How Trump could win the election only to be disqualified as an insurgent – ​​or impeached

The effort to disqualify President Trump from the White House under Section Three of the 14th Amendment could enter a new phase if Democrats win the House and Senate. If Trump wins — or if he loses — Democratic lawmakers could try to defeat the 45th president.

That section of the scroll disqualifies former government officials from holding office if they took an oath to support the Constitution but then betrayed it by engaging in an insurrection. Democrats have long tried to ban Trump on the basis of his role in trying to reverse the results of the last presidential election.

A Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, told the Daily Beast: “We will not accept any fraud. We will support fair and honest elections, as we always have.” Mr. Raskin told CNN last year that of “all the forms of disqualification we have, the one that disqualifies people for engaging in insurrection is the most democratic because it’s the one where people choose to be disqualified.”

Mr Raskin has been the lead director of Trump’s impeachment since January 6 and has warned that the former president is “setting the stage” for “Round 2 of the Big Lie”. His comments came after Congressman Hakeem Jeffries vowed in September that “House Democrats will do whatever it takes to protect our democracy, defend the transfer of power and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is certified on January 6 no drama or consequences. ”

The Colorado Supreme Court upheld this position when it ruled that January 6, 2021 amounted to an insurrection and that the 45th president was sufficiently responsible to trigger the disqualification provision. The text of the amendment was adopted regarding the Confederacy after the Civil War. After the Colorado ruling, President Biden ventured that “there is no question” that Trump engaged in an insurrection.

However, a unanimous Supreme Court issued a reversal of Rockies Trump vs. Anderson. The justices ruled that the Centennial state overstepped its authority when it banned Trump from voting because states cannot unilaterally disqualify federal officials. A narrow majority—five justices—went further and ruled that only Congress could enforce Section Three. This means that not only state but also federal courts cannot enforce the clause in the absence of a relevant statute.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett agreed that Colorado had gone too far, but ventured that the high court should not have reached “the complicated question of whether federal law is the exclusive vehicle through which Section 3 can be enforced.” The liberal justices went further and accused their conservative colleagues of deciding “new constitutional questions to insulate this court” and Trump from further scrutiny.

One means of disqualification would be conviction under the criminal insurrection statute. This act provides that “whosoever shall incite, abet, assist, or engage in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or shall aid or abet the same, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned no more. more than ten years, or both; and shall be ineligible to hold any office within the United States.”

Special counsel Jack Smith, however, did not accuse Trump of sedition. The Justice Department has failed to bring that charge against more than 1,000 defendants since Jan. 6, and no federal court has determined that the Capitol riot it was an insurrection. Andy McCarthy, writing in National Review, speculate that if Democrats win control of both houses of Congress, they “could try to push through legislation that would create a process” to disqualify Trump.

Drafting such legislation could be a challenge, even if we forgo the task of commanding enough majorities to get it to the desk of a possible President Harris. A law that specifically targeted Trump could run afoul of the Constitution’s blanket ban on misdemeanors. The Supreme Court defines them as “a device often resorted to in 16th, 17th and 18th century England for dealing with persons who attempted or threatened to attempt to overthrow the government “.

Another possibility is for Democrats to avoid disqualification in favor of impeachment. Trump, if he wins, has vowed to fire Mr Smith within “two seconds” of being sworn in. The special counsel regulations state that Mr. Smith can be fired only by an attorney general and for “good cause,” which must be set forth in writing. If Democrats control the House, they could launch impeachment proceedings — for a third time — against Trump.