A Colorado court on Friday rejected a request to exclude Donald Trump from the ballot in the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election in that western American state. The historic indictment of the ex-president on August 1 at the federal level and then on August 14 by the state of Georgia over his allegedly unlawful attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election sparked a legal debate over his possible ineligibility, which led to appeals in several states.
But a judge in Denver, the capital of Colorado, rejected the appeal, as did their counterparts in Minnesota and Michigan beforehand. The court orders Colorado election officials to “place Donald Trump on the ballot for the 2024 Republican primary,” Judge Sarah Wallace’s decision said.
Acts of “rebellion”
The applicants, the anti-corruption citizens group Crew, accused Donald Trump of inciting “a violent mob” of hundreds of his supporters to storm the Capitol, the seat of Congress, on January 6, 2021, to prevent certification the victory of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
They invoked the 14th Amendment of 1868. This amendment provides for the exclusion of all public responsibility for anyone who took part in acts of “rebellion” after taking an oath to defend the Constitution.
However, her lawyer argued that “Mr. Trump is complicit in the rebellion” that constitutes January 6th. “Mr. Trump acted with the specific intent of inciting political violence and directing it against the Capitol in order to prevent the certification of the election,” the judge ruled. However, she based the dismissal of the appeal on doubts about whether the 14th Amendment applied to the president.
“Nail in the coffin”
This text, then aimed at supporters of the Southern Confederacy defeated in the Civil War (1861-1865), has been used at least eight times in history, according to Crew, but in 2022 it has been used only once in more than a century.
Donald Trump’s campaign welcomed the decision, saying it was “another nail in the coffin of anti-American voting challenges.”
However, on the same day, Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside over the ex-president’s federal trial over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, rejected his request to quash the charges at the Capitol.
His lawyers argued that if he is not prosecuted for these events, these mentions “could lead members of the jury to falsely attribute blame” to him.
But the judge denied the request, saying in her ruling Friday that the court “will not provide the jury with a copy of the indictment” and stressed that it will “tell them what the charges are and before their deliberations.” what evidence would need to be available.” taken into account.
Donald Trump, the favorite in the Republican primary, is calling his legal troubles “election interference” at the behest of the Democratic administration to disqualify him from the race for the White House.