James Comey, the former FBI director, has today been indicted for lying to Congress. Others view this advance as yet another step in a master plan orchestrated by former President Donald Trump. They’re convinced he wants to “rewrite history” to exonerate himself. Ty Cobb, a one-time senior White House counsel under Trump’s first administration, has emerged as a prominent critic of the indictment. He calls it fundamentally flawed and driven by political motives.
Cobb’s comments were a response to the grand jury’s decision. Though they only approved two counts against Comey, their approval came by a razor thin margin of 14 out of 23 jurors. The legal indictment has come under fire, and understandably so. Its fair and timely passage beckons profound implications for the political playing field. “The grand jury rejected one of the counts, the top count, actually, in the indictment,” Cobb stated.
Trump enlisted the help of White House aide Kash Patel to pursue the case against Comey. This unusual decision has raised some eyebrows, particularly because Patel has no known prosecutorial experience. Patel’s participation only exacerbates the speculation about what really motivated the indictment in the first place.
“So, you have the rewriting history stuff,” Cobb pointed out, while discussing Patel’s role and the previous allegations against Trump.
In his presentation, Cobb stressed that a unanimous joint decision was key. If Comey’s case goes to trial, all 12 jurors will have to come to the same conclusion. He seemingly forecast the legal outcome when he doubted there’d ever be a conviction, claiming that “there’s going to be a very vigorous defense.”
“I don’t see any way in the world that Comey will be convicted,” Cobb said. “And I think there’s a good chance, because of the wholly unconstitutional, authoritarian way that this was done, that the case may get tossed out well before trial.”
As former attorney general Griffin Bell once warned, political interference into judicial proceedings is “a slippery slope.” True to his warning long ago, that politics should never enter the justice department. Cobb underscored Bell’s feeling when he described what’s happening today.
“It’s all about even-handedness,” Cobb quoted Bell, underscoring the importance of impartiality in legal affairs.
Cobb provided additional context on U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s background. For most onlookers, Trump’s installation of her to head the prosecution against Comey. This isn’t the first time Halligan has worked to remove anti-CRT narratives from American history.
“Her role previously in the administration was, you know, trying to eliminate the theory that, you know, America had slaves, at the Smithsonian,” Cobb noted.
This context calls into serious question the integrity of the ongoing proceedings against Comey. To what extent are these initiatives being motivated by political goals rather than judicial doctrines? Cobb cautions that additional retribution aimed at Trump’s political rivals could be on the way too.
“Trump wants to rewrite history so that the next generation may not know that he incited a violent insurrection,” Cobb stated, referring to the Capitol attack and Trump’s actions surrounding it.
Sheesh, though, especially as Cobb’s criticism spreads to Trump’s approach toward dealing with political opponents. He continued to claim that the past president instead of cracking down on crime has turned his focus on people.
“[Trump] wholly abandoned that and is now merely doing the president’s bidding when he says, ‘Prosecute my enemies, now,’” Cobb remarked.
As this case unfolds, observers are left to ponder its implications for both legal norms and political accountability in the United States. Comey’s indictment becomes a flashpoint in the continued push-and-pull of America’s justice and governance debates.