Colorado lawsuit enforcing Donald Trump’s constitutional disqualification
This case has been designated a case of interest by the court, and all filings can be freely accessed by the public on the court site. Please do not contact the clerk of the court to access filings.
Donald Trump is disqualified from serving as president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his incitement of insurrection on January 6, 2021, and must be removed from the Colorado Republican primary, according to a lawsuit filed by six Colorado voters. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Colorado-based law firms of Tierney Lawrence Stiles LLC, KBN Law LLC, and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC are co-counsel on the case, which seeks to bar Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars anyone from holding office if they swore an “oath… to support the Constitution of the United States” as a federal or state officer and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution or gave “aid or comfort” to insurrectionists. Trump served as President of the United States from January 2017 to 2021. Upon taking office, he swore to uphold the Constitution and uphold our democracy.
Throughout the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump enacted a plan to subvert the election. He fabricated doubts about the integrity of electoral systems and used his power to threaten public officials and anger his supporters. The anger built up to January 6th, when tens of thousands of his supporters gathered to “Stop the Steal” where he encouraged them to be “wild” and to “fight like hell” to stop the election certification process. The mob that Trump assembled and exhorted proceeded to storm the Capitol building in support of Trump. He incited an insurrection and disqualified himself from serving in any office–including the presidency.
CREW has already successfully used the 14th Amendment to remove another insurrectionist from office. Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, was part of the mob on the Capitol grounds the day of the insurrection. A New Mexico court ruled the January 6th attack was an insurrection and that Griffin engaged in it despite the fact that he was not violent himself that day and did not enter the Capitol building. Upon the judge’s ruling that Griffin was disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, he was immediately removed from office. That case was the first enforcement of Section 3 in court in more than 150 years, and it set a strong precedent for CREW’s lawsuit in Colorado against Donald Trump.
Check back here for updates on the lawsuit and to find relevant legal filings.
State lawsuit documents
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ComplaintSeptember 6, 2023
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Motion for expedited case management conferenceSeptember 6, 2023
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Secretary of State Signed Waiver and AcceptanceSeptember 6, 2023
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Notice of Filing of Notice of RemovalNotice of filing of notice of removal to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado September 7, 2023
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Motion to Intervene from Colorado Republican PartySeptember 14, 2023
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Order on Motion to InterveneSeptember 14, 2023
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Verified Petition to InterveneSeptember 14, 2023
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Griswold Notice of Partial Consent to InterventionSeptember 17, 2023
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Order on Motion to Intervene GrantedSeptember 18, 2023
Federal case
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Notice of Removal to US District CourtSeptember 7, 2023
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Petitioners' Unopposed Motion to RemandSeptember 8, 2023
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Motion for Expedited Cons. of Motion to RemandPetitioners' unopposed motion for expedited consideration of motion to remand September 8, 2023
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Trump's Response to Unopposed Motion to RemandNotice of Trump's Response to Unopposed Motion to Remand September 11, 2023
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Griswold's Response to Motion to RemandSeptember 12, 2023
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Response to Petitioners' Unopposed Remand MotionSeptember 12, 2023
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Remand Granted, Case Closed
Insurrection photo in header by Tyler Merbler under a Creative Commons license | Trump photo in header by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license