In the Colorado court case where Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and others have been pushing to apply 14th Amendment restrictions on holding office to Donald Trump, Judge Sarah Wallace has concluded following the trial that Trump knew his claims of extensive voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election were not legitimate.
That conclusion, if generally upheld elsewhere, sets up Trump for potentially serious criminal consequences stemming from the actions he was taking, and he remains under indictment from Special Counsel Jack Smith on allegations of multiple criminal conspiracies threatening the 2020 election’s handling. Meanwhile, the 14th Amendment blocks certain individuals who engaged in insurrection from later holding a wide variety of elected positions, and Colorado plaintiffs were making the connection to Trump through January 6, 2021 — a day of violence fueled by Trump’s lies of fraud in the election.
In theory, removing the possibility of legitimate intent behind what Trump was saying also, more specifically, opens the floor to establishing corrupt intent. “Trump put forth no evidence at the Hearing that he believed his claims of voter fraud despite the overwhelming evidence there was none. The Court finds that Trump knew his claims of voter fraud were false,” Wallace wrote.
It’s already been documented how Trump was repeatedly informed of the falsity of key claims by insiders, an example being Bill Barr, who left as Attorney General shortly before the Trump administration’s end. Investigations at both the federal and state levels never substantiated Trump’s claims of extensive fraud in the election… claims he’s still making.
Wallace declined to go as far as blocking Trump from ballots for next year’s elections, and the plaintiffs are appealing. “The court’s decision affirms what our clients alleged in this lawsuit: that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection based on his role in January 6th,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said in prepared remarks released last week. “We are proud to have brought this historic case and know we are right on the facts and right on the law. When we filed this case, we knew it likely would not end at the district court level. We will be filing an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court shortly. Today was not the end of this effort, but another step along the way.”
