The former federal judge J. Michael Luttig, who counseled then-Vice President Mike Pence’s team in the days before the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack, spoke to FRONTLINE ahead of his anticipated House Jan. 6 committee appearance.
“The plan was to overturn the election through the exploitation of what I’ve called the institutions of democracy and the instruments and instrumentalities of our democracy,†Luttig told FRONTLINE in a May 25, 2022, interview — his first for television.
Luttig served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006. Prior to his time on the bench, Luttig was assistant counsel to the president under Ronald Reagan and clerked for then-judge Antonin Scalia and for Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger. He also served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice under George H.W. Bush. After leaving government service in 2006, he entered the private sector, where he has worked for both Boeing and Coca-Cola. He is currently retired.
This interview is being published as part of FRONTLINE’s Transparency Project, an effort to open up the source material behind our documentaries. Explore the transcript of this interview, and others, on the FRONTLINE website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview/j-michael-luttig/
#FrontlineInterview #MichaelLuttig #January6
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CHAPTERS:
Rising Concern During the 2016 Elections – 0:00:00
The Trump Presidency – 0:08:25
The 2020 Election – 0:18:01
Initial Response to the 2020 Election Results – 0:25:42
Growing Concern of a Constitutional Crisis – 0:48:33
A Call From Richard Cullen – 1:00:39
“We need to help the vice president.†– 1:21:44
An “Assault From Within†– 1:48:42
The Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol – 2:02:35
A Call from the Vice President – 2:08:27
The Response to the Events of Jan. 6 – 2:15:22
A “Clear and Present Danger†– 2:27:48
The Twitter Thread – 2:35:21
💓PBS💓ðŸ„ðŸ¹ðŸ˜‡ðŸ’“💓
God bless you Judge Luttig!
more innocent people will die worse still soldiers will and have been murdered from within, you must do something and stop the tyranny from your govt. you have to do something from your expertise, he is killing innocent citizens everyday while good people watch through media the cruelty unfold. the demon is mocking omg
trump is feulled by peadofilia narcisistic elite behaviour
The FBI was behind Jan 6, Nancy Pelosi, many democrats
involved to create a false narrative. This clown is a fool.
Ignorant fool. They all worked and conspired crimminally
to do a coup on Trump.
But we have a Constitutional Republic!
Democracy is MOB RULE!
No minority rights!
Who in the hell can understand this guy's stuttering. I can summarize this, guy's stutter in two sentences.
Constitution crisis. Wouldn't that have been back in Bush? Senior Bush junior Obama Biden Hillary Clinton, Trump Biden Trump. I mean, that is the order. So what the f*** are you saying? The g**** constitution has been dissected since Obama. He fully belonged to her of the Constitution him in Biden. So what the f*** are you talking about, criminal?
Trump won 2016, 2020, 2024.
How lovely interview judge Luttig’s article in the New York Times by interviewer from PBS, both far left politically motivated news sources. For sure anything said is a lie as they both support the far left perspective. I’m so happy PBS is losing their public funding. We need more middle of the road investigative journalistic presentations not just the news that parrots the far left mantra
Leaders are less likely to counter Trump and his cadre because entitlements programs in this country center around deactivating funds from the contributor's net worth, negating them from rolling over to each following generation. This makes everyone poorer. Now, after almost 100 years of this, there's an indirect, depraved corruption, where there's not necessarily money being passed behind closed doors (although that can happen too)….it's just that nobody has independence and via desperation must cling to their careers, and this leads to pressure to stay in line.
It's impossible to be surprised though, because people literally vote for this BS. They ask for programs which deactivate funds from their net worth, then complain when they have no net worth.
Illiterates have destroyed this country and post truth leadership by MAGA tells the illiterates they're right in their theories, e.g; RFK, and the left via AOC does the same by acting as if poor people comprise an even remotely meaningful percentage of the tax base by lying about the rich not paying taxes (in reality: The top 1% funds the bottom 40% of society). Point is, leaders are actively worsening the situation by plunging society into ultra-derivative conflicts which have little to no bearing on the underlying causes of the predicament which led to MAGA/J6/etc.
It won't get better until entitlements are fixed, but the illiterates riot every time that happens, which scares leadership….so they just cling to ultra-derivative, recreational sub-conflicts, where even the technical winner is still ultimately a loser. Things will get worse as long as this is the dynamic.
The only peripheral hope is that the Fed's rate normalization causes a housing correction by year 2030. But — you guessed it — the illiterates want to change this too, by lowering rates, which will worsen their own predicament by inflating housing values. How fun…
Mike Luttig, darling of leftist media, is the guy that stated the Colorado Supreme Court decided in "unassailable" fashion to keep Donald Trump off the primary ballot. The United States Supreme Court shot down that decision 9-0.
Luttig was also hired as Boeing General Counsel to keep Boeing executives out of jail subsequent to the 737MAX crashes.
Luttig is a lousy judge of legal matters and colludes with evil doers.
Constitutional crisis. Shit up. What an idiot trying to rationalize a talking point.
