After eight years on the political scene, including four years in the White House, Donald Trump faces the same threshold question he did all along: Will he “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,” and to the best of his ability, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”?
Suffice to say, the man hasn’t built a reputation for fulfilling oaths.
As all sentient citizens know: The 45th president diverted Ukraine-Russia policy to smear Democrats, incited a mob that besieged the Capitol and menaced his vice president, had aides conduct preposterous attempts at election fraud to stay illegally in power, walked off with sensitive documents, told fake stories, and acted as if dividing our republic was his mission.
But the relevant question of the week becomes whether Trump really carried out an insurrection on that surreal Jan. 6 nearly three years ago. Putting Trump into a category with the more competent Jefferson Davis and the more courageous Robert E. Lee seems like a contrivance. Insurrection and treason are not even among the serious charges Trump faces in his four concurrent prosecutions.
Still, the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that, as state lawmakers decided, Trump cannot appear on the state’s primary ballot based on a rarely used 14th Amendment provision barring those who engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office. The 4-3 ruling is seen as unprecedented. Republicans are expected to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the ruling is an exotic bid to interfere in their nomination process.
Endless partisan manipulations brought us to this point. Colorado is a “trifecta” state, where the Democratic Party holds the governor’s office and majorities in both legislative houses.
One-party-dominated states look outward to influence national agendas. In Texas, with its Republican trifecta, controversial Attorney General Ken Paxton drove headlines in the last cycle by trying to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Trump’s Electoral College loss in four states. The high court rejected his lawsuit.
Texas also has a substantial border beef with President Joe Biden’s federal government. This week, the state enacted legislation authorizing its officials to arrest and seek deportation of the spiking numbers of migrants suspected of coming in illegally from Mexico. Litigation was predictable; immigration is a federal matter.
The prospect of pushing Trump off ballots for his subversions has allure in places other than Colorado, with such challenges reportedly filed in 16 states. One such challenge was filed in New York, which also has a Democratic trifecta.
Last week, an intermediate appeals court in Michigan, also a blue-trifecta state, didn’t buy the 14th Amendment argument, at least for now. That panel of judges said state law doesn’t permit challenges to a candidate’s qualifications before the presidential primary, but the case is now on appeal to Michigan's top court.
That could be a key presidential swing state, where Trump's absence on the ballot might matter.
Meanwhile, the front-runner for the GOP nomination blathers and blusters and vows comeuppance (not under oath) against enemies real and imagined if he wins next November. The fact that any mainstream presidential candidate can run without assuring voters, in any forum, with a straight face, that he even respects the law, is a wonder of the American moment.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
Contrived try to bar Trump from ballot
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21.12.2023
After eight years on the political scene, including four years in the White House, Donald Trump faces the same threshold question he did all along: Will he “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,” and to the best of his ability, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”?
Suffice to say, the man hasn’t built a reputation for fulfilling oaths.
As all sentient citizens know: The 45th president diverted Ukraine-Russia policy to smear Democrats, incited a mob that besieged the Capitol and menaced his vice president, had aides conduct preposterous attempts at election fraud to stay illegally in power, walked off with sensitive documents, told fake stories, and acted as if dividing our republic was his mission.
But the relevant question of the week becomes whether Trump really carried out an insurrection on that surreal Jan. 6........
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