Former White House attorney Ty Cobb warned Friday that President Trump's decision to fire the remaining Democratic members of an independent election administration commission this week is part of a "deliberate plan" to put his thumb on the scale of the upcoming midterm elections.
"You can't look at the termination of the Election ******* istance Commission (EAC) as anything other than another effort by one side to try to take over part of the referee role for the elections," Cobb said during an appearance on MS NOW.
Trump removed Democrats Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks from the commission on Thursday, with the White House citing his authority to do so under the Supreme Court's recent decision in the recent Slaughter case.
The justices ruled in a 6-3 decision that the president can fire the heads of most independent agencies at will, overturning a nearly century-old precedent that allowed Congress to insulate those bodies from political interference.
"The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America's elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted," a White House official said in a statement. "The Slaughter decision gives the President precedence to do so."