Government

Former Republican Federal Judge Warns Of 'Civil War' If Donald Trump Loses 2024 Election

This is... not great news.

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Judge J Michael Luttig – Boeing

Judge J. Michael Luttig (via YouTube)

Before the Republican party went off the Trump deep end, Judge J. Michael Luttig was considered quite the conservative firebrand. His jurisprudence was rated “consistently conservative” by an early 2000s study conducted by political scientists, and Luttig was even bandied about as a short list contender when George W. Bush ultimately appointed John Roberts to the Supreme Court.

But times, they are different now. Since leaving the federal bench in 2006, Luttig has made news for some… off brand reasons for a conservative. There’s his downright moderate — if still textualist — position on the Second Amendment, and he famously counseled Mike Pence that he really did have to count and accept the Electoral College votes as they were cast and certified by states, no matter how big a fit Donald Trump pitched about it.

Now he’s back making headlines after a podcast interview with Charlie Sykes, and Judge Luttig remains unimpressed with Trump politics. He believes the Trump camp has continued to destabilize American democracy and the rule of law. And should Trump lose the next presidential election? Well, Luttig says Trump allies “are poised to attempt to overturn the 2024 election if he were to lose.”

Should that happen, again, Luttig is not optimistic about the impact on the country, “If he were to do that, then I believe that we would be on the verge of a civil war.”

“Factually, what we have in America today and where we are in America today, namely that our institutions of democracy and law have been under vicious attack for years now, that is from within, not from without the United States,” he said. “And these vicious attacks are unsustainable and unendurable.”

He continued, noting now is the key time for our cherished democratic institutions. “They’ve already taken their toll on American democracy and American law in their impact and consequence of their impact on the institutions of democracy and law,” he said. “We are at a perilous crossroads.”

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That’s a pretty dire warning from the former judge.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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