September 2005, Luttig wrote the opinion for a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit that upheld the government's power to designate José Padilla, the alleged "dirty bomber" who was captured at a Chicago airport, as an "enemy combatant" and to detain him in a military brig without charge. In December, the Bush administration, anticipating a reversal in the Supreme Court, petitioned the Fourth Circuit for approval to transfer Padilla to civilian custody for a criminal trial. The move set off a dispute between the Bush administration and Luttig. Luttig's panel refused to grant the transfer and castigated the government for potentially harming its "credibility before the courts." The government petitioned the Supreme Court to allow the transfer by arguing that the appellate court's refusal encroached on the power of the President. The Supreme Court granted the government's request. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld In the case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, Luttig disagreed with the majority opinion of his colleagues on the Fourth Circuit and argued that Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen captured in Afghanistan and held as an enemy combatant, deserved "meaningful judicial review" of his case. The Supreme Court eventually reversed the Fourth Circuit's judgment. Resignation and corporate legal career On May 10, 2006, Luttig resigned his federal judgeship to become general counsel and senior vice president for the American airplane manufacturer Boeing. He replaced Douglas Bain. In his resignation letter, Luttig wrote, "Boeing may well be the only company in America for which I would have ever considered leaving the court." He also mentioned his two children's upcoming college education; the position at Boeing promised more pay than the federal judgeship. At the time of his resignation, federal appellate judges were paid $175,100 annually. According to Boeing's 2008 Annual Report, Luttig's total compensation for 2008 was $2,798,962. In 2015, Luttig was named the 7th highest paid general counsel in the United States by Above the Law with a salary of $4,236,580. Luttig resigned as general counsel to Boeing in May 2019. He was replaced by Brett Gerry. Luttig's resignation coincided with the terminations of former CEO Dennis Muillenberg and former Commercial Aircraft Executive Kevin McCallister that year, during the Boeing 737 MAX groundings crisis. In January of 2021, he was hired by Coca-Cola Company to be counselor and senior advisor for tax matters. Role in aftermath of 2020 presidential election On January 5, 2021, John Eastman, an attorney representing