He looks kind of tired ...I would give him a few weeks at best.. and then out.
Ty Cobb's curlicue mustache (vs Bolton's blunt cut) suggests a lack of potency, which likely did him in.
But Emmet Flood is awash with hairy problems of his own. His handling of Hillary in the email investigation, for example, was hardly impressive. She'd be Hoosegow Hill today but for the fix.
Perhaps worse, Flood compromised his own integrity by representing Hillary. No ethical—(excuse the oxymoron)—lawyer would countenance the shredding of the Constitution to save anyone, much less a traitor.
2
Lord. Can this get any more surreal? Trump hiring a man who represented Clinton in a sex scandal to stave off accusations of Russian collusion in fixing the election after firing a man he confuses with Ty Cobb the baseball player, without bringing Flood onto the Stormy Daniels sex star adultery case.
Please. PLEASE!
Do not issue a VR app for this!
How any honorable individual can chooses to defend Trump is beyond me. Evidently Flood is not one.
4
Two thoughts on two related subjects:
Perhaps Emmet Flood is looking to take a case to the Supreme Court as to see if a sitting President can be subpeoned. This presents that possibility.
I am loosely paraphrasing John Dowd, Trump’s former lawyer, as reported that he told Robert Mueller, that this is not a game and Trump doesn’t have time to meet with Mueller because he has the business of the country to run.
REALLY??!! Trump has plenty of time to tweet and go to his campaign style rallies, and of course plenty of time to play golf.
Maybe Trump can cobble together an hour from each of those activities to have a sit down with Robert Mueller.
2
Is Donald Trump personally responsible these vast legal fees or will he find a way to bill the government and have them paid by taxpayers?
2
An honest man would stand back an allow the Special Counsel to carry out his assignment. But here is Trump doing everything he can to "obstruct justice."
3
So many lawyers . . . all devoted to protecting Trump, the person, not Executive Office business.
How are they being paid? By Trump, the accused, or by us, the tax paying public?
That would be the ultimate insult.
2
Emmet Flood may be sorry he ever got mixed up in the affairs of Trump. No one comes away looking good after being involved with Trump.
2
With all Trumps wars against every special council investigating him, when does he have time to do the job of President, for which he was elected? Low Energy Jeb would have been better than this joke of a President!
1
Are taxpayers footing the bill for this guy and, if so, what is the rationale? There is already a White House Counsel being paid and the Justice Department - whose investigation prompted the hiring - is a function of the Executive Branch. How can this be allowed?
If Emmet Flood is indeed signing up to work for Trump I hope he has the good sense to get a handsome retainer paid up front.
In cash.
It makes no difference if Emmet T. Flood was involved in the Clinton impeachment proceedings or not, because ultimately it's going to take more than the addition of another lawyer to weather this president's pending legal battles.
If anything, this move is nothing more than a sure sign of his increasing desperation -- and the findings of Robert Muller's investigation haven't even yet been revealed.
1
Did Putin approve the hiring of Flood? I don't think Putin would appreciate having to deal with a real lawyer after having gotten used to Michael Cohen, a proud graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School, a.k.a. "The worst law school in America."
After witnessing the performances of Giuliani on Fox I am expecting Flood may sudden find he has a "conflict" and must respectfully decline the offer.
1
Until Flood releases a statement that he has joined the Trump team, I take this news with a grain of salt.
1
Tomorrow morning's Trump tweet: "There are now lawyers with known ties to Clinton in the White House. The justice system is rigged! "
"With North Korea, China, the Middle East and so much more, there is not much time to be thinking about this, especially since there was no Russian “Collusion.”
Allow me to add one more to to POTUS's busy schedule: Watching FOX obsessively.
Mr. President, take some time off from Nuclear disarmament talk to watch: 3-2-1 Contact!
And he also represented Dick Cheney in response to Wilson v. Cheney, a civil lawsuit filed by Valerie Plame for his alleged role in the Plame affair. He was was retained by Cameron International to defend them after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Let's include all of his representation, shall we? I know it's fun to always take a swipe at the Clintons. But representing - or did he just advise a president who really did suffer through a witch hunt - pales compared to representing a man who led to the outing of a CIA spy or defending a company who led to the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The headline, once again shows a distinct bias. Could not the headline have read, "Trump adds lawyer who represented Cheney in the Victoria Plame case? Wilson v. Cheney, 498 F. Supp. 2d 74, viz. Valerie Plame Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson IV, ..., Plaintiffs, v. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr., Karl C. Rove, Richard B. Cheney, Richard L. Armitage and John Does Nos. 1–10, Defendants,
2
I would like to be the fly on the wall when Mr. Flood meets with Rudy today. If I was Mr. Flood, I might repack my briefcase and head back to my law firm
1
Such a SAD state of affairs for our country. Trump, Pence, Nunes, Gowdy, Gaetz and House Intelligence(none there) Republicans, should resign for treasonous behavior and acts that have violated their oath to the PEOPLE and undermined this investigation and our institutions for their own good. When you steal, defame, lie, abuse, cheat, covet, bully, undermine, hurt, demean, others instead of using your office to do good for others and your constituents (not big business or lobbyists) and the world, your karma will return to its home base even stronger. Lets hope people vote their morals and ethics that many are so proud of claiming with their Christian beliefs that they hold dear. Mr. Flood will no doubt be tainted as well if he walks into this black hole.
Just one more lawyer for Trump to fire.
2
Rudi Giuliani can't even keep his lies straight about Trump's payment to a porn star, he won't be any help to Trump. Why would Mr. Flood want to ruin his reputation by climbing into this sewer?
1
Failing New York Times? "The company said total revenue was about $414 million, a 3.8 percent increase from the first quarter of 2017. Subscription revenue increased 7.5 percent to about $260 million, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the company’s total revenues." NYT 20180503
The lawyer's definitely for sale. Clinton, Bush, Cheney, Trump. That's what they do.
But how is it possible that it's OK to have presidents who set the bar this low, and we still give them this much power!
1
I have to say, this is just more insult to injury. All you liberal democrats who found a way to ignore the Clinton misogyny should reconcile yourselves with the fact that you opened the door for this rampaging sociopath. The fact that this rambling dotard turns to the same lawyers as "all hands" Bill, is just kindling on the bonfire. These two sociopaths are truly connected. Both the liberal fire brands and the spineless conservatives are equally to blame on this one and that he hires the same "mercenary-esquire" as Bill is just more similarity between the two!
1
While you focus on similarity with regard to sex, I would like to highlight one important difference among many critical difference. Bill has a humanitarian outlook, trying to do good for others outside of himself and his family. Greed was never a motivator - had it been he would have gone into private practice law after law school. Trump is greedy and only out for himself and at times for his children.
4
The other difference is that, whatever else you think of Clinton, he is not stupid. He was/is very adept intellectually and politically. Donald is just an imbecile who managed to convince (some) people that he is a good businessman.
1
Really? Explain the Clinton Foundation. Explain all the $ on speeches? Explain all the private jets with Ron Burkle.
Horsefeathers.....
Trump is one long bridge to nowhere. Anyone who joins him will eventually be thrown over the rails. That’s his lifelong track record of megalomaniacal self dealing, lies and betrayals. Only fools still serve this vulgar charlatan, and Mr. Flood is no exception.
4
Meh. I'm sure Mueller, and his excellent colleagues, are trembling in their boots. tRump is still an horrendous client, and he never pays his bills. PLUS, he is guilty, and we all know he's guilty. What possible reason could Flood have for representing our Criminal-in-Chief? No other reputable attorney will take on that career killing job? Let's see a subpoena, and drag this out, if we have to. Firing Mueller will have little effect on the process, which is in full swing, full momentum.
3
Well, my bet is gonna be on Trump's lawyers. Most of the weasels including Mueller himself, have enough screw ups in their history.
Gonna be fun to watch
Good luck Emmett, most of the other attorneys had no luck at all representing Mr. Trump. Kasowitz, Dowd, and Cobb left after brief stints representing Trump. His personal attorney, Cohen, is battling the FBI, a porn-star, NY taxi back-taxes and the NY Attorneys office. Victoria Toensing and Joe DiGenova were dumped after it was announced Trump hired or was hiring them. Carallo left after a two month stint as the Legal Team’s spokesperson.
2
Good luck with your new lawyers, Trump. But even you know in the end you will be burnt toast.
Why do you continue to give people like Steve Bannon a microphone to spout his awful, hateful, rhetoric? This guy has done extraordinary damage to the American system of government. Why would you enable him?
2
Annoying to see Bannon quoted as a credible source. Why not quote Kanye while you are at it.
4
Trump accusing Clinton of rape at the debates. Seems like a conflict of interest to me.
1
It's nice that the Times is accepting comments about Clinton's sexual immorality fixer getting a second act though defending fellow philanderer Trump in a similar predicament, but why did the Times close the forum on faux-democrat Clinton's economic immorality fixer, his Goldman Sach-mole treasury secretary Robert Rubin?
Rubin's self-congratulatory unwitting confessional on how he seized upon two extremely narrow swaths of western philosophical tradition, Humean skepticism & existentialism, to rationalize the anti-morality of his crass & crude homo economicus outlook that helped eviscerate Glass-Steagall & solidify the scourges of greed, corruption, decades-long economic debacles, & escalating inequality that plague us to this day--- deserves more critique.
R. Rubin & this lawyer are fixers in the same vein: professionally "respectable" mercenary conduits, spokesmen, apologists for the pseudo-liberal, ultimately selfish-hedonistic neocon phenomenon that was Bill "I'm very pro business" Clinton.
Rubin reveals all he really cared about was his own career/$ suceess, & used a fleeting, shallow 1 undergrad course foray to give phony humanistic veneer to his ultimate moral emptiness.
Clinton's lawyer has, and has, a similar job. But the Times has become complicit by shielding Rubin from the deserved attacks on his ludicrous pretensions of having informed his nihilistic career by philosophical reflection.
Rubin's ultimate Gilded Age emblem status warrants further exploration.
The brilliant , seasoned DC insider Emmet Flood from the revered Williams firm worked with President Bill Clinton during his Impeachment proceedings.
Pause.
Beat.
Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about oral sex : you sure you want this guy as your lawyer?
It's nice that the Times is accepting comments on Clinton's sexual immorality fixer getting a second act through defending fellow philanderer Trump in a similar predicament, but why did the Times close the forum on faux-democrat Clinton's economic immorality fixer, his Goldman Sachs-mole treasury secretary Robert Rubin?
Rubin's self-congratulatory unwitting confessional on how he seized upon two extremely narrow swaths of western philosophical tradition, Humean skepticism & existentialism, to rationalize his homo economicus nihilism that helped eviscerate Glass-Steagall & solidify the scourges of greed, corruption, & decades-long economic debacles, escalating inequality that plague us to this day--- deserves more critique.
R. Rubin & E. Flood are fixers in the same vein: professionally "respectable" mercenary conduits, spokesmen, apologists for the pseudo-liberal, ultimately selfish-hedonistic neocon phenomenon that was Bill "I'm very pro business" Clinton.
Rubin reveals all he really cared about was his own career/$ success, & used a fleeting, shallow 1 undergrad course foray to give phony humanistic veneer to his ultimate moral bankruptcy.
Clinton's lawyer had/has a similar job. But the Times has become complicit by shielding Rubin from deserved critique of his ludicrous pretensions of having informed his nihilistic career by philosophical reflection.
Rubin's status as ultimate New Gilded Age emblem warrants further exploration, to better understand that legacy.
1
They have had a year to harass Trump, give them a week to produce evidence, then fire everyone involved in the investigation. What is the worse that can happen? Dems are promising to impeach him even with no evidence, and the media already give him 95% negative coverage. Would it go to 96%? Oh dear!
1
Mr. Flood is no better a lawyer than is any client he serves. The fact that he signed on to this rotten situation suggests he's in it for the $$$ and very likely demanded a whole lot of $$$ up front from his shyster client who stiffs people for a living.
If I were him I wouldn't lift a finger for less than $50 Million up front - maybe the Russians will help foot the bill.
4
Clinton's approval rating apparently soared after the Gingrich led House impeachment debacle. Will this Clinton lawyer be able to do the same for Donald Trump?
This is Trump running scared. No daddy to help clean up the mess after him. No lying wife that had to sign hush clauses to get alimony. Nothing but the failure of a dejected, twisted, pervert that can't get laid for less than a hundred grand
3
Is this Emmet Flood related to the Emmet Flood, AFL labor organizer, from the early 1900’s in Chicago?
When all is said and done, the name Clinton still brings the Trumpery Congenital lying, Serpent Tongued Trump to his knees and shaking like a drug addict in remission. Now he has to have a Clinton lawyer to try and get him out of impeachment and resignation from the presidency, how ironic. Now the Repugnant Republican Fair Way FOOL in the White House of Trumpery Trump HORRORS wants a Democrat real lawyer and successful defense lawyer for President Bill Clinton to do his dirty work and bidding and begging to save his presidency from dissolution and resignation. Yeah, get a Democrat to save the day as usual....Right America?...Just a Thought!
Mr. Flood may quit today after Rudy's revelations about hush money payments last night.
1
This continues to show our government is in bed with foreign adversaries.
More lawyers are fired and hired. Attacking our institutions
shows this regime is treasonous and Meadows the the other GOP
is in obvious bed with these unmentionables. Qatar's halting
of cooperation with Mueller due to fear of what the idiots will do to
them is the equivalent of a dictator and kleptocracy bringing a screeching
halt (can anyone hear it) to our country.
If this little man were to hire me as his defense attorney I would insist on a really big retainer , paid in cash and, a signed contract witnessed by about 15+ people stating that the retainer is non- refundable.
I'd grab my 15 minutes in the spot light, then quite. I'd walk away shacking my head for all my expertise would have been for not. I grab my load of cash ,take a vacation and, maybe write a book.
1
Ironic to say the least. Should Trump fail in his bid to remain in office...no doubt Trump will assert his new lawyer who assisted Clinton was an "inside" man not really acting on his behalf. Trump is a pathetic individual with absolutely no metrics to come close to being the leader of the free world.
1
What if we had president who was truly Virtuous? When did virtue become a sign of weakness & failure?
What if we had reasonably honorable & honest president, who truly had the best interests of the people & world at heart, who was tirelessly & selflessly educated & interested in the most proven policies that demonstrably provide an environment of productive happiness?
We know what creates a truly happy society, we know which societies are happy: Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Costa Rica...
The USA is falling, failing in Happiness, it starts at the top:
This president is a miserably dishonest, lying, duplicitous, selfish, self-obsessed, mean man.
Even those who claim to support him are living an a hole of hostility, promoting in their own hearts a dishonesty & smug, obnoxious, self righteous, destructive mean-spirited, unvirtuous unkindness in order to justify the fight to defend this president.
Those not in support of him live in a constant state of shock & disbelief that American politics & society has come too this.
Here in the best of all possible worlds, we are creating for ourselves a putrid, hateful, unvirtuous society.
Is this really how we pursue happiness?
2
Mr. Flood: Here's a little advice. Get paid up front. Get paid a lot up front. As a lawyer who, during the 1980's, worked with the top NYC law firm representing real estate developers, I can tell you this: Trump stiffs everybody -- including his lawyers.
5
Flood is no doubt having flashbacks and funny how, with ultra alpha males, it always comes down to sex.
History is rhyming again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman (Stormy Daniels). I did not experience golden showers in a bugged Russian hotel. I did not say, on tape, that when you are a star they will let you do anything (that wasn't me!)
Trump hasn't quite gotten around to: It depends on what the definition of is, is. But he's busy (re)defining collusion as a fake crime.
Flake will know he's really back in the time machine again when Trump tweets: I did not have relations with those Russians.
I guess it all depends on what the definition of collusion is. Or isn't.
2
America how long are we going to allow the UnAmerican Shamebolic Trump Administration and his amateur cohorts of duplicitous incompetence continue?? America have you given up on America? What has happened to the proud and preeminent nation of America? Where have all the American statesmen gone? Where has Justice, Domestic Tranquility, provisions for the common defense, the promotion of the general welfare and the blessings of liberty and prosperity to Americans gone in such a short, perilous and
xenophobic, misogynist, and debilitated time in American history as is being
experienced in America today? Why have we, America, allowed this to get as
far as this? America, remember we the people are the masters of the Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow those in the congress, courts and power who would attempt to overthrow the Constitution of the United States of America.America you cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading today. America, those who deny
freedom to others, do not deserve it for themselves....Just a Thought!
1
How can Trump possibly fulfill his Presidential duties when he wades into every argument full of personal venom on every issue involving not just himself but; the justice dept., the FBI, the Congress, the Senate, special elections, and so on...
To say he is 'unfit' for the job is an understatement.
1
Wonder how Flood feels this morning after Guiliani's jaw-dropping performances on Fox last night and this morning?
4
Yes indeed I remember reading that Flood refused this challenge. What changed his mind? How much of a retainer did Trump have to pay him? What are the terms of his employment?
Wouldn't it be nice if some rich billionaire bought adds on Hannity with video of all the lies Trump and Hannity have foisted on the american public?
Trump's business and his kids are not immune from prosecution at the state level so he might be persuaded to suddenly decide that to " save his marriage and for Barron's sake" he is sorry but he has to resign and that he "has accomplished so much for the american people already" that he has sacrificed enough!
Mr. Flood must have some kind of tragic flaw to represent an unabashed liar and work along an outsized ego like Rudy Giuliani. Two for one loose cannons, expect the unexpected, Mr. Flood may be compelled to participate in prayer meetings with Mike Pence during this ordeal. Throw in Alan Derkowitz's two cents and that appears to be a recipe for long term therapy for choosing masochistic behavior rather than good sense.
The new strategy is clear: Trump will not sit down with Mueller. That is obviously a perjury trap. Mueller is out to get Trump. That is now perfectly clear. He may well agree to answer written questions.The answers will be crafted by his lawyers and will not incarnate or satisfy Mueller. If Mueller demands a sit down Trump will go to court to quash a subpoena. The process will drag out past the midterms. The outcome is uncertain but if Trump ultimately does not prevail in the Supreme Court he would take the fifth. This would be politically bad but does anyone really think Trump is such a masochist as to run for re-election? If they win the House Democrats will go for impeachment no matter what. Getting two thirds of the Senate will be a big hurdle for them.
1
Trump's legal train wreck created by revolving door attorneys are now going for an attorney that saved Bill Clinton from impeachment and hushed up several scandals under George W.
Problem is Flood has a client who is out of control and so much of the toothpaste is already out of the tube. Time to move on to the constitutional crisis that will occur when Mueller subpoena's Trump or tries to indict him.
Our checks and balances are broken with no possibility of an impeachment occurring this year in the House and counteroffensives by the GOP to undermine the rule of law are now occurring daily. The viability of the Justice Department and FBI as an independent enforcer of the law is hanging in the balance. Time for the Courts to get involved like in US v. Nixon and their ruling in the Paula Jones case. And if the Supreme Court rules on political lines, this democracy may not survive.
2
The best thing that can happen to Democrats before the 2018 election is for Mueller's investigation to end. The best thing that can happen to Republican is for Mueller's investigation to continue until at least the 2018 election is over.
How in anyone's mind can we not think that Trump is guilty of lying about everything he says or does. When will our real leaders stand up and tell America that we have been lied to..cheated on..and scammed by a group of self seving anarchists. Americans are so easily deceived it's shameful..Stand up America..Speak out America. Rake our country back....
After listening to Giuliani referring to NY law enforcement personnel as "stormtroopers" and referring to the DOJ as "Trump's DOJ" - he's probably sitting at his breakfast table, unable to eat. I know it's been less than a week, but does he really want to be entrenched in this clown circus?
2
The corollary to Lincoln's advice that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, is that a client who is such a fool that he makes a show of never listening to his lawyer, may have a fool for a lawyer. And the second lawyer is worse than the first, and so on. Good luck guys, enjoy it while you can.
Get the prisoners home from North Korea, see whether there is some credible denuclearization to be had, give him a prize and let Trump claim victory, resign for whatever reason he wants and return to full time golfing. That is the only win - win that I can see.
There is some strategy in changing lawyers before one is deposed. These lawyers have to shield themselves from truth, so that any statement made by Trump under oath is true, as far as they know. Over time, a lawyer may become aware of evidence which might not support their client's version of events. It is then best to advise the client on how to commit the sin of omission and avoid either disclosing the evidence or contradicting it. The client then becomes aware of the legal jeopardy associated with that evidence, and then can shield the next lawyer from knowledge of that. What is the duty of the retiring lawyer if he is aware that a former client lies under oath?
As a trial attorney and career prosecutor, I believe that we are seeing a process that is not all that unusual. There are two kinds of attorney. First there is the passive ,"go along -get along" type frequently found in civil practice. These types are cooperative and non-confrontational. Trump's lawyers, before now, fell into that category as they kept silent and turned over 1.2 million documents to Mueller. These lawyers operated under the illusion that Mueller would act in good faith. Trump has now hired lawyers of the second type, fighters. These lawyers are not going to tolerate lies and extortion by the Mueller team. They will also stand up for Article II and the office of the President.
The media state that Trump's team is in disarray and is desperate. My own experience tells me that Mueller is lashing out because the authorities are starting to close in on McCabe, Comey, Clapper, and other dishonest government officials. Mueller's sudden aggression is a warning to Trump to "back off". Mueller is trying to position the cases for a trade off: Stop investigating Hillary et al and we will stop the Russia probe. That is how the swamp works, especially when the "Special Prosecutor" is nothing but a partisan hack.
1
This post does not appear to be written by a trial attorney. Trial attorneys know how to support their cases with facts.
The post isn’t even accurate about Mr. Mueller's job title. He is not “Special Prosecutor,” but Special Counsel.
There’s no evidence that Mr. Mueller is a partisan hack. And if he were, he would be working for the Republicans, because he’s a lifelong Republican. So is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller to be Special Counsel.
You see, there are Republicans like Rosenstein and Mueller who care about justice and the rule of law. They have devoted their careers to it.
Mr. Mueller has found so far no involvement with President Trump and Russian collusion. He appears do be looking for a needle in a haystack and will come up empty handed. It does appear that this is a witch hunt and that Mr. Mueller is frustrated because he has found that Mr. Trump has committed no wrongdoing. This is s waste of time and money which will be absorbed by the taxpayers. We are the ones who should be protesting this silliness and demand an end to this foolishness once and for all.
1
WPLMMT, Why do you claim to know what Mr. Mueller has found so far? You don’t know. None of us knows. Wait until Mr. Mueller completes the investigation and reports the findings before forming a judgement.
Get ready, Mr. Flood, to have your reputation thrown on the landfill of human history like so many before you and so many to come.
Other than those related by blood or marriage, the Trump Crime Family is loyal to no one.
3
Every day Trump shows us that he is guilty as sin. May he get caught in his own trap. He richly deserved it.
12
If you haven’t committed an impeachable offense, there would be no reason to hire an impeachment attorney. Just saying
6
Usually clients tell their lawyers the truth no matter what it is. But can Flood expect Trump to do that? Will Flood hear the real Russian story--even down to the sordid Putin inspired urination tape? We should watch Flood fighting for Trump--will one hand be tied behind his back.
2
It's really interesting how this administration keeps assserting that they've done nothing wrong - and the press secretary is even referring to the investigations as a "witch hunt" at this point - but all this lawyering up indicates otherwise.
5
President Trump has had so many lawyers he no doubt understands about them and how they are. Late American newspaper publisher Edward W. Scrips wrote "The lawyers are known to be liars. They know they are known to be liars. They constantly practice falsehood and false pretense. From among these men we select our judges." It is lawyers who dominate and run all branches of U.S. government and this is known as the U.S. legal caste. Scripps also wrote "If there is such a thing as true freedom and democracy then the road to that goal lies over and through the ruin and annihilation of the legal caste."
Thus do the traitors signal that they are not concerned with protecting the country from malign foreign influence, and are instead focused on PR and keeping themselves out of trouble.
9
Let us hope that Trump has unassailable legal representation throughout this mess, wherever it goes. God help this nation if a few years down the road he is bleating and whining about not having had competent counsel and insisting on a do-over.
2
"Is Williams & Connolly LLP getting involved representing Trump or is he leaving the firm for this?"
I don't purport to know the answers to those questions but, being a lawyer myself, I'd put the odds of "Williams & Connolly LLP getting involved representing Trump" at very close to zero, and I'd put the odds of Flood leaving the firm only slightly higher. Most likely, Flood is taking a leave of absence.
5
Why would you hire a guy who's good at handling impeachment if you weren't expecting to get impeached?
4
Politics (and impeachments) do indeed make for strange bed fellows. I guess what was good enough for the Clintons is good enough for Trump.
Only two years and nine months and we'll be rid of the lot of them. Let us pray.
6
It is interesting that, as much as Trump hates Clinton, he is hiring Clinton's lawyer. Hmmm. If nothing else, Clinton knew how to pick a good lawyer -- at least in Trump's view.
Flood does have experience representing a president who lied to the American public and was impeached for it. Although the lies pale in comparison to Trump's. Over 3000 lies since taking office, according to the Washington Post.
Perhaps he'll convince Trump it's in his best interest to let Mueller interview him.
That's how Clinton avoided his subpoena.
Vote Democratic on November 6th.
Let's begin to fix this mess.
10
Oh get real. Any experienced adult knew exactly what Clinton meant when he said he didn't have "sexual relations". You can't convict someone of perjury for your own deliberate obtuseness.
He wasn’t able to prevent Clinton’s testimony under oath and he will not be able to stop Trump from either testifying or taking the 5th.
7
It's one thing to represent a president accused of concocted charges not even specified by the Constitution. It's another to represent a man who it is becoming clearer by the day, has committed treason against his country in order to get elected. Good luck, Mr. Flood, if luck is what you're looking for. A lot of us are already wondering how Pence is going to commute a life sentence of a traitor.
7
Flood's law firm states he is a dedicated public servant. No. Public servants such as public defenders do what they do because it is what their job requires of them. Public defenders don't choose who to defend nor do they get paid anything other than state-mandated salaries (which are abysmally low).
Flood has no obligation to work for Trump. Nor did he have an obligation to work for Bush. Or Clinton. Which makes it difficult to conclude anything but money and fame are the primary motivations. No wonder the law profession has such a lousy reputation.
5
Many of us who think this is a "witch hunt" were nonetheless shocked and disappointed that Trump won. Perhaps the biggest difference between us and the Hillary Clinton supporters that dominate the Comments section here is our feeling -- on election night and ever since -- that Hillary Clinton as President would have been a disaster too. We didn't want Trump to win, but we didn't want Clinton to win either. Frankly, I'm mystified that so many commenters seem to believe that would have been entirely acceptable. Trump may have many flaws, but so did Clinton -- one of which is that she stuck the long knife into Bernie Sanders very early, ensuring that voters would have to choose between her and Trump. Apparently she was confident she'd win that match-up, and so were her supporters. She and they turned out to be wrong, and neither she nor they seems capable of just letting it go. They should: the election was held in 2016 -- you know, about a year and a half ago?
3
Apparently you haven't given up on the 2016 election either.
1
Trump also settled three class action lawsuits that were filed against him for FRAUD AND RACKETEERING about a year and a half ago. By the way, my father fought against Hitler and Mussolini in WWII. Donald Trump quoted them both during his campaign. By the way, do you really think Mueller voted for Hillary Clinton? Comey didn't. They didn't vote for Trump either. But what puzzles me is why Republicans have always hated the Clintons. After all, Bill was the last president who left this country with a surplus. Now we have a man suspected of conspiracy against the US sitting in the oval office who filed for bankruptcy a half-dozen times.
2
You know, about 30 years ago NY residents figured out that Trump was an inept buffoon, and that has NOTHING to do with Hillary Clinton. It has to do with Trump. It's just a shame that the birther's fans haven't caught up to the fact that he's unqualified for office and as corrupt as they come. You'd think they would have at least acknowledged that he's a morally bankrupt birther. Hey, did you know that despite low voter turnout, the former "Dean" of Trump "University" lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes? That was about a year and half ago. Frankly, I'm mystified that you are claiming all of this is Hillary Clinton's fault that Trump is sitting in the oval office. Actually, it's your fault.
2
Hopefully Trump will resign before the fall elections.
6
Finally, a smart hire by our President, Of course the problem, as always, is Trump--Trump is no Bill Clinton.
5
Actually Cobb was a good lawyer, too. It's just that Trump & team came to dislike him because of his cooperation with Mueller. They wanted to be more aggressive. I wonder how long Flood will last with Trump. But of course, it should already be clear to Flood that his client lies and is guilty. He will be the most acclaimed lawyer in the country if he gets Trump off. Nor do I think it will hurt his reputation if he cannot get Trump off. Most people who are following the case know Trump is guilty and that it will take a miracle to save him from his legal transgressions.
Of course, being guilty, does not mean that Americans won't vote for Trump a second time. He does have a following that will vote for him no matter what.
You're kidding me, right? People could not see that the entire Trump "presidency" (is that what this nightmare is?) was destined to be dominated by endless lawyering and the absolute absence of substantive accomplishments (beyond, of course, the omnipresent GOP ideological obsession of giving a "tax cut" to millionaires and billionaires)? You could not see that this festival of lawyers was going to occur from watching Trump ten, twenty, thirty years ago? In truth, what has Trump done has entire life except use lawyers to extract money from others? Does Trump have a clue about anything, about how the world and the country actually function, outside of extorting and threatening people with lawyers? Does Trump understand that there are millions of us just scraping by, and that we can no longer endure another meaningless, shadow presidency, such as this one? Do any of the millionaire and billionaire elites using Trump to get their tax cuts care that a large percentage of the American people need genuine economic reform (not "tax cuts" for millionaires and billionaires), lest their lives be destroyed by this tepid service economy engineered by and for the super rich?
11
This president has made it abundantly clear that he is willing to destroy "his" Department of Justice in order to save his own skin. How anyone who claims to be an officer of the court can in good conscience assist him in this is truly a mystery.
7
Flood has a much more complicated client than he had with Bill. This is no about illicit sex in the Oval and a white-stained blue dress and little lies. Nor is it about collusion. The correct terminology used to describe part of Trump's criminal enterprises is CONSPIRACY. Knowingly allowing Russians to meddle in the 2016 elections. And it's starting to happen all over. Already, Twitter and Facebook are unable to tell legit advertisers with fake accounts and phishing that goes along with them. I hope the Dems have a laser focus on this. If not, say goodbye to any chance of taking the House. Our democratic institutions are already in peril. Believe it.
6
Let me get this straight. You hire a new lawyer to end the witch hunt. And before you have even put your name plate on the office door, your other, brand new as well. "personal" lawyer goes on TV and admits you lied about another matter. I believe that is called setting the stage. Because in the end, the work of Mr.Flood will be to get Trump off on a technicality. Just the kind of president this country needs. A guy who can say :"I have not been found guilty of anything". Even though all the facts point to the opposite conclusion. Man, the base are probably thinking right about now:" These are the sparkling clear, pure waters we voted for with which to replace the swamp."
2
who pays for his legal "dream team"; Trumps private funds, or the American public, or have his supporters begun to contribute to his legal defense fund?
I think the ones who truly lose are the American public for having to put up with this circus.
2
It is not a matter of if don the con broke the law. It is a matter of how many laws he broke? How often? And what should his sentencing be?
He added this lawyer, but lost two others. Safe bet this guy will not last long. Once he gets a look at the case he will save his reputation and bail like the rest of them
3
Bill Clinton was a much better client then Donald Trump. And for those who have forgotten, with all of his talents, Mr. Clinton WAS impeached.
6
That's great. Donald Trump promised to "drain the swamp" and his presidency is doing just that: exposing those--in the private and public sectors--who would undermine the principles and values of our democracy. I have never had more confidence in the structure of the U.S. government in which three branches and the separation of powers preserve us from an autocracy.
Really?
"My money says donny either will refuse to testify or he will fire Mueller."
I'd say the odds of Trump firing Mueller are slim to none, and Slim just left town.
As for refusing to testify, that strikes me as possible, even likely. After all, now that Mueller has supplied the questions in advance (or, more accurately, confirmed that Sekulow drafted the correctly), Trump will simply recite the answers prepared by his lawyers. If Mueller ventures outside the list, Trump will simply turn to his lawyers and ask "Was this on the list?" If the answer is "no," Trump will announce that he's there to answer only questions that were on the list.
Assuming an increasingly aggressive stance against the Mueller process, the new team's most recent tact will likely increase polarization as they apply leverage, Trump poll numbers go up, if dismissal of Mueller and the investigation is successful. On the other hand, if the result inflames the Mueller investigation, the danger is that the public goes into a zombie like state and fixates on impeachment that would drown out key issues for an unimpeded 2018 election. Either way, ideals will be tested and replaced by polarized fixations.
Mr. Cobb was not hired as the personal attorney to DJT. He was retained and paid through the US government. Accordingly, there is no attorney-client privilege for DJT. Will Mr. Cobb become a witness?
It is obvious Trump is guilty. If not, he would turn over all his stuff to Mueller to get it over. Bill Clinton had way more poor and middle class folks on his side. Trump attacking programs for the poor and middle class he is losing their support. Many are finding out their tax cuts were a joke compared to congress and the rich.
The GOP congressmen harassing Rosenstein and spreading lies could be almost to the point of Obstruction of Justice.
2
Who was it -- PT Barnum? -- who said nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Whoever said it, he might as well have been hanging out here.
Assuming Mueller holds a "press conference" (which I seriously doubt will happen, other than to announce the filing of charges), would anyone doubt that Mueller will "stipulate that he is not interested in impeaching a president, but instead is interested in revealing all the facts?" Seriously -- what's Mueller's alternative? Is it even remotely possible that he'll say, ever: "I don't care what the facts are -- I just want to get this guy impeached!"
1
Flood wants to be the smart guy on the block. He will face the same fate. You simply cannot work for or defend fora man like Trump who has obviously violated every possible law in any field.
It says something more about Flood
Advice to Flood. Trump is no Clinton and Muller is Muller.
Take this job at your own risk
6
I'll confess: I haven't (yet) read the article, and so this might be answered there (though it's just a prediction, and so I doubt it).
I can't even imagine that Trump would fire Mueller, or restrict him. Mueller seems to be dragging his heels, but Trump can't do anything about that but grin and bear it. Besides, Mueller may come up with something and, even if he doesn't, Trump won't be well-served by an impression that Mueller was rushed (or fired).
In short, like it or not, Trump is stuck with Mueller.
Why would Trump hire a lawyer experienced with impeachment proceedings unless he was afraid of being impeached?
I say impeach, try, convict, imprison.
Trump in Prison in 2020. That would really make America great again.
3
This lawyer will help Trump take his case to the American public, who are not going to allow people still angry about the election to overturn it.
Oh for pity's sake. This is NOT about the last election's results. This is about a deeply corrupt individual thinking he is above the law. I have no doubt that the campaign conspired with any and all who offered. I have absolutely no doubt that Mr Trump and the republican led congress is trying to obstruct justice each and every day as both a cover up and a way to maintain power.
TRUMP. A spider caught in his own web, desperately searching for a way out. Lies upon lies ....like nothing we’ve ever seen. Trump’s entire world is a house of cards, and like Atlantic City, it will all come tumbling down, in ways he can’t imagine.
33
I give Flood a month to come to his senses.
17
How much is that at $1k-an-hour?
We've had terrible, corrupt, and downright evil politicians throughout our nation's history. Hell, it was barely 40 years ago that Tricky Dick Nixon tried to cover up serious felonies.
But the one thing about Trump is he will never, ever put anything else above his own wellbeing. Even Nixon saw the writing on the wall and decided to resign rather than face the ignominy of impeachment and put the nation through more hell. But not Trump. He will fight this to the bitter, bitter end. He'll tear down every honorable person and institution in this country if it means he gets away with whatever the hell he did. "By God, they'll regret messing with me" is his credo.
The best outcome is for all of us is for him to make a deal with Mueller. His kids get immunity and Trump resigns because "the swamp is too deep" or whatever face-saving reason he wants. As much as so many of us want him to be brought to justice, we really should just hope he abdicates, gets an AM radio program where he can rant all day long, and never goes near government again.
A boy can dream.
174
That is unlikely to happen. All Trump has to do is pardon his kids and son-in-law.
If he does that, it would ignite a level of public anger that we haven’t seen in more than half a century.
5
Part of the deal would have to be that he never go near the media. Enough people believe in him for him to be dangerous if removed from office.
5
Unfortunately, that is a dream. Mueller failed to prove Russian collusion but suddenly he's the genius who will prove obstruction? Trump is not going to be impeached or resign. He has executive powers and Justice reports to him. There is ample evidence against Comey to justify his firing. Two things are certain: First, democrats will use the lure of impeachment to fire up their angry base. Two, Trump will use the threat of impeachment to fire up his angry base. Unlike the hoped for blue wall voters, Trump has already demonstrated that he can rally his own red wall, as evidenced by the political map after his win.
2
Another FORMERLY respected guy who doesn't care about his future!
8
Wanted: a lawyer who is good at closing open door policies and plays well in circling the wagons with others!
3
Attorney du jour.
8
It's easy to get ahead of oneself with rumours when it comes to President Trump, but one item worth pointing out is that Bill Clinton was in fact impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998.
8
True, but the American people were not supportive and he was not convicted in the Senate.
2
As was Nixon. Both were impeached. Neither was convicted by the Senate. Nixon resigned and the Senate voted not to convict Clinton.
1
For perjury, the last refuge of prosecutors who must deliver, and make no mistake about it, Mueller is under pressure to deliver.
The best Mueller could do about alleged Russian collusion was to indict some Russians. We'll likely see another sop for the angry mob, but it won't be Trump.
I wonder how long it will take Emmet T. Flood to figure out that he won't be able to manage Trump either.
7
Reasonable people have to wonder why any experienced, respected lawyer would, at this point, wish to be associated with the "Client from Hell". The odds veer toward near certainty that at some point along Mr. Flood's attempted representation of the disobedient and combustible Trump, he will unceremoniously be tweeted to the door.
He is joining the fractured legal "team" at a particularly perilous time as the Mueller Investigation increasingly bears down upon the Fake President, and the "C from H" inevitably gets more erratic and abusive. This is not "public service", but professional masochism. Everyone pays dearly for their proximity to this human contagion. Everyone.
21
Trump hired the impeachment lawyer that lost Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Ok, works for me.
29
A minor correction, if you don’t mind. Yes, /clinton was impeached, which is the equivalent of being indicted, by the House. Then, under the Constitution, the Senate in effect holds the trial, acting as judge and jury, and it did not convict Clinton. So you could say that Clinton won the trial.
So will the NYT be suing Trump for the following libel he tweeted in March?
"@realDonaldTrump
The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and.....
8:41 AM · Mar 11, 2018"
10
"Seeking impeachment lawyer. Experience required."
14
Trump switches lawyers the way many of us change shoes - he kicks them off when he gets tired of how they look, how they feel, or whether they conform to the ever changing shape of his foot. What is perhaps remarkable is the number of lawyers who are willing to sell their souls (or maybe soles) for a chance to join the chaos of the Trump inner circle. They are pining for their ten minutes of fame.
12
Lawyers selling their souls? No story there, my friend.
And another one (of Trump's lawyers) bites the dust.
Mr. Flood may be smiling in this photo, but unless he is already deranged and toxic, he soon will be after dealing with Mr. Trump.
Remember Bush's Brain? Well, now we have Trump's Brain, where most of what he says is the opposite of what he really thinks, means, and will do.
Take this one: "Mr. Trump has said he is eager to meet with prosecutors..."
Sure, Trump is "eager" to meet with prosecutors, which is why he fired the FBI's Comey, is so obsessed with firing Mueller and getting rid of Sessions and Rosenstein at the DOJ; yells "NO COLLUSION" at every opportunity; has a parade of lawyers walking out of his door.
All clearly the signs of an innocent man, who is being hunted by witches--isn't that right Fox News and you conservative patriots and stalwarts of ethics, the U.S. Constitution, and the law in the Freedom Caucus?
What worries me is Trump is the kind of a guy who, if he is going down, will surely try to take as many of us with him--even an entire country--as he can.
18
Talk about spin. This guy played about as big a role on the Democratic side of the Clinton impeachment as James Comey did on the investigation of the Foster suicide. In other words, not a lot. If you read through the whole article though, it is clear he is gunning for McGahn's job (great, Dick Cheney's lawyer as WH Counsel) and that will take a couple of weeks to sort out. So looks like the President is going to be stuck with Rudy as lead attorney. Fitting.
3
Tomorrow’s tweet. “Hired a lawyer who specializes in defending loyal public servants from witch hunts.”
11
Are there any lawyers out there who haven't yet been hired by Donald Trump? For a guy who says he's innocent he sure as heck isn't acting the part.
31
Oh the irony is too sweet folks
21
the irony.. the guy hates the clintons to the guts now hires the same lawyer
26
Too little, too late.
8
I hope Flood gets paid a retainer up front.
Is Williams & Connolly LLP getting involved representing Trump or is he leaving the firm for this?
6
Flood is leaving the firm.
Dowd/Trump Tweet- "With North Korea, China, the Middle East and so much more, there is not much time to be thinking about this."
The president has played golf, or been on the grounds of one his golf courses 11 times since he was sworn in! (including a 17-day working vacation at the Bedminster, N.J. location.
If your innocent, make the time and take the time to testify in your defense.
Right now, there is almost no chance this will end well for Trump.
16
Correction: should read 111 times
11
Howard, I think you meant to write 111 times that Trump has played golf since he was sworn in as of April 28th. That's a tremendous amount of golf.
2
Trump is clearly reaching the point where his fear of being exposed for his malfeasance by Mueller will outweigh the political risks of firing Mueller and shutting down the investigation.
Trump's attempt to escape justice by abusing the power of the presidency must not be allowed to stand. Public reaction must be swift and widespread. If Trump tries to quash the investigation we must march in public and flood congress, the White House and social media with our outrage. This travesty of justice is simply unacceptable.
236
Trump attempting to fire Mueller is an admission of guilt, plain and simple. But most likely the GOP will be complicit in claiming otherwise.
12
Since when, in recent history, has marching or flooding congress had any impact on anything? What we seem to need is a few of Twitter gurus, an army of Facebook ‘bots, and a crackerjack propaganda network.
1
Who is paying Flood? Why would he take the job?
9
I don't know for sure, but my guess is the President's campaign is paying for Flood. Which means the Trump supporters are paying. I hope they feel they're getting their money's worth.
3
My money says donny either will refuse to testify or he will fire Mueller. People keep taking about donny as though he were a normal person. He's not and no action is beneath him if he genuinely feels threatened. A amoral lying thief is an amoral lying thief, he doesn't change because he landed a new job. He doesn't care how it looks or what anyone thinks, he'll do whatever we let him get away with. He's not afraid of Mueller, maybe with good reason (ie: Federal Pardons). Our best prayer for anything approaching justice lies with the NY, AG if he can achieve indictment. Lord let us pray!
25
The fat lady is waiting in the wings...
6
Dang! I missed it! When Trump got elected I should have become an impeachment attorney! What was I thinking?!?!
17
It's a terrifying world out there, and a strong, authoritarian Daddy can protect them. Till he sends them off to die for his masters, Global Corps, LLC.
Freedom? Yeah. Sure.
2
Methinks Trump is about to do a major face plant.
