Posted on 12/29/2023 3:05:21 PM PST by DoodleBob
Republican lawmakers in Maine are preparing impeachment orders against Secretary of State Shenna Bellows following her decision to remove former President Donald J. Trump from the Maine GOP presidential primary ballot.
“I wish to impeach her on the grounds that she is barring an American citizen and 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Party ballot in March,” Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) said in a statement.
“This is raw partisanship and has no place in the office of our state’s Constitutional Officers,” Andrews said.
Bellows, a former legal activist with the left-wing Maine Civil Liberties Union and a former Democratic state senator, released a statement Thursday evening regarding her decision to block Trump from the ballot.
“I conclude,” Bellows wrote in her official decision, “that the record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power.”
This, Bellows asserted, renders him guilty of the crime of insurrection, in her opinion.
Trump, however, has never been convicted of any crimes related to insurrection in either a court of law or the U.S. Senate.
Shortly after publicizing her decision, Bellows appeared on CNN and MSNBC to address national television audiences.
Trump has five days to notify the Secretary of State’s office whether he will appeal the decision.
With Maine’s legislature solidly under the control of the Maine Democratic Party, the impeachment effort isn’t likely to gather much momentum.
However, any votes related to Trump or Bellows decision could become tricky for Democrats in Maine’s more conservative Second Congressional District, which Trump won in both 2016 and 2020.
Bellows decision to unilaterally remove President Joe Biden’s top GOP competitor also drew criticism from Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden.
Golden’s two GOP opponents, who have both supported Trump, also condemned the decision.
Steve Robinson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Maine Wire. He can be reached by email at Robinson@TheMaineWire.com.
These comments by “Conner” at the source, while clearly requiring a barf alert, are potentially informative for those wondering what’s up the Dems’ sleeves in 2024. Parenthetically, if illegal removal at the local level then run the clock out IS the Dem plan, “Connor” is a loose-lipped idiot.
Mark my words. Even if the Supreme Court overrules Shannon. There will be many of us on the town level that will keep him off. I promise you that Trump will NEVER be president again. By the time the election is over there will be so many of us who block this guy that it will take endless lawsuits and by that time we’ll already have the White House.
There is not a single Democrat who is unwilling to do what it takes to block this Fascist.
Talk to your friends and family who are Democrats. Mark my words. TRUMP WILL NOT BE PRESIDENT. All we have to do is what Shannon did, but on a local level and you’ll never get your Dictator. I don’t care what the polls say or how many of you want him. It’s like Germany. The majority of the population wanted Hitler. At that time it would be justice to do by any means necessary to block him from power. Same applies here. This time it’s easier to organize and we’ll just remove him on the local level. Done.
Democrats play 4D chess, Republicans don’t even play. They just complain about the moves. Maine Republicans will just make videos, statements, and get clicks. If the Supreme Court rules against Bellows, then the local Democrats who run must of the small town elections will just remove Trump. The lawsuits will take years to complete and Trump will pass away from old age. Check mate.
Maine could be 90% red and we would still turn it blue. Go on FB and watch Laurel Libby gain the likes. The Republicans in Maine are just in it to fill the position for a little bit of fame. Democrats are passionately there to change the system. And we are winning.
Want to make a bet? Watcha gonna do when all the local towns run by Democrats remove Trump from the ballot? Going to sue hundreds of thousands of locations?
MAGA Republicans are just emotional reactionaries that just sit with their thumbs up their butt while they wait for the system to save them. Democrats on the other hand organize and come up with strategies to actually win. I’d rather have one party run the Country than share it with another that is incompetent.
Telling.
What a stupid bitch
I’d rather have the party of slavery and Jim Crow run the Country than share it with another that is incompetent.
I’d rather have the party of slavery and Jim Crow run the Country.
Yes. Impeach her. Drive her from office. Humiliate her. Democrats must be made to feel pain for their perfidy.
Crazy 👀 Karen ping.
At first, I thought “Conner” was a troll when reading his/her/its comments.
Then I decided to post the story and ping thinking people who know waaaay more about this process at the local level to weigh in.
It may not matter if it is illegal for local apparatchiks to remove Trump from the ballot (prescinding from the physical logistics of such removal). The strategy is to deny a means for casting a vote for Trump at the ballot box on Election Day (when and where most Republicans vote).
It’ll get tied up in courts way past Jan 20, 2025 and then it won’t matter.
In theory, a problem with this approach is that Trump’s name will still be on mail-in ballots.
But that may be the REAL strategy - force Trump supporters (like cattle to the slaughter) to use the mail-in process.
..............only 75,000 votes difference between Biden and Trump in 2020.
