Former Federal Judge Criticizes the Judiciary and the Nation for Not Condemning Donald Trump More

Former federal judge, J. Michael Luttig, strongly criticized Donald Trump for his attacks on judges in his legal cases and asserted that little would change unless those in power took real action. He called on leaders in both state and federal courts, as well as all Americans, to address the issue more seriously, as reported by HuffPost. Luttig, a Republican, was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and went on to serve until 2006. He later left for a higher-paying position with Boeing and now works for Coca-Cola.

On X, Luttig posted, “Never in American history has any person, let alone a President of the United States, leveled such threatening attacks against the federal and state courts and federal and state judicial officers of the kind the former president has leveled continually now for years." He added, “But suffice it to say, never in history has any person leveled such attacks and been met with such passivity, acquiescence, and submissiveness by the nation." He further emphasized in his statement that it falls upon the Supreme Court to safeguard the federal courts, federal judges, and all individuals involved in the justice system.

Additionally, Luttig commended U.S. District Judge, Reggie Walton, for speaking out about his concerns to CNN this week. Although, it's uncommon for sitting judges to give media interviews, Walton, whose court is located in the District of Columbia, criticized Trump on Thursday. He described Trump's attacks as a deplorable spectacle and asserted, "Ultimately, however, it is the responsibility of the entire nation to protect its courts and judges, its Constitution, its Rule of Law, and America’s Democracy from vicious attack, threat, undermine, and deliberate delegitimization at the hands of anyone so determined."

Luttig also discussed this on MSNBC's Deadline White House. According to The Hill, he said, “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." He added, “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."

Most recently, Trump has been targeting the daughter of the judge overseeing his criminal hush-money trial in New York. He has also criticized other judges handling cases against him, prosecutors, and entire appellate districts that haven't ruled in his favor. In his New York state business fraud trial, Judge Arthur Engoron warned Trump that he could be jailed if he continued to disparage the judge's staff. Despite a gag order preventing him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors, and others during what is expected to be the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president, the order did not directly apply to the judge.