Trump urges Supreme Court to allow him to stay on the ballot
The former president filed a brief asking the court to rule that the Constitution's 14th Amendment doesn't prevent him from appearing on Colorado's Republican primary ballot.
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded with the Supreme Court to allow him to remain on the Republican primary ballot in Colorado as he seeks to overturn a state ruling that found him ineligible because of his role leading up to the Jan. 6. attack on the Capitol.
Trump’s lawyers filed a brief laying out his position ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Feb. 8.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 19 that a clause in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that prohibits “an officer of the United States” who “engaged in insurrection” from running for various federal offices applied to Trump.
The case raises various previously undecided legal questions, including whether the constitutional language applies to those running for president and who gets to decide whether someone engaged in insurrection.
In Thursday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers touched upon those themes, saying that a president is not an “officer of the United States,” that Trump did not “engage in insurrection” and that only Congress can enforce the provision in question.
Rating: 5