The lawsuit to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado heard oral arguments in the state Supreme Court last week. However, according to legal expert Robert Delahunty, the case’s allegations sit on faulty legal grounds.
The lawsuit, filed by left-wing group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, alleges that Trump is ineligible for presidential office after engaging in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. However, even though the Denver District Court judge determined that Trump “engaged in insurrection” under its meaning in the 14th Amendment, she also ruled that the insurrection law in question doesn’t apply to the former president.
Trump’s candidacy is allowed to continue for now after the case against him failed in the Denver District Court last month. However, the case was appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, and it will most likely be appealed again to the United States Supreme Court.
Delahunty, Trump’s lawyer in the Colorado case and the mastermind behind his district victory, offered his analysis recently in an online briefing hosted by the Claremont Institute.
Trump won in district court because of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which brought into question whether the claims against the former president even apply to him. The section bars any officer of the United States who has engaged in insurrection from holding office. However, under the appointments clause, only those who are appointed to federal office are considered officers of the United States. Because the president is elected rather than appointed, the court decided that
