The New York Times cites four sources in reporting that President Trump has spoken with the lawyer who represented President Clinton during his impeachment proceedings about possibly joining the White House legal team.
The lawyer, Emmet T. Flood, met with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office this past week to discuss the possibility, according to the people. No final decision has been made, according to two of the people.
Should Mr. Flood come on board, the two people said, his main duties would be a day-to-day role helping the president navigate his dealings with the Justice Department.
President Trump lashed out on Twitter, denying the news early Sunday morning.
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.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
...have shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
The Times says Flood would not be a replacement for Ty Cobb, but at the same time, Cobb has indicated he may be ready to go soon.
Mr. Cobb’s primary task — producing documents for Mr. Mueller and arranging for White House aides to meet with prosecutors — is largely complete. Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers have been handling negotiations with Mr. Mueller over the terms of a presidential interview.
(...)
This is not the first time that the president’s advisers have considered a job for Mr. Flood, who worked in the White House counsel’s office under George W. Bush and represented Vice President Dick Cheney.
As recently as the summer, Mr. Flood, who currently works at the law firm Williams & Connolly, turned down an opportunity to represent Mr. Trump. It is not clear what has changed since then.
(...)
Through intermediaries, Mr. Trump’s advisers have reached out to prominent lawyers to feel out their interest in joining his legal team. Most have expressed no interest.
Clinton Impeachment Lawyer May Aid Trump in Mueller Response (NYT)