Appeal filed in Colorado 14th Amendment case

The six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters who challenged Donald Trump’s eligibility to be on the ballot following his actions on January 6th last night filed an appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court challenging the judge’s rulings that the president is not an “officer of the United States” and that the president’s oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution” is not an oath to “support” the Constitution as required by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. 

Not only did the district court rule in favor of the petitioners on every factual issue necessary to disqualify Trump from the ballot–including the historic ruling that he engaged in insurrection against the Constitution as president, it also found for the petitioners on every legal issue necessary to remove Trump save for the one. The six voters are represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the firms Tierney Lawrence Stiles LLC, KBN Law, LLC and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC.

“We always knew this case would end up before the Colorado Supreme Court, and have been preparing for that from the beginning,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said. “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.”

The court held that the six voters stated a claim under Colorado law, that Section 3 may be enforced through state ballot access laws, that the petition does not raise a non-justiciable political question and that the First Amendment does not shield Trump’s incitement. The only question left to be decided is whether the oath Trump took as president-elect subjects him to the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause.

Trump’s lawyers have already indicated to the Colorado Supreme Court that they will appeal the trial court’s decision.

“While Donald Trump is taking a victory lap claiming he won decisively in district court, it’s telling that his lawyers are attempting to overturn that so-called ‘victory,’” Bookbinder said.