George Conway and ex-Trump lawyer Ty Cobb join Jack Smith in arguing against immunity

George Conway, a conservative attorney, and Donald Trump's former lawyer, Ty Cobb, threw their support behind Special Counsel Jack Smith Friday with a new filing slamming the former president's immunity defense, court records show.

Conway, a vocal critic of the former president, and Cobb are among 16 former prosecutors, government officials, and constitutional attorneys who added their names to an Amicus Brief filed in the D.C. Circuit's Court of Appeals.

"[We] have an interest in the proper scope of executive power and the faithful enforcement of criminal laws enacted by Congress," the group writes. "The immunity defendant seeks in this case is inconsistent with our Constitution and would subvert the bedrock principle that no person is above the law."

The 36-page motion adds to a pile of mounting paper filed in Trump's appeal to dismiss his federal election interference case on the grounds of presidential immunity.

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Smith accuses Trump of defrauding the U.S. by attempting to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and overturn a presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

While a victory in the D.C. appeals court would force Smith to dismiss the Washington D.C. case, experts say it's not looking likely.

In their Friday filing, the group argues Trump's demand for immunity from federal criminal prosecution "can't be squared" with the Constitution.

They say Trump's actions between the Nov. 2020 election and the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 fell outside his presidential duties and are therefore not protected.

"He repeatedly invokes implied separation-of-powers principles, contending that the imposition of criminal liability on him would unduly impair the Executive Branch," the group writes.

"But it is defendant’s claimed immunity—not his prosecution— that would undermine those principles."

Several of the attorneys named in the brief served under President George W. Bush, including former Associate Counsel Bradford Berenson, former Nevada U.S. Attorney General Gregory A. Brower, former Illinois U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and former Washington U.S. Attorney John McKay.

Former Republican lawmakers include Reps. Tom Campbell (R-CA), Tom Coleman (R-MO), Claudine Schneider (R-RI), as well as Vice President Dan Quayle's chief of staff William Kristol and Olivia Troye, who served as Special Advisor, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism to Vice President Mike Pence.

"The alleged criminal activity here raises a uniquely dangerous constitutional threat," the group concludes.

"Such activity threatens our constitutional structure at its core and, by its very nature, eviscerates one of the primary constitutional checks on presidential misconduct—rebuke by the people at the ballot box," the brief states.