Dear John,

Colorado’s seven-person Supreme Court found Trump ineligible for the state’s primary ballot under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on February 8, 2024.

But Trump is only one of over 1,200 people facing charges for their activities during the January 6 insurrection. Dozens currently hold office, or are running for office now. The 14th Amendment should apply to all of them.

According to the Huffington Post, 57 state and local elected Republican officials from 27 states attended the January 6 rally. The identified insurrectionists included 16 Republican members of state houses or assemblies, 4 state senators, a state attorney general, 6 county commissioners, 7 city council members, 2 mayors, 3 school board members, and 2 state GOP chairs.

That’s an astounding number. And something must be done.

Demand that all January 6 insurrectionists be barred from holding any public office now.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton attended the “Stop the Steal” rally. After the mob attacked the Capitol, spearheaded by the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, neo-fascist groups in contact with Trump advisor Roger Stone, Mr. Paxton tweeted the lie that the riot was led, not by Trump supporters, but by Antifa protesters trying to make MAGA Republicans look bad.

On January 6 itself, California Republican Assembly chapter president Jorge Riley gave a video interview on the steps of the Capitol, in which he bragged about these crimes for which he was later charged by federal prosecutors:

“We broke windows, we went into the door, we pushed our way in, and then we just kept going further and further. We pushed our way to Nancy Pelosi’s office … and then we were sitting in there yelling, ‘[expletive deleted] you, Nancy Pelosi!’”

In Flagler County, Florida, Commissioner Joe Mullins chartered buses to take protesters to Washington for January 6. Several days before, in a radio interview he said “Maybe there are some liberals I’d like to see their heads cut off.” Commissioner Mullins is still in office.

Canadian County, Oklahoma, sheriff Chris West defended his and other rioters’ actions on Facebook: “I’m okay with using whatever means necessary to preserve America.” When a fellow Oklahoman responded, “I want several in Congress in prison,” West stoked fantasies of violence by replying, “Or worse.”

And before she was arrested for breaching the Capitol, Natick, Massachusetts town council member Suzanne Ianni was photographed on her bus, smiling and thumbs up with members of the violent neo-fascist Proud Boys -- who also support her anti-LGBTQ+ group “Super Happy Fun America,” which organizes “Straight Pride Marches” in Boston.

Donald Trump led the insurrection on January 6, but dozens of elected officials among the rioters must face the same 14th Amendment prohibitions Trump is facing. Those already in office should be removed, just like former Otero County, New Mexico, Commissioner Couy Griffin was last year. Those seeking office should be barred too.

Sign the petition: Donald Trump has forfeited his right to public office, and so must all candidates and elected officials who illegally breached the Capitol at his urging.

In addition to every insurrectionist already serving, in November, Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” filed paperwork to run as the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress in Arizona.

Now released to a halfway house after serving 27 months of his 41-month prison sentence, the man who broke into the Capitol with a bullhorn and a spear is now seeking to re-enter the hallowed chamber as an elected member.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars insurrectionists from holding public office, but only for those who have previously “taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States.” So it does not currently apply to Chansley directly.

Once Democrats are once again in control of both Houses of Congress, we must press them to update the law to make sure the 14th Amendment applies more broadly to Chansley and the other 1,200 defendants who have been charged in connection with the insurrection. But the first step is to fully apply the amendment to all who hold office now -- not just Donald Trump.

Please add your name now.

Thank you for your vigilance against these anti-democracy vigilantes.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action