‘I went and locked my door’: FBI raid sparks fear in other former White House officials

Ty Cobb, former White House attorney during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, said he had an immediate reaction upon hearing of the FBI raid on the home of former national security advisor John Bolton.

“I went down and locked my door,” Cobb said, speaking with National Public Radio in an interview published on Monday.

The Friday raid on Bolton’s home was just the latest example of what critics have characterized as a weaponization of the Justice Department against Trump’s political enemies. It was followed by a direct threat from Trump to investigate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who, like Bolton, has become an outspoken critic of the president.

Cobb, who has spoken out against Trump since leaving his administration in 2018, said those who have gotten on the president’s bad side had every reason to be fearful.

“I think anybody that’s critical of the president has justifiable paranoia at this stage of the game,” Cobb said. “There is certainly retribution involved [in the raid on Bolton’s home], there is certainly an abandonment of traditional norms at the Justice Department in going back and doing this.”

Trump’s DOJ has opened multiple criminal investigations targeting individuals who drew the former president’s ire.

A criminal probe was launched in May against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, winning a $454 million judgement against the president and his real estate company. A DOJ official and Trump ally has drawn scrutiny for sharing a threatening social media post against James in posting a photo of themself standing outside her New York home.

And in July, Trump’s director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a criminal probe into former President Barack Obama, suggesting he may have committed “treason” for pursuing an investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 election. Critics have largely labeled the probe into Obama as baseless.

Regarding the raid on Bolton’s home, which DOJ officials say related to mishandling of classified documents, Cobb said he didn’t think charges would stick, and characterized the incident not as an investigation into any wrongdoing, but rather, a “campaign of vengeance.”

“I’m not sure he will be charged, I differ from others on those who say he’s certain to be indicted,” Cobb said.

“That’s the sea change that people are ignoring here; this is no longer a Justice Department with independent thinkers acting ethically," Cobb added. "These people are so totally devoted to Trump and his campaign of vengeance, and they made that clear when they walked into the great hall and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi declared the fealty to the president as opposed to the Constitution, which is actually what their oath is for.”