Jennifer Rubin: Judges rebuke lawless MAGA Republicans. We need more of the same.

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/29/judges-maga-lawlessness/

https://archive.is/B6XOH



A distinguishing characteristic of MAGA Republicans is their contempt for the rule of law. Not to be bound by election results, the Constitution or court processes, four-time-indicted former president Donald Trump sets the tone. He declares himself immune from prosecution. He defies judicial gag orders, throws temper tantrums in court and tosses around “executive privilege” like confetti. Thankfully, judges have begun responding to MAGA lawlessness and attempts to nullify federal law.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, for example, in an otherwise routine sentencing memo for Jan. 6, 2021, participant James Little, castigated election deniers and Jan. 6 apologists. “The Court is accustomed to defendants who refuse to accept that they did anything wrong,” he wrote. “But in my thirty-seven years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream.”

Although Lamberth did not specify MAGA adherents, he condemned “distortions and outright falsehoods [that] seep into the public consciousness.” He continued: “I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages.’” (The latter came from the lips of MAGA flunkies, including Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a contender for vice president on Trump’s ticket.) Lamberth added that though such claims are “preposterous,” he fears that “such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”

Lamberth concluded:

He conceded that his opinion wouldn’t stop the flood of lies, but he expressed hope that “a little truth will go a long way.” His extraordinary admonition (akin to former federal judge J. Michael Luttig identifying Trump and his supporters as a “clear and present danger”) speaks to the severity of the MAGA movement’s attack on the rule of law.

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