John,
Our case against Donald Trump is bringing together unlikely allies, from Colorado election lawyers on our litigation team who went toe-to-toe in court for years, to George Conway and liberal Constitutional scholar Larry Tribe and conservative retired Judge J. Michael Luttig. That is a testament to the strength of our case.
On Thursday, we’re going to the Supreme Court to defend our lawsuit win against Donald Trump. If you can, share this email with your friends and family to let them know about the stakes in this case, or consider making a donation today →
Last week, we saw an unprecedented outpouring of support from legal experts, former Republican elected officials, democracy scholars and historians in our case against Trump. I wanted to specifically highlight one brief, from legendary retired Judge J. Michael Luttig and 19 former officials who worked in the last six Republican presidential administrations.
This brief powerfully makes the case that Trump is disqualified, and shows that this case is not partisan or anti-democratic—it’s just about enforcing the Constitution. As these prominent conservatives write:
“Mr. Trump incited, and therefore engaged in, an armed insurrection against the Constitution’s express and foundational mandates that require the peaceful transfer of executive power to a newly-elected President. In doing so, Mr. Trump disqualified himself under Section 3.”
John, Luttig and his fellow authors also call on the Supreme Court to make a decision in the case that is impartial and not made out of fear of Trump’s threats or potential political consequences:
“Particularly important is the responsibility of every Supreme Court Justice to fulfill his or her solemn oath or affirmation to ‘faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as Justice under the Constitution and the laws of the United States. So help me God.’... As Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist No. 78, Justices—unlike politicians—have life tenure so that they will fulfill that responsibility.”
The brief also points the finger directly at Trump for inciting insurrection with his election lies and making the violence on January 6th worse by not only failing to call the rioters off, but tweeting about Mike Pence:
“After the speech, Mr. Trump continued his incitement, tweeting one hour and three minutes after being informed that the Capitol was under attack: ‘Mike Pence didn’t have the courage’…This tweet by itself immediately caused more violence at the Capitol. Mr. Trump told his staff that perhaps Vice President Pence ‘deserved to be hanged.’”
Since January 6th, Trump has expressed no remorse for the events of that day. In fact, as Luttig and his co-authors point out, Trump has confessed his antipathy for the Constitution by calling for the termination of parts of the Constitution.
The prospect of allowing Trump to be on the ballot after making such public threats against our democracy and inciting insurrection is deeply concerning to these conservative legal experts. And of course, it is deeply concerning to us at CREW. That’s why we’ve devoted ourselves to this legal fight for the past two years. And that’s why we’re in this case to win it.
As we press forward with this lawsuit and prepare to take on our biggest fight yet, we hope you’ll consider making a donation today that will go directly toward our efforts to hold Trump accountable →
Thank you,
Adam Rappaport
General Counsel
CREW
P.S. You can read the full brief by Judge Luttig and his coauthors here.
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