In a filing recently made with the Colorado Supreme Court, filers in the widely publicized case in that state seeking to block Donald Trump from Colorado’s ballots for next year’s presidential election insist that he should be considered subject to the 14th Amendment’s restrictions on individuals holding elected office if they previously engaged in insurrection after having taken an oath to defend the Constitution. The Trump link is January 6.
The arguments before that Supreme Court follow a trial judge’s ruling that backed up the notion Trump engaged in insurrection but stopped short of blocking him from any ballots. To the surprise of some, the judge concluded the presidency wasn’t procedurally subject to the disputed Constitutional restrictions.
Before that higher court in Colorado, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and others behind the underlying court case challenge this, pointing to among other supports the repeated references in the Constitution to the presidency in terms of an “office.” The 14th Amendment doesn’t specifically list the presidency as subject to those limits but includes a category of prospective holders of an “office.”
“Section 3 prohibits a disqualified individual from holding “any office, civil or military, under the United States.” Text and history establish beyond doubt that this broad language includes the office of the Presidency,” the filing asserts, adding: “But there would have been no reason to specifically enumerate the Presidency, because it so clearly falls within the general language of “any office.””
At the trial stage, the court heard from witnesses ranging from D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges, who helped defend the Capitol on January 6, to Trump ally Kash Patel. The judge mostly set aside Patel’s wide-ranging testimony as not credible, rebuffing the ex-president’s ally’s argument that Trump authorized 10,000+ National Guard troops for protection in D.C. ahead of January 6. Taking that so far evidence-less assertion as valid could set up exculpatory intentions for the ex-president heading into the events of that day. Oral arguments before that higher court in Colorado are scheduled for December 6.
