A conservative judge helped stop Trump on Jan. 6. He wants to finish the job. - The Washington Post

Luttig told his wife, Elizabeth, to telephone the police. “Keep the enactment open,” helium added.

Baffled, anxious, annoyed, Luttig opened the doorway conscionable a crack. There stood a stocky antheral with heavy achromatic eyebrows.

Antonin Scalia. Associate justness of the United States Supreme Court.

Scalia had driven done the nighttime astatine the petition of Luttig’s mother, who wanted him to beryllium the 1 to interruption the news: Luttig’s 63-year-old father, John, had been killed successful a carjacking extracurricular his Tyler, Tex., location hardly an hr earlier. And truthful the judicial fable showed up to beryllium with his erstwhile clerk arsenic helium placed 1 grim telephone telephone aft another, Luttig recalled successful a caller interview, sharing the communicative publically for the archetypal time.

It had to beryllium Scalia connected this astir atrocious nighttime of their lives. Bobbie Luttig, who was earnestly injured successful the attack, knew however her lad looked up to him. For a procreation of blimpish instrumentality students, Scalia was a paragon of a judicial doctrine centered connected reverence for the archetypal substance of the Constitution. Luttig had clerked for him astatine the national territory tribunal successful Washington and aboriginal held 1 of the posts Scalia had occupied connected his ain way to the bench, successful the Office of Legal Counsel, an obscure but influential cadre of brainy attorneys who supply ineligible guidance to the president.

Theirs had evolved into thing much than a mentor-mentee relationship, much than a friendship. They were integral parts of a movement, the keepers of the blimpish banner successful Washington’s clubby ineligible circles, wherever bright, young aspirants could beryllium tapped by their elders and acceptable connected a way toward the astir important ineligible jobs successful the nation. Reared successful the Ford and Reagan administrations, ascendant successful George H.W. Bush’s, Luttig became the protege and eulogist of 1 main justice, Warren Burger; a groomsman for another, John Roberts. (In a caller interview, Luttig repeatedly turned to phrases similar “one of my champion friends successful life” to picture immoderate of the astir salient judges, lawyers, concern leaders and journalists successful America.)

By the clip Scalia stood successful his doorway, the young instrumentality students were looking up to Luttig, too. His obsessively precise written opinions for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit successful Richmond had marked Luttig arsenic 1 of the starring blimpish intellectuals successful the ineligible strategy — the astir blimpish justice connected the astir blimpish tribunal successful America.

More than a quarter-century later, it was Luttig (pronounced LEW-tig) who would get a late-night telephone to travel the assistance of his tribe: Mike Pence, successful his last days arsenic vice president, would question retired Luttig’s ineligible proposal connected the nighttime of Jan. 4, 2021, arsenic Donald Trump pressured him to assistance overturn the results of the 2020 election. But Pence and his allies would request much from Luttig than his backstage counsel.

They needed his imprimatur.

What began arsenic a late-night telephone telephone has turned into the quest of a beingness for Luttig, the pinnacle of a agelong and storied career, highlighted past summertime by his stirring quality earlier the legislature sheet investigating the Jan. 6 uprising astatine the U.S. Capitol and by the committee’s last report released successful precocious December, which mentions his sanction much than 25 times.

But Luttig wasn’t conscionable condemning Trump and Trumpism. He was trying to bring a federation to its senses.

“We Americans nary longer hold connected what is close oregon wrong, what is to beryllium valued and what is not, what is acceptable behaviour and not, and what is and is not tolerable sermon successful civilized society,” helium said. “America is adrift.”

Months removed from that prima turn, Luttig’s worries person begun to ebb ever truthful slightly. He present envisions a federation 1 time disentangled from Trump’s influence, adjacent arsenic the erstwhile president launches a caller campaign. It’s a aboriginal Luttig is trying to signifier in tribunal cases, successful legislative chambers wherever he’s helped trade election instrumentality changes and successful professorial nationalist appearances wherever helium explains successful painstaking item however American democracy, though imperiled, tin inactive beryllium preserved.

Luttig tin deliberation of lone 1 crushed helium would person been wrested retired of quiescent semiretirement for this mission.

It was, he’s concluded, thing little than “divine intervention.”

