One of President Donald Trump's former lawyers sounded the alarm on Monday after it became evident that Attorney General Todd Blanche would use his "wordsmithing" against the senators whom he courted during his confirmation process.
Ty Cobb, who served as special counsel during Trump's first term, told CNN's Erin Burnett that the deal Blanche struck with Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), declaring that the $1.776 billion so-called "anti-weaponization" fund is dead, was "pure theater." Trump made that clear on Monday when asked by a reporter in the Oval Office whether the fund is dead.
"That's up to Todd Blanche," Trump said.
That comment caught Cobb's attention.
"We all know that Todd Blanche is going to do whatever the president asked. That's hishistory," Cobb said on CNN's "OutFront." "Keep in mind that Todd Blanchedrafted that order. Not the senators. The wordsmithing in itis very, very clear. It's really not worth anything more than a pressrelease. It has no legal forcein effect."
"In fact, the agreement between the president and his family regarding the fund and his IRS immunity says it can't be revised without the signatures of all the parties, so that document has no force in effect. It was puretheater," Cobb said.
Before he was confirmed, senators demanded that Blanche promise that the anti-weaponization fund would not be created. The fund sought to pay people who claimed they were wrongfully prosecuted by the government, and multiple Trump allies have publicly claimed that they would seek compensation.
Trump has since called on Republicans to establish the fund legislatively.