Trump hires Kansas native Cobb as special counsel

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.