Court arguments began Tuesday in a Colorado case seeking to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in the 2024 presidential contest.
The weeklong hearing began with presiding judge Sarah Wallace denying a motion by Trump’s legal team that she step aside due to her past donation to a liberal group working to keep Trump off the ballot, along with donations to many Democrat candidates for office.
The Colorado district court judge, appointed in 2022 by Democrat Gov. Jared Polis, previously denied a motion by Trump and the Colorado GOP to throw the case out.
Trump faces legal challenges to appear on the ballot in multiple states based on his alleged role in the events of January 6, 2021. The plaintiffs cite the Fourteenth Amendment, which bans those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding federal office.
Trump’s attorneys argue the amendment, ratified in the aftermath of the Civil War, was intended to apply to those waging war on the U.S.
Trump never “engaged in insurrection,” and his questioning of the 2020 election results is political speech protected by the First Amendment, they argue.
“Trump’s comments did not come close to ‘incitement,’ let alone ‘engagement’ in an insurrection,” they wrote in a filing.
His attorneys further question whether the amendment even applies to the office of the president. The text of the amendment specifies “Senator or Representative in Congress” and “elector of President and Vice President” but not “President.”
A federal court in New Hampshire dismissed a similar case recently, ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment claim is a “nonjusticiable political question.”
Trump has not been convicted of insurrection and was acquitted by the U.S. Senate of charges of engaging in insurrection.
He continues to deny wrongdoing.
The Colorado case could likely land before the Supreme Court, which has never before ruled on the Civil War-era amendment.
The case is sponsored and led by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW has been funded in the past by Democrat Party operatives and fundraisers like David Brock and Norm Eisen and has received funding from George Soros’s political operation, including more than $1 million in 2017 alone.
The organization itself does not disclose its donors.
The case is Anderson v. Griswold, No. 2023CV32577, in district court for the city and county of Denver.
Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
