Former federal judge J. Michael Luttig criticized former President Trump for his attacks on judges in his legal cases, saying that nothing would change because those in power haven’t really “addressed it.”
“We all have to understand that from the first time the former president began his attacks, vicious attacks on the federal courts and the state courts and their individual judges, his objective was to delegitimize those courts,” Luttig said Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline White House.”
“So that when and if they ruled against him in the various matters that he’s been charged with, then, at least his followers, if not a good part of the nation, would dismiss those rulings against him as having been politically inspired and motivated,” he continued.
Luttig added, “Now, he’s the only one at the moment who’s claiming that those institutions are no longer legitimate. But … many of his followers believe it today.”
His comments come just days after the judge overseeing Trump’s hush money case, related to a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair, issued a gag order on him. The former president, who is also the presumptive GOP nominee for the White House, lashed out at Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter in response.
The order prevents him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors and others during what is slated to be the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president. However, it did not directly apply to the judge — though Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg claimed Friday that it should.
“The Judge’s daughter is allowed to post pictures of her ‘dream’ of putting me in jail, the Manhattan D.A. is able to say whatever lies about me he wants, the Judge can violate our Laws and Constitution at every turn, but I am not allowed to talk about the attacks against me, and the Lunatics trying to destroy my life, and prevent me from winning the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am dominating?” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.
The former president also called the gag order, the third of its kind to be levied in his court cases, “illegal, un-American” and “unConstitutional,” and characterized Merchan as politically biased.
Luttig reiterated Friday his belief that Trump’s constant barbs against the Biden administration and judges have likely convinced others that the system is failing, calling it a “tragedy.”
“And they will cast their votes in favor of Donald Trump in November, on the basis that our
institutions of law and democracy are no longer functioning. That’s the tragedy,” he told host Nicolle Wallace, echoing comments he made in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter. “That’s the tragedy that the nation faces. Right now.”
“We’ve acquiesced in that to date,” he added. “Acquiesce, meaning no one, not one single person, in a position of responsibility to address this issue has done so.”
Asked if Trump’s actions could be compared to a “mobster” mentality, Luttig suggested the former president’s rhetoric is even worse.
“A mobster could never pose the same threat as Donald Trump does to American democracy and the rule of law,” said the former judge. “The fact that he was a president of the United States and is now trying to undermine America’s democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law is crucial.”
“This is the fundamental threat that America is facing today,” he added.
He also praised sitting Judge Reggie Walton for defending the rule of law on television and warning against tyranny, saying it required “great courage” for him to do so.
