Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Hialeah, Florida, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. Lynne Sladky/AP

Trump and voters seeking to drop him from Colorado ballot appeal to state’s high court

Kaelan Deese November 21, 03:15 PM November 21, 03:15 PM Video Embed

Former President Donald Trump and plaintiffs seeking to keep him off the 2024 ballot in Colorado have appealed a state judge’s ruling on a 14th Amendment challenge to the ex-president’s eligibility to run for office.

The pair of appeals were filed with the Colorado Supreme Court just days after District Court Judge Sarah Wallace ruled that Trump engaged in an insurrection on the day of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot through “incitement” but ultimately contended he could remain on the state’s primary ballot.

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Colorado voters represented by the liberal-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington are appealing because they say Wallace erred when she found the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection” clause was not intended to apply to presidents. Trump is also appealing because he disagrees with the part of Wallace’s ruling that found he engaged in insurrection through his actions on Jan. 6, the first court in the nation to make that conclusion.

“But the district court nonetheless made legal and factual findings wholly unsupported in the law, and these errors demand review — especially if the Petitioners in this matter also seek review of the sole dispositive issue upon which President Trump prevailed,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a 15-page filing, which listed 11 problems they found in her ruling.

Meanwhile, CREW President Noah Bookbinder said in a statement that his group anticipated the dispute would head to the state’s high court.

“We are planning to build on the trial judge’s incredibly important ruling that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection, and we are ready to take this case as far as necessary to ensure that Donald Trump is removed from the ballot,” Bookbinder said.

Several legal experts told the Washington Examiner that the dispute in Colorado is likely on track for a review by the U.S. Supreme Court, as there are at least 14 state courts weighing similar challenges across the nation. Trump, so far, has found success in early court proceedings over lawsuits challenging his ballot eligibility in Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire.

“Most challenges have failed to date because it’s the primary, not the general, or because of standing (wrong party suing) or the office of the President isn’t under the 14th,” attorney Andrew Lieb of Lieb at Law told the Washington Examiner.

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“However, there have been findings that Trump caused an insurrection, and this issue isn’t going away,” Lieb said, adding he expects it to come before the Supreme Court before the 2024 general election is over.

The appeal of Wallace’s ruling will be heard by all seven justices of the Colorado Supreme Court. Officials in Colorado, including the secretary of state, have taken no position on the ballot eligibility lawsuit but have urged a decision by Jan. 5, 2024, when they must finalize the primary ballot.

© 2023 Washington Examiner

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