2024-01-03 03:18:41
Donald Trump during a meeting in Waterloo, Iowa, December 19, 2023. CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / AP
The call was only a matter of days. Donald Trump’s lawyers asked the Maine courts on Tuesday, January 2, to overturn the decision to remove the name of the former American president from the ballots for the Republican primary in this northeastern state of the United States. United, the second having taken such a measure ten months before the presidential election.
A week after a similar judgment rendered by the Colorado Supreme Court, the Democratic Secretary of State of Maine, Shenna Bellows, estimated Thursday that the great favorite of the Republicans was not “not fit for the office of president” due to his role in the violent assault committed by his supporters on the Capitol in Washington in January 2021 in an attempt to prevent the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Both states invoked the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which excludes from public liability persons who have engaged in acts of« insurrection ».
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that Ms. Bellows — who became the first secretary of state in history to bar someone from running for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — abused her discretionary power and that it relied on “untrustworthy evidence”calling it “biased leader” Who “acted arbitrarily and capriciously”.
“The Secretary of State should have recused herself due to her bias against President Trump, as demonstrated by a documented history of prior statements”they wrote.
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The appeal of the Colorado decision should not take long
The historic decisions of Maine and Colorado relate at this stage only to the Republican primaries held in these two states on March 5, on a day called “Super Tuesday” because of the numerous votes organized that day by the Democrats and the Republicans. They will not be applied as long as the legal proceedings challenging them continue.
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Donald Trump is expected to soon appeal the Colorado decision to the United States Supreme Court, which has never ruled on Section 3 – the Colorado Republican Party has already appealed to the highest court in the country – , while Ms. Bellows’ action will be judged by the Maine Supreme Court.
“It’s part of the process, Shenna Bellows said Tuesday. I have confidence in my decision and in the rule of law. This is the Maine process and it is very important that, above all, each of us who serve the government respect the Constitution and the laws of the state.”.
The former president was indicted in August at the federal level as well as by the state of Georgia, accused of having tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Several proceedings have been launched in various states of country to block the path of the big favorite in the Republican primaries. Michigan and Minnesota rejected them.
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