On Monday, Trump’s legal team submitted a legal filing that argued the former president should not be ruled ineligible to hold office.
Denying the case
“There was no ‘insurrection,’” the legal filing argued. “President Trump did not ‘incite’ anything, and President Trump did not ‘engage in’ anything that constitutes ‘insurrection.’”
Continued argument
“The events of January 6 were not an ‘insurrection,’ the filing continued, “as they did not involve an organized attempt to overthrow or resist the US government.”
Denying reality
In January 2023, the Congressional panel investigating Jan 6 published thousands of pages of evidence demonstrating that Trump and his allies coordinated the riot with the intention of overturning the 2020 election.
Final report
Weeks earlier, the committee released its final report, an 800-plus-page tome that extensively detailed Trump’s “premeditated” actions before and during the attack on the Capitol. According to Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman, Trump “lit that fire” that engulfed the Capitol on Jan 6.
Extensive review
Lawfare, a legal analysis organization, conducted an extensive review of the committee’s claims, finding the evidence for almost all of them “overwhelming.” “It is hard to escape the conclusion,” the report noted, “that Trump, having unleashed the violence, was content to see it play out.”
Direct attempt
According to the Lawfare report, “The committee’s evidence that Trump pressured Pence to violate his oath and reject the electors is overpowering. He did this advised by lawyers who appear to have been aware that their legal theory was garbage.”
Pressuring officials
The Lawfare report also concluded that the committee’s evidence that Trump pressured lawmakers and election officials to alter the results of the 2020 election was “neither ambiguous nor subtle.” “No evidence has emerged that significantly contradicts it,” Lawfare concluded.
Nevertheless
In Trump’s Monday filing, his legal team argued that the president should not be considered an “officer” of the US. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which forms the basis for the legal challenges to keep Trump off the ballot, states that any “officer” of the US who “engages in insurrection” should be barred from holding office.
The case in question
The Supreme Court is considering a case in which the state Supreme Court of Colorado ruled that Trump was indeed an “officer” of the US who “engaged in insurrection,” and should therefore be kept off the ballot.
Only example?
Trump’s lawyers argued that the Colorado case was an exception, noting that similar cases have failed in several other states. However, more cases are currently pending, and Maine’s secretary of state also ruled that Trump should be kept off the ballot.
Unfair ruling
Trump’s lawyers argued that barring him from the ballot would be “anti-democratic.” They claimed that voters should be able to choose who to represent them as president.
Sticking point
However, as many commentators have noted, this argument ignores the fact that plenty of people are considered ineligible for the presidency for various reasons. For example, the Constitution states that “no Person except a natural born Citizen … shall be eligible to the Office of President.” Is that provision also anti-democratic? What about the section of the Constitution that states a president must be at least 35 years old?
Bizarre comparison
Trump’s legal team compared the former president being barred from the ballot for violating the Constitution to Venezuela’s decision to exclude a leading opposition presidential candidate from the ballot.
Confident
In the filing, Trump’s team referred to him as the “presumptive nominee.” Nikki Haley remains in the race against him, though she is polling far behind and lost decidedly in the first two primary contests.
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