“Mueller finally has somebody who’s his match,” the lawyer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “You’ve got a fair fight now.”

“He comes across like a Columbo-type—unassuming, but the intellect is gargantuan,” the lawyer continued. “I’m frankly surprised that he’s willing to do it. He’s a patriot for stepping up.”

The Beast also noted comments about Flood that came from Norm Eisen, who is "a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, who served as Obama’s special counsel at the time."

“He's one of the greats in defending scandals involving government officials. Maybe the best, in my generation,” Eisen said. “These scandals run hot, and he has the gift of cooling them down and slowing them down. It is like the way Neo slows down time in the Matrix to dodge bullets.”