TY COBB OUT: Trump plans to replace Cobb with a more combative lawyer to take on Mueller

• President Donald Trump is reportedly replacing White House lawyer Ty Cobb with Emmet Flood.
• Flood is a veteran attorney who represented President Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings in the 1990s.
• Cobb was a moderating force on Trump's legal team, and his departure indicates Trump plans to take a more combative approach to Mueller and the Russia probe going forward.

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President Donald Trump plans to replace White House lawyer Ty Cobb with Emmet Flood, a veteran attorney who represented President Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings in the 1990s, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Cobb's retirement in a statement.

"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," she said.

According to the report, Cobb told Trump weeks ago that he wants to retire. He added that he will stay on until the end of the month to help Flood transition into his new role.

"It has been an honor to serve the country in this capacity at the White House," Cobb told The Times. "I wish everybody well moving forward."

Cobb was in charge of handling the White House's response to the special counsel Robert Mueller's requests for documents and witness interviews in the Russia investigation. Trump has a separate team of personal defense lawyers, led by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who are tasked with managing his communications with Mueller's office.

Since assuming his role last year, Cobb has advocated for a largely cooperative approach to the special counsel. His decision to retire comes as Trump grows increasingly frustrated with the Russia investigation, which he characterizes as a "hoax" and a politically motivated "witch hunt."

It also comes as Trump relies increasingly on more combative forces, like his allies in the right-wing media sphere and controversial legal experts, including former federal prosecutors Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing.

Earlier on Wednesday, Cobb defended Mueller during an interview with ABC News.

"In my view, Mueller is doing, you know, what he was assigned to do," Cobb said. "I mean, he didn't start the investigation. He got pulled in by Rosenstein," referring to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who has overseen Mueller and the investigation since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself last year.

Mueller has begun pushing hard in recent weeks for an interview with Trump as he comes close to wrapping up his investigation into whether Trump sought to obstruct justice at various points during the Russia probe.

Last month, John Dowd, the lawyer who used to spearhead Trump's personal defense team, resigned amid frustration that Trump was not following his advice to decline an interview.

Talks of an interview briefly fell through last month after Trump grew enraged at the FBI's raids on his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen's property. But Giuliani indicated last week that an interview may now be back on the table.

Cobb appeared to signal as much during his interview with ABC News on Wednesday.

"It's certainly not off the table, and people are working hard to make decisions and work towards an interview," Cobb said. "And assuming that can be concluded favorably, there'll be an interview. Assuming it can't be ... assuming an agreement can't be reached, you know, then it'll go a different route."