Donald Trump’s decision to pursue charges against former FBI director James Comey has been described as a political stunt designed to “rewrite history” by one of his own former senior White House lawyers.
Ty Cobb, who once defended Trump during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, accused the president of abusing the justice system to punish his enemies while attempting to obscure his own record as a convicted felon.
In a stinging interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Cobb said the indictment was an unconstitutional act of authoritarianism that he doubted would survive in court.
“Trump wants to rewrite history so that the next generation may not know that he incited a violent insurrection, refused to peacefully transfer power, stole classified documents, showed them off to guests at Mar-a-Lago, and that he was a criminal,” Cobb said. “He’s a convicted felon. Anyone who crossed him in those events is in real danger.”
The case against Comey accuses him of lying to Congress, but Cobb argued it was legally flimsy from the start. He revealed that the grand jury itself was divided, rejecting the most serious charge and only narrowly approving two others.
“The standard is just probable cause in a grand jury room with no defense attorney,” he said. “But at trial you need twelve jurors to unanimously agree beyond a reasonable doubt.
There will be a vigorous defense. I don’t see any way Comey is convicted, and there’s a strong chance the case gets tossed before it ever reaches trial.” His comments cast fresh doubt on one of the most explosive prosecutions Trump has ordered since returning to the White House.
Cobb was especially critical of Trump’s choice of Lindsey Halligan, a longtime loyalist with no prosecutorial background, to serve as the White House’s point person on the case after Trump fired federal prosecutor Erik Siebert for refusing to bring charges.
He said Halligan had previously worked to shape narratives at the Smithsonian aimed at downplaying America’s history of slavery. “She was there to whitewash the Smithsonian and paint America as something that it isn’t,” Cobb said. “Now she’s been put in charge of prosecuting Trump’s political enemies. America needs to learn from its mistakes, and one of the biggest mistakes it ever made was re-electing Donald Trump.”
The veteran attorney, who once had a front-row seat to Trump’s inner workings, compared the situation to earlier warnings by former attorneys general about the dangers of politicizing justice.
He cited Robert Jackson, who later became a Nuremberg prosecutor, emphasizing that the Justice Department must pursue crimes, not individuals, and Griffin Bell, who years later stressed that politics must never guide prosecutions.
Cobb said those principles had been abandoned under Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom he accused of “doing the president’s bidding” by targeting his adversaries on command.
The Comey case is already drawing significant backlash in Washington, with lawmakers warning that Trump is setting a dangerous precedent by weaponizing prosecutions against political opponents.
Democrats describe the indictment as a “dangerous abuse of power,” while even some Republicans have expressed unease at the appearance of retribution. For Trump’s allies, however, the case is framed as long-overdue accountability for a man they accuse of bias and misconduct during the Russia investigation.
Beyond the legal fight, Cobb suggested the indictment is part of a larger campaign by Trump to control the historical narrative of his presidency.
By criminalizing those who investigated him and undermining institutions that challenged his authority, Cobb argued, Trump hopes to erase the memory of the 2021 Capitol attack and other scandals from public consciousness. “This is about deceiving the future as much as punishing the past,” he said.
The indictment also comes amid a flurry of controversial moves by Trump that highlight both his combative approach and his willingness to embrace conspiracy theories.
Just days ago, he posted and later deleted an AI-generated video in which his likeness promoted so-called “med beds” — fantastical devices touted by fringe groups as capable of curing all diseases.
The bizarre clip promised Americans access to hospitals outfitted with these fictional machines, fueling concerns about Trump’s continued use of misinformation to appeal to his base.
At the same time, Trump claimed on social media that nearly 275 FBI agents were secretly embedded in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
His own FBI director, Kash Patel, publicly contradicted him, saying agents only arrived on the scene after the violence erupted in a failed effort to stop the insurrection.
Patel’s statement undermined Trump’s attempt to shift blame away from himself and reinforced the view that the president continues to spread disinformation about the attack.
For Cobb, the danger goes beyond Trump’s falsehoods or questionable prosecutions. It is about a systemic erosion of trust in the rule of law. He warned that every opponent of the president is now a potential target, describing an atmosphere of fear among those who dared to challenge him in the past.
“All, anybody involved in those events that offended him, they’re in real danger,” he said. His remarks echoed the concerns of civil liberties advocates who argue that Trump’s second term has placed the United States on a path toward authoritarian governance.
The indictment of James Comey, a former FBI director once fired by Trump, has become the latest flashpoint in a presidency defined by its relentless pursuit of loyalty and its refusal to accept checks on power.
While Trump insists the charges demonstrate accountability, critics argue they are little more than political theater aimed at erasing his own misdeeds. Whether or not the case collapses, Cobb’s intervention is a reminder that even those who once worked closely with Trump see his actions as a profound threat to the democratic institutions of the United States.
The spectacle surrounding Comey’s indictment highlights the broader stakes of Trump’s return to power. For his supporters, it is an opportunity to settle scores and dismantle what they view as a “deep state” conspiracy.
For his detractors, it is proof that the rule of law itself is under siege. In the middle stands an American public forced to reckon with competing versions of history: one shaped by facts, and another dictated by the will of a president determined to rewrite his legacy.
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