Conservative ex-judge fears 'the end of the rule of law' amid Trump and Musk attacks

Conservative former Judge J. Michael Luttig spoke to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Thursday about the attacks on judges and law firms by President Donald Trump's administration.

Trump issued an executive order targeting the prominent law firm Perkins Coie, which represented former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. It was swiftly blocked Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., who will preside over the case.

Wallace and Luttig connected it to a broad effort by Trump and his allies to intimidate lawyers, judges, and those who refuse to follow his directives.

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Special government employee and tech billionaire Elon Musk posted on X that judges who rule against Trump should be impeached. Musk said the judges are "grossly undermining the will of the people and destroying America." He called impeachment "the only way."

Reuters reported that threats against judges increased after Musk's comments.

Luttig called the threats on judges from Musk and Trump part of "the same cloth of assault on, on the rule of law and the independent judiciary in America."

"Yes, the vice president teased or provoked the issue of the possible defiance by the administration of court orders," Luttig recalled, citing a Feb. 9 post on X and a 2021 appearance on a conservative podcast by Vice President J.D. Vance. "The vice president is an intelligent man. He knew what he was doing, and he did that intentionally."

Three Republicans in the House have introduced Articles of Impeachment, Axios reported Tuesday.

He remarked that it's worth pausing over such statements.

"Nicolle, this is a direct threat to the judiciary of the United States, and it includes the Supreme Court justices themselves," said Luttig.

"I know for a fact that these threats and then these actual articles of impeachment have shaken the federal judiciary. But I also know that they — the federal judiciary — remain unshaken in their resolve to remain an independent branch, as the founders intended, and as the Constitution provides. And that they, as collectively as the federal judiciary, will not yield to these threats."

He cautioned that if the judiciary doesn't hold now, "it will be the end of the rule of law in America and change our country forever."

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