Emmet Flood. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Emmet Flood, the White House lawyer who led the administration's response to the Mueller investigation, is returning to Williams & Connolly as a partner.

The firm says that Flood "will resume his practice in the areas of white collar defense, complex civil litigation, internal investigations, Congressional investigations and crisis management situations."

Joe Petrosinelli, chair of Williams & Connolly's executive committee, said in a statement that Flood "is an exceptional lawyer and colleague, and we could not be more delighted that he has returned to the firm."

While it's not especially surprising that Flood would eventually rejoin the tight-knit litigation powerhouse—Williams & Connolly alums tend to return to the 325-lawyer mother ship after stints in government or in-house—the timing is interesting. 

Flood stepped down as Special Counsel to the President of the United States on June 14, two months after the release of the Mueller report. At the time, Trump lauded him in a tweet for doing "an outstanding job — NO COLLUSION – NO OBSTRUCTION! Case Closed! Emmet is my friend, and I thank him for the GREAT JOB he has done."

Flood, who replaced Ty Cobb in May of 2018, was viewed as taking a more adversarial approach to the Mueller investigation than the president's original legal team. Flood also served as interim White House counsel from October to December of 2018, after the departure of Don McGahn but before Pat Cipollone assumed the role. 

With the new impeachment inquiry looming, there's been speculation whether Flood—who represented President Bill Clinton during his impeachment and has counted George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as clients as well —would rejoin Trump's defense.

For example, Time Magazine reported two weeks ago that "aides have floated bringing back a steely veteran like Emmet Flood who handled the White House legal response to the Mueller investigation, or someone with similar chops. Flood would be especially well-positioned to take on the war-room role."

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that White House officials had indeed checked whether Flood would get involved in the impeachment inquiry. "He was not available," the Times reported without elaboration. 

Former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-South Carolina), now a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, had been slated to join Trump's legal team. Instead, he's been sidelined until January because of concerns that the work would involve lobbying activity. Gowdy left office in January of 2019, and is subject to a lobbying ban until January 2020.

Trump told reporters on Oct. 10 that Gowdy "is a terrific guy. I think there's a problem with—he can't start for another couple months because of lobbying rules and regulations."

My colleague Christine Simmons reported yesterday that another Nelson Mullins partner, Jon Sale, is ending his work for Rudy Giuliani in the impeachment investigation. The news comes just two weeks after Sale confirmed he was representing the president's personal lawyer.

Sale told Simmons that his representation of Giuliani did not end prematurely, and said that the scope of his engagement was limited to responding to a congressional subpoena.

Flood in a financial disclosure form reported earning $3.3 million as a Williams & Connolly partner between 2017 and his departure from the firm in 2018.

From 2007 to 2009, Flood served as deputy counsel and special counsel to President George W. Bush.

At Williams & Connolly, he's had a wide-ranging civil practice including complex commercial, securities, professional liability, tax, takings and other matters. He's also represented religious institutions in litigation involving the First Amendment's Establishment and Free Exercise clauses.