Conservative J. Michael Luttig, a retired federal appeals court judge, announced Monday that he is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, citing the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S.
Capitol. Luttig, whom Politico described as being in “the top of the conservative legal world,” was appointed by George H.W.
Bush. He also worked as an attorney in the Reagan White House and clerked for conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Luttig is a counselor and special advisor for Coca-Cola and previously worked as senior advisor to Boeing.
He says this will be his first time voting for a Democrat. Luttig’s primary reason for endorsing Harris and opposing Trump is “the war on America’s Democracy that was instigated by the former president and his allies on January 6, 2021.” “Regrettably, in the presidential election of 2024 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 said in a statement obtained by CNN .
“As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.” Luttig informally advised then-Vice President Mike Pence in the lead-up to Jan. 6, when Pence refused to go along with Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The retired judge went on to test.