Mike Pence’s Dangerous Ploy
Feb. 24, 2023 - Opinion by (Judge) J. Michael Luttig - New York Times
Mr. Luttig, a former judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, provided advice to then-Vice President Pence on the run-up to the Electoral College count on Jan. 6, 2021.
… Injecting campaign-style politics into the criminal investigatory process with his rhetorical characterization of Mr. Smith’s subpoena as a “Biden D.O.J. subpoena,” Mr. Pence is trying to score points with voters who want to see President Biden unseated in 2024. Well enough. That’s what politicians do. But Jack Smith’s subpoena was neither politically motivated nor designed to strengthen President Biden’s political hand in 2024. Thus the jarring dissonance between the subpoena and Mr. Pence’s characterization of it. It is Mr. Pence who has chosen to politicize the subpoena, not the D.O.J. …
… What Mr. Smith wants to know about are Mr. Pence’s communications and interactions with Mr. Trump before, and perhaps during, the vote count, which are entirely fair game for a grand jury investigating possible crimes against the United States. …
… This is especially true where, as here, a vice president seeks to protect his conversations with a president who himself is under federal criminal investigation for obstructing the very official proceedings in which the special counsel is interested. …
… It is a time-tested axiom in the law never to ask questions you don’t know the answer to. This should apply to politicians in spades. But the die has been cast by the former vice president. The only question now is not whether he will have to testify before the grand jury, but how soon. …
J. Michael Luttig, a former judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, provided advice to then-Vice President Mike Pence on the run-up to the Electoral College count on Jan. 6, 2021.
Conservative former judge J. Michael Luttig blasts Mike Pence plan to defy subpoena
By Tierney Sneed and Jamie Gangel - CNN - February 24, 2023
… Luttig’s public condemnation of Pence’s claims is notable, given the counsel he gave Pence and his team that the former vice president did not have the authority to disrupt the congressional certification vote – counsel Pence ultimately followed. Luttig has previously praised Pence for withstanding former President Donald Trump’s pressure to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s win.
Luttig testified before the House January 6 select committee, which was disbanded with the new Congress this year. Luttig has deep roots in the conservative legal movement. He clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia when Scalia was on the powerful DC federal appeals court. Luttig counts among his former clerks Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and FBI Director Chris Wray, as well as John Eastman, the attorney who spearheaded the plan to disrupt Congress certification of the 2020 results. …
Political Voices Network - Feb 11, 2023
Neal Katyal: Jack Smith Calls Pence’s Bluff. Trump’s VP is Talking Out of Both Sides of His Mouth…