Posted on 12/22/2023 3:55:00 PM PST by george76
The corrupt regime has violated every basic principle of decency, every premise of self-government, and every standard of justice for so long and so often that the public has become largely inured to the latest outrage. And yet the Colorado Supreme Court’s recent decision to exclude Trump—the front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, mind you—from the ballot stands out for its stupidity, shortsightedness, and maliciousness even in this environment.
The 200+ page decision is a work of such slop that it makes Roe v. Wade look like a paragon of principled and coherent legal reasoning by comparison. The theory of the case is that Trump is constitutionally prohibited from returning to the White House on the basis of the following “Section 3” provision of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in the aftermath of the Civil War:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
The language does not make clear whether the provision even applies to the office of the presidency, and in fact, the district court opinion to which this decision responds ruled that it doesn’t apply. Of course, the critical question is not just whether the section applies to the presidency but whether Donald Trump in fact engaged in an “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States. This is where things become flatly ridiculous. Trump clearly did nothing illegal or even inappropriate in his speech on January 6th. His language was well within the bounds of ordinary political rhetoric, and his exhortation to the crowd to march to the Capitol “peacefully and patriotically” is entirely unobjectionable (contrast that to Ray Epps’ exhortation that the crowd break the law and go into the Capitol). The notion that Trump’s behavior would rise to the level of an “insurrection” or “rebellion” is still more absurd when one understands the Civil War context of the provision. At least now we can better understand the ultimate aim of Biden’s preposterous claim that January 6 is the worst “attack on democracy since the Civil War.”
At any rate, the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision overturned the district court’s ruling that Section 3 doesn’t apply to presidents but upheld the district court’s finding that Trump is guilty of insurrection. On that basis, the decision concludes that Trump isn’t constitutionally eligible to be president and is therefore excluded from the ballot—never mind the fact that Trump was never convicted of insurrection in court and that the sham J6 charges against him don’t even include “seditious conspiracy,” though it is quite likely, especially in light of the Colorado decision, that these will come in a superseding indictment.
As ridiculous as the “Section 3” legal theory is, other far-left states are eager to jump on the bandwagon in order to protect democracy by excluding the front-runner for the 2024 race from appearing on the ballot. California’s lieutenant governor recently vowed to explore every legal option to exclude Trump from the ballot, for instance.
More interesting than the sham legal theory behind the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is the organization behind it called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). As the organization boasts on its website, CREW is responsible, along with a handful of law firms, for bringing the cases in question to the Colorado Supreme Court. CREW might be familiar to Revolver readers for the fact that notorious Democrat lawfare hatchet man Norm Eisen co-founded the organization in 2003 and ran it for most of Trump’s presidency, during which time it generated nearly 200 lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Norm Eisen drafted ten articles of impeachment against Trump before Trump’s phone call with Zelensky even took place and went on to serve as special counsel in the first impeachment proceedings against Trump. Eisen worked with his colleague on a lawsuit claiming Trump violated the emoluments clause before he was even sworn in. Incidentally, his colleague Joseph Sellers represented Congressman Bennie Thompson in his January 6 lawsuit against Trump, which later became the basis for the second impeachment against Trump and the January 6 Committee report. Indeed, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that Norm Eisen has been a key architect of nearly every attempt to delegitimize, impeach, censor, sue, and remove the democratically elected 45th President of the United States—all in the name of democracy, of course. Years ago, we first brought Norm Eisen’s name to national attention in the context of his work on color revolutions overseas and the fact that he was deploying the same tools as a lawfare operative to undermine Trump that he would use in the State Department to undermine foreign leaders deemed to be adversaries of the United States.
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Believe it or not, Eisen is not the least reputable person associated with the anti-Trump lawfare outfit CREW. None other than disgraced Democrat operative David Brock joined CREW’s board of directors in 2014, where he remained until the end of 2017. David Brock, of course, is the architect of the infamous leaked “Brock” memo that envisaged CREW’s central role in its comprehensive lawfare, media, and political strategy to overturn the results of the 2016 election.
