White House lawyers go head-to-head over Mueller probe

Two of the lawyers on President Trump's legal team are clashing over how forthcoming to be with documents and emails requested by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a report.

کد خبر: ۷۳۱۲۳۰

تاریخ: ۲۷ شهريور ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۸:۴۹

The lawyers — Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer hired to manage the Trump administration's response to the probe, and Donald McGahn, the White House counsel — disagree over how much the White House should cooperate with Mueller's probe, which includes looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Cobb believes the White House should hand over the emails and documents requested by Mueller in an effort to turn the focus of the investigation away from Trump, according to the New York Times. But McGahn is worried about whether Cobb's approach could limit Trump's ability to invoke executive or attorney-client privilege.

Mueller has said he wants to interview McGahn about former FBI Director Jim Comey's firing, as well as the White House's response to a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

The conflict between Cobb and McGahn has worsened in recent days, especially after a New York Times reporter recently overhead Cobb talking about their tension during a conversation at a steakhouse in Washington, D.C.

The reporter heard Cobb discussing a White House lawyer he called a "McGahn spy," and said McGahn has "a couple documents locked in a safe," according to the New York Times.

"The White House counsel's office is being very conservative with this stuff," Cobb told John Dowd, another lawyer on Trump's legal team, at the steakhouse, according to the New York Times. "Our view is we're not hiding anything."

Cobb also talked about a colleague he blamed for "some of these earlier leaks" and who reportedly "tried to push Jared out," a reference to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser at the White House.

When the New York Times inquired with the White House about the friction, McGahn became angry with Cobb, and White House chief of staff John Kelly scolded Cobb.

As part of his investigation into Russian meddling, Mueller has asked the White House for emails and documents. Not only is the special counsel investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, but also whether Trump obstructed justice when he fired Comey.

Cobb wanted to give Mueller a host of documents this week and believes the best path forward is to be forthcoming, but McGahn disagrees.

Cobb told the New York Times in an interview he respected McGahn and praised the job he is doing as White House counsel.

"Don McGahn is an exceptional professional," he said. "He's done a superior job of building and managing a White House counsel's office that deals with a wide variety of issues effectively every day. He works hard and is highly regarded, and his lawyering skills are excellent."