Hey, folks, I’m back with the latest on the political scene, and it’s a doozy. Donald Trump, the former president, is facing a new challenge as his campaign team gears up for a legal battle over his candidacy in the upcoming Republican primaries. It’s a complex legal battle with little precedent, and it’s all based on a Civil War-era clause in the U.S. Constitution.
Two nonprofit groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Free Speech For People, have taken up the task of challenging Trump’s candidacy. They’re relying on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says that anyone who has engaged in an “insurrection” against the United States is barred from holding office.
The Washington Post noted that neither nonprofit group had disclosed all their donors. So we don’t know who is behind this, but I’m sure we could all take some guesses.
The groups have written letters to state election officials, calling on them to block Trump from the ballot. At the same time, they’re preparing voter lawsuits and state election board complaints. The aim is to challenge Trump’s candidacy in Republican primaries across the country.
However, opponents of the effort are likely to argue that state election officials have a ministerial role that does not allow them to bar candidates under the constitution. They’ll also argue that Section 3 should not apply to a candidate before an election and that there needs to be an act of Congress to enforce Section 3. Legal scholars have also raised questions about whether a former president who has never served in another office counts as an “officer” under the clause.
The legal battle over Trump’s candidacy is shaping up to be one of the most controversial in recent years. The left is looking for any loophole. One of the main that will be debated in court is whether Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, constitute an “insurrection” under the meaning of the 14th Amendment.
The same efforts were attempted against Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and failed.
These challenges will be the Trump campaign’s first major legal hurdle, which is only the beginning. The Left will continue to throw as much mud up against the wall as possible, hoping something sticks.
