Ty Cobb, Trump's former White House counsel, said Tuesday that the former president “is not going to take the new indictment seriously until the final verdict is in.”
“He's not going to take it seriously until the final verdict is reached … when the jury comes back and says 'guilty' and there's actually a verdict,” Cobb said. He said in an interview She appeared on CNN's “Erin Burnett Outfront.”
On Tuesday, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed an additional indictment in the case charging the former president with attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The indictment contains similar charges, but with some cuts in an attempt to “respect and give effect to the Supreme Court's decisions” following the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.
“This is going to be a major delaying tactic by the attorneys,” Cobb said. “They're already saying it's the same indictment, but it clearly isn't.”
On his social media site, President Trump called the new allegations “an attempt to resurrect a 'dead' witch hunt.”
“Crazy Jack Smith has filed a ridiculous new indictment against me that has the same problems as the previous indictment and should be dismissed immediately,” Trump said.
“Those who see this as a bailout or retreat for Smith completely understand this,” Cobb said. [wrong.]”
“This is what happens in regular courts,” Cobb said.
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Trump's running mate, on Tuesday denounced the indictment against Smith as “an attempt to influence an election.”
Vance said he had not seen the documents in their entirety, but that “Jack Smith appears to be furthering his usual tactics of filing lawsuits to try to influence an election.”
“The reason the Supreme Court threw out his case is because they found it involved the president's official acts, and of course the president has immunity when he engages in those official acts,” Vance added.
The court has contacted lawyers and attorneys who have previously represented Trump.
