Trump setting stage to declare emergency around midterms, former White House attorney says

Key Points:

• Ty Cobb, former special counsel in the Trump administration, suggests President Trump's upcoming speech aims to justify declaring a national emergency around election time to potentially intimidate voters and interfere with election processes.
• Cobb warns that Trump may attempt to prevent a peaceful transfer of power by using federal authority to influence midterm elections, including deploying ICE agents at polls and trying to seize voting machines, repeating tactics from the 2020 election.
• The primary safeguard against such interference, according to Cobb, is voter turnout to oppose corruption and self-enrichment he attributes to Trump, noting the current administration lacks internal checks from principled officials present in the first term.
• Cobb downplays claims of foreign interference in voting machines as exaggerated and politically motivated, criticizing Trump’s allies and media supporters for perpetuating unfounded conspiracy theories that undermine election confidence.
• He urges the public to critically assess these claims and emphasizes the importance of voting as the key defense to uphold democratic norms and prevent manipulation of the electoral process.