A former top lawyer in Donald Trump’s first White House is warning the president isn’t just relitigating the 2020 election, he’s laying the groundwork for something much darker.
During an interview with PBS NewsHour, former White House Special Counsel Ty Cobb argued that Trump’s latest primetime speech on election fraud wasn’t really about 2020 at all. Instead, Cobb said it was designed to create a pretext for declaring a national emergency around this year’s midterm elections.
“I think the speech is intended to add the predicate that he needs to declare an emergency at or about the time of the elections,” Cobb told PBS’s Geoff Bennett.
The warning comes after Trump has spent months targeting voting machines, pushing changes to mail-in voting, tightening voter registration rules, and removing members of the Election Assistance Commission—moves that critics say are steadily eroding confidence in the electoral system.
According to Cobb, those actions aren’t happening in isolation.
He believes they’re all part of a broader strategy aimed at giving the administration a justification to intervene if Republicans face major losses in November.
Cobb also pointed to recent suggestions from Trump allies Steve Bannon and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about placing ICE agents at polling places.
“I think that’s a virtual certainty,” Cobb said, arguing such a move would intimidate minority and immigrant voters while creating opportunities for the administration to interfere with election operations.
He also raised the possibility that federal authorities could again attempt to seize voting machines, a step Trump unsuccessfully sought after the 2020 election before then-Attorney General Bill Barr rejected the idea, saying there was no legal basis for it.
“I think you will see him doing everything he can to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, the election of Democrats, and do whatever he can to remain in power,” Cobb said.
‘The Only Remaining Guardrail’
Bennett asked Cobb what checks remain if a president attempts to use the powers of the federal government to influence how elections are conducted.
Cobb’s answer was blunt.
“The only real guardrail is for people to get to the polls,” he said.
According to Cobb, the institutional safeguards that existed during Trump’s first term have largely disappeared.
He contrasted the current administration with Trump’s first White House, where officials such as John Kelly, James Mattis, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pompeo occasionally resisted proposals they viewed as reckless or self-serving.
Those figures, Cobb argued, have been replaced by loyalists more interested in carrying out Trump’s wishes than acting as an internal check.
He also claimed the Justice Department has lost many of its most experienced lawyers and that the FBI and DOJ have redirected significant resources toward immigration enforcement at the expense of counterterrorism, money laundering, fraud, and civil rights investigations.
“In our democracy,” Cobb said, “that’s the only remaining guardrail.”
Bennett also asked Cobb whether legitimate concerns about foreign election interference deserved public attention.
Cobb acknowledged that countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and others have historically attempted to influence public opinion.
But he rejected Trump’s latest claims as exaggerated.
“I think those concerns are inflated, overrated, and exaggerated,” Cobb said.
He noted that allegations involving voting machines have already been extensively investigated and pointed to Fox News’ $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems after the network aired false claims about the 2020 election.
Cobb predicted Trump would continue making what he described as unfounded allegations while relying on conspiracy theorists rather than respected national security experts to support them.
“This is Trump acting out his fantasy,” Cobb said, arguing the president is once again attempting to rewrite the history of both the 2020 election and the January 6 attack.
With what he views as many of the government’s traditional internal guardrails gone, Cobb argued that protecting American democracy now depends largely on voters themselves.
“The only real guardrail,” he said, “is for people to get to the polls.”