4
Mueller has Years of illegal Comey FBI surveillance of Trump from the Obama years. He has months of interviews with Trump associates that he has charged with unrelated crimes, at least one that had his home raided during the night where he and his family slept. Mueller has all of the records of Trumps lawyer after raiding both his home and office because a porn star accused the President of having consensual sex with her one time twelve years ago. With all of this, if Mueller doesn't have evidence of a crime without manufacturing one with a perjury trap interview, it's time to stop the madness and move on. The vast majority of people know this Russian collusion investigation is an enormous farce started by Democrats.
3
No. I think "vast majority" of us want to know the truth about Russian involvement in our democratic electoral system. This is not a "Democrat farce," this is an American issue that needs to be addressed.
69
The fact is none of the surveillance was found illegal.
Aides are not immune from their own criminal activity simply because they associated with a candidate or president. They can choose to cooperate in an ongoing investigation (eg Flynn, Papadopolous) or fight the charges (eg Manafort).
Mueller did not raid Cohen’s office, NY attorneys office did.
And calling the investigation a farce does not make it one.
17
Mueller is now going after Trump's thoughts. The problem is that firing Comey is not an impeachable offense; hence, the effort to turn it into a crime.
The president has executive powers, the one point continuously overlooked by his critics and most readers here.
1
A drip, to a trickle, to a Flood.
23
Mr. Trump hates the Clintons ... but is hiring their lawyer?!?
16
Sanders is directly using witch hunt
2
When is this all going to end??
12
Wasn't Giuliani supposed to have this wrapped up already?
26
Rudy definitely advanced things today oh boy.
Good hair, Emmet, and nice teeth. But they won't save you from being soiled. Everybody who gets too close gets spattered with the stuff that has hit the big whirling fan in the Oval Office.
27
All the king's horses and all the king's men -Flood, Cobb, Dowd, Giuliani, et al,- can't put Trumpty back together again.
Because Trump was cracked long before he fell into the Oval Office.
31
So let me get this straight...Giuliani likes this lawyer Flood because he represented President Clinton who's wife he despises.
15
And what number lawyer is this?
8
Even Matlock couldn’t save Donnie now.
18
I don't think Perry Mason would have a chance.
Trump's un-American attacks on the Justice Department will be remembered in history as the lowest ebb of any American presidency. As someone who loves my country I'm appalled by his desperate, disgraceful, and cowardice behavior.
Good luck Mr. Flood, you are defending the indefensible. Careful not to drown in the waves of indecency he has let loose upon our nation.
22
In spite of Emmett Flood, Clinton was impeached for lying under oath, stating he had no “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky. Later explaining he understood “sexual relations” to be limited to sexual intercourse as opposed to other acts. Trump is even less likely to escape unscathed under oath. And his legal team know it.
8
The left is hoping to get an obstruction charge. That will be impossible unless he can prove there was something to obstruct. No collusion no crime. It is that simple. And please Trump ran a off the cuff campaign. There is no way he could hide anything. Anything that can be found has been found. The left makes him out to be an idiot and an evil genius simultaneously. He can’t be both.
2
Obstruction of justice in and of itself is a crime. There is the investigation, FBI’s work, CIA’s work and investigators who can be obstructed.
15
Yes, collusion reached a dead end. Obstruction will likely reach the same place. It's hard to understand how so many continue to underestimate Trump. Their animus blinds them to the fact that Trump looks like a bumbling fool yet continues to deliver. He's appointing judges while his political opponents are riling their angry base with hopes of impeachment.
Who's the fool really?
1
You say collusion reached a dead end, though there has been no report from Mr. Mueller. I would suggest you refrain from stating conclusions for Mr. Mueller and let him issue his report when he is finished. Because he is being allowed to stack the courts doesn't negate the fact that Mr. Trump isa bumbling fool.
The reality TV show “Trump Presidency” has been cancelled by America.
7
In the end, Robert Mueller will be the one who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
29
Irony of ironies. Nothing like hiring the impeachment lawyer who defended the guy whose presidency and wife and you have been excoriating for so long. Flood is clearly in it for the money, but he'll have to earn it dealing with a flood of lies from the most mendacious client he's ever represented. Make that also the "healthiest president in the history of mankind" -- unless of course he lied about his cholesterol count.
3
Just so long as his name isn’t Curt. Reading so many baseball player’s names was making me think I’d picked up the Sports Section by mistake. But now with the Mueller investigation extending ad infinitum, box scores are actually getting more interesting.
1
This is, sadly, what gives lawyers a bad name.
2
Another recruit to join the "Under the Bus" club in a few months.
6
Emmet Flood represented President Clinton. The law firm that he was a part of, Williams & Connolly, represented Hillary Clinton. Trump is now excited to have him on board. So much for "lock her up".
8
no puppet no puppet no collusion no collusion no dirty money no dirty money -
1
How ironic is it that Trump is hiring an attorney once employed by Bill Clinton? The gall and hypocrisy of it is mind boggling!
And yet, we are normalizing this kind of behavior every day now...to what end?
3
For a totally innocent man Trump is sure lawyering up and acting like he knows that something will hit the fan.
Every day something new, including Trump dictating his own health report LOL!!!
Is it Trump or America that's turning into a joke?
4
another sterling choice.
I’m sure no-one can blame Mr Cobb for putting on a lifebelt and abandoning the sinking ship. A sensible man, though I am surprised he took this long.
As quoted in this afternoon's reporting by The Times, the current President was heard to remark, “I am not supposed to be involved with the F.B.I. I’m not supposed to be doing the kind of things that I would love to be doing. And I’m very frustrated by it.” These are the lamentations of an incompetent infant. The first job of this latest deliverer-counselor, ought to be to locate his parents.
3
I predict that Flood will not last. Like those who came before him, once he is tainted by the foul air that surrounds this president, chaos will ensue...he will find his once focused brain turning to mush, and his ethics melting into puddles of ooze. He will try to convince, seduce and cajole the POTUS into reasonable thinking and behavior, to no avail. One morning he will wake up and there will be a venomous, scathing tweet aimed at his heart. He will stare into the mirror and ask, "My God, what have I done?" And then he will leave, and his name will be added to the list.
191
He must not be to astute or he would be running in the other direction. He probably thinks it will help him in his "career" don't think so. Bad mistake I give him a month at most
4
How delightfully poetic. Who can survive reputation intact dealing with our POTUS?
2
I just hope for Flood's sake he insisted on getting paid upfront. If he didn't, in true Trump fashion he will never see a cent.
2
Thanks, Sarah, for your editorialising on the investigation as a "witch hunt". It still amazes me that the long list of transgressions the Trump team is already on record for makes this a "witch hunt". They had top-level meetings with Russian repeatedly and lied about it. from Trump's letter on Air Force One, down to the "coffee boy". This is all on record. If the shoe were on the other foot and Hillary was on the hook for simply the "coffee boy's" misdeeds, she'd be in Guantanamo by now. This is not a witch hunt. This is democracy in action, like it or leave it.
14
If Trump makes it to 2020, there wont be an election. Ivanka will be appointed as president for life.
1
Soo trump gets a free pass as President
for Criminal Activities?
How many times does America want to
Replicate such Disasters?
2
Good looking, a full head of white hair, very fair skin, and he wears a sharp suit with a perfectly knotted tie. He’s Trump’s man-type, alright.
He’s even got great legal credentials. A fine specimen of an attorney like this should last a couple of weeks before Trump starts insulting his work, calling him names, and contradicting his statements on Twitter.
Then he won’t pay him.
7
The sudden fall out from Trump's legal team combined with the usual Congressional Republican and Fox TV shills upping their volume and sleight of hand trying to cover Trump's exposed rear end (an utterly repulsive visual that) means a public showdown is near.
Trump knows he has nothing to lose firing anybody and everybody if he knows he is guilty of the crimes being investigated. And Trump's near daily tweets threatening to fire Mueller and everyone else in the Department of Justice continuing this investigation show Trump is just about ready to pull a Nixon and conduct his own version of Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre to shut down this investigation.
So exactly when Trump does fire Mueller et al, thats when everybody finally knows he's cornered, he's obstructing justice, and the final no holds barred public showdown begins. Its not going to be pretty. Little wonder Trump's lawyers are bailing out now.
1
I know Ty Cobb. He's been a partner at one the largest and most prestigious law firms in DC, and is a very fine attorney. Not surprisingly, Ty urged Trump to cooperate with the Mueller investigation; after all, Trump has nothing to hide, right?
Unfortunately, Trump has everything to hide, so Ty was ultimately not a good fit. Enter Flood.
While Flood apparently was helpful to Clinton during the Ken Starr witch hunt, I don't think Jesus himself is going to be able to help Trump, assuming the Mueller investigation is allowed to continue -- a big assumption.
4
Why Trump, the stable genius, is so scared is beyond me. Don't tell me that he has something to hide.
4
The delicious irony in this is that the Trump Brand was never as good as Trump claimed and after he leaves office one way or another, his "brand" is now worthless.
9
This is too funny, trump trashes the Clintons but likes to hire their people if possible. He must be getting desperate to find anyone who will represent him, no matter what the fees.
4
If Trump is forced to answer questions by Mueller, and that's still a big "if," there will still be a game to be played: Per the Clinton pre-impeachment precedent, in which a judge limited special prosecutor Ken Starr's questioning of Bill Clinton to 4 hours, and given Trump's penchant for verbose evasion, which Robert Mueller would expect, I'm wondering what will be the FIRST question Mueller asks-- because Trump will definitely try to use up 4 hours answering it with the longest single lie in recorded history.
2
There is already ample evidence that Donald Trump has, at a minimum, obstructed justice and violated the emoluments clause of the constitution - just from publicly available information - let alone what the Mueller team has gleaned. The president should be removed from office and prosecuted.
That said, I have more than a tinge of empathy for Mr Flood as he, metaphorically speaking, steps into fast moving water, in the dark, with both hands tied behind his back.
There is a small army of preeminent attorneys - who would normally have jumped at the chance - that after surveying the scene from the shore decided it was the better part of wisdom to resist Trump's siren call.
5
A lawyer? What do YOU have to hide, Clown?
Just ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.
14
I had hoped that this moment would have never arrived, but, now a collision of constitutional dimensions seems inevitable.The question is whether a President has the Constitutional power to control the Justice Department. I believe he does- and that the only remedy the constitution provides (if a President abuses that power) is impeachment-and therefore if I were the President's lawyer, I would advise him to appoint an independent counsel by executive proclamation to investigate whether the Justice Department has been compromised by partisanship. If the independent counsel concludes that partisan politics are playing a part in the current investigations, then I would advise the President to use the full powers of his office to put in place a proper Justice Department that is NONPARTISAN.
9
He can’t just keep firing and replacing everyone he disagrees with until he gets only those who agree with him and do his bidding. That’s not how democracy works. At some point it becomes abuse of power and has to stop.
3
Apparently, investigation of suspected criminal conduct is now "partisan".
This fantasy sold by Trump and Faux news that the investigation into Trump's conspiracy with the Russian government and Russian mafia types is somehow "partisan" is nothing but propaganda.
16
You may "believe he does [have the power to control the Justice Department]" but that would be big news to the founders who deliberately separated the three branches of government, and, coming closer to our moment, huge news to those who rejected that notion for both Nixon and Bill Clinton.
In both of those cases, the JD stated unequivocally that no president is ever about the law. If that norm falls, so does the nation.
4
Clinton was subpoenaed, but for political reasons ultimately volunteered to testify to the special counsel, which resulted in his impeachment.
Trump will probably not agree to testify which will lead to Mueller issuing a subpoena. It'll be dragged out and the Supreme Court will have to decide whether Trump will have to testify, but whatever happens, it seems that Trump is going to lose.
29
The precedence for subpoena is already there from both Nixon and Clinton so, he's not going to have much luck with the Supreme Court.
1
I wish I had that kind of confidence.
1
After examining the backgrounds of Trump and Mueller, whose history is not stellar, I'd put my money on Trump.
Given that it's not obstruction -- after all the president has executive powers -- but perjury entrapment that Mueller seeks, this is a very clear battle now.
Underestimating Trump brought down Comey. Mueller is not exactly a rocket scientist, judging from his history, which is now becoming more widely known. There's no reason to believe that Trump won't survive this.
As the Trump Titanic steams toward the Iceberg -- to be flooded and sunk -- how ironic that the new lawyer brought on to try to save it is named...Flood.
54
And as we watch the blue wave sink before this years midterms, the Democratic party and the media is preparing liberal safe spaces, cry closets and cry towels, endless reasons why they lost, and crazy explanations of why a loss is actually a win in preparation for the day after our November elections this year.
1
The walls are closing in on DJT. Bet the head alligator will somehow slide thru!
2
Start with Trump writing his own bill of health; the mad emperor in waiting, dictating to his mad doctor that he will be the healthiest president ever. We should all be so healthy? Then his official Presidential doctor declares him just one pound under the BMI index for obese.
What is needed now, and maybe will be codified for the future is not just a candidates previous ten years of tax returns, but a yearly analysis by a panel of let's say seven, eminent , independent psychiatrists and psychologists. What do you think they would say to the American people about their current leader?
Trump is Bill Clinton to the third power. Good luck to any decent human being that climbs in bed with him, they will be like those who got OJ Simpson off the hook... Infamous.
16
Seems like the revolving door continues to work flawlessly. This new guy Flood will soon find out why working with someone that is mentally unhinged is NOT a good idea. Advice to Flood, travel light, it makes leaving this mental asylum much easier.
47
And get a very large retainer, in cash.
3
Trump is absolutely right, from his point of view, to resist an interview. He has neither the self-discipline nor the brains to avoid perjuring himself. He would need to actually study a lot of material in order to prepare, but he doesn’t read anything over a page nor have the mental stamina to remember what he read. For the good of the country and the rule of law, of course, he should do it, but we know what he thinks of that.
14
You need a good lawyer on each side to make this legit. Trump was about to get pummeled with his C- team. The last thing you want is to have everything thrown out because the defense was incompetent. Besides, everything points to collusion and money laundering anyway. The truth will come out regardless.
11
Further proof that the pricier the lawyer, the less concerned he/she is with truth, honor, and...oh, yeah...the law.
22
What's that one about rats and sinking ships?
Oh yeah, Donnie. I forgot to mention. I'm retiring soon.
When?
Oh....as soon as I can.
8
I’m a little frightened that if somehow Donald Trump is disposed that Mike Pence will become President.
