In an interview with journalist Brian Tyler Cohen, longtime voting rights and democracy-focused lawyer Marc Elias insisted that “of course” restrictions on holding elected office found in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment also cover the presidency. The disputed restrictions block certain individuals who previously engaged in insurrection from ascending to political power.
In a Colorado court case in which Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and others were attempting to apply these 14th Amendment restrictions to Donald Trump, trial Judge Sarah Wallace concluded the ex-president had engaged in insurrection (on account of inciting January 6, as the judge saw it) but stopped short of blocking him from any ballots. She found, to the befuddlement of some, that the presidency was procedurally outside the enforcement pathways for those Constitutional prohibitions. The case quickly went to appeals.
“I think that the easy question is the one that the judge stumbled on, which is whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to presidents. Of course it does,” Elias exclaimed. “That has been the conclusion of virtually every serious Constitutional scholar and lawyer who has looked at this question. It is also evident from the plain text of the 14th Amendment that it applies to presidents.”
Similar arguments came up in initial filings made before the Colorado state Supreme Court by the case’s progenitors, who contend the clear, factual record associated with the 14th Amendment shows the office of president is subject to it.
“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.”” Oral arguments before that court in Colorado are scheduled for early next month, on December 6.
Check out Elias’ interview below:
