The CREW lawsuit is one of several seeking to disqualify President Trump as an “insurrectionist” because of his actions in the wake of the 2020 election.
Amid much media hullabaloo, a group called “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” (CREW) recently filed a petition in a Colorado trial court demanding that former President Donald Trump be disqualified from the Colorado presidential ballot on the grounds that he’s an insurrectionist. CREW seems to exist largely to sue Republicans, especially President Trump.
Several years ago, for example, it launched a groundless suit accusing him of violating one of the Constitution’s emoluments clauses (pdf).
CREW’s filing was, of course, followed by an appeal for donations to—you guessed it—“protect our democracy.”
The CREW lawsuit is one of several seeking to disqualify President Trump as an “insurrectionist” because of his actions in the wake of the popular vote in the 2020 presidential election. However, these suits face so many legal hurdles that they raise the question of whether they’re really about justice or about fundraising and publicity.
This two-part essay enumerates some of those legal hurdles. This Part I addresses standing to sue and the first of several other hurdles. Part II examines additional ones.
A clarification: As regular readers of my columns know, I’m not a Trump partisan. And unlike most who write in this area, my original constitutional research isn’t crafted to benefit particular political causes. I examine the evidence, and the chips fall where they may.
The Basis of the ‘Disqualification’ Suits
The disqualification suits are purportedly based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. This section disqualifies insurrectionists from holding most public offices. It reads, in part, as follows:
“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 … who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States … 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 vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
By Rob Natelson
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