Conservative Legal Icon Nails Donald Trump With Dark Distinction

“He betrayed us,” Luttig said of former president and current GOP nominee Donald Trump, later adding: “In the almost 250 years since the founding of the nation, no president before Donald Trump has ever so betrayed America.”

“Republicans and conservatives have always proudly claimed they would be the first to put the country above all else when the time came. That time has come,” wrote Luttig, who endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in August.

“If Republicans are unwilling to put America before their party now, they will never do so. They must be honest with themselves,” he added.

When announcing his support of Harris this summer, the George H.W. Bush-appointed judge said there is only “one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law.”

Luttig in 2021 advised Mike Pence when the then-vice president was under fierce pressure from Trump to help him to overturn the 2020 election result.

Pence, who has refused to endorse Trump this election, ultimately chose to defend democracy.