--- title: President Trump's Lawyer Responds to Michael Flynn Charges description: White House lawyer Ty Cobb said the charge against Michael Flynn doesn't reflect on anyone else in President Donald Trump's orbit. canonical: https://time.com/5045271/ty-cobb-trump-lawyer-michael-flynn/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-01T17:28:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:25:24.610Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Lawyer: Flynn's Arrest Doesn't Implicate Anyone Else og:description: Flynn said a senior member of Trump's transition team told him to contact Russia og:url: https://time.com/5045271/ty-cobb-trump-lawyer-michael-flynn/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta793792670b5772f/6988f34fe76ad2764d630235/gettyimages-630358760.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: US President-elect Donald Trump (L) stands with Trump National Security Adviser Lt. General Michael Flynn (R) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is holding meetings on December 21, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Lawyer: Flynn's Arrest Doesn't Implicate Anyone Else twitter:description: Flynn said a senior member of Trump's transition team told him to contact Russia twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta793792670b5772f/6988f34fe76ad2764d630235/gettyimages-630358760.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump's Lawyer on Michael Flynn: 'Nothing About the Guilty Plea or the Charge Implicates Anyone' Else > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 1, 2017 5:28 PM UTC  US President-elect Donald Trump (L) stands with Trump National Security Adviser Lt. General Michael Flynn (R) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is holding meetings on December 21, 2016. US President-elect Donald Trump (L) stands with Trump National Security Adviser Lt. General Michael Flynn (R) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is holding meetings on December 21, 2016. JIM WATSON—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 1, 2017 5:28 PM UTC The White House responded to former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s [guilty plea](http://time.com/5044709/michael-flynn-charged/) Friday, saying the charge against him doesn’t reflect on anyone else in President Donald Trump’s orbit. “The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year,” White House lawyer Ty Cobb told pool reporters. “Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn.” Flynn [was fired](http://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/) from his Administration position in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his contacts with a Russian official. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team charged him with making false statements about his contacts with Russians to the FBI. Cobb ended his statement with a remark looking forward to the end of Mueller’s investigation, which has now criminally charged [four people](http://time.com/5044879/donald-trump-aides-charged-investigation/) connected to Trump. “The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel’s work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion,” Cobb said. As part of his plea deal Flynn admitted that an unnamed senior member of Trump’s transition team directed him reach out to Russian officials following Trump’s election last year, the Associated Press reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5045271/ty-cobb-trump-lawyer-michael-flynn/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5045271/ty-cobb-trump-lawyer-michael-flynn/"},"headline":"Trump's Lawyer on Michael Flynn: 'Nothing About the Guilty Plea or the Charge Implicates Anyone' Else","datePublished":"2017-12-01T17:28:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:25:24.610Z","description":"Flynn said an unnamed senior member of Trump's transition team directed him reach out to Russian officials","url":"https://time.com/5045271/ty-cobb-trump-lawyer-michael-flynn/","keywords":["White House","FBI","justice","Michael Flynn","onetime","Robert Mueller","special counsel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta793792670b5772f/6988f34fe76ad2764d630235/gettyimages-630358760.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta793792670b5772f/6988f34fe76ad2764d630235/gettyimages-630358760.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US President-elect Donald Trump (L) stands with Trump National Security Adviser Lt. 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