Temporary Flood

News  |  Oct 19, 2018

The White House says Emmet Flood, the White House lawyer who currently handles the special counsel investigation, is going to stand in as White House Counsel until Pat Cipollone, Don McGahn's replacement, starts.  

WaPo:

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the move Thursday. Flood assumed the position following the departure Wednesday of Donald McGahn, whose tenure as White House counsel was marked by a significant reshaping of the federal judiciary but also clashes with President Trump over the ongoing special-counsel probe.

Flood will serve in the position until McGahn’s permanent replacement, veteran Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone, comes on board, Sanders said.

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Weeks ago, after it became clear McGahn would be leaving, Trump considered hiring Flood for the job permanently but ultimately decided to let him focus on his current task related to the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

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Flood spent most of his professional career at the white-shoe Washington firm Williams & Connolly, where he served on the personal legal team of President Bill Clinton during impeachment proceedings.

Flood also represented former Vice President Richard Cheney in a lawsuit filed by former CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose identity was leaked to the media by a Bush administration official.

He left his firm for two years starting in 2007 so he could serve as special counsel to President George W. Bush, where he handled Bush’s response to investigations of his midterm firing of seven U.S. attorneys.

Flood’s appointment in the Trump White House was announced in May. He replaced lawyer Ty Cobb, who had been serving as a point person for the White House’s response to Mueller’s investigation.

Emmet Flood named White House counsel on a temporary basis (WaPo)