Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb says President Donald Trump is pursuing a plan to "sow chaos" after the November 3 midterm elections, and he expects the administration to keep challenging results even after ballots are cast.

Cobb, who served as special counsel during Trump's first administration, told NBC News' Meet the Press that the president's Justice Department is using lawsuits to interfere in competitive races, pointing to legal battles in Alaska and California. The two cases run on separate tracks: the Alaska dispute targets a state's certification of a Senate result, while the California fight has already been weighed by a federal court, with the Justice Department pledging an appeal. Together they frame a question that extends past Election Day itself: how far federal litigation can reach into state-run elections before and after votes are counted.

"They are doing everything they can to interfere with the elections," Cobb said in the interview, warning that the effort was unlikely to end on Election Day.

Alaska Suit Centers on Two Candidates Named Dan Sullivan

Cobb cited the Justice Department's lawsuit in Alaska as an example in which the agency is trying to prevent the state from certifying its Senate election — the process by which results become official — if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. The case turns on an unusual circumstance: two candidates share the same name. The incumbent Republican is listed on the ballot as Dan S. Sullivan, while another candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, is an independent.

Trump has called for Alaska's Democratic Senate candidate, Mary Peltola, to be banned from the race and face criminal charges over a New York Times report that she recruited the other Sullivan as a spoiler candidate, hoping to divide the incumbent's support. Ballot-stacking, however, is a common practice and is not a crime.

Cobb said he expected the legal challenge to fail because Alaska courts have already addressed the dispute over the candidates' names. In his view, the suit is simply a strategy by the administration to "sow chaos, confusion" and potentially discourage Democratic voters from participating.

California Ballot Challenge Rejected by Federal Judge

Cobb also criticized a separate Justice Department attempt to force California election officials to set aside ballots from more than 20,000 people whom federal officials suspect may be noncitizens. A federal judge rejected the request, finding that the move threatened to disrupt an election already underway, and warned that the proposed electoral intervention could affect legal votes and pressure state officials to abandon standard procedure.

The Justice Department has defended its actions as necessary to prevent illegal voting and said it would appeal the California ruling, leaving the fight over those ballots unresolved even as voting continues.

Cobb described the California case as another meritless action and predicted more legal demands against states as voting approaches. He also warned of additional legal challenges after November 3, saying the administration could target other states with subpoenas and demands — a scenario that would keep state election officials at the center of post-Election Day litigation.

Warning on Voting Rights

During the interview, Cobb added that voting rights are a "fundamental aspect" of democracy, and warned that they should "not be corrupted the way that the president is corrupted virtually every other aspect of the rule of law."