Update: Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung issued a statement on the Court’s announcement. “We welcome a fair hearing before the Supreme Court to challenge the bad faith, election interference, voter suppression, Democrat-backed, Biden-led decision to abuse the 14th Amendment regarding the decision to remove President Trump’s name from the ballots on the ballot in 2024 in the state All of the so-called “vote challenge cases” are part of a well-funded effort by left-wing political activists to stop President Trump from being legally re-elected this November, even if it means disenfranchising voters. President Trump is dominating the polls, and Biden’s presidency has failed all Americans. We are confident that a fair Supreme Court will unanimously affirm President Trump’s civil rights and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will crush everyone. remaining voting fraud once and for all,” he said.
Original: On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would take up the Colorado case banning former President Donald Trump from voting. The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling came down last month, and the Trump campaign vowed to appeal the decision, and the appeal was filed on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court issues certification of Trump’s disqualification under a very compressed deadline. Oral discussion in a month. (I think that’s the right thing to do.) pic.twitter.com/V5GkmXArDJ
— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) January 5, 2024
“The judges’ order requires the case to be heard at an expeditious pace, with oral arguments scheduled for February 8 and a decision that could remove Trump from the ballots in states across the country.” noted a report from The Hill. There have been many other attempts to throw Trump off the ballot, but almost all of them have failed.
As for what will happen next in the case, many expect the judges to agree with Trump. “The Colorado Supreme Court just begged the justices to reverse their decision again because it was wrong in so many respects. To name a few, Trump was not charged with or convicted of the insurrection; Article 3 applies to presidential electors but not addressed to the president; and Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment gives Congress, not the states, the power to enforce that amendment.” – Curt Levey, constitutional lawyer and president Justice Committee– offered in a statement to the city hall.
While he doesn’t know whether it will be a unanimous overturn, Levey also stated that “it’s hard to imagine more than one or two justices voting to uphold the Colorado Supreme Court, given how legally flawed the Colorado decision was and how “It is clear that what can be legally done to Trump by partisan government officials can also be legally done to Democratic candidates.”
As The Hill also noted, speaking about the move to throw Trump off the ballots not only of Colorado but also of Maine:
While those rulings remain on hold pending the outcome of Trump’s appeal, which will keep his name on the ballot in the meantime, the justices’ decision to hear the Colorado case allows the Supreme Court to issue a nationwide resolution before the general election.
Trump’s political fate now rests in the hands of a conservative-majority court that includes three Trump appointees and which has never clearly ruled on the meaning of the 14th Amendment’s prohibition on insurrection.
Not only did the Colorado Supreme Court rule Trump ineligible under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, but so did Maine Secretary of State Shenna Lee Bellows, who was elected not by voters but by the Democrat-controlled state legislature. She also aligned herself with President Joe Biden, which was met with weighty criticism as 2024 will likely be a rematch of 2020 between Trump and President Joe Biden.
“While it is possible that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule so narrowly that the ruling will apply only to Colorado, this is very unlikely because the Court will certainly not want to revisit this issue later this year,” Levey noted of state of Maine.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) I National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced earlier Friday that they had submitted the application amicus brief with the Court to keep Trump on the ballot.
The @GOP proudly filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court @NRCC to ensure Americans have the right to elect their president.
The attempt to remove Donald Trump from the presidential ballot is an attack on our electoral system.https://t.co/IOrKwDzjMM
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) January 5, 2024
Also on Friday, Attorneys General Todd Rokita of Indiana and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia announced they were co-leading a 27-state effort to keep Trump on the ballot and filed a motion amicus brief own.
In addition to Indiana and West Virginia, other states where officials have signed on include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouori, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota , Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
🚨BREAKING: Our office and @WestVirginiaAG co-chairs a 27-state advocacy coalition @realDonaldTrumpappeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Confidence in the integrity of our elections is vital to a free republic. If activist judges in Colorado can weaken…
— AG Todd Rokita (@AGToddRokita) January 5, 2024
