The Indirect Approach

For John, BLUF:  Former President Donald Trump must be seen as a major threat to Democrats and Bureaucrats, for them to go to these extremes to prevent him running for office.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Will Colorado Force Trump Off the Ballot?

From PJ Media, by Reporter Lincoln Brown, 7 September 2023, 6:12 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

No matter where one stands on Donald Trump, one must agree that it is the understatement of the century to say that the saga is unprecedented in American history.  The efforts to ensure that the man never sets foot in the Oval Office again are destined to become the stuff of legends and history lessons, not to mention a docudrama on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

The latest effort to ensure that nothing orange ever passes through the West Wing again (with perhaps the exception of an actual orange) involves invoking the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, specifically, Section Three:

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. (Emphasis added.)

The D.C.-based group Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW) has joined the fight to keep Trump off the 2024 ballot by filing a lawsuit Wednesday in the District Court in the City and County of Denver, Colo.  A press release on CREW’s website states that Trump has, in fact, violated the 14th Amendment, and Crew has filed the suit on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters.

But, yet, Impeachment failed and recent indictments do not include either "insurrection or rebellion".  So insurrection or rebellion can be imputed by the exclusion of Mr Trump from the ballot?  It would appear so.

There is a gamble here.  That would be that the tens of millions who have voted for Mr Trump in the past, and wish to vote for him in the future will not rise up against the Government, in a real insurrection.  I would not encourage such acton.  If Mr Trump is denied the opportunity to stand for office then his suppoorters should unite around another candidate, one who promises to go after the deep state.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff