Washington: Legal experts across the US opine that all is not lost yet for ex-President Donald Trump found unfit for running for Presidency in 2024 by a Colorado Supreme Court under Article 3A of the 14th amendment on the basis of “insurrection on Capitol Hill on January 6”, as the judges in a split verdict 4-3 paused the ruling, allowing Trump to appeal in the US Supreme Court.
Legal experts, however, agree that the decision would not be the final word.
All eyes are now on the US Supreme Court — which is poised to play a major role in the 2024 election as it sits on a series of major Trump — related cases, media reports said.
The Colorado Supreme Court made history on Tuesday with an unprecedented, “freeze-in-your-tracks” ruling that former President Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to run in 2024 because of the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding public office which defined and covered his conduct on January 6, 2021.
His supporters attacked the Congress in an effort to prevent election authorities from certifying and declaring the verdict that chose Joe Biden as President.
Trump faces a swathe of charges in the federal court in Washington DC and the Fulton County Court in Georgia where he is accused of conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election verdict, conspiracy to prevent election authorities from certifying a valid election process to declare duly elected Joe Biden as President and racketeering charges under the RICO act for allegedly intimidating court officials and witnesses on phones and emails through his supports.
But importantly, in their 4-3 decision, the Colorado justices paused their decision so Trump can appeal to the US Supreme Court, which his campaign managers said he will “swiftly” do.
The pause means Trump’s spot on the Colorado GOP primary ballot in March might be safe, if the nation’s highest court does not settle the matter quickly, legal experts said.
The unprecedented landmark ruling holds Trump accountable for trying to overturn the 2020 election and provides a political punishment for his anti-democratic behaviour.
The ruling is also a massive vindication for the liberal groups and constitutional scholars of all stripes who championed such 14th Amendment lawsuits despite their long odds, legal pundits told CNN when contacted.
Trump has mastered the art of converting legal setbacks into polling bounces, CNN said, adding that he is already in a stronger position today to beat President Joe Biden than he was one year ago, before he was criminally indicted in four jurisdictions.
The top Colorado court upheld the trial judge’s conclusions that the January 6 assault on the US Capitol was an insurrection and that Trump “engaged in” that insurrection. These are key legal hurdles that the challengers needed to clear before Trump could be removed from any ballot, largely because the text of the 14th Amendment does not actually define an “insurrection” or spell out what it means to “engage in” insurrection.
Trump has unsuccessfully pushed this argument in state and federal courts, which found that he incited violence when he told supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” and “fight like hell” to “take back our country”.
“President Trump incited and encouraged the use of violence and lawless action to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” the justices wrote in the 134-page majority opinion.
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