BigTent hosted Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice and retired Judge J. Michael Luttig. They joined us to discuss the 2024 election, and whether Trump is ineligible for the presidency in accordance with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. This section bars anyone who has violated their oath to uphold the US Constitution by “engaging in insurrection”, from holding public office. Judge Luttig has said that the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the question of Trump’s eligibility will be “one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions since the founding of the nation.”
About our Speakers:
Michael Waldman is president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to revitalize the nation’s systems of democracy and justice. He was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999 and is the author of The Second Amendment: A Biography and The Fight to Vote. Waldman was a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. A graduate of Columbia College and NYU School of Law, he comments widely in the media on law and policy.
J. Michael Luttig served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 15 years, from 1991 to 2006. He was appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, and served as assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice and counselor to the attorney general of the United States. He was assistant counsel to the president at the White House from 1981 to 1982 under President Ronald Reagan. From 1982 to 1983, he was a law clerk to then-Judge Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. From 1983 to 1985, he served as a law clerk and then special assistant to the chief justice of the United States.
Links discussed on the Podcast
NY Times Article:The Trump Threat Is Growing. Lawyers Must Rise to Meet This Moment
Atlantic Article: The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again
BigTent Podcast: Judge Michael Luttig and Michael Waldman