Judge Finds That Donald Trump "Engaged in an Insurrection" Against the United States.
Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace rules that Trump's name can remain on the ballot on a technicality, that is only because he is not "an officer of the United States" and thus cannot be disqualified from office due to the 14th Amendment.
Wallace wrote that Trump "acted with the specific intent to disrupt the Electoral College certification of President Biden’s electoral victory through unlawful means; specifically, by using unlawful force and violence," concluding "that Trump incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021 and therefore ‘engaged’ in insurrection."
The judge also determined that the amendment’s provision technically applied to those who swear an oath to “support” the Constitution. The oath Trump took when he was sworn in after he was elected in 2016 was to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
Plantiffs should immediately appeal this decision, because there is plenty of evidence to indicate that Congress felt that the president is indeed an officer of the United States when it drafted the language for the Amendment, let alone the mincing of words about supporting or preserving the Constitution. Members of the 39th Congress, which proposed the Amendment, repeatedly referred to the president as an officer of the United States.
It's simply absurd to believe that they would disqualify former Confederate Jefferson Davis or Gen. Robert E. Lee from serving as Postmaster General but allow them to sit in the Oval Office as president.
The questions plantiffs should put before the Colorado Supreme Court are (1) is the president an "officer of the United States" and (2) does the oath the president takes to "preserve, protect and defend" mean that he therefore must "support" the Constitution.
If the Colorado Supreme Court agrees in the affirmative to those questions and sends the case back to the district court, then by Judge Wallace's own finding that Trump engaged in an insurrection against the United States, she MUST rule him as disqualified to serve as president.
Trump would, of course, appeal such a ruling to the United States Supreme Court.
The Constitution repeatedly refers to the "office of president of the United States."
In fact, the Constitution sets forth the initial requirements to qualify for the "Office of President."
Wallace wrote that Trump "acted with the specific intent to disrupt the Electoral College certification of President Biden’s electoral victory through unlawful means; specifically, by using unlawful force and violence," concluding "that Trump incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021 and therefore ‘engaged’ in insurrection."
The judge also determined that the amendment’s provision technically applied to those who swear an oath to “support” the Constitution. The oath Trump took when he was sworn in after he was elected in 2016 was to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
Plantiffs should immediately appeal this decision, because there is plenty of evidence to indicate that Congress felt that the president is indeed an officer of the United States when it drafted the language for the Amendment, let alone the mincing of words about supporting or preserving the Constitution. Members of the 39th Congress, which proposed the Amendment, repeatedly referred to the president as an officer of the United States.
It's simply absurd to believe that they would disqualify former Confederate Jefferson Davis or Gen. Robert E. Lee from serving as Postmaster General but allow them to sit in the Oval Office as president.
The questions plantiffs should put before the Colorado Supreme Court are (1) is the president an "officer of the United States" and (2) does the oath the president takes to "preserve, protect and defend" mean that he therefore must "support" the Constitution.
If the Colorado Supreme Court agrees in the affirmative to those questions and sends the case back to the district court, then by Judge Wallace's own finding that Trump engaged in an insurrection against the United States, she MUST rule him as disqualified to serve as president.
Trump would, of course, appeal such a ruling to the United States Supreme Court.
Here is the text of the Fourteenth Amendment,
Amendment XIV
Section 3
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.
Amendment XIV
Section 3
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 Constitution repeatedly refers to the "office of president of the United States."
In fact, the Constitution sets forth the initial requirements to qualify for the "Office of President."
Article II
Section 1
Clause 5
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Section 1
Clause 5
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Article II
Section 1
Clause 8
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 1
Clause 8
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
36-40, FVIP
