2. Wide of Bill Cosby, center, and wife Camille, right, at a Smithsonian event
3. Exchange between AP reporter Brett Zongker (off-camera) and comedian Bill Cosby:
Zongker: "On a separate note, I have to ask about your name coming up in the news recently regarding this comedian..."
Cosby: "No, No. We don't answer that."
Zongker: Okay, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to respond at all about whether any of that was true..."
Cosby: "There's no response."
Zongker: "Okay. Can I ask you if - with the persona that people know about Bill Cosby, should they believe anything differently than what..."
Cosby: "There is no comment about that. (okay) And I'll tell you why -- I think you were told, I don't want to compromise your integrity, but - I don't talk about it..."
BILL COSBY SWITCHING LAWYERS IN CIVIL CASES AROUND COUNTRY
Bill Cosby has replaced the law firm overseeing civil litigation around the country linked to accusations he drugged and molested women.
Liner LLP, known for its work in entertainment law, is replacing lawyers with the powerhouse litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt confirmed Monday (11 JULY 2016.) Both firms are based in Los Angeles.
Litigation department chairwoman Angela Agrusa will now represent Cosby in the defamation and sex-assault lawsuits. Several women have sued Cosby for branding them liars in lawsuits filed in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and California. Cosby has countersued some of them.
Agrusa, in a statement, said she did not want to try the cases in the media. She said Cosby "deserve(s) representation to ensure that justice does not yield to news cycles and soundbites."
"Trying Mr. Cosby in a court of public opinion — as imbalanced media coverage promotes — runs directly counter to our judicial system's most fundamental guarantees of fairness under the law," she said.
The Liner firm currently represents singer Blake Shelton in a defamation case against a celebrity magazine. The firm also defended the doctor charged with overprescribing painkillers to the late model Anna Nicole Smith.
Quinn Emanuel may stay involved in the criminal sex-assault case heading to trial in suburban Philadelphia, Wyatt said. The firm's Christopher Tayback last week argued for the charges to be dismissed or for Cosby to be granted a new preliminary hearing to weigh the evidence. The trial judge denied the motion.
Cosby, 78, has been spending millions in an aggressive bid to stay out of prison, salvage his reputation and avoid legal judgments that could threaten his fortune.
