- Two White House lawyers lunching at a Washington, D.C. steakhouse on Sunday loudly dished dirt about the Justice Department’s Russia investigation
- A reporter was sitting at the next table and chronicled the exchange
- White House Chief of Staff blew up at attorney Ty Cobb for being careless
- Cobb said White House Counsel Don McGahn has documents locked in a safe that should be turned over to Mueller
- Some in the White House are scared to discuss the Russia probe with colleagues, fearing that they might be wearing secret recording devices
A pair of White House lawyers lunching at a Washington, D.C. steakhouse on Sunday loudly dished dirt about the Justice Department’s Russia investigation – while a reporter chronicled the conversation at the next table.
White House Counsel Don McGahn upbraided in-house attorney Ty Cobb for the lapse in judgment, according to a New York Times report.
Cobb, sporting his unmistakable handlebar moustache, told the president’s personal attorney John Dowd that McGahn had ‘a couple of documents locked in a safe’ that he intended to withhold from special counsel Robert Mueller.
White House lawyers Ty Cobb (left) and John Dowd (right) were overheard loudly dishing dirt about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Trump campaign Russia ties
Cobb said White House Counsel Don McGahn (pictured) has documents locked in a safe that should be turned over to Mueller
Cobb argued that the White House should hand over everything, believing that transparency will ultimately clear the president.
The conversation occurred near the Times’ Washington office, at a restaurant known as a hangout for the newspaper’s political reporters.
Mueller is investigating whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government to sway the 2016 election in the president’s favor.
The newspaper reported late Sunday that White House officials have become so paranoid about the Russia investigation that some are afraid to discuss it inside the West Wing – fearing that their colleagues could be wearing secret microphones to gather information for Mueller.
Mueller is investigating whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the election in his favor
Mueller is suspected of wiring some White House aides in order to gather information, according to The New York Times
Cobb also told Dowd on Sunday that ‘I’ve got some reservations about one of them. I think he’s like a McGahn spy.’
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly erupted at Cobb after he learned about the lunchtime conversation.
Cobb was also heard complaining about a White House colleague who he thought was a McGahn spy responsible for ‘earlier leaks’ – and who allegedly plotted to oust Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner from the administration.
Several congressional committees are also investigating possible Russia links with the Trump campaign.