Stephen Bannon blasted White House lawyer Ty Cobb on Wednesday after news broke that Cobb, the point person for dealing with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was stepping down at the end of the month. "Cobb was a mistake, totally incompetent and in over his head," Bannon told The Washington Post. "He was obsessed with this radical fantasy of waiving executive privilege … It was truly stupid."
Less than two months ago, President Trump tweeted that he was "VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb, and Jay Sekulow." Dowd has since resigned and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has since joined as Trump's lead personal attorney, told the Post that Cobb was not forced out. "It was just time for him to go, but he's still going to be available to us," Giuliani said. He added that Jay Sekulow "had the most to do with it" and that he "felt that he needed someone that was more aggressive. That's not a criticism of Ty, but it's just about how we're going to do this."
Cobb believed Trump ought to cooperate with the probe to bring it to an end, something Bannon — who left the White House last year after having formerly served as Trump's campaign chief executive — disagreed with. Cobb "failed to realize that there would never be, could never be a special relationship" with Mueller, Bannon said.
Cobb will be replaced by Republican defense lawyer Emmet Flood, who worked with former President Bill Clinton during impeachment proceedings.