Politics

Trump Promotes Emmet Flood To Special Counsel Until Pat Cipollone Assumes Position

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump is elevating Emmet Flood to special counsel on an interim basis until Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone assumes the position on a permanent basis, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Thursday.

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Sanders explained:

Emmet Flood has been appointed assistant to the president and counsel to the president, effective this morning. Mr. Flood will serve in the role until Pat Cipollone comes on board as Counsel to the President, at which time Mr. Flood will return to being Special Counsel to the President. President Trump has a great deal of respect for both individuals and is glad to have them on his team.

Flood and Cipollone’s predecessor Don McGahn left the White House Wednesday after joining the administration in January 2017. McGahn served as close and crucial advisor to Trump, playing a major role in Trump’s selection of Supreme Court Justice’s Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Flood joined the White House counsel’s office in May 2018 and has assisted Trump in the process of declassifying documents related to the FBI investigation of his 2016 presidential campaign. Cipollone has expierence in the George W. Bush administration and was an early supporter of the Trump campaign.