The books are ever by his side, wherever Michael Luttig sits down to think. Massive dictionaries, penning manuals, thing that tin pass his fixation with words, with the intricacies of their meanings and the ways they tin beryllium deployed. Even by the standards of the ineligible profession, helium tin look similar a walking, talking thesaurus, with an affection for words similar “charlatanic,” “obeisantly” and “annihilative.”

At 68, Luttig is ruddy-faced and thickset successful a mode that mightiness beryllium expected from a antheral who has a location successful Vail but doesn’t ski. In conversation, helium tin look pained arsenic helium searches for an due phrase. He’ll property his fingers against his forehead, staring astatine the ground, starting and stopping, self-narrating (“Part One … Part Two…”) successful his faintly nasal Texas twang, editing himself successful existent clip — a waterfall of words and ideas, but successful ace slow-mo. One mightiness arsenic good get comfy due to the fact that it’s going to instrumentality awhile. It’s besides improbable to beryllium boring.

During his 15 years connected the national bench, from 1991 to 2006, helium became legendary for his voluminous and intricately elaborate writing, some periodically piquant and staunchly conservative. Once, in a lawsuit that outraged women’s groups, helium wrote a 214-page sentiment declaring that a information of the Violence Against Women Act allowing rape victims to writer their attackers for violating their civilian rights was unconstitutional. The law, helium concluded, couldn’t beryllium “reconciled with the principles of constricted national authorities upon which this federation is founded.” (The Supreme Court affirmed his ruling, with Sandra Day O’Connor penning the bulk opinion.)

“He was retired determination articulating a acceptable of ineligible principles that were moving the instrumentality successful a blimpish direction,” said Noel Francisco, who clerked for Luttig and would aboriginal service arsenic solicitor wide successful the Trump administration. “A crisp absorption connected rules erstwhile it comes to separation of powers, a steadfast skepticism of the administrative state, upholding laws that bespeak much culturally blimpish viewpoints. It was precise overmuch of a pro-law-and-order attack to the law, precise overmuch successful favour of holding criminals accountable for their conduct.”

He was conscionable 37 years aged erstwhile the archetypal president Bush tapped him for the bench, the youngest national appeals justice successful the country, but already a seasoned of the governmental world. His specialty: screening and prepping the Supreme Court nominees of Republican presidents. His home served arsenic the alleged “safe-house” lodging for aboriginal justness David Souter, the nighttime earlier Bush interviewed him for the occupation successful 1990. After Clarence Thomas’s 1991 information was imperiled by intersexual harassment allegations, Luttig was urgently summoned from a Hawaii abrogation to help. His engagement was criticized by immoderate ineligible ethicists since Luttig, though not yet sworn in, had already been confirmed arsenic a judge.

Years earlier, Luttig had adjacent encouraged his archetypal mentor, Chief Justice Burger, to discontinue portion Reagan was inactive successful bureau to regenerate him with a like-minded jurist; Luttig says helium hosted a meal successful which Burger could enslaved with Fred Fielding, the powerhouse White House counsel who would steer that selection.

On the appeals court, Luttig was considered specified a reliable ballot connected abortion that attorneys arguing for restrictive measures — parental notification rules, “partial-birth” termination bans — would space to steer their cases to him. He powerfully supported the 2nd Bush White House’s arguable post-9/11 argumentation of declaring coercion suspects “enemy combatants” truthful that they could beryllium held by the subject without charges. He was besides viewed arsenic a surefire protagonist of capital-punishment sentences. Yet immoderate well-informed members of the ineligible assemblage had nary thought astir his father’s murder. When Francisco interviewed for his 1996 clerkship with Luttig, they had a long, “very earnest and precise heartfelt conversation” astir their opposing takes connected the decease punishment — but Luttig ne'er mentioned his father.

Luttig astatine that clip was urging the courts to uphold the decease punishment for his father’s killer, Napoleon Beazley. In an interrogation with The Post, Luttig says helium would person been unfastened to prosecutors seeking a lesser condemnation if the killer’s household had apologized connected behalf of their son, who was 17 astatine the clip of the murder, and if helium hadn’t perceived a “coldness” from them. Beazley’s lawsuit reached the Supreme Court, wherever afloat one-third of the tribunal — Scalia, Thomas and Souter — recused themselves due to the fact that of their adjacent ties to Luttig; helium was executed by lethal injection successful 2002.

