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Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Velshi” that the Supreme Court was fiddling as former President Donald Trump’s immunity claims are an “existential threat to America’s democracy.” Luttig said, “The Supreme Court has now fiddled while the Rome has almost burned to the ground, all but trivializing the existential threat to America’s democracy and the rule of law facing the country. America’s democracy and rule of law are the heart and soul of the nation. It’s our democracy and the rule of law that have made America the beacon of freedom from the world for almost...

Judge J. Michael Luttig speaks to Ali Velshi about the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the question of Trump’s eligibility and why he believes it will be “one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions since the founding of the nation.” He also explains what many Americans get wrong about the case and what he expects the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision to be. “The Supreme Court does not want to decide this case and they will likely look for every legitimate way possible to avoid deciding whether the former president is disqualified from the presidency. But there...

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Donald Trump will not appear on the ballot in 2024 because he is an insurrectionist and the 14th Amendment does not permit insurrectionists to hold federal office. Some of you may recall our August 2023 post on this matter. Both J. Michael Luttig, a retired George W. Bush-appointed federal judge whose judicial philosophy has drawn comparisons to the late Antonin Scalia, and Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe (who taught constitutional law to Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito), believe that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump. Section 3 of...

Today, loyalty to the nation is again being questioned. As the Pelosi-Thompson-Cheney circus rolls on in D.C., signals are given that the Democrats, have their sights set on more than just the former President. Obviously, the primary purpose of the pseudo-hearing is twofold: Destroy Trump and keep January Sixth alive, until November. Recently retired judge Michael Luttig, said the quiet part out loud: “Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are still a clear and present danger to American democracy,” The comment harkens back to the McCarthy era hearings and guilt by association. Once a communist always a communist has...

J. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge and lawyer who advised former Vice President Mike Pence, is expected to testify in the Jan. 6 select committee's public hearings this month, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The committee, which has until now been interviewing witnesses behind closed doors, has revealed little about its plans for the public hearings set to begin next week. >p> The desire to showcase Luttig — a judge lionized within the conservative legal movement — matches what sources have described as the committee's strategy to reach as broad an audience as possible, including conservatives. The big...

McLEAN, Va. -- On Nov. 22, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was at work in his chambers here when he received a telephone call telling him to switch on the television. There, he saw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announce that the government would file charges against Jose Padilla in a federal court -- treating the accused terrorist like a normal criminal suspect.

A retired federal judge appointed by former President George H.W. Bush warned in an opinion piece published by CNN on Wednesday that Republicans are “already a long way toward recapturing the White House in 2024, whether Trump or another Republican candidate wins the election or not.” In his essay, J. Michael Luttig broke down what he called the “Republican blueprint” to steal the 2024 election ― the cornerstone of which, he said, was the Supreme Court’s embrace of the “independent state legislature” doctrine. The 2020 election fraud lies peddled by former President Donald Trump and his allies are just “the...

President Bush is moving to nominate a replacement for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig, who announced last week that he is leaving the bench to become senior vice president and general counsel at the Boeing Co. White House officials have discussed a number of possible candidates with Virginia's two Republican senators, said David Snepp, a spokesman for Sen. George Allen. The person chosen will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The process of selecting Luttig's replacement to the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is being coordinated by the office of White House counsel...

Judge J. Michael Luttig resigned Wednesday from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to accept a job as senior vice president and general counsel for Boeing Co. Luttig, a conservative judge, had been named to the federal bench by former President Bush in 1991 and mentioned last year as a possible nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

After Fight in Terrorism Case, Conservative Star Gives Up Court Seat for Boeing Job. On Nov. 22, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was at work in his chambers here when he received a telephone call telling him to switch on the television. There, he saw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announce that the government would file charges against Jose Padilla in a federal court -- treating the accused terrorist like a normal criminal suspect. The judge was stunned. Two months earlier, he had written a landmark opinion saying the government could hold Mr. Padilla without charge in a military brig....