22
Flood will last 2 months tops. Besides that, let’s look at the developments with Trump’s two Doctors as both seem to be compromised for different reasons. My guess is that Trump has some sort of cognitive impairment they are trying to cover up and Dowd/ Cobb have figured this out and have left or are leaving realizing it’s a catch-22 of historic proportions; either Donald Trump is a guilty, horrible client or Donald Trump is a guilty, horrible client in cognitive decline. Lose/lose situation.
18
The cognitive impairment, onset alzheimers or some other condition is clear. Even since his inauguration his ability to read a prepared script at an adult level has grossly diminished. He often appears to be unclear about the meaning of some lexicon. Watch videos of him just a few years ago and the difference is jolting. Any doctor with the bare minimum of experience and training could test for this and suggest further tests to confirm any such condition. That is what both doctors likely were unwilling to disclose.
23
Yet another future resignee stands in harm's way with a client who doesn't take advice from lawyers because he is smarter than everyone.
11
So Trump and his Congressional henchmen start ramping up their anti-Justice Dept. rants, the lawyer who has kept him semi cooperative is "retiring" and being replaced by a more combative one. Get ready to see Rosenstein get the boot!
4
Apres Ty Cobb, le deluge. Best of luck, Mr. Flood.
10
I'm surprised that the legal genius of Rudy Giuliani alone is not enough to defend this innocent client.
35
Flood will last about two weeks, which is about how long it takes for any professional who gravitates to Trump's domain to become completely exasperated with him and with his maniacal cohort. Flood should demand to be paid upfront; Trump has a long and lurid history of stiffing his contractors.
14
This country was doing pretty darn good for the first 185 years.
But then, within only a mere 44 years time, came Nixon and his Watergate disaster, Clinton and his impeachment mess, and now Trump and his over the top debacle on practically everything he touches.
What the heck has happen to the character, integrity, and solemn promise these men took when sworn into office? I think it bears repeating, more now than ever, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
26
You mean the first 185 years were great *except* the slavery, the civil war, the world wars, and the homicidal decimation and displacement of Native Americans, right?
10
Apologies for the error in my comment. I should have stated "This country's PRESIDENTS were pretty darn good for the first 185 years" in the context that most of them had higher standards of character, integrity, and honor. The state of this country has always been complex. I never stated that any one president was perfect, albeit Nixon, Clinton and Trump seem to be at the other end of the presidential spectrum.
1
That's the second Clinton lawyer Trump has commandeered, perhaps to deny Hillary effective defense or to get privileged inside information.
2
Fear not, ‘till Birnam wood Do come to Dunsinane;’
and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane.
6
Remind me, when does the winning start?
17
Justice Department is cancelling the reality TV show presidency.
6
If Huckabee Sanders is going to use that degenerate language then I expect that opens the door in press conferences to use that language. One can easily see why Huckabee Sanders is worried about witch hunts.
It's hilarious. Trump supporters believed Trump when he said that he was going to drain the swamp, and now Trump has an administration filled with lawyers who are trying to get him off the hook.
17
This is really fab gear. Flood should be able to clue Trump in on the fact that Clinton complied with the Starr's subpoena to testify before the grand jury. Presidents are not above the law. The question is what the country will do when Trump implicitly admits guilt by refusing to testify.
In the previous article, Trump is not siding with traitorous Republicans in the House. They are siding with him. Next, he will use their traitorous support to obstruct just by firing Rosenstein and then Mueller. And the country will do what?
17
Huckabee Sanders refers the the Russia investigation as a 'witch hunt' but neglects to add the all important phrase 'No collusion'. Sounds like an admission of collusion, which is not a crime anyway. Up next, No obstruction!
6
I'm not so sure lawyers are fleeing the sinking ship. It may be more an issue of having the most experienced attorneys for what they expect to happen next. We will have a new Congress in just over 7 months. If I were Trump I'd hire the most experienced impeachment attorney I could find.
3
And look how well this "impeachment lawyer" worked for B. Clinton. Nothing can save Trump's sinking ship. He can blame the entire legal profession when this is over -which of course, he will.
Paragraph 8, this guy was part of the team and not the lead attorney. The A team firms are staying away.
1
There is a reason why the word irony exists.
8
Trump can add all the lawyers he wants to his team. The problem for Trump is that Mueller has the goods on him. No lawyer can get him off because he is guilty.
21
I don’t know what Clinton’s experience taught Flood but Clinton DID have to testify to the Special Prosecutor.
Clinton certainly lied about an extra-marital affair.
Trump lies about everything, including MULTIPLE affairs.
PLUS Russian interference which, at the very least, many members of the campaign teams seemed to be part of, all the way up to Don Jr and Jared.
The Clinton affairs was child’s play next to the malfeasance of the Trump Administration.
26
Sadly, this will be the downfall of Emmett Flood and his reputation. Flood will not survive unblemished because Trump will refuse to follow his instructions and will undermine Flood at every turn for political reasons. It is very clear that Trump cannot pursue any rational or legal defense strategy, because he is guilty of some crimes.
22
So Sarah Sanders announced this appointment by saying that Flood was going to defend the President and White House against "the Russia witch hunt". And this is the person so many, including, unfortunately, some NYT journalists, rushed to defend because a comic said she burned lies to create "the perfect smokey eye" (which would be a compliment, except for the lying part, which we see from this report, among so many others, is true).
I expect Flood is being paid a good deal of money for taking the chance of besmirching his reputation. Everyone who associates with Trump comes out just a little bit (or even a good bit) shabbier.
10
Can’t decide if the irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife or so delicious you could eat it with a spoon? Either way I’ll have two portions.
16
President Trump has a coterie of lawyers. His lawyers have lawyers and even some of them have lawyers. All part of the "Full Lawyerful Employment Act" soon to be considered by Congress. Unfortunately, shifting the lawyers around becomes nothing more than a game of three-card monte.
3
Everyone in the lifeboats. The Flood is coming.
6
Good to see that the Great Showman has enough of sense of reality to prepare for the next act beginning in January 2019.
A Democratic House and Senate will send him packing.
The Department of Justice will send him to prison.
History will take his measure (hint: very small hands)
7
Just like "Hillary will win" and "Trump could never win." Inside the bubble, things never change.
Cobb finally ran into a client that made him give up practicing law. I wonder if he's been paid?
5
I'm sure Mr. Cobb has been paid. Paid by you and I, as a matter of fact. As he was not a personal lawyer of Mr. Trump, but a member of the White House legal staff. The same is true for Mr. Flood - he's been hired to be a White House lawyer, and his salary will be similarly paid by the taxpayers. (I cannot possibly know what made Mr. Flood make the decision to join Mr. Trump's legal team. But I'm guessing he has a realistic chance to emerge out of it with his reputation intact, being able to claim that he was giving legal aid to and protecting the Office of the Presidency, and Mr. Trump personally. I am fairly positive however that no professional of his caliber would come anywhere close to Mr. Trump as a personal client at this point).
So it's clear that DJT will wage political warfare against Special Counsel. He will not fight this investigation in a grand jury room or courtroom. Remember, DJT is a back alley fighter. He will put on brass knuckles and fight dirty. He comes from the world of commercial real estate which is rough and tumble. So what does Mueller do, how does he respond?
First, play to his strength: the law. But, that will not be enough, not even close. Trump will drag this out to his advantage; the american people are growing impatient. So, Mueller needs to do two other things.
Second, fight the political war. Get surrogates to amp up and attack. Hold back nothing. Get personal.
Third, Mueller must hold a press conference (SOON) and stipulate that he is not interested in impeaching a president, but instead is interested in revealing all the facts to the american people and the DOJ.
If Mueller does the above, Democrats must take the high ground and shoot down calls for impeachment as well. Remind the american people that unlike what the republicans did to Clinton, it is more important, in this instance, to highlight what the Russians did and the importance of protecting our right to vote without foreign interference.
150
Here, here. Special kudos on your last paragraph.
11
And - sidebar - it would be good to know whether our current POTUS is a criminal.
12
Issuing a subpoena for his testimony before he can put any new machinations into play would be a good move on Mueller's part. There would then be no way to legitimately claim the issue was failure to disclose documents to congress - from whence they are sure to leak to the WH. Nunes has done it before.
Cobb produced all the documents from the White House, which makes it hard for Flood to call any of them back. And it is unlikely Flood can persuade Trump to review the documents or remember that he should testify consistently with what they contain, assuming Flood has time himself to review all the documents. Seems like Flood's involvement in the Clinton impeachment proceedings taught him how a client gets impeached. We suspect he will now get more of that type of education with Trump. Looking forward to Flood's new client being impeached, in about February 2019.
61
Ah, the old "shuffle the deck" routine until a winning card manages to come up. There IS no winning hand in this administration. They all know it, just as most of us have known it from day one.
The game was fixed in ways so evident a child knew before the election that DJT was guilty of numerous unseemly, grotesque and often criminal acts. He'd already been found guilty on a number of charges that would have eliminated any other candidate in history.
Historians are going to excoriate the crowd that tried to pretend--despite mountains of evidence to the contrary--that there was "no there, there" ...a phrase so asinine it defies spellcheck every time it's written.
Cobb left for the same reason everyone who comes into this president's orbit does....within hours it's clear to them that, as bad as he presents in public, he's worse in private. They abandon ship precisely because they know it is sinking.
It is absolutely essential that this corrupt administration be held to legal standards and held accountable for its crimes, should obstruction of justice be proven (and it will be). It is the lack of consequences for corrupt politicians in the post-Vietnam era that has led from crime to crime, from illegal war to illegal war. We are so far down the path of ruin that coming back is going to be daunting. Absent accountability, it's impossible.
Let's adopt their chant. "Lock him up!"
151
Well said.
4
Yes, very well said.
And thanks for the Hopkins allusion.
You state "He'd already been found guilty on a number of charges that would have eliminated any other candidate in history", but offer no explanation.
While his crimes, behavior, and language offend most of the country, tens of millions still love him, and voted for him even though they knew all about him.
How do you explain the affection and approval that Trump enjoys from tens of millions of citizens?
It's common knowledge that Guiliani cheated on all of his wives. Now he wants to cheat on the American People
74
I can't tell which of them comes away with more stink from the other.
1
If I remember correctly, Clinton was impeached. Surprised Donald's going with this loser. I would have thought he'd like attorneys whose clients don't get impeached.
52
The house voted to impeach Bill Clinton but the Senate could not muster the 2/3 votes. Clinton finished his 8 year term in office.
2
I would have thought the American people would have recognized a carnival barker for who he was.....
1
Sxm: You are correct that Bill Clinton was "Impeached" in that an impeachment is a trail in the Congress. But the charges against Bill Clinton were found to be "not true." It like a mere mortal being charged with a crime, has a jury trial and then is acquitted by the jury as "Not Guilty."
2
Excuse me Mr. President.
Yes. Oh, it’s you Sarah. Come on in. What’s that in your hand? Another card. Who’s it for this time?
Ty Sir.
Who?
Mr. Cobb. The lawyer. He’s decided to retire.
We were so close. Oh well. How many is that now? Darn, there’s no room for my signature. Do all these people work around here? Where’s that super-wide Magic Marker? There you go Ted. Nice and big. Right on the cover. This will be valuable someday Sarah.
Oh yes Sir. I’m sure it will.
15
As another Rat leaves the slowly sinking ship, another Rat swims aboard.
As the USA suffers with poor to nonexistent leadership, the Lawyers get rich.
Politicians have no morals, lawyers about the same,
The public is left wondering if it will take WW3 for Trump to divert public attention from his incompetence...
23
Mr. Flood may want to be involved for the historic reckoning that is likely to take place here. Mr. Trump will go down as the most destructive and corrupt President of this great country, which has been severely tarnished by this congenital liar. Mr. Dowd and Mr. Cobb probably got out before their reputations were completely destroyed. Mr. Flood will come in for the historic and inevitable -- the lying has been profound and destructive to this country -- I hope it is over soon.
46
So Trump have sink this low to hire the Clinton second hand law can you spell recycle Trump.
15
Wait, Ty Cobb is still alive?
9
Right. And a .367 lifetime batting average to boot. Amazing. Is this a great country, or what? Pete McGuire, Atlanta
3
I beleive he is the son or grandson of the legendary Ty Cobb.
Yes they brought him back to life so he can defend crazy Trump. Except this time he broke his bat, is hit less, and now he's been benched!
3
Emmet Flood cannot save Trump from the grand inquisitor, Robert Mueller.
Trump will either sit for an interview (with lawyers present) or be summoned to a Grand Jury (without lawyers present). Trump is dead meat given the skill of the Mueller team.
45
I hope you're right, APR.
7
He is now getting a Clinton old hand to help save him!!!
What happened to that awesome advise he gets daily from Hannity &CO?
What's next? Obama's national security team to help him with Korea and get back in PTT?
What a disgrace man he is.
32
This guy handled the sex case against Clinton. Is that why Trump thinks he will be a good choice? Thought Trump was disgusted by the Clintons, why would he choose a Clinton lawyer. Remember all the women he brought in that made accusations against Clinton. I don't think I understand this move at all. Thought he had the best of the bestest.
1
Referring to the Special Counsel investigation as "the Russia witch hunt" in an official press release? Sarah Sanders is a disgrace.
249
She's losing it too. Too much lying.
19
What will we do to bide our time when the Trump fiasco is long and gone? One fiasco to another, daily chaos. Oh, I forgot, all this is a witch hunt. The world is out to get poor Trump. Woe is me.
8
Some attorneys will do anything and represent anyone for the money. I assume that Donald J. Trump has promised to pay him (nudge-nudge, wink-wink).
14
I hope Mr. Flood is smart enough to get his fee in advance since one cannot sue a sitting President for non-payment of fees.
3
Give Donald Trump credit on this: When he inevitably parts ways with Mr. Flood in the next year, the tweet about no longer needing "a Clinton lawyer" comes pre-written.
10
Like when John Adams agreed to defend British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, law must be above personal bias.
Good luck, Emmet. The whole country is watching.
8
This is as elementary as selecting the right tool for the job. Mr. Flood has not been brought on board to deal with the Special Counsel's investigation. He has been brought on board to deal with the aftermath. This isn't a case of "we're moving to Las Vegas." It is time to go to the mattresses.
6
Dear Emmet: You can't control the Client. Sincerely, Ty,
Really, don't do it.
7
I have only one piece of advice for Emmet Flood... "Get the money upfront!"
37
Even lawyers get tired of lies and low pay. Goodbye Ty Cobb. Hello impeachment hearings.
