Ty Cobb, a White House special counsel in President Donald Trump's first term and a frequent Trump critic, said the prosecution of John Bolton has legal merit.
He said it was "clearly not" based solely on revenge.
Bolton, who served as national security adviser in Trump's first term, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Maryland on Friday, a day after he was indicted on 18 counts — eight for transmission of national defense information and 10 for retention of national defense information.
Bolton has claimed Trump is seeking "retribution" against him, a feud that began after Bolton published a memoir about his time in the administration. Trump unsuccessfully tried to block its release before the 2020 election.
Bolton's indictment came a week after former FBI Director James Comey, fired by Trump in 2017, pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
Comey has accused the government of malicious and selective prosecution.
"Bolton insisting that this is purely revenge, that's clearly not the case if you read the indictment," Cobb told CNN on Thursday. "Keep in mind that in the Comey case, seasoned senior prosecutors who were later forced to resign told the Justice Department that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
"That's clearly not what we have here when you look at this indictment ... so, this shouldn't come as a news flash that there's a potential crime here.
"Two federal magistrate judges issued search warrants where the probable cause standard that was used by the grand jury was met. And they issued search warrants.
"The materials that were taken are consequential — and highly consequential — because the most important paragraph in the indictment to me is the paragraph that makes plain not a single one of the documents used in the book or in the pre-review process is a basis for any of the charges."
Cobb added that the charges are based on "newly found evidence" that "echoes the seriousness of this" and undermines Bolton's claims of political motivation.
Trump said Thursday he was unaware Bolton had been indicted but called the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations a "bad guy."
Cobb said even Trump's disparaging remarks are unlikely to affect the case.
"Doesn't really save him," Cobb said. "Trump knows it's wrong.
"He's been counseled about this. The judges in the civil and criminal cases over the years, when he was out of office, made it plain that he wasn't supposed to do that.
"His lawyers undoubtedly told him. [Deputy Attorney General] Todd Blanche has probably told him that several times.
"But it's not going to derail the prosecution. It may result in a protective order of sorts, or it may result in a limiting instruction to the jury. But it won't save him. And this judge [Theodore Chuang] is a very seasoned judge. He's been on the bench for over a decade."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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