Former Trump attorney-turned professional anti-Trump conspiracy theorist Ty Cobb returned to CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront on Monday to once again raise the possibility that Republicans will simply steal the midterm elections by refusing to give up power if they lose. While there were no Nazi insults this time, Burnett and Cobb were still forced to retreat to the world of the wildly hypothetical to make their claims.
At the end of their segment, Burnett began to set the scene, “So, I want to ask you one other thing, Ty, while I have you, and that is your friend Michael Luttig, prominent Republican judge. He criticized Republicans today, saying the GOP is preparing to steal the upcoming midterm elections, which I know is something about which you have written and spoken prolifically.”
Luttig is a former judge, and calling him a “prominent Republican judge” is just liberal wishcasting. At this point, Luttig is just another Resistance Liberal who gets paid to write and say crazy things on the internet and on cable news.
CNN's Erin Burnett asks Ty Cobb about "prominent Republican judge" [lol] Michael Luttig and his latest conspiracy theory, "He criticized Republicans today, saying the GOP is preparing to steal the upcoming midterm elections, which I know is something about which you have written… pic.twitter.com/ZBZUeewCMp
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 15, 2026
As it was, Burnett read from Luttig’s latest article in The New Republic, “He writes, quote, ‘The catastrophic end could well come on January 3rd, 2027, when Trump and his Republican congressional allies wage the final battle in Trump's determined war to corrupt America's democracy and deliver a lasting political victory over the Democrats for his MAGA Republican Party.’ Now, this comes from Michael Luttig. So, when you read this, I would imagine you agree with all of it.”
Cobb would not have been on the show if he disagreed. Therefore, he replied, “Well, I'm very concerned about it. I think, and I've spoken to the judge about it. We've had exchanges about this. You know, we both are very concerned about what's going to happen on January 3rd and actually very concerned about the interim between, you know, the elections in November, which will likely result in a Democratically elected House of Representatives, assuming that people are seated.”
One of Cobb and Luttig’s favorite conspiracy theories is that Speaker Mike Johnson will simply not seat Democrats in January, “You know, we're concerned that governors, secretaries of state, various commissions may not certify the real winners, that that the rogue clerk theory, which is the judge's thesis that we're discussing now, whether Mike Johnson fires the current clerk of the House, Kevin McCumber, who is by all accounts a very serious man and a decent man and somebody who could be relied upon to do the right thing, and replaces him with a lackey, somebody to just do the evil that Trump and Johnson intend.”
Cobb concluded by declaring, “And that is a very real threat. It's something that's important that people understand could happen. The courts would likely save us, but there would be a period of uncertainty in the interim that could make the country very vulnerable.”
With that response Cobb tried to have it both ways. He acknowledges that the “rogue clerk theory” is something that would never work in the real world, but he raises it anyway to scare people into voting Democrat in large enough numbers that Johnson and Trump could never even consider it. Meanwhile, there is no evidence they actually are considering it.
Here is a transcript for the September 14 show:
CNN Erin Burnett OutFront
9/14/2026
7:29 PM ET
ERIN BURNETT: So, I want to ask you one other thing, Ty, while I have you—
TY COBB: Sure.
BURNETT: —and that is your friend Michael Luttig, prominent Republican judge. He criticized Republicans today, saying the GOP is preparing to steal the upcoming midterm elections, which I know is something about which you have written and spoken prolifically.
He writes, quote, "The catastrophic end could well come on January 3rd, 2027, when Trump and his Republican congressional allies wage the final battle in Trump's determined war to corrupt America's democracy and deliver a lasting political victory over the Democrats for his MAGA Republican Party."
Now, this comes from Michael Luttig. So, when you read this, I would imagine you agree with all of it.
COBB: Well, I'm very concerned about it. I think, and I've spoken to the judge about it. We've had exchanges about this.
BURNETT: Yeah.
COBB: You know, we both are very concerned about what's going to happen on January 3rd and actually very concerned about the interim between, you know, the elections in November, which will likely result in a Democratically elected House of Representatives, assuming that people are seated.
You know, we're concerned that governors, secretaries of state, various commissions may not certify the real winners, that that the rogue clerk theory, which is the judge's thesis that we're discussing now, whether Mike Johnson fires the current clerk of the House, Kevin McCumber, who is by all accounts a very serious man and a decent man and somebody who could be relied upon to do the right thing, and replaces him with a lackey, somebody to just do the evil that Trump and Johnson intend.
And that is a very real threat. It's something that's important that people understand could happen. The courts would likely save us, but there would be a period of uncertainty in the interim that could make the country very vulnerable.
