Title: Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb calls Mueller an 'American hero' and 'class act' Source:
Laredo Morning Times URL Source:https://www.lmtonline.com/news/arti ... obb-calls-Mueller-13663675.php Published:Mar 5, 2019 Author:John Wagner, The Washington Post Post Date:2019-03-05 09:40:44 by Willie Green Keywords:None Views:543 Comments:1
WASHINGTON - Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb said in a new podcast that he considers special counsel Robert Mueller to be "an American hero" and "a class act" and does not share President Donald Trump's oft-stated view that the probe of Russian election interference is a politically motivated "witch hunt."
Cobb, who joined the White House shortly after Mueller's investigation began in 2017, departed in May last year as Trump and his surrogates took a more aggressive approach in trying to discredit the investigation.
In an interview for the ABC News podcast "The Investigation," Cobb said he does not expect Mueller to show collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and that he disagrees with the strategy that Trump and others, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, have employed.
"They have ratcheted up the public's concerns about the investigation and its legitimacy," Cobb said. "I object to that approach. But it's his choice. He's the president."
Cobb said he has known Mueller for 30 years "as a prosecutor and a friend."
"I think Bob Mueller's an American hero," Cobb said, referencing Mueller's service in Vietnam as a Marine. "I think Bob Mueller's a guy that, you know, even though he came from an arguably privileged background, you know, has a backbone of steel. He walked into a firefight in Vietnam to pull out one of his injured colleagues and was appropriately honored for that. . . . He is a very deliberate guy. And he - but he's also a class act. And a very justice-oriented person."
In recent months, Trump has derided Mueller, a longtime Republican and former FBI director, accusing him of being ethically conflicted and leading a team of "angry Democrats" in an illegitimate investigation.
"You know, I don't feel the same way about Mueller," Cobb said on the ABC podcast. "I don't feel the investigation is a witch hunt. I wish it had happened on a quicker timetable. But it didn't. And that's, you know, and that's unfortunate. But at the same time, it's not a real criticism of the special counsel, that on the timing, because there were a lot of surprises."
