By — Associated Press Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-former-judge-michael-luttig-says-theres-still-clear-present-danger-during-jan-6-hearing Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: Former Judge Michael Luttig says there’s still ‘clear, present danger’ during Jan. 6 hearing Politics Jun 16, 2022 6:03 PM EDT The Jan. 6 committee on Thursday heard from a highly-respected conservative scholar about the continued danger presented by former president Donald Trump and his allies to the United States. Watch Luttig’s remarks in the player above. Retired federal judge Michael Luttig said that had Vice President Mike Pence obeyed Trump’s orders he would have plunged America into a revolution within a constitutional crisis in America. With live testimony, including from Pence’s counsel, and other evidence from its yearlong investigation the panel is dissecting as unlawful and unconstitutional the plan from to reverse Joe Biden’s election victory. The pressure Trump put on Pence, including at a Jan. 6 rally, led directly to the insurrection at the Capitol, the panel said. The panel opened its third hearing this month demonstrating that Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election left him grasping for alternatives as courts turned back dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote. WATCH: Jan. 6 committee hearings – Day 3 Trump latched onto conservative lawyer John Eastman’s highly unusual plan to defy historical precedent of the Electoral Count Act, and started pressuring Pence in public and private as the vice president was to preside over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to certify Biden’s election. The committee has said the plan was illegal, and a federal judge has said it is “more likely than not” Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification Panel Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said, “Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe.” The panel’s yearlong investigation is showcasing Trump’s final weeks in office as the defeated president clung to “the big lie” of a rigged election even as those around him — his family, his top aides, officials at the highest levels of government — were telling him he simply lost the election. By — Associated Press Associated Press
The Jan. 6 committee on Thursday heard from a highly-respected conservative scholar about the continued danger presented by former president Donald Trump and his allies to the United States. Watch Luttig’s remarks in the player above. Retired federal judge Michael Luttig said that had Vice President Mike Pence obeyed Trump’s orders he would have plunged America into a revolution within a constitutional crisis in America. With live testimony, including from Pence’s counsel, and other evidence from its yearlong investigation the panel is dissecting as unlawful and unconstitutional the plan from to reverse Joe Biden’s election victory. The pressure Trump put on Pence, including at a Jan. 6 rally, led directly to the insurrection at the Capitol, the panel said. The panel opened its third hearing this month demonstrating that Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election left him grasping for alternatives as courts turned back dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote. WATCH: Jan. 6 committee hearings – Day 3 Trump latched onto conservative lawyer John Eastman’s highly unusual plan to defy historical precedent of the Electoral Count Act, and started pressuring Pence in public and private as the vice president was to preside over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to certify Biden’s election. The committee has said the plan was illegal, and a federal judge has said it is “more likely than not” Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification Panel Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said, “Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe.” The panel’s yearlong investigation is showcasing Trump’s final weeks in office as the defeated president clung to “the big lie” of a rigged election even as those around him — his family, his top aides, officials at the highest levels of government — were telling him he simply lost the election.