younger Trump posted the emails on Twitter as the New York Times was about to report them. They revealed that Don Jr. knew the figures he was meeting with had ties to the Russian government and that he was expecting them to offer damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

 

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