Trump Allies Take Disqualification Fight to Supreme Court
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Close allies of Donald Trump have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court decision blocking the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner from the state’s Republican primary ballot.
The petition was filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative nonprofit, on behalf of the Colorado Republican Party. Jay Sekulow, a former longtime lawyer for Trump who defended him in his Senate impeachment trial, is chief counsel at the ACLJ.
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Last week, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a 4-3 decision finding that Trump is ineligible for the state’s ballot because he engaged in “insurrection” by inciting the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Therefore, the judges wrote, Trump “is disqualified from holding the office of the president” under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The judges stayed their ruling until Jan. 4, anticipating that it would be appealed to the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the ACLJ filed a petition to the Supreme Court, asking justices to promptly review and overturn the Colorado decision.
“Unless the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is overturned, any voter will have the power to sue to disqualify any political candidate, in Colorado or in any other jurisdiction that follows its lead,” the group’s lawyers write. “This will not only distort the 2024 presidential election but will also mire courts henceforth in political controversies over nebulous accusations of insurrection.”
The Supreme Court is widely expected to hear the case. As president, Trump appointed three justices to the high court, giving conservatives a 6-3 supermajority. According to Sekulow’s website, he has argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court.
Lawsuits have been filed in more than two dozen states seeking to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment and keep him off the ballot, according to the national security website Lawfare. The Colorado suit was the first to succeed. More than half of the cases have been dismissed. The Michigan Supreme Court rejected one such effort on Wednesday.
The ACLJ has represented state Republican parties in several cases challenging Trump’s ability to get on the ballot — with wins in Michigan, Minnesota, and West Virginia.
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