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Dear John,
Donald Trump is about to announce his plans to run for president. The media reports the twice-impeached, disgraced ex-president will make an official primetime announcement from his Mar-a-Lago club tonight.
Under no circumstances should the former guy be permitted to run for president again.
The reality is section 3 of the 14th Amendment could not be clearer:[1]
“No person shall ... hold any office ... under the United States ... who, having previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.”
On his inauguration day in 2017, Donald Trump took an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Four years later, Trump incited an insurrection against the U.S. government.
Join me in demanding Secretaries of State, State Election Boards and Federal and State Courts reject and disqualify Trump from running for President under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Ballot disqualification for insurrection is not unprecedented. Courts have already ruled that January 6 insurrectionists can be barred from office.[2]
In fact, Judge Francis J. Mathew ruled recently that Couy Griffin was ineligible to continue to serve as Otero County Commissioner in New Mexico for his involvement on January 6 and barred for life from ever serving any office in the United States again.
If Griffin is deemed ineligible, why shouldn’t the same standard be applied to Trump?
The House Select Committee on January 6 laid out the facts. Trump sought to intimidate state officials into reversing the election outcome. He then recruited the violent mob to the Capitol.[3] He encouraged and incited them to take action against the government despite knowing the crowd was heavily armed.[4]
He provided aid to those participating in the attack by choosing not to act and failing to call in the National Guard or any other law enforcement to assist the overwhelmed Capitol police[5] despite repeated requests.[6]
If Section 3 of the 14th Amendment means anything, it clearly disqualifies Donald Trump from becoming President. When he disrupted the transition of presidential power mandated by the Constitution after having sworn to defend it, he became immediately ineligible. Demand election officials reject and disqualify Trump now.
I believe Attorney General Merrick Garland must indict Trump and hold him accountable, but election officials do not need an indictment or conviction to reject and disqualify Trump from holding office.
The only thing they need is the Constitution.
Working together, we will protect democracy from those who want to destroy it.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
[1] Constitution of the United States Fourteenth Amendment
[2] Insurrectionists May Be Barred From Office, Court Rules, Bloomberg Law
[3] How Trump's 'will be wild!' tweet drew rioters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, NPR
[4] Trump Urged Armed Supporters to Capitol, White House Aide Testifies, New York Times
[5] House panel says Trump ‘chose not to act’ during attack on US Capitol, The Guardian
[6] Capitol riot: Trump ignored pleas to condemn attack, hearing told, BBC
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