9
Mr Flood is coming in at a good time, for him. For Flood it’s no-lose proposition, even if his client ultimately gets impeached. KInd of like the Coast Gaurd captain coming on board to rescue a sinking ship. If he succeeds he’s a hero, but if the ship does sink it’s not his fault and he gets credit for rescuing some of the passengers and minimizing the damage. The biggest losers of Trumps decision to bring Flood on board are the Clinton haters, seeing their hero seeking help from a former Clinton lawyer. It makes it hard to deny that they’ve once again been suckered by a RINO politician and media wizard.
9
How long will it take before Mr. Flood realizes that he, just like his predecessors, cannot defend the indefensible, reprehensible and unrepresentable? I am guessing not very long.
19
Nice to see that Dear Leader Donnie has enough of a touch of reality to see the Blue Wave coming November.
While merely moving the deck chairs around on the deck of the Titanic (his high crimes and misdemeanors in office, couple with his conspiracy with Russia, his money laundering, and tax frauds)
it is clear that the Democrats will chase him from office in 2019.
At least he will have competent council as he reaps the fruits of personal corruption and mental illness.
3
Ok... The Clinton's lawyer?... LOL. Clinton did far, far, less than Trump and Clinton was found guilty of perjury. Make no mistake, Trump will commit perjury because the circle of lies are so great he can't possibly keep them all straight. This is not a step up for this lawyer. This is the beginning of the end of this man's career. Run while you can. Fake sickness... Anything but take this job.
13
It is a step up, because Flood will play a leading role in this fiasco rather than a supporting role in the Clinton and Bush/Cheney scandals. And, as has been said, the damage is done, so he will look like a hero if Trump manages to escape a prison sentence.
2
Why would anyone with an ounce of self respect want to stain themselves by being assocated with Trump ?
20
I thought Guliani was to have cleaned this all up by now?
10
Too bad he didn't retain stormy's lawyer before she did.
That's one smart, seasoned, aggressive guy. And he will never give up.
Oh.. wait a minute .......
3
Is it time to chant "Lock him up?"
7
Former President Obama never needed outside legal counsel for any reason. Former President Obama never had any member of his inner circle convicted or even indicted for anything.
Republicans need to admit, with Trump they have a massive and overwhelming legal debacle.
371
You are right, Geoffrey, Obama had the most squeaky clean administration of my lifetime -- better or on a par of that with Jimmy Carter.
And he and his family (thank your Michelle, Sasha and Malia!) did so much to promote the image of the U.S. here and abroad.
It is more than distressing to see what has happened in the meantime...
39
Legal and ethical / immoral debacle
6
Trump has out-sleazed all the other American presidents in history. He should be so proud of himself. His supporters are ecstatic! Make American Great Again! Trump!
8
Add another name to the list of once respected people throwing their careers away. Don't they ever learn?
28
They never learn because they are blinded by their over-sized egos.
5
Perhaps Trump's goal is to keep driving his legal team away so that he can resist any subpoena by claiming that he has not had adequate legal counsel. That could go on for many months.
20
Yes when you think you are going to be impeached, you need to have a good impeachment lawyer. Trump may also want to think about hiring a good criminal defense attorney, one who is licensed to practice in New York.
38
In case anyone has forgotten, Clinton WAS impeached for a much less egregious activity (lying about a consensual sexual dalliance in the W.H.). The Senate failed to convict him. Trump on the other hand is guilty of worse lies.
67
Right, because the thing you do when you're in the middle of the biggest case of your career with the president as your client is "retire."
36
And head for the exit as quickly as possible.
I guess Trump's new mantra is "I have the Clinton's best people"
75
Shame, shame on Mr. Flood. I am well aware about the right to counsel but he does not have to represent this client. Why would he do so and ruin his reputation by associating with him? It is sure to cost Mr. Flood his reputation and he is bound to lose clients, too. He ought to steer clear.
13
He already defended one President that was impeached. I’d say he was eminently unbiased.
2
He'll learn.
RE: "President Trump has hired Emmet T. Flood, the veteran Washington lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment,"
Does this mean the right wing will have to stop saying
"...But, but, but what about [Bill] Clinton?"
43
The president has too many people covering for him, interfering on his behalf, explaining away his lies, and disrupting and interfering with peoples rights to have answers. Innocent people do not fear interviews and investigations since they welcome the opportunity to clear up questions and misunderstandings along the way.
19
Refresh my memory: How many defense lawyers did President Obama run through in his first 18 months in office?
Oh, right.
106
Right. He didn’t need any.
Charles Dickens could not have created better names for these characters:
Trump (verb: to overcome all)
Flood (noun or verb: to overwhelm)
Cobb (noun: used in outhouses before invention of toilet paper)
Scaramucci (Scaramouche, noun: a clown)
Conway (con, noun or verb, to obtain by deceit)
Huckabee (self explanatory)
109
This is just too rich!
Trump hires arch enemy's, Clinton, "impeachment" attorney and a FAILED one at that.
No way will Trump withstand the jokes about this.
47
Who in their right mind would agree to work for Trump without being indemnified against the need to lawyer up for having done it?
31
And getting a HUGE non-refundable retainer up front
This guy - rock star of the moment - will quit in a few months no less tainted than every other lawyer before him . Flood's hubris leads him to believe he will be treated differently and he's too smart to be conned. If Flood was so smart he would not enlist. What's really gong to be rich is when Michael Cohen ends up as Trump's lawyer once again since no other attorney will go near him.
24
Assuming Cohen still has a license to practice law.
2
I don't think Mr. Cohen will be representing anyone for a long, long time.
3
By hiring Mr. Flood, who has impeachment legal background, for the first time as president Mr. Trump has actually hired or appointed someone who has relevant experience for the job.
29
The US now has a man who was elected president whose number one priority is hiring lawyers to save him from the corruption and multiple scandals in his administration and personal life. The power and progress of our country is at a standstill. For congress to do nothing about this obvious mistake of electing a president is just as despicable as the man who claims to be president.
102
Mr.Flood, as impeccable as his credentials are, will have a short tenure as one of Mr.Trump's lawyers if he dares to tell him anything he does not want to hear.Mr.Trump's acquaintance with the law is about the same as his acquaintance with the truth, casual.That puts him in double jeopardy.
10
When the going gets tough, the smart ones jump ship.
Trump could bring in "Perry Mason" and it wouldn't matter.
There is no one that's going to do more damage to Trump, then Trump himself.
So there is no one that can protect him from the truth.
20
A lot of people are saying very good things about this lawyer, Perry Mason.'
Lawyers have far tougher jobs than is commonly realized.
Many of them actually feel the need to shake hands with their clients.
8
Flood has just made his choice about how he wants to be remembered by history.
31
Probably thinking he can get a book deal out of this experience.
2
". . . Adding Emmet Flood to Replace Ty Cobb". This reads more like a batting rotation announcement than the latest legal rotation shuffle.
25
He can't do that. It's a clear conflict of interest. Flood once represented one of Trump's most dire political opponents, and as such is privy to information that could be potentially damaging to the other side if he decides to divulge it for his new client, violating attorney-client privilege.
7
I don't think serving multiple Presidents as White House Counsel necessarily represents a conflict.
7
This is gibberish, and not how the rules of conflicts work. Bill Clinton is not adverse to Trump, and that representation ended long ago.
Interesting that Flood joined the team the same day Pompeo was sworn in as SOS. According to the FEC page, he's given lots of money to Pompeo over the years.
8
Seems like a delay tactic to me. Every time Trump's lawyer leaves a new one joins the team, they can credibly ask for more time to respond.
9
Mr Trump has certainly been the jobs president for attorneys. Is Mr Flood going to be paid with Trump campaign contributions like Mr Cohen and others? It truly is wonderful of America's "forgotten working man" to be ponying up his/her small dollar campaign contributions to pay for the billionaire's legal problems. True American generosity. Bless their hearts!
16
Anyone who joins the Trump team has ended their career. I hope this fellow realizes it. I really prefer the Grand Jury Subpoena to an Impeachment.
10
Well, Mr. Flood, you can kiss any reputation for being a good attorney goodbye. I don't know why anyone, especially an attorney, would work for him (and I really do question the judgment of anyone who takes him on). Hopefully, you got a lot of up front payment and you are close to retirement.
5
Enough with the palace intrigue already. We know Trump rotates staff, cabinet and counsel as often as many people change their clothing. We also know that calmly, quietly and relentlessly, Mueller and his team are methodically obtaining and evaluating the evidence.
Instead of acting like impatient, truculent children, the chattering class - including members of Congress, the press and the blogosphere - need to just shut up and wait. Unless the Mueller team encounters an immovable object, in the form of Trumpian interference, all will become clear when Mueller is good and ready to issue a detailed report and/or to obtain indictments.
Give it a rest!
1
So now we have an impeachment lawyer on staff... Sounds like Mr Trump is realizing he is backed into a corner... But the big question will be whether or not he listens to this lawyer. He hasn't been great at listening up until now.
8
The only predictions I can think to make — that this signals more turnover soon to come on Trump's legal team, that Flood is by no means certain to take this gig, and that Trump will ultimately try to get Mueller fired — are, at this point, more or less on a par with predicting that the sun will again rise in the east tomorrow. There's no suspense in the "what" anymore, the only questions that remain are all "when."
2
The show just keeps getting more interesting -- and it's only Wednesday! Interesting little tidbit per Bloomberg news: Trump's legal team doesn't have the Security Clearance to work on the case/the Mueller questions. I guess we'll just have to hear what DJT has to say for himself, when he's testifies without any counsel present:
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-05-02/trump-lawyers-sai...
3
I suppose the U.S. taxpayers are paying the bills of these lawyers trying to defend the “president.” They come and they go, but they’re all paid handsomely I’m sure.
6
Just one more puppet to continue the obstruction of justice. It's time to put the Godfather puppet master away for a long time.
2
Ty Cobb the baseball player?
Long gone, with a better memory.
Ty Cobb the lawyer?
Long gone.
3
I wonder howw Trump's base will respond to the news that Dear Leader has hired the Evil Clinton's lawyer?
28
NYTimes - do you know if Williams and Connolly as a firm is representing Trump, or is Flood doing this under his personal capacity?
5
Didn't President Clinton GET impeached? So Trump hires the same lawyer to prevent him from getting impeached? "Very Smart". Almost a "genius" move. Way to go Donald.
8
There goes Flood's career.
11
Say what? "Hates" the Clintons yet hires Billy-boy's attorney. Oh the hypocrisy! Trump probably called Bill himself. Two peas in a pod they are. Maybe Bill can coach Don the Con on delay tactics such as asking what is is? This all reads like two-bit paperback. I guess if Trump gets caught in a lie he'll blame Hillary. It's always the little woman's fault.
Now I'm sure Giuliani was hired to keep him muzzled.
6
Second choice was Vinnie Gambini.
26
Finally. What was he waiting for?
1
According to Trump, he's done nothing wrong, so he doesn't need a lawyer. Anyway, he's Donald Trump, the greatest and most able person to ever grace the planet with his existence. What's he need a lawyer for?
2
Anyone else notice that HE can't keep a Lawyer OR a Doctor ?????
Sad.
20
Never be a lawyer for Trump. Trump Tower is where lawyers go to die .
14
Trump is a desperate man.
10
WHO is paying for these $2k/hr legal wizards?? Pharaoh tRump's "friends" or the American taxpayer? We know he doesn't pay anything out of his own pocket.
27
Hey, at least this way, we can't lose. Am I right?
1
The same guys who want their taxes cut, regulations nuked, and for America to keep burning fossil fuels like crazy.
When you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear and you don't have to play lawyer musical chairs
18
Why would anyone willingly join this three ring circus at this point except maybe for the money. Short term gig with giant retainer up front. I hope you priced yourself high enough Mr. Flood.
9
One has to wonder if all of those repulsives who are defending the dear leader and obstructing justice will be looking for lawyers. Their actions are a hint over the line of treason. Let's look at Nunes first.
17
Does Flood expect to be paid?
11
Sure he isn't switching from Ty Cobb to Curt Flood?
3
Perfect name. There is a flood coming. A flood of biblical proportions of mendacity and deceit.
19
If it's Wednesday - it must be Belgium!
7
I thought Ty Cobb retired in 1928.
4
So, he enjoys calling her "crooked Hillary" but when he gets in a bind he uses the same legal counsel her husband used.
224
You are using a false analogy and your argument is voided.
1
Nevertheless, it's an interesting thought, and I think many people are considering the irony.
As an attorney myself (retired) I would think he would see this as a conflict of interest with House Republicans ramping up new interest in going after Hillary.
I doubt that she would waive any conflict if asked.
Nor should she.
2
Personally I'm glad the handlebar mustache is gone, they look so hokey.
5
Dear leader has a revolving door with his lawyers. They come and go like busy traffic. I am not clear why any of them would sink into this cess pool of humanity. Once you get covered in the smell it never seems to leave.
17
POTUS Trump, in March 2018, said that he was very happy with his lawyers.
Since then, Mr.Dowd has quit and Mr.Cobb is quitting (retirement?).
Could it be that... they... are no longer happy working for POTUS Trump?
Could it be that they have realized that POTUS Trump may have lied to them also?
307
Yes nothing ever changes in life, you marry the first woman you love and stay married for life. Your arguments lack any known form of logic. Is it possible your worldview is wrong? Highly.
2
@Kenneth, seems to me John was actually talking about change and it makes perfect sense.
1
Could it be that both are leaving because Trump has decided to fire Rosenstein and Mueller and neither said they would stay if he did that?
6
That is rich: "Crooked Hillary's" husbands's lawyer hired by Trump ...
76
Not only that. Williams and Connolly, Flood's firm, also represented Hillary herself -- in the email case.
At least we're being entertained, here in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
9
Ty Cobb Quits as Presidential Attorney.
There, Fixed the headline for you.
35
O J Simpson was more successful at assembling a dream team of lawyers and he brutally murdered two people.
92
No prosecution was going to win that trial by incarcerating the jury.
Well it was only 2. Who knows how many could be found in the foundations and concrete of Trump's vast real estate empire?
Using a “Clinton” lawyer? Oh, my. Things must be getting serious, indeed.
25
What happened to Nosferatu (Giuliani)? Is it because he only works nights?
114
Rudy just reminds everyone of all the first responders who died climbing against the people trying to escape from the buildings that he had been told by the architect were doomed to collapse.
3
Is his job done after leaking the Mueller questions?
9
LOL. Thank you for that.
4
There is no saving Trump He is a criminal, traitor, rapist liar. He should not have one more day in power where he is destroying America in the world, at home and is killing the environment. He is dangerous and must be prosecuted for his crimes.
84
It's weirdo far left comments like this that tend to crowd out the more legitimate critiques of Trump.
3
It's not any more weirdo than "Lock her up!" from the far right-wingers.
