As we said, we would have welcomed a serious investigation into what went wrong on January 6, including failures among law enforcement and the FBI (which are being left out of the select committee’s final report). We just learned that the FBI had eight informants embedded with the Proud Boys who apparently did nothing to stop them. Why wasn’t Ray Epps arrested for incitement to riot while grandmothers taking selfies were arrested and tried for “parading”? Why did Ashli Babbitt’s family have to sue to learn the name of the man who shot and killed her?
As we all know, though, the January 6 hearings quickly revealed their overarching purpose: to prevent Trump from holding office again.
If you want to make the point that Trump, as an insurrectionist, is disqualified for running for office, you’ll have to get in line:
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars anyone from holding office who “engaged in insurrection" against the United States.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) November 15, 2022
This isn't some obscure provision. A judge in New Mexico just used it against an insurrectionist county commissioner.
It should apply to Donald Trump, too. pic.twitter.com/bziyP17YhR
Donald Trump led an insurrection against the United States in violation of his oath to uphold the Constitution. He is permanently disqualified from holding any state or federal office, per the 14th Amendment, Section 3.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) November 16, 2022
The 14th Amendment features language barring officials who took an oath to the Constitution from serving if they engaged in insurrection.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 16, 2022
Advocates ran post-Jan. 6 test runs of this provision to try to disqualify Trump allies, with mixed results https://t.co/zf2I9DbXh5
There's no uniform process to challenge someone's eligibility to be on a ballot and hold office. Absent action by Congress, we're looking at a potential patchwork of legal action that risks what one expert warned could turn into a "constitutional crisis" https://t.co/zf2I9Du6vd
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 16, 2022
In post-Jan. 6 cases involving 14th Amend. claims against GOP officials, challengers largely failed to keep candidates off of ballots (with one notable exception), but they point to rulings they won along the way that could help future Trump challengeshttps://t.co/zf2I9DtyFF
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 16, 2022
A few Democrats in Congress have proposed bills aimed at explicitly providing a uniform enforcement mechanism for the insurrection disqualification, trying to head off potential legal chaos under the status quo, but they haven't seen any movement so far https://t.co/zf2I9DbXh5
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 16, 2022
Rep. David Cicilline has already written up legislation to bar Trump from office, saying the January 6 select committee proved he incited an insurrection.Asked if there's a scenario where Congress could refuse to certify a Trump electoral win on insurrection disqualification grounds, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a sponsor of pending Section 3 legislation, she said she wasn't sure but wouldn't rule it out https://t.co/zf2I9DtyFF
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 16, 2022
Rep. David Cicilline (a former Trump impeachment manager) is circulating a letter to Dems rounding up support for legislation to bar Trump from office under the 14th Amendment, per copy I obtained: pic.twitter.com/BsDNbhjPUg
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) November 16, 2022
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
