Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson talks to me about barring Trump from ballot and new lawsuit to disqualify Trump

The momentum to bar Trump us building!

The pressure to disqualify Donald Trump by way of Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment from not just the ballot but from holding any federal or state office is building.  The campaign waged by countless people by way of emails and calls to Secretary of States—together with the media coverage—made it clear to these officials they can’t simply ignore this issue.

More than that, a lawsuit was filed earlier this week in Colorado to bar Trump from the ballot by six voters with the assistance of CREW—the organization that successfully disqualified the head of the Cowboys for Trump from the ballot in New Mexico for “engaging” in the Jan 6 insurrection. I will cover more of this lawsuit below.

But first I wanted to share the portion of two interviews I conducted this week on my SiriusXM show where I asked elected officials about disqualifying Trump from the ballot.  Below is a long chunk of my interview with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson where I asked her numerous questions about the issue. Given she is the former Dean of a Wayne State University

Law school, she is the perfect person to ask. And ask I did--including practical questions concerning the procedure that needed to be followed, can voters bring a lawsuit in Michigan and more. 

One big takeaway was Secretary Benson’s comment: "To me as a witness, personally, to the actual attempts to nullify the will of the voters in our state, I think the arguments for disqualification are quite strong."

She also re-affirmed two points that everyone who has discussed this issue has raised: 1. Ultimately the US Supreme Court will need to decide this issue and 2. It’s imperative the process be started as soon as possible. However, she was still not certain if she had the power unilaterally to remove Trump or if a court order was needed. That is an issue she is now exploring.

Here is the portion of my interview with Secretary Benson exploring the nuances of Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment:

On Thursday, I also welcomed Rep. Ted Lieu to my show—a lawyer and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. When I asked him about Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment, he stated bluntly that “the 14th Amendment bars Donald Trump from being president again."

Rep. Lieu’s view is backed up by Rep. Adam Schiff and at least in theory by US Senator Tim Kaine who voiced similar sentiments over the weekend on cable news.

But in reading the responses sent by many people from their Secretary of States, I get sense that there is a chance one Secretary may act to get the process going in the courts. But it looks more likely that lawsuits will be needed with the goal being at least one court finds Trump is disqualified. That is why the lawsuit filed this week in Colorado is promising—especially given that CREW is involved and they know this topic inside and out.

The plaintiffs in the case are six Colorado voters who are either Republicans or Independents. The very first lines of their complaint sum up so well what they are arguing: “Donald Trump tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.”

From there. the 115-page complaint details Trump’s actions as well as the reason Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment disqualifies him from the ballot.

A few passages from the complaint about Trump that jump out include: "President Trump was the mob's leader, and the mob was his weapon," adding, "Without his false claims of election fraud, coercive tactics, inflammatory rhetoric, mob mobilization, promotion of political violence, instructions to march on the Capitol, and decision to pour fuel on the fire rather than tell the mob to disperse, the attack on the Capitol would not have happened."

The complaint details Trump’s post-election lies, his call to his supporters to come to Washington DC on Jan 6 for a “wild” event and his lines during his speech intended to incite his supporters. Lines from Trump’s Jan 6 speech they cite include his bellowing to his angry supporters, “[w]e must stop the steal,” “we’re stuck with a president who lost the election by a lot and we have to live with that for four more years. We’re just not going to let that happen,” and, “They want to come in again and rip off our country. Can’t let it happen.”

Powerfully, the complaint also quotes from U.S. Senator Waitman Willey (W. Va.), a leading Section 3 proponent, who explained during the Senate debate that [Section 3] “is a measure of self-defense.” He added, “[L]ooking to the future peace and security of this country, I ask whether it would be just or right to allow men who have thus proven themselves faithless to be again intrusted with the political power of the State. I think not; and upon that ground I think this exclusion is wise.”

Senator Willey also rightly argued, “W]e would be faithless to our trust if we allowed the interests of the country and its future peace and welfare to be again disturbed by men who have shown themselves faithless in the past,” concluding, “Shall we again trust men of this character, who, while acting under the obligation of the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, thus betrayed their country and betrayed their trust.”

That is why the complaint seeks a judicial determination that, “By instigating this unprecedented assault on the American constitutional order, Trump violated his oath and disqualified himself under the Fourteenth Amendment from holding public office, including the Office of the President."

As you heard in my interview of Secretary Benson, there are still many procedural issues that need to be resolved. For example, does the court need to wait until Trump formally files his petition to become a candidate in a state before they can hear the lawsuit? But the case in Colorado will hopefully help us answer those questions so others can potentially file similar lawsuits in states across the nation. (Please note each state’s voting laws are different in various aspects.)

This new lawsuit and the increased media coverage this issue has received are angering Trump. Earlier this week he  lashed out on social media at the prospect of the US Constitution being enforced to remove him from the ballot.  Glad to see it.

Even if in the end these efforts do not bar Trump, we are still called to use every legal means to defeat fascism and prevent a person who attempted a coup from easily getting on the ballot. At the very least, it is further distracting Trump and will cause him to spend even more on legal fees that he can’t use to attack President Biden.  At its best, we will have collectively protected our democratic Republic from a person who waged an insurrection.

---