LOS ANGELES.–Announcing today that it would rule on whether former President Donald Trump can be removed from the 2024 ballot, the Supreme Court said it would act promptly in early February hearing oral arguments. Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled Dec, 19, 2023 to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibiting anyone who engaged in insurrection from running for public office. Deciding to rule on the Colorado case, the U.S. Supreme looks to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court, stating, if nothing else, that Trump was not convicted of insurrection and could not be denied access on any state ballot. Ruling on whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to presidents is beyond the scope of the current Supreme Court ruling. Jumping on the 14th Amendment bandwagon, Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removed Trump from the ballot Dec. 28, giving the Supreme Court action more urgency.
Democrats and the U.S. press are all in when it comes to removing Trump from ballots around the country, prompting the Supreme Court to rule in February. Colorado’s Supreme Court and Bellows concluded without facts that Trump took part in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection to stop the Electoral College vote certification for President Joe Biden. House Jan. 6 Select Committee spent 18 months collecting evidence about Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 riots. When the Jan. 6 committee passed on advice to Special Counsel Jack Smith, the committee insisted that Trump planned-and-orchestrated the insurrection. No one on the Jan. 6 committee had any facts to support their argument that Trump participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Even Smith’s case against Trump for obstructing an official government proceeding has no proof that Trump ordered any of the Jan. 6 rabble rousers to vandalize the Capitol.
When House Democrats impeached Trump for “incitement of insurrection” Jan. 11, 2021, Democrats and the press said Trump’s incited a crowd to violence on Jan. 6, 2021. House Democrats led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) argued to the Senate that Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech on the D.C. Ellipse incited the crowd to commit violence on the Captiol. Yet shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021 riots, the FBI admitted that they had intel for months that some kind of violent protests would be occur Jan. 6. Raskin’s arguments said that Trump induced the crowd to go to the Capitol to commit mayhem. Any review of Trump’s speech asks the crowed to go the Capitol to peacefully protest the outcome of the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election. If the FBI determined that right wing groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers planned riots for months, how could Trump’s Jan. 6 speech be “incitement of insurrection. U.S. Senate acquitted Trump Feb. 13, 2021.
Trump’s acquittal in the U.S. Senate didn’t stop former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from establishing the Jan. 6 House Select Committee to get a another shot at Trump. Pelosi had no problem putting Trump in double jeopardy, expressly forbidden by the U.S. Constitution. Pelosi and House Democrats charged Trump with “incitement of insurrection,” knowing it violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Democrats and the press have lobbied for months to charge Trump under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment for the last year, only recently getting the Colorado Supreme Court and Maine’s Secretary of State to remove Trump from the ballot. But if the Constitution and rule of law mean anything in the United States, no High Court or Secretary of State can conclude Trump was an insurrectionist unless a jury of his peers convicts him of such a charges. Special Counsel Jack Smith hasn’t charged Trump with insurrection.
Democrats and the press frequently refer to the Jan. 6 rioters as Trump supporters, proving they have no problem denying the presumption of innocence. If you listen to former Jan. 6 House Committee Co-chairs Rep. Liz Cheney (R- Wy.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il.) Trump was guilty of planning-and-orchestrating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Yet they produce no evidence of Trump’s involvement with the groups that spent months planning the mayhem. Cheney and Kinzinger concluded that Trump participated in the riots because he made no attempt Jan. 6, 2021 to speak from the White House to call off the rabble rousers. But had Trump called off the rioters, Democrats and the press would have said “I told you so,” the criminals were all led by Trump. So, whether Trump said to stop or said nothing he would be guilty with Democrats and the press, all looking to charge him with any crime connected to Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba said she’s confident that the Supreme Court would get the ruling right that Trump has every right to be on all 50 states and territories participating in the presidential election. Habba walks a tightrope saying she thinks Trump appointees, Associate Justices Neal Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrettt, would rule against Section 3 of the 14th Amendment barring anyone who participated in insurrection to run for public office. Deciding to take the case on short order, the Supreme Court wants to nip-in-the-bud other High Courts or Secretaries of State from using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to remove Trump from the ballot. Anti-Trump Democrats, Republicans and independents all think removing Trump from the ballot fuels more voter sympathy for Trump’s candidacy. Ruling in February, the Supreme Court should set the record straight about tampering with the 2024 presidential election.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
