Ty Cobb rips Trump classified docs judge for blocking gag order: ‘It’s dangerous’

Former White House attorney Ty Cobb on Wednesday criticized the judge presiding over former President Trump’s classified documents case for denying special counsel Jack Smith’s gag order request, describing the move as “dangerous.”

“I mean, it’s ludicrous. It’s ridiculous, and … it’s dangerous and it’s incendiary. And not to take that seriously and to toss it out because she didn’t like the way they conferred,” Cobbs said in an interview on CNN’s “OutFront with Erin Burnett” on Wednesday.

Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Smith’s request to limit Trump’s speech in the case last week. The request was filed by Smith’s team last month after the former president falsely claimed law enforcement had the power to assassinate him. Smith’s team argued Trump’s comments posed a risk of danger to law enforcement officers who worked on the case, many of whom are expected to testify should it reach trial.

The judge said Smith’s team failed to meaningfully reach out to Trump’s attorneys on the gag order request. Both sides in the case are required to confer with the other party before filing motions in the case. Smith’s team did not do so until 5:30 p.m. on the Friday ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

Cobb pushed back against Cannon’s reasoning and accused the federal judge of bias.

“Conferring doesn’t require, you know, doing it in a proper form or in a way that meets whatever her standard is,” he said. “It requires talking to the other side, and they did and they mentioned it in the papers that they had conferred and Trump’s team didn’t agree.”

His remarks came shortly after Cannon suddenly changed the proceeding schedule for the classified documents case Wednesday. She set a hearing for June 21 on Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds Smith was illegally appointed to do the job.

“Judge Cannon is kicking the can down the road as long as she can, and delaying both the trial, which is clearly — clearly her purpose,” Cobbs said. “And when I say purpose, it is purposeful now; it’s not mere ineptitude. This is clearly a palpable bias on her part, and I think I heard one former Florida judge say the same thing earlier today.”

The former president is facing 40 charges of mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s retrieval of the records after leaving the White House. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The trial was initially set to kick off May 20, but Cannon indefinitely postponed the start date, citing the various legal arguments she needed to first consider. The postponement handed Trump’s legal team a win as it seeks to push the former president’s trials to after the election.

Trump was convicted last week on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his separate hush money case in New York.