'Lawlessness of the highest order': Ex-White House lawyer blasts Trump’s pardon pledge

Former Trump administration White House attorney Ty Cobb tore into the former president on CNN over his repeated pledges to pardon rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he retakes office next year.

Trump notoriously wielded pardon power in his last administration to free friends and allies, often people who directly went to jail for lying on his behalf in the Russia investigation. Jan. 6 insurrectionists are not alone in hoping for Trump to spring them; also vying for attention are politicians in prison for public corruption, most notably former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.

The Jan. 6 pardons, however, particularly alarmed Cobb.

"So in the context here of what's at stake ... the former vice president, Mike Pence, spoke out today publicly, and he was more direct than he usually is, Ty," said anchor Erin Burnett. "He [is] urging Trump to not pardon January 6th rioters, obviously some of whom, of course, threatened to hang Mike Pence. He told The Dispatch, and I quote, 'I don't think the president should pardon anyone who assaulted a police officer at the United States Capitol on January 6th.'"

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"So what do you think?" asked Burnett. "Trump has said he's going to pardon most or almost all of the January 6th rioters. He's called them 'hostages.' He's posted 'free the January 6th hostages' on social media. What do you think he'll do?"

"Well, I don't think anybody in our history has more tarnished the rule of law than Donald Trump, and I don't think it restrains him at all," said Cobb, a frequent critic of the former president. "The concept that he might do that again, I think it's highly possible that he will go forward with these pardons. I would join the choir with the former vice president, who I respect and know to be a man of great character and who loves his country. I think this would be a tragic event, further demeaning the rule of law to those of us in this country, and it's not going to go unseen around the world."

"I mean, this is the type of conduct that, when viewed internationally, makes it impossible to distinguish the United States from a third-world country or, you know, a South American dictatorship," he added. "This is really lawlessness of the highest order, and there's no principal basis for it. I think it'd be a very sad event."

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