Cobb
Last
week,
the
Trump
administration
broke
irony
when
it
raided
the
home
and
office
of
John
Bolton,
former
national
security
advisor
and
current
critic
of
Donald
Trump,
for
—
wait
for
it
—
suspected
wrongful
possession
of
classified
documents.
The
law
enforcement
action
was
largely
panned
as
retribution
for
Bolton’s
2020
book
“The
Room
Where
It
Happened,”
which
is
sharply
critical
of
Trump’s
lack
of
knowledge
on
all
things
foreign
policy-related.
Now
former
White
House
attorney
—
and
current
critic
of
Trump
—
Ty
Cobb
is
talking
about
the
“justifiable
paranoia”
of
those
that
dare
to
call
out
the
president.
Appearing
on
NPR,
Cobb
told
host
Steve
Inskeep
that
when
he
first
learned
of
the
Bolton
raid
he
“went
down
and
locked
my
door.”
The
deadpan
quip
is
played
for
a
laugh,
but
there’s
a
dark
truth
there.
“I
think
anybody
that’s
critical
of
the
president
has
justifiable
paranoia
at
this
stage
of
the
game,”
Cobb
noted.
And
it’s
a
sentiment
echoed
by
others
—
Norm
Eisen
and
Andrew
Warren
wrote for
MSNBC: “The
early-morning
knock
on
Bolton’s
door
should
be
a
wake-up
call
to
every
American.
This
escalation
in
the
Trump
administration’s
use
of
law
enforcement
to
target
political
opposition
marks
a
dangerous
new
front
for
American
authoritarianism.”
Cobb
softened
his
stance
a
bit,
saying
not
to
“overreact”
to
the
raid,
and
noting
that
he
doesn’t
believe
that
Bolton
will
ultimately
be
indicated.
But
despite
Cobb’s
optimism
on
Bolton’s
legal
fate,
it
feels
undeniable
that
retribution
was
part
of
the
motivation
and
that’s
unusual
—
and
deeply
disturbing.
“There’s
certainly
an
abandonment
of
traditional
norms
at
the
Justice
Department
in
going
back
and
doing
this,”
he
said.
Cobb
continued:
This
is
no
longer
a
Justice
Department,
you
know,
with
independent
thinkers,
you
know,
acting
ethically.
This
–
these
people
are
so
totally
devoted
to
Trump
and
his
campaign
of
vengeance.
And,
you
know,
they
made
that
clear
when
they
welcomed
him
into
the
Great
Hall
and
Pam
Bondi,
you
know,
declared
the
fealty
of
the
department
to
the
president
as
opposed
to
the
Constitution,
which
is
actually
what
their
oath
is
for.
It
is
definitely
a
new
—
and
troubling
—
frontier.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
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