John,

We’re more than halfway done with the evidentiary hearing making the case in court that Donald Trump is disqualified from the Colorado ballot for inciting insurrection.

Today, we called two of our last witnesses who testified about the history of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and how the secretary of state’s office determines eligibility for the Colorado ballot. One final witness of ours will testify on Friday.

After our witnesses testified, Trump’s attorneys asked the judge to throw out our lawsuit rather than having the case proceed by presenting their evidence. The judge dismissed their motion and said she was not yet prepared to decide on “significant legal issues, many of which have never been decided by any court.” Trump’s attorneys then called their first witnesses to make their case that Trump should be allowed on the ballot.

Witnesses Called by Plaintiffs

• Professor Gerard N. Magliocca, of Indiana University McKinney School of Law served as an expert witness on the history and meaning of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution
• Hilary Rudy, the Deputy Director of Elections for the Colorado secretary of state’s office testified about the process for certifying candidates for the ballot in Colorado and precedent for barring ineligible candidates

• Kash Patel, senior national security advisor to Donald Trump and former Trump administration official
• Katrina Pierson, former spokesperson for Trump who helped organize the rally at the Ellipse on January 6th, 2021

Key Moments

“Magliocca said the historic record for the clause also includes judicial opinions and writings from U.S. Attorney General Henry Stanbery, who in 1867 was tasked with interpreting the military reconstruction acts of Congress. ‘Insurrection was understood broadly to include any voluntary act in furtherance of an insurrection against the Constitution, including words of incitement.’” — Colorado Public Radio

“Federal prosecutors, military occupation officials, state courts and Congress itself used [Section Three] to remove or bar from office large numbers of ex-Confederate legislators, judges and executive-branch officials. ‘It was not intended as punishment,’ Magliocca said in testimony Wednesday. ‘This was simply adding another qualification because of the events that had occurred.’” — Colorado Newsline

“Plaintiffs also called on a second expert witness Wednesday, Deputy Director of the Colorado Secretary of State Office Hilary Rudy, about the office’s role in potentially taking Trump off the presidential ballot. ‘It is the secretary’s position that if we have affirmative knowledge that a candidate is ineligible for office then we will not certify them to the ballot,’ Rudy said.” — The Hill

Livestream

C-SPAN aired today’s portion of the trial in full, which you can watch here.

Selected News Coverage

• Trial to determine if Trump can be barred from offices reaches far back in history for answers, Associated Press
• Trump 14th Amendment Disqualification Trial Can Continue, Judge Rules, New York Times
• ‘Insurrection’ clause’s Civil War-era history scrutinized in third day of Colorado Trump trial, Colorado Newsline

Thanks for following along during our 14th Amendment trial challenging Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility in Colorado. We’ll be back tomorrow with more updates.