A former White House attorney under Donald Trump said the latest revelations in the classified documents scandal only strengthen the case against the former president.
“I think they have their foot on his neck,” Ty Cobb, who led the White House response to the Russia investigation in 2017-2018, said bluntly Wednesday on CNN.
Cobb was asked about a CNN report that the Justice Department has audio of Trump admitting he had classified documents after leaving the White House.
He said that audio “eviscerates” Trump’s defense, in particular the notion that “merely by taking documents, he declassifies them or that he has the authority ― if he is playing with the ducks in the hot tub ― to declassify them in his own mind.”
Cobb said that argument is “out the door” as the audio reportedly shows Trump knew he had “constraints” on what he could do with those documents.
He said there could be extra pressure on special prosecutor Jack Smith to focus on Trump’s possession of those documents ― but added that he doesn’t need to do so because the case for obstruction of justice is already strong.
The new revelation, he said, “makes the obstruction case more compelling.”
See more of his conversation with CNN’s Erin Burnett below:
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