Ty Cobb, Trump Lawyer in Russia Probe, Retiring

(CN) - Ty Cobb, a key member of President Donald Trump's White House legal team, announced Wednesday that he is retiring at the end of May.

“It has been an honor to serve the country in this capacity at the White House,” Cobb said in a statement. “I wish everybody well moving forward.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Cobb, the president's point man when it comes to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, had been discussing his retirement for several weeks.

The president will replace Cobb with Emmet Flood, who represented former President Clinton during his impeachment proceedings.

“Emmet Flood will be joining the White House Staff to represent the President and the administration against the Russia witch hunt," Sarah Sanders said.

The law firm of Williams & Connolly confirmed that Flood was leaving to join the White House staff.

Cobb did not personally represent the president (his client, technically, was the presidency), but he was a critical adviser, coordinating dealings with Mueller, functioning as a point person for document and interview requests and working closely with Trump's personal lawyers.

His retirement comes just over a month after another Trump attorney, John Dowd, resigned from his position, and as the president's personal legal team has been negotiating the terms of a possible sit-down between Trump and Mueller's team.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined the Trump legal brain trust in April.

Cobb's announcement also coincided with the president threatening to "get involved" in a dispute between the Justice Department and Congress over the release of documents.

In a tweet storm Tuesday, Trump vented his frustration over the Justice Department not turning over documents related to controversial topics, including surveillance of former campaign adviser Carter Page.

"What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal 'justice?'" Trump said, adding "At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!"

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