A former Trump White House lawyer sharply escalated his public criticism of the president’s inner circle this week, saying several top officials — including Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth — have committed impeachable offenses that could justify removal from office.
Ty Cobb, who served as a special counsel in Trump’s first term before becoming a vocal critic, made the remarks Friday on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber as he dissected a string of political and legal controversies swirling around the administration.
Cobb said that a single “fraudulent, unsupported indictment” brought for political reasons could qualify as impeachable for Attorney General Bondi — a reference to indictments targeting Trump critics that Cobb and others have accused of political bias. He also accused Noem of mischaracterizing violent deaths involving federal agents, and Hegseth of overseeing problematic military actions, arguing that their conduct represented abuses of executive power.
Cobb even broadened his critique to include President Donald Trump, citing alleged foreign influence controversies and long-standing concerns about politicization of the Justice Department.
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The comments come as Trump has publicly lauded Bondi and Noem on Truth Social amid fierce criticism of their recent performances — including Bondi’s chaotic congressional testimony on her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and Noem’s defense of controversial immigration enforcement actions. Trump called Bondi’s hearing “fantastic” and praised Noem’s efforts in recent Truth Social posts.
Legal experts say impeachment remains unlikely in the current political makeup of Congress, but Cobb’s statements signal widening alarm among some former Republican insiders about the erosion of institutional norms and accountability at the highest levels of government.
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