This guy talks in word salads like !komilla
I’ve never seen so many bot written comments on a single video. More than half of these fake comments paraphrase the same nonsensical message which distills down into thank you, enlightening, integrity, captivating. From the moment I heard Luttig’s reference to his work on the CNN “The Republican’s Blueprint for the Steal of the 2024 Election†it was apparent that a fair and unbiased read of matters would not be forthcoming. Moving past Luttig’s neurological affliction which creates a cognitive delay that manifests as an unbearably slow and choppy speech pattern, there are several central flaws at the core of Luttig’s rationalization that undermine the totality of his assertions.
For starters, the constitution as viewed by Supreme Court justices trend toward 2 modes of thinking and approaches to interpreting the Constitution: originalism and evolutionary. A central premise of Luttig’s argument is a bias toward “evolutionary Constitution interpretation†and his sophomoric logic group anything that follows “originalist Constitution interpretation“ as a “constitutional crisis.†The divide between these schools of thought are a cornerstone of constitutional debate over matters such as the meaning of the second amendment. Categorizing anything that breaks from one’s preferred mode constitutional interpretation as a “constitutional crisis†is intellectually dishonest and moves the needle from attempts to be persuasive to manipulative and misleading. The fact that through all Luttig’s granular thinking he refuses to acknowledge these varied schools of thought and attempts to invalidate any contradictory interpretation as a “constitutional crisis†destroys any credibility to his arguments. Additionally, the total lack of intellectual credibility calls into question his history as a judge given the expectations for members of the bench are to go into each legal assessment and look at the facts and weight judgement free of personal animus or bias yet his judgement of this matter is anything but. Isn’t his perspective and judgement as a former federal judge precisely why the viewer is supposed take put stock in his perspective and opinions?
Next Luttig misses the forest for the trees, choosing to analyze some trees to their lowest common denominator while ignoring others even exist. The constitution starts with “We The People†and level set that we are establishing a representative government of the people for the people. The poison pill in the “evolutionary Constitution interpretation†is that it allows political elites to evolve away from that central emphasis of “We The People†and is the basis for what has been allowed to create “the Swamp.†Under “evolutionary Constitution interpretation†the applicability of our constitutional frame and our system of government has been corrupted as is readily observable by our legislators long history of participating in self dealing which is how you wind up with elected official who make a salary of $175,000 a year amassing fortunes worth upwards of $20 Million dollars. Opposition to this corrupted system is not a “constitutional crisis†but rather representative of a rejection of the evolutionary interpretation of the constitution that has become rotten to its core. The antidote to these failed progressive tropes is a return to a “Originalist Constitutional Interpretation†and viewing the constitution through the prism of the Founders original intended framework. To the chagrin of Luttig and other members of the ruling political elite whom encompass the upper echelon of our civil service branches, a central theme of this realignment is pulling back powers from a corrupt, bloated, and inefficient Federal government and returning various areas of oversight back to state governments as was original stipulated in the constitution.
Moreover, another nuance Luttig is mute on is that there is a true “Constitutional Crisis†we face today which has reached critical mass. For more than a century, proponents of “evolutionist constitutional interpretation†have overreached the powers bestowed to the Federal government. Huge swathes of the existing perceived powers of Federal Governments are derived from an abusive and bastardized interpretation of the “Commerce Clause†of the US Constitution. The Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) of the U.S. Constitution states that Congress shall have the power:
“To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.â€
This was originally intended as a limited power—meant to prevent economic warfare between states, ensure a free trade zone within the country, and enable Congress to manage trade disputes between states. At no point in the original intent did this clause authorize the federal government to regulate anything and everything that merely affects commerce. However, this is precisely what has happened through an expansionist, evolutionist interpretation of the Constitution. Over the last century, dubious majority regimes in the Legislator have exploit this clause as the foundation for federal agencies and laws. From Wickard v. Filburn (1942) onward, the abuse only intensified and broadened. Without the distorted Commerce Clause interpretation, half of the federal government’s agencies and laws would collapse overnight.
• The ATF, DEA, OSHA, EPA, and FDA would be state-level issues.
• Most gun laws, drug laws, and federal workplace regulations would disappear.
• The federal government would be restricted to what the Constitution actually allows—regulating actual commerce between states, not individual activity.
The genuine “constitutional crisis†we face isn’t just about one law suit, law or agency—it’s about rolling back an entire century of unconstitutional expansion. The “evolutionary constitutional interpretation†that Luttig is desperate to defend, is a cancer to the American form of government that has twisted the balance of power between States and Federal governments to the point that it has destabilized the system and broken government’s ability to adhere to the framework of the constitution. This is the root cause of why the people of the Republic have chosen new stewards from outside the ranks of the political elites to overhauled and reigned in our governmental system. The judiciary, grossly missing sufficient checks and balances in its own right, sat silent as layers of bureaucracy were added brick by brick until we reached the point we find ourselves in today with unjust laws and unsustainable government operations. The inability of our existing governing and regulatory bodies to remain steadfast to the being representative of the people is why the Republic has chosen to elect new leaders whom ran on the platform of peeling back the layers of historically dubious legislative actions. It is “We the People†that have tasked our representatives and the current administration to pivot the country in a new direction and realignment with the originalist interpretation of the constitution. It’s a shame that for all Luttig’s analysis of how the Swiss watch workers that he lacks the perspective to zoom out to higher elevations and see how all the pieces fit together and take measure of what time it is..
