Former Trump White House lawyer calls Mueller 'American hero,' says probe is no witch hunt originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Ty Cobb, the veteran Washington attorney who represented the White House as special counsel Robert Mueller ramped up his investigation into Russian meddling, said he considers the man leading the probe “an American hero” and does not share President Donald Trump’s view that the Russia inquiry is a politically motivated hoax.

“I don't feel the same way about Mueller,” Cobb said in an extensive interview for the latest episode of ABC News' podcast The Investigation. “I don't feel the investigation is a witch hunt.”

PHOTO: President Donald Trump returns to the White House, Feb. 8, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via Getty Images, FILE) More

But as Mueller prepares to convey his findings to the U.S. Attorney General, Cobb maintains a belief that his report will spare the president from any serious political harm. Cobb said he believes Mueller has already revealed the bulk of the findings that the investigation will produce through the sentencing memos and “speaking indictments” issued against a group of 34 defendants that include Russian hackers and the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. A so-called speaking indictment sets forth more contextual details on a case than is required by law.

The indictment against the Russian hackers was “highly detailed,” he said. “And there's no link to Trump or the campaign. The same thing with Manafort -- they just filed an 800-page sentencing memorandum, and in 800 pages there's no reference to collusion,” Cobb said, referring to Manafort, who was convicted last year of tax and bank fraud charges and pleaded guilty in a separate case to conspiracy charges brought by Mueller as part of his probe.

(MORE: Here is the indictment against Russian election intrusion)

PHOTO: Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the federal courthouse in Washington D.C., Feb. 14, 2018. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP, FILE) More

Cobb, 68 -- a distant relative of the Hall of Fame baseball player with the same name -- headed the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Baltimore before spending decades in private practice. He joined the White House legal team six months into Trump’s presidency. Unlike some of the other attorneys hired to grapple with the Mueller probe, Cobb’s client was not the president, but “the presidency,” which he considered a subtle but important distinction.

“My legal obligations were to the institution,” he said.

In that role, he said he often endorsed a different strategy than more combative lawyers in Trump’s corner. And over time, he said his view of the probe has diverged from some of his former colleagues on the case. John Dowd, another veteran defense attorney on Trump’s team, told "The Investigation" podcast recently that he considered the special counsel probe “one of the greatest frauds this country's ever seen.”

“Yeah. I don't share that view,” Cobb said.

(MORE: Former Trump lawyer slams Mueller probe, maintains president will be cleared: 'Knock it off and get it done')

“I think Bob Mueller's an American hero … even though he came from an, arguably, privileged background, he 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. I've known him for 30 years as a prosecutor and a friend. And I think the world of Bob Mueller. He is a very deliberate guy. But he's also a class act. And a very justice-oriented person.”

PHOTO: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, arrives on Capitol Hill, June 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE) More

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