The real reason Donald Trump’s lawyer Ty Cobb just quit
Yet another member of Donald Trump’s legal defense team in the Trump-Russia scandal has resigned, and this time the stakes are far higher – and more dire. Ty Cobb is known for looking like a cross between Wilford Brimley and a barkeeper from the Old West, but he was probably the least incompetent lawyer on Trump’s team. He resigned this morning, amid reports that Trump has hired impeachment lawyer Emmet Flood. But Cobb’s departure may not be what it seems, because Cobb is about to become Robert Mueller’s star witness.
Donald Trump tried to save a buck by putting Ty Cobb on the White House payroll. But that means Cobb was never technically representing him, which in turn means there was never any attorney-client privilege between them. Cobb surely warned Trump that he would have to rat Trump out if he confessed to anything illegal. But with the way in which Trump tends to recklessly run his mouth, Cobb surely knows many of Trump’s dirty secrets by now.
This means that Cobb is legally compelled to tell Robert Mueller about every conversation he ever had with Trump. It gets worse. Because Cobb wasn’t really Trump’s lawyer, Trump lost attorney-client privilege with his “real” lawyers any time Cobb was in the room. In other words, Cobb has to testify about whatever he heard Trump confess to his lawyers.
It’s not a coincidence that Ty Cobb is resigning immediately after Robert Mueller’s interview questions for Donald Trump leaked. Cobb probably took one look at the questions and realized he’s now a relevant witness, and resigned due to conflict of interest. We suspect Flood took the job today, after having already turned it down last month, because he was concerned about what it would mean for the nation if Trump were left with no legal representation at all.
