Is President Donald Trump gearing up for an impeachment battle? Trump is bringing in someone who has the reputation as a “heavy hitter” in different way than former White House aide Rob Portman. He’s bringing in ace attorney Emmet T. Flood, who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment. And this comes just as Trump has issued a threat to (his own) Justice Department which most analysts take as either a threat aimed at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire him or laying the ground to fire Rosenstein.
In terms of Trump’s legal team (which some have likened to a high school football team going against the NFL, or a high school theater group competing with a Broadway show for an award in the same category), Flood’s’s addition is a big deal:
President Trump has hired Emmet T. Flood, the veteran Washington lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment, to replace Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer who has taken the lead in dealing with the special counsel investigation and has decided to retire, the White House said on Wednesday.
In a phone interview, Mr. Cobb, who is 67, said he informed the president weeks ago that he wanted to retire. He said he planned to stay at the White House, likely through the end of the month, to help Mr. Flood transition into the new job.
“It has been an honor to serve the country in this capacity at the White House,” he said. “I wish everybody well moving forward.”
Mr. Flood is expected to take a more adversarial approach to the investigation than Mr. Cobb, who had pushed Mr. Trump to strike a cooperative tone. Mr. Flood initially spoke with the White House last summer about working for the president, but the talks ultimately fell apart because Mr. Flood did not want to deal with Mr. Trump’s longtime New York lawyer, Marc E. Kasowitz, who was overseeing the president’s dealings with the special counsel at the time.
The timing of this is intriguing. There are increasing predictions that the Democrats will win the House in the 2018 mid-term elections. That’s one of the things that makes it intriguing. I agree with Doug Mataconis (who is an attorney):
The most interesting thing about this announcement, of course, is that Trump is being replaced by an attorney with experience representing a President in impeachment proceedings. This could represent a growing recognition of the fact that the President could face the prospect of impeachment proceedings at some point down the road, especially if the Democrats end up taking control of the House of Representatives in November. Whether or not that actually happens, of course, could depend to a large degree on what results from what, if anything, the Mueller investigation manages to uncover with regard to either collusion or obstruction of justice on the part of the President on those around him. As I’ve said before, we have no way of knowing right now what that result that might be but the Trump team is clearly growing concerned about the investigation leading to this result. Bringing someone with prior experience with impeachment, therefore, would seem to make a lot of sense.
And you also have to wonder if it is perhaps tied in with Trump’s ire at his own Justice Department and many reports that he is itching for an excuse to fire Rosenstein. His tweet this morning is widely taken a threat to the Justice Department. The Daily Beast summarizes:
President Donald Trump tweeted that he may have to “get involved” Wednesday morning, after the House Freedom Caucus drafted articles of impeachment for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The Washington Post reported the draft articles were created after disputes with Rosenstein over Congress’ attempts to obtain documents from the Justice Department related to FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign. “A Rigged System – They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” Trump tweeted. “At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!” Rosenstein responded to the draft articles Tuesday evening, saying threats against him have been made for some time now and the “Department of Justice is not going to be extorted.”
If Rosentein is fired then look for the Dems to begin impeachment proceedings if they win the House in 2018. FOOTNOTE: I don’t believe Trump would be impeached unless a massive wave turn over not just control but significant control of the House and Senate. Highly unlikely the wave will be that extensive due to 21st century America’s increasingly solidifying tribal politics.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.