Federal Judge Resigns to Work for Boeing By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago Judge J. Michael Luttig has resigned from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to accept a job as senior vice president and general counsel for Boeing Co., the company said Wednesday. Luttig, 51, a conservative judge, had been mentioned last year as a possible nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. He was appointed to the 4th Circuit by former President Bush in 1991

Supreme Court Rejects Jose Padilla Case By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer A divided Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Jose Padilla, held as an enemy combatant without traditional legal rights for more than three years, sidestepping a challenge to Bush administration wartime detention powers. Padilla was moved in January to Miami to face criminal charges, and the government argued that the appeal over his indefinite detention was now pointless. Three justices said the court should have agreed to take up the case anyway: Justices David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. And three other court...

WASHINGTON - In a sharp rebuke, a federal appeals court denied Wednesday a Bush administration request to transfer terrorism suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody. The three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused the administration's request to vacate a September ruling that gave President Bush wide authority to detain "enemy combatants" indefinitely without charges on U.S. soil. The decision, written by Judge Michael Luttig, questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3 1/2 years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set...

WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to announce a new nominee for the Supreme Court on Monday, and conservatives close to the White House said the leading candidates appeared to be federal appeals judges Samuel Alito and J. Michael Luttig. The expected nomination comes just four days after the withdrawal of Harriet Miers in the face of intense conservative opposition. Alito and Luttig both have strong conservative credentials and would be warmly welcomed by Bush's political base. Others who were under consideration were federal judges Karen Williams, Priscilla Owen, Alice Batchelder and Michael McConnell as well as Michigan Supreme Court...

According to sources in both the White House and Senate leadership, the President is poised to nominate Federal Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito on Monday morning. No official phone calls have been made to those Republicans who need to be in the know: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Deputy Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, but ongoing conversations among senior staff at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue lead our sources to believe Alito is it. "Ever since the President returned from Camp David, the buzz has gotten clearer and more focused on Alito," says a Capitol Hill...

[S]ocial conservatives face a problem: a new theory of "superprecedents" ... The term superprecedents first surfaced at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge John Roberts, when Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, asked him whether he agreed that certain cases like Roe had become superprecedents or "super-duper" precedents - that is, that they were so deeply embedded in the fabric of law they should be especially hard to overturn. In response, Judge Roberts embraced the traditional doctrine of "stare decisis" - or, "let the decision stand" - and seemed to agree that judges should...

The White House decided to employ a politically-palatable, pundit-prescribed exit strategy with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers. Because of that, Miss Miers is no longer a nominee to the United States Supreme Court, and much of America may believe the Bush Administration's contention that she withdrew over a request for documents. In actuality, she withdrew because her 1993 pro-abortion speech came to light, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for the great Dr. James Dobson, Senator Sam Brownback, Senator John Thune, and any members of the conservative base who had reserved judgment up to that point....

WASHINGTON - Rebounding from the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush is poised to select between two of the nation's leading conservative federal appeals court judges--both experienced jurists with deep backgrounds in constitutional law--for what promises to be a bruising Senate confirmation battle. With an announcement expected Sunday or Monday, administration officials have narrowed the focus to Judges Samuel Alito of New Jersey and J. Michael Luttig of Virginia, sources involved in the process said.

WASHINGTON — Rebounding from the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush is poised to select between two of the nation's leading conservative federal appeals-court judges — both with deep backgrounds in constitutional law — for what promises to be a bruising Senate confirmation battle. With an announcement expected today or Monday, administration officials have narrowed the focus to Judges Samuel Alito of New Jersey and Michael Luttig of Virginia, sources involved in the process said. Both have sterling legal qualifications and solid conservative credentials, and either would set off an explosive fight with Senate Democrats,...

President George W. Bush on Saturday was narrowing his choices of Supreme Court nominees to replace Harriet Miers as Republicans said the short list consisted of highly credentialed, solidly conservative judges. Among the candidates most talked about were appeals court judges Michael Luttig and Samuel Alito. Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Camp David retreat, was expected to unveil his choice within days. A source close to the selection process who spoke on condition of anonymity said avoiding a battle with Democrats, who have warned Bush about picking a right-wing activist, would not be the president's top priority.