--- description: President Donald Trump denied he planned to add Emmett Flood to his Russia investigation legal team. He just hired Flood. title: President Trump Just Made the Changes to His Legal Team He Denied He Was Making image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83539665af54c1f7/69892f62656a3fb84cbd452d/donald-trump-ty-cobb-lawyer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Just Made the Changes to His Legal Team He Denied He Was Making  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2018 7:31 PM CUT  President Donald Trump awaits the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the West Wing Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2018. President Donald Trump awaits the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the West Wing Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2018.Cheriss May—NurPhoto/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2018 7:31 PM CUT In March, President Donald Trump angrily denied that he was unhappy with his lawyers handling the [Russia investigation](http://time.com/5262743/robert-mueller-president-trump-russia/ "undefined") and refuted a report that he planned to hire another high-powered attorney. “They are doing a great job,” he tweeted. Less than two months later, Trump is making those very changes to his legal team. [The White House announced](http://time.com/5263205/trump-lawyer-ty-cobb-retiring/ "undefined") Wednesday that lawyer Ty Cobb will retire at the end of the month, and Emmett Flood, an attorney who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment, will join the White House legal team. The White House confirmed Flood’s hiring after it was originally [reported by the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/us/politics/emmet-flood-ty-cobb-white-house-lawyer-special-counsel.html?smid=pl-share "undefined"). “Emmet Flood will be joining the White House Staff to represent the President and the administration against the Russia witch hunt,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Wednesday. “Ty Cobb, a friend of the President, who has done a terrific job, will be retiring at the end of the month.” The White House said Cobb had been discussing his retirement for “several weeks.” On March 11, Trump responded to a [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/us/politics/trump-mueller-flood.html "undefined") report that he wanted to add Flood to the legal team. “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,” Trump tweeted. One month later, he added: “I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!) I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/972829763067883523) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984472778035417088) Since then, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has also [joined Trump’s legal team](http://time.com/5247511/rudy-giuliani-joined-president-donald-trump-legal-team-lawyer-russia-investigation/ "undefined"). The move comes as Trump [intensifies his criticism](http://time.com/5239719/rod-rosenstein-robert-mueller-firing-donald-trump-congress/ "undefined") of the Mueller probe, calling it a “witch hunt” and a [“setup and trap.”](http://time.com/5262975/trump-slams-list-mueller-questions/ "undefined") On Monday, the New York _Times_ [published a list](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/us/politics/questions-mueller-wants-to-ask-trump-russia.html "undefined") of more than four dozen questions that Mueller wants to ask Trump in an interview. Trump’s attorneys have not yet agreed to an interview, but Trump [condemned the publication of the list](http://time.com/5261105/donald-trump-responds-robert-mueller-questions/ "undefined") of questions as “disgraceful.” In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump also threatened to use his powers as President to “get involved” in the investigation. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991690248399794176) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5263270/donald-trump-ty-cobb-emmet-flood/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5263270/donald-trump-ty-cobb-emmet-flood/"},"headline":"President Trump Just Made the Changes to His Legal Team He Denied He Was Making","datePublished":"2018-05-02T19:31:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:09:39.246Z","description":"In March, Trump denied a report he was hiring Emmett Flood. 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