Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington helped bring the lawsuit against former President Trump on behalf of 6 voters
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Fox News contributor Karl Rove discusses his latest op-ed which argues that Colorados effort to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot is legally baseless
The board chairs of the group that brought the lawsuit leading to former President Trump's removal from the 2024 Colorado ballot had previously donated large sums to President Biden's campaign and victory fund, filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show.
The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from the ballot on Tuesday under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution over the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
"We do not reach these conclusions lightly," the court's majority wrote. "We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a self-identified "nonpartisan" watchdog group, brought the Colorado lawsuit against Trump on behalf of "six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters including former state, federal and local officials," the group wrote on its website in early September.
Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart, left, makes a point as Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter looks on as attorneys argue before the court on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)
CREW's leaders, meanwhile, have showered Biden with thousands of dollars in donations when he previously went head-to-head against Trump.
Beth Nolan, a former general counsel at George Washington University who also served as counsel to former President Clinton, steers CREW's board as its chair. According to Federal Election Commission records, Nolan sent $2,800 to Biden's campaign and $3,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020.
In addition to Nolan, CREW's vice chair, Wayne Jordan, donated substantial amounts to Biden's presidential apparatus by pushing $300,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. Jordan is married to Democrat megadonor Quinn Delaney, who added $650,000 to Biden's victory fund during the last election cycle, records show.
Neither Nolan, Wayne nor CREW responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Despite its self-identified "nonpartisan" status, CREW has long been viewed as a left-leaning organization. David Brock, founder of the liberal groups Media Matters for America and American Bridge, previously ran the group as its board chair.
The board chairs of the group that brought the lawsuit leading to former President Trump's removal from the 2024 Colorado ballot have previously donated large sums to President Biden's campaign and victory fund. (Al Drago)
In early 2017, Brock huddled with donors at a posh resort in Florida to map out how his constellation of organizations would "kick Donald Trump's a--" throughout his presidency, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Brock had ostensibly stepped away from his position as CREW's board chair at the time of the gathering. However, the documents detailing the upcoming goals and efforts of how his groups would attack Trump during his presidency include the watchdog group.
The documents specified how CREW would hit Trump with "a steady flow of damaging information, new revelations, and an inability to avoid conflicts issues." These actions, in turn, would force the Trump administration to defend "illegal conduct in court."
CREW has also received vast sums from major Democratic donors, including George Soros. Between 2017 and 2021, two nonprofits in the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations network combined to give CREW $2.85 million in funding, which largely went towards general operating support, according to its grant database.
CREW's involvement on behalf of the six voters ultimately led to Tuesday's Colorado Supreme Court ruling to remove Trump from appearing on the state's ballots. The watchdog group's website states Tierney Lawrence Stiles LLC, KBN Law LLC, and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC were also involved with the effort.
"We just won before the Colorado Supreme Court in our challenge to keep Donald Trump off the ballot as disqualified under the 14th amendment for engaging in insurrection," CREW President Noah Bookbinder said on X following the ruling. "A huge moment for democracy. More to come soon."
We just won before the Colorado Supreme Court in our challenge to keep Donald Trump off the ballot as disqualified under the 14th amendment for engaging in insurrection. A huge moment for democracy. More to come soon.
— Noah Bookbinder (@NoahBookbinder) December 19, 2023
In a 4 to 3 ruling, the court argued that under section 3 of the 14th Amendment, Trump is "disqualified" from holding the office of president in connection to his alleged role on Jan. 6, 2021, and therefore, would not appear on the 2024 ballot.
Former President Trump was removed from the 2024 Colorado ballot. (Kamil Krzaczynski)
According to the 14th Amendment, no person shall hold public office who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and "engaged in insurrection or rebellion." The Colorado justices argued Trump violated this clause.
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability," the amendment reads.
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Justice Carlos Samour, one of the three Democrat-appointed justices who dissented, wrote that the decision "risked chaos in the country" and urged that "there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office." Trump's campaign has vowed to "swiftly" appeal the Colorado court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where observers largely believe it will be overturned.
Joe Schoffstall is a politics producer/reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