Old New England saying: "What goes around comes around".
1
"weirdo far left"? Sorry DRS, Linda's comments are truth and right on the money. It's the unthinking right who supports trump that are losing ground fast. Remember - trump said during the campaign "I love the uneducated". And boy howdy did they turn out for him!
2
"Because nothing exudes confidence like hiring a Clinton impeachment lawyer."
56
The Republican party could be the fist major political party to die of irony.
198
As long as it dies, cause is immaterial.
3
I was hoping Trump's new lawyer would be named Honus Wagner.
23
Trump will be adding and dropping people as long as he is in office. It is we Caring Republicans and
Democrats to boot this dishonorable incompetent liar out of office as soon as possible. No one who reads writes or has a brain in their head would want to support this mentally deranged idiot.
7
“It has been an honor to serve the country in this capacity at the White House,” he said.
NO, Chump is un-American. He was serving dictator wannabe. The only thing he did to serve the country was quit, and now this Flood traitor's turn in the barrel. The only way to remove this parasite from our people's house is in a body bag.
7
Nice knowing you Mr. Flood...
9
Hope he's paid in advance. Trump has a habit of stiffing toadies.
19
What delicious irony that Trump now has a Clinton lawyer.
65
Get your scorecards! You can't tell the lawyers without a scorecard!
23
Rearranging deck chairs...as the ship continues to list and take on water How many people will be sucked under when it goes down ?
29
Trump has vilified everything about the Clintons, yet he hires clinton ex lawyer. GUITY
36
Is this a done deal? Or is it another speculation? Why would Ty Cobb have quit?
3
He felt a sudden urge to "retire."
Remember when working at the White House was seen as a prestigious addition to one's resume? Now it's the career and financial kiss of death.
7
Because he doesn't want to end his career on this sinking ship? Because the realistic possibility of a President facing prison isn't exactly enticing to potential lawyers?
2
Because it's not winnable and/or chit he's done crosses over attorney-client privilege and he's not so happy to think Mueller may be listening in to his business affairs.
It seems that Trump's "slimeball factory" just keeps turning out new "replacements" ......what to do after Ty Cobb leaves? He was touted as "the best", but he is now just one of the crowd. Fun, Fun, Fun!
8
I get the feeling that Trump is planning to fire Mueller and Rod Rosenstein in the next few days. That's why Ty Cobb is leaving. He was an advocate for the President cooperating with the Special Counsel and doesn't want to be there when Trump fires Mueller and Rosenstein.
36
And the US is prepared to protest- in the streets. Join MoveOn. And hopefully Republican Graham will be correct when he said that would be the end of Trump as President. You could be right as one never knows what Trump has been agitated about something and goes on a rant. He is so stupid but the investigation will not stop- Rule of Law.
2
Wait - I thought "crooked" Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton were the devils who hate America and want to cause the fall of Democracy? I guess a good lawyer who's willing to step into the chest-deep mud of history always outweighs hypocrisy.
35
Once again the dirty fingerprints of the Clintons are all over our body politic. He was a flawed candidate; but after 12 years of Reaganism, he looked like a guy who could win the election.
Umm. . . Flood has represented both Clintons, and Cheney, and Shrub Bush, and clerked for Scalia, and so on.
He and his fellow Power Lawyers are equal opportunists.
13
It seems odd that many of Trump's lawyers have hired their own lawyers: Jared Kushner, Don McGahn, Michael Cohen, Roy Cohn (of yesteryear), It suggests that those lawyers may have acted improperly.
6
I'm sure Ty Cobb left of his own accord, just like ALL the other people that have left this "administration." Adversarial lawyers aren't going to keep the TRUTH from coming out.
8
So, do we the taxpayers get to pay for a more adversarial approach with a new White House lawyer? How much more public money has to be spent on half the administration and Congress conniving, plotting, strategizing, obstructing and so on? It makes Trumps trips to Mar-a-Lago look like a bargain. Disgusting.
19
Clinton was impeached by the House, was he not? Or am I delusional?
7
If I were Michael Avenatti right now, I would have Stormy make an appearance wearing a stained blue dress.
Donald is getting so desperate for attorneys that any day now we will see him on a podium standing next to Gloria Allred holding a doctored yearbook.
I keep telling God that I do not believe in Jesus but He asks me, "So why are you running around your living room shouting, Thank You Jesus!!" The sun is shining in Seattle and Trump just hired a Clinton lawyer. Its gonna be a really good day! Thank You Jesus!!!!!!
27
Stormy in a stained blue dress. Priceless! I can't stop laughing!
Thank you, thank you, Tom,
4
When going gets tough the Republicans will let Trump fire any and everyone from the justice department. Never forget the mission.
1, cut taxes for the rich
2. let carbon based industries pollute the air and water
3. eliminate social safety net.
4. put women back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant
86
Ty Cobb strikes out on a called strike. doesn't even bother swinging, because he knows team Drumph is hopeless. only matter of time now until the end of the 9th, at which point we will elect a Dem to get our misguided country back on track, go into extra winnings, and lose or win on the backs of the american electorate, and given the knuckle dragging ignorance of the american rural and south, that's not a very promising prospect.
11
So 45 has brought on a highly respected attorney from a highly respected law firm. But given the incorrigible, irascible and (to borrow from John Kelly) idiotic nature of Mr. Flood's new client, I would not bet on Mr. Flood's ability to emerge from this representation with his reputation unspoiled.
9
right on. and the only aspect of your comment that is better than the comment itself is your cat!
2
The braggart had said he would higher only "best people" is miserably failing in his judgement of people on all the counts. A new attorney or a cabinet mister, or a spoke person, or a high official every few days shows how incompetent Trump is. Can't wait till this charade is over!
8
trump should resist mueller on every front and force him to pursue his fairly limited legal options to compel the president to cooperate let alone testify.
the president clearly has the upper hand and with proper maneuvering can marginalize mueller and turn this into a political issue; i think we know who will win once the legal wrangling ends or reaches stalemate.
Oh boy trump has the upper hand alright, ha ha ha ha!
And I do not think most of us know who will win, sadly.
Cause when you have a self destructive bully with
a low IQ who says what he thinks will please his
base and never deliver on any promises.. well he
does deliver hatred and diversity and racism, so I cannot say he delivers nothing to his base. Unfortunately their craving for support in these areas will also create more poverty and less safety nets and more misery.All because some con artist agreed with their favorite scapegoats and hatreds
5
I guess this shows us what an amoral man Clinton really is. Trump, of course, has taken the nation to new lows even beyond the Bill. But hey, we can say the economy and Wall Street and especially the 1% are doing great. Therefore...
Man, it does appear, considering our last four presidents (including the Trumpster) Obama was sure an outlier.
8
"set of questions from the Special Counsel" is probably not accurate. There is reporting that the questions were fabricated by Trump's lawyers from 16 topics related to them by the SC. That is an important fact since Trump and others have called the questions "disgraceful" and purported them to be evidence of over reaching by the SC. The NYT might have been played on this one. Trump's people leaked and created the questions. You need to get ahead of the story.
7
With all of the lawyering this President needs, we could use a chart showing which lawyer does what job and who pays for it. For ex., White House Counsel (McGahn) is a staff position/advises the Trump in his role as president, not as a personal attorney/paid by the taxpayers. Guiliani is Trump's personal attorney/advising him on .../paid by Trump (or is the RNC or Trump campaign doing this?). Is Flood going to be on staff at the White House, on the public payroll to advise Trump on Tump's personal liability regarding the Special Counsel? Will the public have to pay him what is likely his normal rate of $400-$500 per hour?
3
Get real. Washington lawyers start at $1000.00 per hour.
2
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's professional education is in the law. Putin's foes end up in mental institutions, hospitals, prisons, urns and coffins. None of Trump's lawyers are that callous clever and cynical.
6
I will like to see how this plays with the GOP. The guy who got sleazy Bill Clinton off, is now working for the bigger sleaze; Trump. Certainly, a birds of a feather.
By the way, compared to Trump, Clinton got a way with a lot, as did his wife, because they knew how to play the political machines, and the game. They were experts, and they were lawyers, to boot. So, they knew all the legal angles.
Trump, is relying on questionable legal counsel and has no clue of the politics. If Trump ever makes it to the stand, civil, or impeachment, he will be a poster child for the Fifth amendment.
3
between both clintons, they got away with way more than trump. i still can't figure how hrc-dnc conspiracy to get bernie out of the campaign is not considered "election meddling". how is there no investigation? and the emails that russia leaked show this to be true. and neither hrc or dnc even attempted to deny it. it's really amazing.
1
The Clintons are far more sophisticated linguists than Trump, whose vocabulary is exceptionally limited. There is more room for interpretation in subtlety.
2
Interesting how bold "retired" attorney Ty Cobb is about his proclamation that Trump is "EAGER" to meet with Robert Mueller. Why just earlier today, Trump's lawyers stated that such an interview "would be a minefield" for the president.
Good grief, Trump keeps changing the words to the same old broken record and now his own attorneys keep changing the words. Can't any of these folks get even ONE single story/thought/plan of action straight amongst themselves? Not only are they their own worst enemy, they're creating their own minefield.
7
Based on past history, I wonder if Flood will eventually be needing his own attorney? If he does maybe Michael Cohen...no wait, how about John Dowd...maybe not since he apparently discussed the possibility of a presidential pardon with lawyers for Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort and may be guilty of obstruction of justice. Or possibly Flood could just consult with Trump, who knows he's more knowledgable and is smarter than any lawyer.
4
Look, it doesn't matter who Trump hires. Unless Mueller is willing to 'go along to get along' with Flood--which in this context would mean abnegating his duty to the country and betraying the oath he took when admitted as an officer of the federal court--Flood's only potential contributions are improved damage control and better success in delaying the inevitable. But Mueller is neither near-sighted as a litigator nor--it would appear thus far--morally compromised like the people he's investigating. Any hopes that Flood may have that Mueller will prostitute his duty to the citizenry he represents to please a respected peer likely be dashed.
9
What is Flood up to? What decent lawyer would want to get involved with this mess? Has Flood read the infamous "dossier"? Never mind the alleged sexual perversions while Trump visited St. Petersburg and Moscow over the years - if even half of what is in there is actually true, there is no way to provide a defense for Trump's collusion with Russia, and his subsequent attempts to obstruct justice to cover up the collusion.
Certainly not now that Manafort has been charged, other former campaign officials are cooperating, and Trump's long time personal lawyer Cohen (also in the dossier) is likely to cave to avoid jail time.
Now that Trump's re-election campaign is covering his legal fees, at least Flood can be assured that he will get paid while ruining his reputation forever more.
4
I guess there's only so many lawyers possessing first hand experience with impeachment proceedings. Trump is wise to seek someone with experience in these matters. I'm curious to know exactly what brought Flood on board. I don't find Cobb's statements reassuring though. If Cobb was the cooperative lawyer, I don't want to know what the combative lawyer looks like. I doubt we're going to enjoy where things are headed next.
3
Cobb got out just in time. Fighting a battle for a loser client had to take it's toll on his career and he'll go down in history as one of the lawyers who tried and failed to corral Trump from incriminating himself again and again.
Flood doesn't stand a chance of keeping Trump under control. Amazing that he'd sign on to Trump's band of B-team lawyers.
16
As I recall, Bill Clinton was impeached in the House. And then acquitted by the Senate where he was represented by Cheryl Mills and others, but not Emmet Flood. Where exactly does "Clinton's lawyer" fit into this story?
This is a travesty. Mr. Trump, the President of the United States, can't keep his lawyers. He's so guilty, he needs so many lawyers. Our democracy is headed towards a constitutional crisis because of Mr. Trump. REPUBLICANS, WHERE ARE YOU?
8
Although Wild Bill Clinton underwent impeachment (for lying under oath), he never ever subjected us to tirades, rants, hate-filled missives, or the debasement of democratic institutions on his way down.
He kept a steady hand on the wheel and was able to effectively compartmentalize (a skill that any leader with a big job must master (not sure if serial bankrupts of privately held companies need to have this skill))
All the savvy impeachment lawyers in the can never change The Don. He will go down screaming, lying, obfuscating, and tweeting - and every such tweet will be evidence of his consciousness of guilt or an admission against his own self interest.
He is many things, indeed.
But he is certainly no Bill Clinton.
55
Wow another high profile attorney leaves the trump legal team. They aren't around long enough to have business cards made. At this rate trump will have to start looking on line for lawyers right out of law school. Of course they will decline because they don't want there career to tank before its started. Trump keeps saying the is witch hunt; here is hoping that like in the Wizard of Oz movie when the house fell on the wicked witch; it was followed by the singing of Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead. Okay we might have to change the last word to "gone", but that works for me and most of America.
10
Gosh, Trump evidently must treat attorneys in the same way he treats his many women. Each is interesting for a while and then, before you know it, another seems more appealing. I guess the difference is attorneys must remain silent because of attorney-client privilege. For the women...not so much.
16
I guess Rudy got it wrong. Today is the day Rudy predicted the inquiry would be over. And Emmett, before doing any work, make sure the check clears.
12
Dear NYT,
I believe you have the wrong title and lead for your article. The second major lawyer for Trump is OUT within weeks! And now an "impeachment" lawyer has been brought on. That speaks volumes. Change your title/emphasis.
Also, all this comes on the heels of the Mueller questions being leaked by Trump's team and his personal lawyer facing a lot of legal troubles. This should be more put into context.
Thank you
9
I'm desperately sad to witness the sullying of the office of the president of the USA by Trump.
I hope that Muller will be allowed to finish his investigation, although I doubt it, Trump will soon fire him and Rosenstein when the fire comes too close.
Trump is a very flawed human, he will not topple easily, because his ego is larger than Mt. Rushmore, I sometimes worry about that short finger so close to the red button.
9
The noose is tightening on con-man Trump.
And everyone involved must know that Trump is utterly intellectually incapable of answering the proposed questions. What a state of affairs for the U.S Presidency.
These days he is mainly flailing out in campaign-style outbursts with his face and lips rounding into screaming "no collusion", "no collusion".
Special Counsel Mueller must use every lever available—subpoena, even indictment—in an effort to finally persuade our Congress to relieve the country of this menace and blight.
16
This is not a done deal, as "the people" cautioned, since Trump is well known for lying about his recent previous lies then lying about those lies about previous lies as well. Unless and until Flood says he's working for Trump, it's a rumor. It may well be he simply wants Mueller to think he's got a real lawyer working for him now, that should put the fear of Jesus into him, just like Trump saying he "knows" things about Jon Tester, or threatening Comey with "tapes". Taking on Trump as a client for anything less than a million bucks up front would render Mr. Flood a fool. In all likelihood this is a way to let Cobb exit without seeming to leave Trump in a deep hole with a small shovel. Like so many other "hires", this may well "not work out" in short order. Dowd got out mostly intact, Cobb will do so as well, after a few long showers with disinfectant. That leaves Trump with Kasowitz and Giuliani, more nightmare than dream team. At this point he might consider hiring William Shatner, who once played a lawyer on TV and used to have great ratings! I hear that Natalia Veselnitskaya might be looking for clients as well. In the end, as dean of Trump U. law school, I expect Trump to be his own attorney, as he believes himself to be the smartest person in the room, or on the planet.
623
That leaves Trump with Kasowitz and Giuliani, more nightmare than dream team.
I just spit coffee everywhere laughing at that!
36
The White House tried to get Gomez Addams before hiring Giuliani but Addams refused. Something about a conflict of interest.
25
I'd say go for Denny Crane! He never lost a case!
14
All hands on deck. Can one imagine the satire that could be made of this whole debacle?
The first exaggeration I recall was when Trump allegedly "added" a floor to one of his buildings to make it appear bigger than it really was.
Truth be told, the press reported to everyone the type of person Trump is. He was elected, so that is what we got. Daily entertainment!
PS. Wonder who is paying Flood’s fees. Sure it’s someone else and not Trump.
36
Quandry, Trump added as many as 10 floors to 7 NY City buildings.
For marketing and bragging purposes. A few other developers copied that trick. Trump sets a good example of successful lying. So far.
2
“It has been an honor to serve the country in this capacity at the White House,” said Ty Cobb
Does this mean he's been paid by us or is this his conflating way of saying 'What's good for trump is what's good for the country.'?
17
he did not specify which country
10
Yes.
1
Robin, yes, Mr. Cobb was paid with WH funds, I figured it was a way to go, 'on the cheap' by the President. I'm wondering if Mr. Flood would be working under that same arrangement. My feeling, and I've been wrong, is that he's usually paid in the upper tier of fees for his legal work.
Maybe Rudy offering himself pro bono, will offset the legal costs. And, if as reported, 20% of all RNC donations are going towards 45's legal expenses, they should have plenty of money. Additionally because it's not his personal funds, I can see lawyers, reluctant to sign on, for fear of insignifant or late payments, signing on now.
2
I guess Mr. Green showed up.
12
"Tiffany....its dad. I'm calling to see if you've finished law school yet"
568
I dunno, hard to image it ever saying "Dad" more likely:
"Tiffany....its "Trump". I'm calling to see if you've finished law school yet"
33
The University of Pennsylvania gave Trump a degree, so I have full confidence that Tiffy was admitted to that fine institution's law school completely on her merits and smarts.
9
“Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the phone number and try again.”
8
The Trump crew loves talking about how much they despise "Rapist Bill" Clinton. They'll probably never accept that their president is using one of Bills "corrupt" lawyers. If only they could see through their denial...
95
It's worse than that. Flood represented Bill's wife in the email investigation. You know, the alleged "corrupt" Hillary. Let's see the verbal Houdini explain this away.
12
But lying under oath does!
Trump has yet to lie UNDER OATH like Bill Clinton did.
Rats pole vaulting from a sinking ship. Looks innocent enough, right?
173
Hey let's be fair. They did just get Rudy the Leaker....err, Giuliani
5
That's one way to make a graceful exit from a losing case.
36
"In private practice, Mr. Flood represented former Vice President Dick Cheney."
Oh, sure. This should go well...
283
Cheney not being in prison for war crimes,* speaks volumes about his lawyer's abilities.
*Illegal invasions; Torture...
29
isn't Cheney the guy who shot his "friend" in the face and the friend ended up apologizing for putting his face in front of a shotgun? That's pretty twisted. Maybe the U.S. government will apologize for putting laws in the way of Trump's absolute glory.
15
He's not in prison because no Country officially filed charges at The Hague.
Mr. Flood wants to take a more adversarial role, really? How much more adversarial can it get with Giuliani leaking Mueller’s questions and a hostile Trump who has refused to release his tax returns or to be interviewed by Mueller, and who thinks his only master to answer to is Vladimir V. Putin?
It is time that Trump cooperates with the Special Counsel or he will be impeached, Mr. Flood’s evident speciality.
Watch out, Mr. Flood, because with your Trump client, the deluge of lies will drown you.
236
They weren't even Mueller's questions. Trump's people made them up from topics given them by the SC. IT was a set up.
31
By now, even Mr. Flood [is there any irony in his name?] should know that trump has the biggest and best del-yuge of anyone...
18
Clinton lost his impeachment trial with this attorney, here's to an 0 for!
145
Clinton was impeached by the House and aquitted by the Senate.
14
Let’s get the facts straight. Clinton was impeached by the House but was not convicted in the trial by the Senate.
13
Clinton won. He was NOT impeached. But don't let that fact get in your way.
16
Trump’s frantic turnover of lawyers is in itself a hint of his guilt.
295
Thanks Perle. My first thought absolutely!
13
I thought Trump doesn't like losers.
Didn't Clinton GET impeached?
I'm not the smartest person there is, but can ANYONE explain this to me?
123
Sure, even in Washington there are only so many lawyers. Eventually you run out of those you can hire. Or, beggars can't be choosers.
7
Clinton was impeached by the House but when the impeachment trial was held in the Senate he was not convicted.
8
Simple: "covfefe" is a self-loathing hypocrite. He's a loser himself, behind the gold plating and twit bombast. He projects so often he could call himself ViewSonic and put their three-bird logo on his hair-creature, and we'd press his Power-On/Big Nuclear Button to look at slides and be none the wiser.
It's nice to see, though, that he's trolling his own MAGA madhatters, who love to say "he's not Hillary, whose husband had his way with his intern...this is nothing like that!" Well, apart from the same lawyer, the same male sexual incontinence, the same shady dealings with real estate, the same presence of a beleaguered and increasingly cold first spouse, and the same apparent impeachment result in the making...but yeah, entirely different cases!
4
All of these baseball-related names! Cobb, Flood (for those of you who remember back to Curt Flood).... who's next? Some barrister named Berra???
The endgame for Trump is nigh. Changing lawyers like one changes a baby's diaper is not a winning formula. The Mueller investigation is coiled around the entire White House like a boa constrictor - with every exhale more oxygen gets cut off... the last gasp will be Trump submitting to an interview or getting subpoenaed. Neither of which giving his predilection for lies and myriad clandestine dealings is going to end well.
Mr. um, President - at this point the best course of action is to take Yogi's sage advice: "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." :-)
96
Terrific comment and very true!
7
It's more like Who's on First, What's on Second and I Don't Know is on third.
7
GREAT CHOICE!
As I recall Clinton was impeached.
107
...and remained president.
3
"We'll See."
They are somewhat different men, you'll note with somewhat different behaviors.
Addendum: Cobb only the latest casualty added to the Trump body count.
Seriously, does anyone right of mind believe there's any other outcome to this but Trump being impeached?
29
trump might resign. That would stop the impeachment process.
6
Yes it seems there are just too many mines for Trump to step on. And also increasingly similar to Bill Clinton's case. Could Trump too be impeached by the house and then continue serving?
1
He’ll be impeached only if we the people elect a Democratic majority to the House.
Rudy sure has been busy. First, the leaks and now the Flood. I sure hope that Trump was told that Flood was Clinton's "impeachment" consultant. Also, I seem to remember this lawyer working with Cheney and the Valerie Plame lawsuit. She lost so that was probably in Rudy's eyes as admirable.
18
Is this a signal to the Trump base that there’s credibility to the rally argument that a Democratic Congress would impeach Trump, or is it merely insurance against the remote possibility that Congress will discover and adopt integrity?
11
Remote being the key word as they are so fractured within their party every day is a bigger challenge. Mitch tries to hold the Senate together because hey his wife works for Trump too and Ryan seems to be pulling back further and further till soon he will be just a bad memory. Buh Bye
1
I don't much care, but I predict that for anyone standing near the President as this process comes to a head, especially someone standing in front of him...this is going to end badly. Is it wise to risk your reputation and career for that man?
62
So Cobb leaked the Mueller questions, got caught and then is fired by tRump.
Or maybe he hadn't received payment for his services and decided to quit.
What a joke!
19
" Impeachment Lawyer ". Finally, a Trumpster with actual, relevant experience. I'll give him a Month. Seriously.
199
When you state "I'll give him a Month." Do you mean Flood or Trump?
3
Good one. I'll give Trump until Christmas. And oh, what a great gift.
For US.
5
I hope Mr. Flood understands that everyone who comes into Trump's orbit leaves diminished and damaged.
95
Aha, another highly UNPAID lawyer temporarily joins the Trump swamp. There will be a slew of additional suits against Trump for not paying millions to his legal minions. Never had, never will. Stupid is as stupid does!
Let's get all the unpaid contractors together along with all the women he has sexually abused AND minorities that he has cheated and file the world's largest class action law suit!
Do you think the Russians will call in his debt too? THEY don't mess around, and don't use lawyers.
56
“It was not clear what prompted Mr. Flood to sign on.”
Umm, money? Make sure Trump’s check clears.
13
But I thought anyone who defended Clinton was a bad person? You mean to tell me Trump is a complete hypocrite? Say it ain't so!
65
I'd take that job for all the money in the world. Good luck, Mr. Flood. Take thorough memos.
8
63.
No particular significance, just a guess from a guy who occasionally buys a lottery ticket. My guess as to the number of days that this one stays on the team.
Does Trump pay for this, or the campaign, or the government?
In Kansas, Chris Kobach is trying to have the state pay his fines.
30
"It was not clear what prompted Mr. Flood to sign on."
I've got a few guesses.
9
A lucrative book deal after.
1
Cobb is "retiring", eh? Trump is the anti-Midas wannabe king -- everything he touches turns to dung.
27
Ty Cobb is just the latest ship abandoning a sinking rat.
Once he's lined his pockets with RNC money, Emmet Flood will not be far behind.
32
How many lawyers does he have now? How many has he gone through - I lost count?
15
And no one's getting paid!
Trump's "gut" is guiding him to look ahead to hiring an impeachment attorney. With Michael Cohen flipping he should also beef up his stable of criminal attorneys before they're hired by Jarrod, Ivanka and Little Don.
30
It's been 2 weeks, hasn't Rudy wrapped this up yet?
270
Has Trump considered Cellino & Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 888-8888? They might pick up for him.
136
And they just got a free plug
2
Cellino and Barnes would demand their money up front. Then again they know this man since they work in NYC. They’d probably say thanks but no thanks. I hope someone told Mr. Flood’s firm to make sure the check clears...
1
I also understand that trump has placed a call to Saul Goodman of “Better Call Saul” Fame!
Oh good - Trump is finally acknowledging that he will be impeached. But this time it doesn't involve a little blue dress. It involves selling this country down the river for the highest price. TREASON.
600
Maybe he knows that impeachment only made Bill Clinton's approval rise and had no other consequences.
3
Attorneys don't retire in the middle of the biggest case of their lives. Yet Ty Cobb is out. And a lawyer with impeachment experience is in. That speaks volumes.
103
Running out of popcorn!
24
Sad day here in Detroit, Ty Cobb strikes out.
Seriously, can BLOTUS get and keep a lawyer for more than five minutes? I know Ghouliani is there for the hype and the downstream cash, but have to wonder when even this consumate rat will jump off the sinking ship.
11
Trump has hired the impeachment lawyer who had his presidential client impeached, and who represented HIllary during the email scandal (which Trump said deserves jail). Flood defended Dick Cheney for disclosing a CIA agent's identity (and lost), defended a corrupt Republican Governor (and lost), and defended the company that allowed one of the largest oil spills in history to happen (they paid a $250M settlement). Flood really knows sleaze and corruption, perfect lawyer for Trump.
350
Paying only 250m for oil spill settlement was a BIG WIN for BP...
8
No he didn't represent Hillary. His firm did.
1
Yep, Christie chopped a $9 billion settlement down to $250 million for Exxon. Pennies on the dollar. Leaving the citizens of New Jersey to clean up the mess.
Christie should have a sweet gig lobbying for Exxon soon.
And soon there were none.........
20
Mr. Flood has a solid history as an attorney. We can only hope that he appreciates how dangerously close we are to a constitutional crisis and that will place the rule of law and our nation before his party and a would-be dictator.
151
Ethically, his job is the zealous representation of his clients. Naturally, that is within the bounds of law. There are no higher considerations than that.
3
If Mr. Flood is employed he will be serving the interest and legal matters of President Trump... You do know Mr. Flood is a conservative, correct?
5
We are waaay deep into one now. There are not going to be the votes to impeach. One third of the electorate seems to prefer smashing the idea of governance into smithereens, creating a chaos in which only Jesus and ammunition will suffice, and another third would wish it would all "just go away."
21
For a guy that's totally innocent, he sure is having a hard time finding attorneys that will represent him. Can you imagine? Lawyers turning down all those fees and the national spotlight? Trump's money isn't good enough for them?
Mueller is closing in and fast and hard. These guys are abandoning ship left and right. It looks like Trump is going to throw Cohen under the bus. If he flips and spills the beans, the Mueller team will have so much chew on that they will all gain ten pounds.
The more Trump keeps crying out witch-hunt and hoax, the more it looks like he has something to hide. When Hope Hicks left, that was the leading indicator that the Trump experience was about to cave in. Anyone want to buy a shovel?
462
Cohen is the one in position to throw Trump under the bus. Not the other way around.
15
Maybe they know they won't get paid.
20
This will mark Trump becoming even more belligerent. Trump's war with the Department of Justice is like hanging a neon sign on the White House that says "Corruption Lives Here".
It's a shame that the unaptly named Freedom Caucus has hitched their wagon to Trump's efforts at obstructing justice. Republicans have refused to protect Mueller or Rosenstein, which has given the radical fringe more opportunity to support the chaos and corruption that flows out of the WH daily.
369
A scandal, maybe a crime, certainly idiotic, but a shame? To the irony impaired Freedom Caucus? Shame is a meaningless concept to the shameless.
27
I call them the Freedom Cuckoos.
Like the clock, they may be right at least twice a day, but they make a lot of weird noise and their brief novelty yields to a realization that they'll make you go as insane as they are and you need to get them the hell out of your house.
10
We totally depend of the DOJ to protect us. It is an integral one third part of our Government. It is under attack and I pray it wins out. It is all we have against a Kakistocracy.
22
I hope Mr. Flood wears a Tyvek suit and rubber gloves.
190
Actually, if he chooses to dance with the toxic waste, he deserves to become polluted.
8