Ty Cobb, former White House lawyer under then-President Donald Trump, signed on to a brief to the Supreme Court arguing against his claims of presidential immunity.
Cobb, a former assistant U.S. attorney who served as White House counsel for two years, joined 12 other former prosecutors and constitutional lawyers in support of special counsel Jack Smith's brief to the high court on Monday night.
The court is set to hear oral arguments April 25 as part of Trump's bid to dismiss Smith's federal case against him for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
The "friends of the court" brief Cobb signed on to argued that Trump's "position cannot be squared with the Constitution's text or history."
"He repeatedly invokes implied separation-of-powers principles, contending that the imposition of criminal liability on him would unduly impair the Executive Branch. But it is defendant's claimed immunity — not his prosecution — that would undermine those principles," the brief read.
Additionally, the brief, prepared by former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, read: "Many of the acts alleged in this indictment plainly constitute campaign activities that would not be protected even if there were some official-duty immunity from criminal prosecution," adding that the "defendant's alleged acts fall far outside any core presidential duty or function."
Amongh those joining Cobb on the brief were conservative commentator Bill Kristol, who was chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle; Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois under President George W. Bush; frequent Trump critic George Conway III, ex-husband of former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway; and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican.
Trump and his lawyers have argued that a former president should have "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts."
"The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office," Trump's March filing read.