A conservative former federal judge said Trump 'has cynically chosen to inflict this embarrassing spectacle on the Nation' following his indictment
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
- A conservative former federal judge admonished former President Donald Trump on Twitter after a new federal indictment was unsealed against him on Tuesday.
- Former Judge J. Michael Luttig said it's both "tragic and regrettable" that Trump chose to "inflict this embarrassing spectacle on the nation."
- Luttig previously acted as an informal adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.
A conservative former federal judge castigated former President Donald Trump after a federal grand jury indicted him for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Former Judge J. Michael Luttig, who was appointed by Republican President H.W. Bush, tweeted Wednesday that the indictment "is all the more tragic and regrettable because the former president has cynically chosen to inflict this embarrassing spectacle on the Nation -- and a spectacle it will be."
"Never again will the world be inspired by America's democracy in the way that it has been inspired since America's founding almost 250 years ago," Luttig added.
Luttig previously spoke at one of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol's public hearings in 2022. He said that if Pence had followed Trump's command on January 6, 2021, to overturn the presidential election results, it would "have been the first constitutional crisis since the founding of the Republic."
The former judge, who previously acted as an informal adviser for Vice President Mike Pence and was a law clerk to former Justice Antonin Scalia, was once close with Sen. Ted Cruz, who said he was "like a father to me."
Cruz later named Luttig as an ideal candidate to become a Supreme Court justice, noting in a presidential debate that he would have preferred to have Luttig on the court instead of Chief Justice John Roberts.
The indictment levied against Trump on Wednesday charged him with "conspiracy to defraud the United States," "conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding," "obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding," and a "conspiracy against rights."
The indictment is the second federal indictment Trump has been hit with in 2023, alongside charges levied against him in Florida for mishandling classified documents after he left the White House. A Manhattan district attorney also brought charges against Trump this year tied to an alleged hush-money scheme related to adult film star Stormy Daniels.