“Conner” is like so many big mouths we’ve all seen in our lives. Waste of bandwidth!
Yep. And all you needed was half of those votes plus one at the margin in WI, GA and AZ to flip for Trump, and it’d be different.
Razor thin.
Judging from the erudite comments critiquing Bellows for dumping Trump,
(go to thread link above), I’d say she is working the wrong side of the street.
Bellows action is a direct violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. As a state officer, she is required to carry a surety bond, and she personally can be sued for this violation.
The insurance company that issues this bond is likely to tell her that she is on her own as she has made this ruling not on a due process court ruling, but that of her own volition.
Any town officer that violates the rights of the citizens can face the same reprisal.
Conner is a typically lib: knows for a fact he’s smarter than all of us, but actually doesn’t know s***. When SCOTUS throws out the SCOS ruling, the pending cases across the country will be dismissed. A Maine trial-level judge will issue a writ of mandate directing the SOS to put him on the ballot. On Election Day in every state trial level judges are on stand by to make orders. Any local election official who acts co ready to law will have their actions summarily and all but instantly reversed. When SCOTUS rules, there will not be any protracted legal proceedings on this issue anywhere in the country
Dr. Ed posted on themainewire
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the DEMOCRATS wanting to see her impeached.
If she’s not removed, even if her asinine decision is overturned, she’s going to bring a lot of MAGA money into Maine and that will likely (a) cost Golden his seat in the 2nd District and (b) shift the legislature back into a GOP majority.
Remember that it was the legislature that gave Maine Bellows, and that will be a campaign issue in some districts.
Furthermore, aren’t there Democrats ahead of her in line for the 2026 Nomination to run for Governor? She got lots of attention but not the kind she wanted. I can’t see Democrats being very pleased by this little stunt of hers.
There are a lot of Mainers not really paying attention to politics who are going to say, “she did WHAT??”
And if you are a Democratic legislator, is that the hill you wish to die on?
That and all of the other nutty stuff the Democrats want to advance — I’m wondering if they made her Secretary of State to get her out of the Senate…
So it may not come to an actual vote with lots of Dems voting to oust her, but don’t be surprised if she resigns to take some gig with the National ACLU......…
Trump's lawyers need to file a claim for oh, say, 2.5 billion dollars. Let Soros and other Dems fund her defense.
Love it.......sue the pants off of her.
“It may not matter if it is illegal for local apparatchiks to remove Trump from the ballot (prescinding from the physical logistics of such removal). The strategy is to deny a means for casting a vote for Trump at the ballot box on Election Day (when and where most Republicans vote).
It’ll get tied up in courts way past Jan 20, 2025 and then it won’t matter.”
It depends on the timing and whether Republicans are alert enough to fight this. I assume Trump is the official Republican nominee for president on 2024. I believe some states start printing mail in ballots by September 2024. Republicans should start noticing any irregularities and start filing lawsuits. I don’t see any way that ballots can be printed without the republican nominee for president on the ballot being allowed if Republicans are vigilant. At worst, everybody has to write in their vote for president.
Oh, I believe we “got em” and then some.
They were just stolen.
Is this a Biden ordered first step to steal 2024?
Bellows appeared on Regime friendly outlets like MSNBC and CNN after she unilaterally barred Trump from the ballot.
Shenna Bellows told CNN that she suspended the effect of her decision to disqualify Trump from the ballot until the Supreme Court can act. She also suggested there may not be enough time to put Trump on the ballot.
“We’re looking at a very tight time frame,” Bellows said
CNN host: We are waiting to see if the Supreme Court will, in fact, take up this Colorado case. I know you mentioned the Colorado case in your decision. When you look at where things stand, there is a question. Our own senior legal analyst bringing this up, he doesn’t believe that if the Supreme Court takes this up that they will in fact rule on what engaging in an insurrection means, whether there needs to be criminality with it, if they do not, are you concerned about the fallout?
Shenna Bellows: I will always implement what the court decides, and this type of proceeding is not unusual. As part of my duties in Maine, under Maine election law in 2022, for example, I held a similar hearing on the qualifications of a district attorney candidate, found him unqualified. That was appealed. The court upheld my ruling. I mentioned Mr. Chris Christie just last week, a superior court finding that I had made the right decision in barring him from the ballot under Maine law.
(Excerpt) Read more at thegatewaypundit.com ...
It's what the jackasses did to Sarah Palin. Endless lawsuits that she had to pay the defense out of pocket.
Democrat tactics bite back, eh?
When are border state Republican SOS removing Biden from the ballot? Nah, they just whine.
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