Former President Donald Trump has requested that a lawsuit seeking to block his name from the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado be moved from state to federal court. The lawsuit, filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of six Colorado voters, is attempting to use the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding public office to derail Trump’s campaign.
In response, Trump’s lawyers argued that the lawsuit is based on federal law and should therefore be handled in federal court. They stated that the case is grounded in the Fourteenth Amendment, as evidenced by the 41 references to the amendment in the plaintiffs’ petition.
While this Colorado lawsuit is the first case to reach the courts regarding Trump’s eligibility to hold office, conservative legal scholars have been increasingly arguing that Trump should be barred from the presidency due to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The 14th Amendment provision states that any American official who engaged in insurrection or rebellion or provided aid to insurrectionists is disqualified from holding future office. However, enforcement of this ban is not explicitly detailed in the Constitution and has only been applied twice since the late 1800s, primarily against former Confederates.
Republican elected officials who faced 14th Amendment candidacy challenges last year saw varying outcomes when attempting to use federal courts to shut down the litigation. Some federal judges blocked challenges, while others allowed the proceedings to proceed in state courts.
In the lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, they requested a Colorado state judge to issue an order declaring Trump disqualified under the Fourteenth Amendment and preventing Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold from taking any action that would allow him to access the ballot.
A spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington expressed their belief that it would not be proper to move the case to federal court.
Trump has adamantly denied any wrongdoing regarding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and has stated that there is no legal basis to use the 14th Amendment to remove him from the ballot.