John,
Two years ago, we emailed CREW supporters days after the election about Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the results, and we promised to keep up the fight to defend our democracy from his attacks.
That day, we had no idea that Trump would soon incite a violent insurrection—one that has created enormous challenges for our democracy.
Of course, there’s Trump himself. He’s expected to announce his candidacy for president next week. If he does, CREW will take action to disqualify him from office as soon as the law allows—because when he incited the insurrection after taking an oath to uphold the Constitution, he violated the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause.
And then there are the legions of election deniers who were on the ballot across the country yesterday, who continue to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen. From Congress to secretary of state offices to governors’ mansions—there are now going to be more election deniers in office, with more power to oversee elections, make it harder for people to vote, or refuse to accept valid election results in the future. That’s a scary prospect for our democracy.
Some of these election deniers may also be insurrectionists who have disqualified themselves from serving in office. There is a remedy for that: Congress and state legislatures have the ability to refuse to seat insurrectionists.
Last week, we called on legislators around the country to take their duty to the Constitution seriously, consider the evidence, and refuse to seat insurrectionists if appropriate. We’ll have more to say about this soon, because make no mistake: insurrectionists have no place in our government.
At CREW, we’re going to stand up and fight for our democracy. That means defending it against insurrectionists and election deniers, and we’re only getting started.
Thank you,
Donald Sherman
Vice President and Chief Counsel, CREW
