The American Supreme Court agreed on Friday, January 5, to take up the question of Donald Trump’s ineligibility, regarding a decision taken by Colorado which would prevent the ex-president from appearing on the ballot in that state .
Directly involving itself in a highly political matter, the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, announced that it would examine this case on February 8. Until she makes her decision, ballots will still have to include Donald Trump’s name in Colorado as in Maine, another state which has made a similar decision.
Donald Trump, the big favorite in the Republican primaries for next November’s presidential election, asked the high court on Wednesday, which he has largely overhauled, to take up the matter.
At the end of December, the Supreme Court of Colorado and then the Secretary of State of Maine banned Donald Trump from running there in the Republican primaries, historic decisions.
In both states, officials considered that the Republican billionaire, who had engaged in acts of “insurrection” during the assault on the Capitol in January 2021, was therefore ineligible for the presidency, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Donald Trump denies participation in ‘insurrection’
This amendment, adopted after the American Civil War, excludes from public liability anyone, after taking an oath to defend the Constitution, who engages in acts of “rebellion” or “insurrection.” But does this amendment apply, in this context, to Donald Trump? This is the question that the Court will have to answer.
According to Donald Trump and his lawyers, if the Colorado decision is upheld, it “will mark the first time in American history that the legal system has prevented voters from casting their ballots for the main candidate of a major party for the Presidential.” According to them, this competence lies only with the power of Congress.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers also argued in their motion that Section 3 of that amendment did not apply to him as president, that January 6 was not an “insurrection,” and that former President had “in no way participated in an insurrection.”
On January 6, 2021, hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol, the sanctuary of American democracy, to try to prevent the certification of the victory of his opponent, Joe Biden.
Donald Trump and his most fervent supporters still dispute, without proof, the results of the 2020 election.
New York State demands “$370 million” from Donald Trump
The former American president is also surrounded by legal affairs. In addition to those linked to January 6 and his alleged attempts to change the result of the 2020 presidential election, he is notably involved in a financial fraud case involving his real estate empire, the Trump Organization. A case in which, according to court documents published Friday, the State of New York is now demanding “$370 million” in compensation from Mr. Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization.
This is much more than the $250 million that the state attorney general (equivalent to a regional justice minister), Letitia James, had requested in her complaint in the fall of 2022, which resulted in a trial still ongoing.