Outgoing White House lawyer Ty Cobb said he doesn’t give any consideration to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
“I don’t pay attention to Steve Bannon,” Cobb said, according to the New York Times. “I’ve seen all his documents.”
Cobb was responding to critical remarks made by Bannon about his approach to dealing with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Cobb cooperated with the special counsel and provided provided Mueller with requested documents — a move that irked other top White House aides — prompting Bannon to characterize the strategy as “reckless.”
“Cobb’s radical theory of the case, to waive executive privilege from the very beginning, was not simply wrong. It was reckless,” Bannon said.
Bannon, who left the White House last summer, also argued that Cobb was not leaving voluntarily from his post and was instead fired.
“Unfortunately, you cannot undo the serious damage he has cause[d] the president and the presidency,” he said.
The White House said Wednesday that Cobb notified White House chief of staff John Kelly that he would be stepping down.
“For several weeks Ty Cobb has been discussing his retirement and last week he let Chief of Staff Kelly know he would retire at the end of this month,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Wednesday.
Cobb will be replaced by Emmet Flood, the lawyer who represented former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings, according to the New York Times.
Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