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The Washington Free Beacon attended the retreat and obtained David Brock’s private and confidential memorandum from the meeting. The memo, “Democracy Matters: Strategic Plan for Action,” outlines Brock’s four-year agenda to attack Trump and Republicans using Media Matters, American Bridge, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Shareblue.
The memo contains plans for defeating Trump through impeachment, expanding Media Matters’ mission to combat “government misinformation,” ensuring Democratic control of the Senate in the 2018 midterm elections, filing lawsuits against the Trump administration, monetizing political advocacy, using a “digital attacker” to delegitimize Trump’s presidency and damage Republicans, and partnering with Facebook to combat “fake news.”
Brock has withdrawn from CREW, though he’s still active in fundraising efforts. Norm Eisen has also left CREW to found a new lawfare arm shamelessly called the States United Democracy Center. States United appears to pick up where CREW left off. When it is not targeting so-called “election deniers” running for office (that is, those who dare question the integrity of the 2020 election), States United is directly engaged in anti-Trump lawfare related to January 6.
The man running the show now at CREW goes by the name of Noah Bookbinder. Bookbinder, like Eisen and Brock, is animated by a fanatical obsession with Trump. Here’s Bookbinder over four years ago droning on about Trump’s tax returns:
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Perhaps the most interesting thing about Bookbinder, however, is the fact that he happens to hold a position on the Department of Homeland Security’s advisory board, to which Homeland Security director Mayorakas appointed him in March 2022. The idea that the Department of Homeland Security would be formally associated with the head of a group like CREW with such manifestly partisan motivations seems inappropriate at best, and even worse when we consider that CREW is intensely involved in attempts to prevent Trump from running for a second term by any means possible.
In another sense, however, Bookbinder’s association with the DHS in particular is entirely appropriate. It has long been our position that the DHS is the absolute tip of the spear when it comes to the political weaponization of the national security apparatus against Trump supporters. Recall that the Orwellian “Disinformation Governance Board,” an organization set up to censor “disinformation” related to the 2020 election, COVID, among other things, was run out of the DHS. Fortunately, this particular group was too ridiculous, even for the present political moment, and had to be disbanded.
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Bennie Thompson, the former head of the January 6 commission, was also the Department of Homeland Security’s man in congress, being chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security from 2007–2011 and then again in 2019.
Thompson is a key component in the establishment DNC’s merger with the national security state after 9/11, using the pretext of fake “domestic terrorism”. As an untouchable incumbent in Mississippi with 28 years in Congress, Thompson was the chair of the Homeland Security Committee from 2007-2011 and has been back in charge again since 2019.
Essentially, whenever Democrats have a majority in the House, Thompson is put in as the hatchet man to control oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
Bennie Thompson scratches the back of an ever-expanding US national security state. In turn, Thompson is rewarded with plush committee chair roles and an expanding DHS turf of his own.
Indeed, Thompson was tapped to serve as the Permanent Chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. In the 2020 election, Thompson presided over all official business of the convention that made Joe Biden the Democratic nominee for President.
Ironically, in 2004, Thompson was one of only 31 House Democrats who voted to overturn the results of the Bush-Gore election. But today, the vast Department of Homeland Security agency reports to him. And that agency now calls anyone who claims fraud in the 2020 election “Potential Terror Threats.”
It is also noteworthy that Norm Eisen’s new lawfare outfit is essentially an extension of the DHS. Indeed, Norm Eisen’s new lawfare group contains not one, not two, but three former heads of the Department of Homeland Security—that’s right, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, and Tom Ridge were all heads of the DHS.
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Norm Eisen’s merger with DHS heavyweights no doubt reflects the reality that the DHS is at the forefront of the Regime’s attempt to undermine Trump and his supporters. And now we see that the current head of CREW, Noah Bookbinder, actually has a formal advisory role with that same agency. Interesting indeed.
On the whole, we see a number of dark trends converge in CREW’s role in excluding Trump from the Colorado ballot—a decision sure to be overturned but nonetheless portentous in terms of the overall sense of where things are going. Of course, the fact that someone with an advisory position in the Department of Homeland Security runs a group attempting to remove the frontrunner for 2024 from the 2024 ballot, all in the name of democracy, is not exactly optimal. It is never a great sign when the national security bureaucracy under the control of a nation’s leader is used to attack the frontrunner from another party. And the relationship between the DHS and the head of CREW, together with Norm Eisen’s deep ties with DHS bigwigs, underscores just how deeply interconnected the regime’s tentacles are and suggests a powerful integration between the national security bureaucracies and the more political lawfare organizations in the regime’s full-spectrum efforts to destroy Trump.