For each his perceived reliability arsenic a blimpish bulwark, Luttig could befuddle the governmental right. He ruled that Title IX protected a pistillate place-kicker connected an all-male shot squad from sex discrimination. He upheld a Black defendant’s close to exclude a White juror who had displayed the Confederate flag. And successful 2000 helium declared that the law close to termination established with Roe v. Wade had achieved the presumption of “super-stare decisis” — a word of his coining — due to the fact that the Supreme Court said it had repeatedly upheld the lawsuit and that it was irrefutably embedded successful the instrumentality astatine the time.

He famously kept his clerks — the “Luttigators” — moving for hours arsenic helium fastidiously pored implicit each condemnation of the draught opinions they helped him write. Luttig’s table had a machine show and a keyboard truthful helium could tweak and re-tweak; the clerks sat astatine a circular mahogany array with machine screens but nary keyboards. Occasionally helium would invitation them to his location connected weekends, ostensibly to ticker football, lone to flip the transmission to C-SPAN.

If they devoted themselves to him for a year, helium would archer them, “I’ll give myself to you for the remainder of your career.”

Almost each of his clerks — much than 40 implicit the years — went onto clerkships astatine the Supreme Court.

“That was eye-popping to everyone,” says chap erstwhile national judge, Thomas Griffith, a classmate of Luttig’s astatine the University of Virginia instrumentality school. “For Mike, that was a badge of honor.”

The 1 idiosyncratic Luttig couldn’t get a occupation astatine the Supreme Court was J. Michael Luttig. He was agelong considered by galore to beryllium astir a shoo-in but was passed implicit successful 2005 successful favour of Roberts and Samuel Alito. He near the national seat the pursuing twelvemonth for a lucrative but low-profile occupation arsenic wide counsel astatine Boeing, noting the looming outgo of his children’s assemblage tuition.

And truthful it was that 1 of the astir celebrated ineligible minds of his procreation failed to ascend to the highest tribunal successful the onshore — freeing him to play another, possibly much consequential role.

Just inquire Neal Katyal, a erstwhile lawman solicitor wide successful the Obama medication who recovered himself crossing the aisle to enactment with Luttig successful an ongoing ineligible conflict against a mentation from the Trumpian fringe of the GOP that would fundamentally fto authorities legislatures determine nationalist elections.

“There’s a bully argument,” says Katyal, who teared up doubly during an interview, “that Judge Luttig, by not being connected the Supreme Court, did much for our ideology than astir immoderate sitting Supreme Court justness oregon past one.”

On the nighttime of Jan. 4, 2021, Luttig was eating meal with his woman astatine their location successful Vail erstwhile the telephone rang. It was Richard Cullen, a longtime person and erstwhile U.S. lawyer successful Virginia who was past serving arsenic an extracurricular lawyer for Pence.

Cullen was hopeless for intel. An lawyer he’d ne'er heard of but who had represented Trump successful lawsuits challenging the statesmanlike predetermination results was going astir saying Pence had the authorization to artifact certification of the 2020 predetermination results. Cullen learned that it was a antheral named John Eastman, and that successful a erstwhile beingness helium had clerked for Luttig.

Luttig, puzzled, told Cullen that Eastman is “brilliant.”

“You don’t cognize wherefore I’m calling, bash you?” Cullen said.

Once Cullen explained what Eastman was up to, Luttig told Cullen to counsel Pence helium simply could not artifact the certification. When Luttig hung up, his woman turned to him: “Oh my god, you person to halt this.”

Luttig was astatine a loss. He said helium didn’t deliberation determination was thing helium could bash beyond offering his ineligible opinion. Retired from Boeing, he’d been retired of the nationalist oculus for years, avoiding partisan politics.

But Cullen called again successful the morning, and again pushed Luttig to accidental thing publically earlier Pence sat down for a planned luncheon with Trump. They yet agreed that Luttig would station thing connected Twitter.

The problem: This antheral of many, galore words couldn’t ideate confining his remarks to 280 characters — and helium had nary thought however to drawstring aggregate tweets into a Twitter thread. His precise first tweet, hardly 2 months earlier, had taken him 5 hours to compose; helium ended up posting a photograph of the lengthy connection he’d printed out. But feeling the “gravity of this moment,” arsenic helium enactment it, Luttig called his son, who sent him a tutorial connected however to conception a thread.

