The six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters who challenged Donald Trump’s eligibility to be on the ballot following his actions on January 6th last night filed an appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court challenging the judge’s rulings that the president is not an “officer of the United States” and that the president’s oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution” is not an oath to “support” the Constitution as required by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Not only did the district court rule in favor of the petitioners on every factual issue necessary to disqualify Trump from the ballot–including the historic ruling that he engaged in insurrection against the Constitution as president, it also found for the petitioners on every legal issue necessary to remove Trump save for the one. The six voters are represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the firms Tierney Lawrence Stiles LLC, KBN Law, LLC and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC.
Consider this, the judge agreed that Trump engaged in insurrection and the petitioners were right in every single claim except that “he was not an officer of the United States”. The appeal only needs to overturn that one part of the decision. The facts have now been laid out and a federal judge agreed with all but one of them. If we had a normal Supreme Court, this would be a slam dunk.
I was listening to some legal analysis, and they were opining that the judge chickened out and was looking for any offramp to not draw the ire of Trump’s crazed minions.
“Not me, please! I don’t want to be the one to set the precedent!”
Judge apparently lost their dictionary and couldn’t look up the word president. “The chief executive officer of the United States.”
I agree though, it’s so obtuse I just think the judge didn’t want to be the one to do it. Set it up for an easy overturn on appeal with their flimsy argument as some kind of legal hot potato. “No you take all the Maga terrorist threats please.”
He’s the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States of America. If that doesn’t count as an officer, I don’t know what does.
