Former Trump White House Lawyer Sees Chilling Putin Parallel - Above the Law

"given the FCC's role in pressuring ABC and the First Amendment's prohibition on exactly that, makes sense. There's nothing quite like the decline of constitutional norms to get tongues a-waggin'! And former White House attorney - and current critic of Trump - Ty Cobb is no different. He told Kristen Welker of NBC News the purge we are seeing reminds Cobb of Russian President Vladimir Putin's early moves to "systematically silence critical media outlets and independent TV channels""

"And there are other disturbing historical parallels. "It's evocative of what we've seen throughout history," Cobb said. "In 1939, Dr. Goebbels, at Hitler's instruction, removed five comedians, or witticists as they were called at the time, from the airways in Germany and for criticizing or making fun of the government in a satire way." Donald Trump has also targeted other late night comedians. Something Cobb said is sadly unsurprising."

"Donald Trump has also targeted other late night comedians. Something Cobb said is sadly unsurprising. "Trump is waging war on people who offend him," Cobb continued. "He's all about vengeance. And sadly, his subordinates, like one of the Project 2025 authors, Brendan Carr of the FCC, are following in line." Teeing up this dark joke, "Pretty soon, the only comedian left standing is going to be Karoline Leavitt.""

ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel after his comments about the death of far-right activist Charlie Kirk amid reported FCC pressure that raises First Amendment concerns. Ty Cobb compared the purge to Vladimir Putin's early moves to systematically silence critical media outlets that were later bought out or shut down. Cobb invoked historical parallels, including 1939 actions by Dr. Goebbels removing comedians from German airways for satirical criticism. Cobb said Donald Trump wages war on people who offend him and that subordinates such as FCC commissioner Brendan Carr follow in line, joking that only Karoline Leavitt might remain as a comedian.

Read at Above the Law