… onset of dementia ….
One of the most difficult interviews I’ve listened to. He should stick with his 45 seconds of periodic commentary for CNN.
Ahhh…😮
1:38
And… what do you think about today, Sir? Constitutional Crisis yet?! 🤯. When will you actually speak up. Everyone! This is freaking crazy 🤪 and dangerous.
12yrs later I’m still listening to the first story
I never thought I would tear up over a mundane legal tweet read by a lowkey judge who never wanted the limelight.
But when he read it out at the end because he has more integrity, love for his country and stood up when most others don’t I did share a few tears.
He’s a hero… so many politicians aren’t. I’m not even American.
What a pleasure it is for me to see one of my Hero's laugh.
I wish there were more men like Judge Luttig Honest and a true American
I totally agree 🙠with Judge Luttige.Not enough people was stepping up because Satan KGB Maga Oligarchs with psychological extravaganza used with the KGB hijacker, Oligarchs obtained support to dehumanized deprived undermined the American citizens seeking political Justice!!!💔 Genocides deguised criminals more huge than made known. The majority of people faded away.
I have to apologize to Liz Cheney for nominate Supreme.We the people can want so much for good people who goes the extra mile for their Country when in deep trouble.I really appreciated the support of Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Scarmucci, Michael Bloomberg, Eric Swalwel and so many.Judge Luttig is a phenomenal Judge and he is so deserves responsible.ðŸ™ðŸ“šâœ¨ðŸ’™ðŸŒŽ
Thank you, Frontline, for the good work you do for our Democracy.
You don't have to be political, just possess a minut amount of morals to know that any of whats going on, it's ALL WRONG, whats even worse is there is NO ONE, NO THING who can or
will put a stop to IT!!!!! this country should not put up with all this blatant injurious lawlessness and self ish ness of interest..headed by ykw.
I tell you one thing and it's probably 100% true.
More foreigners will listen to this speech especially to its entirety than Americans!!!!!!!
Americans are truly clueless by choice!!!!!
Unfortunately truth be told most Americans will never see this.
It is a crying shame.
I bet you anything you want More people will be watching young semi naked 20-year-old girls on TikTok instead of listening to a patriot with a conscience and integrity.
You know how they say most peoples attention span is less than a few seconds well what do you think so many "shorts" pop up on your screen everyday.
I can't imagine that more than I don't know let's say what 1% of the population watches it and sits through the whole incredibly important video here.
Americans want to be made to laugh and they lacked and Donald he makes them laugh he talks to them about the important stuff you know the Hannibal lecter the doors in the cats Angel Illinois…….
I am truly so disgusted by the absurdity and stupidity of these people who once again voted this despicable orange man to lead the country.
How you people been asleep the past 10 years???? I mean some of them would open up the door and let him in their house and let him sleep with their daughters their granddaughters and their wife if she's hot enough!!!!
Good lord man, I’m surprised Jan 6th did not come and go before finishing the story. Speaks volumes about Pence approving something so dramatic and historical without actually knowing what it was going to say in his tweet. Talking about plausible deniability.
Christ is King. Trust in Him. For all truth flows through Him. He is the Son of the Creator. The Triune God.
⤠I love judge Luttig, he makes me feel reassured there's normal people in the world. Judge, you must have an awesome wife that you guys make the best coupleâ¤
Now that Trump has a set the table by casting suspicion already on the 2024 election, what are we going to do about the new transition of power should Harris win? Time to get rid of the electoral college! One man, one item!
American democracy was admirably restated once and for all by Lincoln at Gettysburg as 'A new birth of freedom' dedicated to 'government of the people by the people for the people' not government by an oligarchy for plutocrats led by an autocrat and tyrant.
He’s such a nice guy also smart and very well spoken. I’d have never voted for him 8 years ago.
Brilliant interview
Good Judge, don't you worry, ;
WE ARE ALMOST THERE !!!!
It's called Democracy.
Wow. I remember him telling this story 2 years ago. We couldn’t have imagined all that has happened since the Judge came out for democracy.
The NAZI's were defeated in Europe, so, Donald Trump is trying to revive the NAZI's in the USA
Your honor and respect are soooo much appreciated â¤â¤â¤
drink everytime he says "erm" !
The world's dictator's are right.Trump is a useful idiot 😂.
We did not legally hav a Prezident for 4 yirz . Trump lied wen he took the oath on Jan 20 2017. He did not and never intended to follow or defend the Constitution . Everybody shoud stop calling him the 'former Prezident'.
Watching 9 days before the election and so grateful I saw this.