![Former federal Judge Michael Luttig has stark message for Jan. 6 committee](https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/04/19/f51adf05-60f6-475d-be85-11c15c12e996/thumbnail/1200x630g2/5e22c932f8eae43c151d2d86a57d0615/ap19361451691165.jpg)
Former federal Judge Michael Luttig has stark message for Jan. 6 committee
CBSN
Retired federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, a staunch conservative long admired by many Republicans, will testify before the House's Jan. 6 committee on Thursday with an urgent and stark message for the panel about former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election: "America's democracy was almost stolen from her."
Luttig will also likely state that the Republican National Committee is wrong to have referred to some of the events of Jan. 6, 2021 as "legitimate political discourse" and warn fellow conservatives to not ignore the gravity of what Trump did as he scrambled to hold onto the presidency that day.
The retired judge's planned remarks were confirmed to CBS News by two people familiar with his expected testimony who were not authorized to discuss details of the hearing.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20240617212231.jpg)
A fleet of Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, left Havana's port on Monday after a five-day visit to Cuba following planned military drills in the Atlantic Ocean. The exercise has been seen by some as a show of strength by Moscow against the backdrop of tensions as U.S. and other Western nations support Kyiv in Russia's war on Ukraine.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20240617190845.jpg)
Firefighters across California are working to extinguish blazes that broke out over the weekend and continued to grow on Monday, as the state contends with a mix of hot, dry weather and powerful, gusty winds. The Post Fire, burning near Gorman, northwest of Los Angeles, spread to more than 14,600 acres, while the Point Fire, in Sonoma, covered 1,190 acres.