Supreme Court Needs to Protect Legal System From Trump: Ex-Judge

Former longtime U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig says it’s the Supreme Court’s responsibility to protect the federal courts, judges and all justice system participants from the “reprehensible spectacle of the former president’s [Donald Trump’s] inexcusable, threatening attacks.”

This week, Trump has repeatedly attacked New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over his New York criminal case, and his daughter on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social. On Tuesday, Merchan issued a gag order barring Trump from publicly speaking about witnesses and court staff in his hush-money case.

The ex-president is facing 34 felony charges, accused of falsifying business records to conceal “hush money” paid to adult-film star Stormy Daniels amid his 2016 presidential campaign, aimed to prevent her from publicly speaking about her alleged affair with Trump in 2006. The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has repeatedly denied the accusations. The case is set for trial on April 15 in New York City.

On X, formerly Twitter, Luttig, a Texas native and former longtime jurist for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and appointed by ex-President George H.W. Bush, posted a thread on Friday about Trump’s recent attacks on Merchan and his daughter, saying, “The Nation is witnessing the determined delegitimization of both its Federal and State judiciaries and the systematic dismantling of its system of justice and Rule of Law by a single man—the former President of the United States.”

Luttig continued: “It is the responsibility of the Supreme Court of the United States in the first instance to protect the federal courts, the federal judges, and all participants in the justice system from the reprehensible spectacle of the former president’s inexcusable, threatening attacks, just as it is the responsibility of the respective State Supreme Courts in the first instance to protect their courts and their state judges from the same.”

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for comment on Friday.

Luttig also noted in the thread that it is “a regrettable commentary on our times” that Senior Judge Reggie Walton, a George W. Bush appointee in the District of Columbia, was left “no choice” but to speak out on Trump’s behavior on national television.

Walton spoke with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday night, saying “it is very troubling” when judges and their families are threatened.

“We do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law and we believe in the rule of law and the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm,” Walton said.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin responded to Luttig’s post on X, saying, “I have spoken to two sitting federal judges today, both of whom told me that it was ‘highly, highly unusual’ for a colleague to appear in the press for any reason. But one said she was deeply ‘grateful’ to Walton for standing up for them all.”

When asked about Luttig’s remark about the Supreme Court’s responsibility to protect judges from Trump’s attacks, Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg told Newsweek on Friday, “The Supreme Court has shown no appetite for wading into matters involving Trump’s conduct. After all, when they had the chance to address Trump’s alleged support for an insurrection, they passed.”

“And if the trial judges remain largely silent while they and their families are verbally attacked, what makes anyone think the Supreme Court Justices will speak for them?” Aronberg continued.

Luttig concluded his thread with: “Ultimately, however, it is the responsibility of the entire nation” to protect the Constitution, courts, judges, rule of law and America’s democracy from “vicious attack, threat, undermine, and deliberate delegitimization at the hands of anyone so determined.”