John,
In just six days, we’re going to the Supreme Court to defend our lawsuit victory enforcing Donald Trump’s disqualification from the Colorado ballot.
Since filing our response to Trump’s brief to the Supreme Court, we’ve seen a flood of support for our argument – from historians to former Republican elected leaders to a legendary conservative former judge.
We’re grateful for their support, and yours!
If you can, please make a donation to CREW to help us take our fight to the Supreme Court and defend Donald Trump’s disqualification from the ballot →
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The 14th Amendment was drafted and passed by Congress in 1866 and ratified by the states in 1868. So if anyone knows the specifics of the context in which that Amendment was adopted – and how it applies in Trump’s case – it’s historians.
That’s why it’s so important that 29 historians of the civil war and Reconstruction, including Jill Lepore, James McPherson and Drew Gilpin Faust, filed briefs in support of our efforts to remove Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment.
While Trump’s lawyers claim that the presidency is not an “office” as described in the 14th Amendment, historians disagree:
“Contemporary evidence from the decision-makers who sponsored, backed, and voted for the 14th amendment [ratified in 1868] is most probative. Analysis of this evidence demonstrates that decision-makers crafted section three to cover the president and to create an enduring check on insurrection, requiring no additional action from Congress.”
The historians also cited Andrew Johnson – who, in 1868, became the first president to be impeached – who referred to himself as “chief executive officer.”
In another brief, historians took on the argument that barring Trump from the ballot is “anti-democratic,” drawing on the intentions of the framers of the 14th Amendment. They said:
"Their concerns included a possible bid for the presidency by Jefferson Davis… With an eye toward establishing enduring fundamental law and ensuring domestic tranquility, they framed a provision designed to hold future insurrectionists accountable by the same means. They knew that no one in the United States is above the law, not even the President, and that no republican government can afford to return insurrectionists to office."
John, we couldn't have said it better ourselves.
We need to do everything we can to defend our democracy from the threat that Donald Trump poses. We need to hold him accountable for his own actions, and bar him from the ballot. Stand with us in this fight by making a donation to CREW today →
John, we’ve been saying that enforcing the Constitution against Trump isn’t partisan, and the briefs that have flooded in underscore that important point. Three former Republican governors—Marc Racicot of Montana, Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Bill Weld of Massachusetts—wrote a brief in support. So did 12 former Republican members of Congress, and several leading democracy experts, including Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Timothy Snyder.
The evidence on our side is overwhelming, and the Constitution is not optional.
In a friend-of-the-court brief submitted on behalf of several notable lawyers, J. Michael Luttig, a conservative former judge on the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals, said:
“Trump incited, and therefore engaged in, an armed insurrection against the Constitution’s express and foundational mandates that require the peaceful transfer of executive power to a newly-elected President. In doing so, Mr. Trump disqualified himself under Section 3 (of the Constitution).”
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: The Colorado Supreme Court didn’t kick Trump off the ballot. The United States Constitution kicked Trump off the ballot.
Help us hold Donald Trump to the Constitution by making a donation to CREW today →
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
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