Donald Trump Flanked by his Attorneys at one of His Court Appearanes Recently.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced this afternoon that she is postponing her decision on whether or not Donald J. Trump is qualified to appear on the Republican petition ballot until early next week. Originally, Secretary Bellows had expected to make that decision by this Friday, December 22, 2023.
Due to the just announced decision of the Colorado Supreme Court in Anderson vs. Griswold, Secretary of State Bellows has invited the parties to file a short supplement to their closing legal briefs “addressing the impact, if any, of that decision on this case.” Any such brief is due by 8:00 pm tomorrow,Thursday, December 21, 2023. Secretary of State Bellows’ office has also stated there have been some online technical difficulties that warrant an investigation into their cause.
These two situations justify the Secretary’s delay in announcing her decision in the matter until early next week.
Those Challenging Truump’s placement on the ballot are citing section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution as the basis for his disqualification. Section 3 of the Civil War era 14th Amendment says: “No person shall…hold any office, civil or military, under the United States…who, having previously taken an oath…as an officer of the United States…to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion… It is believed that part of the reason for the creation of section 3 was to be sure Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, could not be elected to an office in the United States.
This afternoon in a CNN cable news interview, Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig called the Colorado Supreme Court deision a “judicial masterpiee.” He also said that Trump was “not denied due process” as some have charged. In an earlier CNN interview, former AG Bill Barr had said that Trump was “denied due process.” Judge Luttig, a conservaative Republican, has been at the forefront along with Harvard Legal Scholar Laurence Tribe, in supporting the use of section 3 to prevent Trump from qualifying to run for president a second time.
For more background information on the matter, please visit post herein dated December 22, 2023.