US President Donald Trump waves as he arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, July 13, 2017. Trump will be the parade’s guest of honor to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I. U.S. troops will open the parade Friday as […]

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) – A Washington attorney chosen to serve as President Donald Trump’s special counsel to handle the White House’s response to the Russia probes hails from Kansas.

The White House announced Great Bend native Ty Cobb’s hiring on Saturday. The move reflects the president’s growing acceptance that the Russia probes will linger over his tenure for months or even years.

Cobb is a Georgetown University law school alumnus and former prosecutor who lately has been working as a defense lawyer and partner at the Washington law firm Hogan Lovells.

Trump’s hiring of Cobb comes amid heightened questions about whether Trump’s associates coordinated with Russia to meddle in the presidential election to help him and thwart Hillary Clinton. Federal and congressional investigators are probing possible connections between the campaign and Moscow.