Former President Donald Trump disqualified himself from holding public office and his name should be removed from the 2024 Republican primary ballot, a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Colorado district court argues.
The suit, filed by the Washington-based liberal nonprofit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, cites the 14th Amendment’s “Disqualification Clause,” which bars any person “engaged in rebellion or sedition” against the Constitution from holding federal office or state, as the basis for the disqualification of the 77-year-old White House.
“If the fabric of our democracy is to be upheld, we must ensure that the Constitution is enforced and that the same people who attack our democratic system are not held accountable,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said in a statement.
“We are not bringing this case to make an excuse, we are bringing it because it is necessary to defend our republic today and in the future.”
The complaint was filed on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters represented by CREW and two other law firms and specifically seeks to bar Trump from Colorado’s 2024 primary vote for his alleged role in “recruiting, inciting and encouraging violent groups that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a futile attempt to remain in office,” according to the group.
The lawsuit seeks to bar Trump from the 2024 GOP primary vote in Colorado, citing the 14th Amendment’s “Disqualification Clause.”
CREW stated that it intends to challenge the former commander-in-chief’s vote access in other states as well.
“Given its laws, its calendar, and our courageous group of plaintiffs and witnesses, Colorado is a good place to bring this first case, but it won’t be the last,” the organization said.
The rarely used Disqualification Clause was included in the post-Civil War 14th Amendment as a way to prevent former Confederate officers from becoming elected officials and taking over the state and federal governments.
Efforts by the liberal nonprofit organization Free Speech For People to use the 14th Amendment to prevent Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (RN.C.) from appearing on the 2022 midterm election ballot failed last year.
However, CREW successfully sued to remove Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin from the Otero County Commission in New Mexico after he was convicted of trespassing for entering the Capitol Building during the January 6, 2021 riots. The group said its case against Griffin is the only Disqualification Clause that successfully carried since 1869.
“While it is unprecedented to bring this type of case against a former president, January 6th is an unprecedented attack that is exactly the type of event that the framers of the 14th Amendment wanted to build protection against,” Bookbinder argued.
“You can’t break glass unless there’s an emergency.”
The lawsuit argues that Trump’s alleged role in the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol is grounds for disqualifying him from holding public office.AP
The group said it plans to file suit to block Trump from primary ballots in other states as well.X / @CREWcrew
Some legal experts do not believe that the 14th Amendment case against Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, will hold up in court.
“The amendment was written to address those who were involved in actual rebellions that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said earlier this month.
“Defense counsel will extend the reference to ‘insurrection or insurrection’ to include unsupported claims and challenges involving electoral fraud.”
Turley added that he sees the Disqualification Clause theory as “not just dubious but dangerous.”
“According to these supporters, Trump can be barred from the polls without any charges, let alone convictions, rebellion or insurrection,” he argued.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
