Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Trump appeals in Colorado case
High court to rule on ballot disqualification
Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court to clear him to run for president in a case that’s become an historic test of the Constitution’s insurrection clause and has the potential to alter the course of the 2024 election.
In a 59-page filing with the highest court Thursday, Trump argued that the Colorado Supreme Court overstepped when it barred him from the ballot because of his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win and his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. With oral arguments set for Feb. 8, the Supreme Court will play a pivotal role in Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House.
“The Court should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead,” Trump said in the filing.
A Supreme Court decision in his favor would doom the push to stop him from running by kicking him off state ballots, while a ruling against him would fuel that drive and raise new questions about the viability of his candidacy. Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
The case is likely to be the most important election clash since Bush v. Gore, the divided Supreme Court ruling that sealed the 2000 presidential election for Republican George W. Bush after a five-week deadlock over Florida ballot recounts.
The Colorado Supreme Court said in a 4-3 ruling that Trump engaged in “overt, voluntary and direct participation” in an insurrection. The majority pointed to Trump’s unsupported claims that the election was stolen, his fiery Jan. 6 speech to a crowd that included armed people, and his demands before and during the Capitol riot that Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify the results.
Trump contends in his appeal that he didn’t engage in insurrection, that the clause doesn’t apply to the president and that Congress must pass legislation to be able to enforce disqualification under the 14th Amendment.
The Dec. 19 Colorado Supreme Court ruling was the first state decision to bar Trump from appearing the ballot this year after a state court in Denver was the first to conduct a full trial on the insurrection question.