Donald Trump’s onetime lawyer says the former president faces a “very high” chance of being indicted — but not for stashing top-secret documents at his Florida resort home.
Ty Cobb says Trump faces even more serious legal troubles over his unconstitutional effort to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.
“I think the president is in serious legal water, not so much because of the search, but because of the obstructive activity he took in connection with the Jan. 6 proceeding,” Cobb told Major Garrett of CBS News. “That was the first time in American history that a president unconstitutionally attempted to remain in power illegally.”
Cobb says that the prosecutors may suspect that Trump was hiding documents revealing his central role in the scheme to overturn his election loss.
“It is about the bigger picture, the Jan. 6 issues, the fake electors, the whole scam with regard to the ‘big lie’ and the attempts to … cling to the presidency in a desperate fashion,” Cobb told CBS News.
Cobb, a conservative lawyer with a distinctive handlebar mustache, was Trump’s top defender in the Russia collusion probe by special counsel Robert Mueller.
But like former Attorney General Bill Barr, Cobb split from Trump over his refusal to accept his election defeat and peacefully hand over power to President Joe Biden.
Cobb says Trump’s refusal to defend the Capitol on Jan. 6 attack should bar him from running to be president.
“He clearly violated the (Constitution) when he gave aid and comfort and three hours of inaction with regard to what was happening on the grounds of the Capitol,” Cobb said on the program. “That clearly gave aid and comfort to the insurrectionists.”
Most constitutional experts say the only way to do that would have been for Trump to have been convicted in an impeachment trial.
Along with condemning Trump for his actions, Cobb offered a shocking assessment of his former boss’ mental state.
“I believe former President Trump to be a deeply wounded narcissist,” Cobb said. “He is often incapable of acting other than in his perceived self-interest or for revenge.”