It has been clear for a long time now that this regime will do anything to stop another Trump presidency and to prevent the American people from ever meddling in their own elections again. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
If Trump is being persecuted for “instigating the rioting,” then Epps should have been as well. Since Epps was basically exonerated for his actions, then Trump should be too. That’s basic common sense application of the law, which shows this is nothing but a political stunt meant to keep Trump off the ballot in 2024, thereby denying tens of millions of Americans the right to vote for their candidate of choice, which is obviously election interference.
Good points.
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The Trump Curse will get Colorado, just watch!
RE: The corrupt regime has violated every basic principle of decency, every premise of self-government, and every standard of justice for so long and so often ....
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They largely own the judicial system and many Soros backed prosecutors, the news media to shape news and make unhappy ones disappear, most book publishers, many woke corporations, the oversight of ballots and the vote counters in many places, the universities, K-12 education system, government employee unions, manufacturing and other unions, many state governors and a lot more.
They are not shy about bullying.
The omission speaks loudly & clearly that those two offices are not affected by Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment.
These people want to see an end to any opposition period, no Republicans will ever hold another elected position in any state, county or locally down to dog catcher.
Well, the (national) Pubbies seem perfectly fine with their actions.
Lets see how they put a stop to this.
Excerpt from george 76 post up thread:
“ Years ago, we first brought Norm Eisen’s name to national attention in the context of his work on color revolutions overseas and the fact that he was deploying the same tools as a lawfare operative to undermine Trump that he would use in the State Department to undermine foreign leaders deemed to be adversaries of the United States.”
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Eisen was working on the 2014 color revolution in ukraine?
Seditious conspiracy in USA?
Robert DeLong wrote:
“
The language does not make clear whether the provision even applies to the office of the presidency, and in fact, the district court opinion to which this decision responds ruled that it doesn’t apply.
The omission speaks loudly & clearly that those two offices are not affected by Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment.
“
The 14th amendment mentions electors.
What oath do the electors for President and vice President take?
Maybe the national GOP is just fine with this. Have not heard voice one at the national level. But a bunch of critters are sure leaving.
While I'm not sure, answer me this. If Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment was supposed to cover the President & The Vice president, why would they mention electors but not mention those two political offices?
Are you trying to insinuate that it was an oversight as the reason they did not mention those two offices? Seems highly unlikely especially given that they did think to include electors. The south did represent a power if they could come together work in unison, to subvert an election.
That would be my guess as to why they would include electors.
I will admit that is speculation on my part, but I am fairly confident that it wasn't an oversight. But the truth of the matter is, they didn't include the offices of President & Vice President, but they remained silent for a reason. They could have specifically stated those two offices and how they were to be dealt with.
Could it be, that they didn't want to deny a leader who the majority of the nation might want, but the issue was to be dealt with by the people themselves perhaps with a court overseeing the arguments presented? You know somewhat akin to a legal escape hatch.
There are a lot of activist democrats who need to be flown to Gitmo shortly after noon on 20 Jan 2025.
agreed there is no deterrant, they do what they damed well please. Whe do the American people get some satisfaction?
“Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, and Tom Ridge”
Note that two of these three are alleged Republicans.
Chertoff worked for Bush 41.
These are the people trying to destroy the current Republican party using the DHS, an agency we were told would never become a internal political police.
Funny that.
Not trying to imply it was an oversight, just wanted to know what oath the electors take, as compared to the oaths the other elected officials take.
As to why did they mention electors and not the offices of president and vice president, maybe it is because the electors are pledged to vote for the president and vice president that get enough votes in each state to get that state’s electoral votes.
DHS, thank you Bush and the GOP!
Okay, but I do believe there have been electors who have broken their oaths, and as far as I know there is no penalty for doing so.
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