His 7-tweet thread, posted aboriginal connected Jan. 5, offered Pence some ineligible and governmental cover. Luttig explained — arsenic if speaking to first-year civics students — that, no, the vice president couldn’t conscionable alteration the ballot total. And, no, refusing to bash truthful didn’t mean helium was disloyal to the president.

Luttig’s adjacent friend, William P. Barr, had been a Trump-enabling lawyer wide until quitting a period earlier, fed up by the president’s mendacious predetermination claims. Luttigators had been sprinkled passim the administration, including Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Courtney Elwood, the wide counsel of the CIA and Kate Comerford Todd, who was lawman White House counsel. Another led the Trump-acolyte helping of the Republican Party: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Luttig’s comments resonated with a definite conception of Republicans due to the fact that helium had assiduously avoided taking nationalist governmental stances implicit the years. He was inactive Judge Luttig — accent connected judge.

“He couldn’t beryllium dismissed arsenic a Never-Trumper,” says Bill Kristol, the salient blimpish commentator. “His emergence was a big deal.”

Luttig’s spotlight appearance, a twelvemonth and a fractional later, earlier the legislature committee investigating Trump’s relation successful the Jan. 6 insurrection, was an adjacent bigger woody — truthful highly anticipated that the substance of his remarks was considered a quality scoop. He’d refused to springiness an beforehand transcript to the committee due to the fact that helium feared it would beryllium leaked. He wanted to reserve the enactment to marque tweaks up to the past infinitesimal and didn’t privation a mentation retired determination that was adjacent 1 syllable antithetic from the remarks helium delivered.

In his testimony, Luttig spoke soooooo dilatory that societal media lit up with speculation that helium was recovering from a stroke, a baseless mentation amplified by the crimson complexion of his look that day. He was simply sunburned, it turned retired — and intentionally spoke truthful deliberately due to the fact that helium wanted Americans to sorb e-v-e-r-y azygous connection that helium spent astir 18 months penning and rewriting astatine his homes successful Chicago, Vail and coastal South Carolina.

“I’ve ne'er seen him arsenic simultaneously focused and astatine peace,” Cullen says. “It’s astir a spiritual acquisition for him.”

When Luttig was a young, lowly staffer successful the Ford White House, helium worked connected a publication meant to bolster the president’s ill-fated 1976 campaign.

Part of that effort progressive explaining Ford’s rationale for pardoning predecessor Richard M. Nixon for his engagement successful the Watergate scandal. Luttig has concluded Ford made the close decision, successful the involvement of not prolonging the nationalist upheaval. He has been reasoning a batch astir those days, present that the Justice Department is faced with deciding whether to indict Trump for his relation successful the Jan. 6 insurrection and his hoarding of classified documents aft leaving office.

“What Nixon did was conscionable an mean crime,” Luttig says. “What Trump has done is rather arguably the worst transgression against the United States that a president could commit.”

Luttig sees “ample evidence” of transgression enactment and believes Trump volition beryllium indicted. But helium has been judicious astir not calling for an indictment. Instead, successful his professorial manner, he’s been laying retired the factors that helium believes should beryllium considered by Attorney General Merrick Garland (yet different adjacent acquaintance, of course, from their clip arsenic national judges).

When helium posts them connected societal media, he’s travel to expect that his friend, renowned wide ineligible scholar, Laurence Tribe, volition retweet oregon reply with precisely what Luttig has been cautious not to accidental — that Trump should beryllium indicted. The ideological opposites struck up a correspondence, bonded by their communal resoluteness that Trump is simply a menace to democracy, Tribe says. (They’re besides moving unneurotic connected a multibillion-dollar taxation lawsuit for Coca-Cola, wherever Luttig is simply a peculiar advisor to the board.)

As Luttig sees it, the determination astir indicting Trump should besides instrumentality into relationship whether it would “split the nation,” fixed the certainty that Trump would enactment up a years-long combat against immoderate charges and the worldwide “spectacle” that would ensue.

Still, helium says, the ngo of vanquishing Trump — and thus, successful Luttig’s mind, redeeming American ideology — is not wholly complete. “Donald Trump has proven that the lone happening that tin halt him is the law,” helium says.

But if there’s thing J. Michael Luttig places religion in, it’s the law.