Last month, the state’s Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a district court judge who decided that Trump incited an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, but that he was not barred from the ballot because it was not clear that Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment was intended to cover the presidency. “A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in a 4-3 decision. Throughout a 43-page legal filing, Trump’s attorneys outline multiple legal theories specifying why Colorado state officials erred in removing his name from the ballot. First, according to the petition, the question of presidential eligibility is reserved for the U.S. Congress, not state courts. “By considering the question of President Trump’s eligibility and barring him from the ballot,” the lawyers state, “the Colorado Supreme Court arrogated Congress’ authority.” Second, the legal team explains that even if the Colorado Supreme Court were able to consider challenges to presidential eligibility, “which it cannot,” the court misapplied the law. Trump, they wrote, falls outside the scope of Section 3 because the president is not “an officer of the United States,” as the text of the provision reads, he took a different oath than the one listed in Section 3, and the presidency is not an “office under the United States,” as spelled out in the constitution. The legal team also argues that Trump “in no way ‘engaged’ in ‘insurrection’” on Jan. 6, and that the Colorado proceedings violated the Electors Clause. Legal experts say that the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court could increase pressure on the Court, which will likely be pulled into the political chaos of an intense election cycle. "I doubt that any of the justices are pleased that they're being forced into the fray over Donald Trump's future. But it seems to me that the court will have no choice but to face these momentous issues," attorney Deepak Gupta, who has argued cases before the Supreme Court, told Reuters. He added that the nine justices will have to reach a decision with “unusual speed and, hopefully, in a way that does not further divide our deeply divided land. That is a daunting and unenviable task.” In addition to this ruling, the Court may be forced to decide on five other matters pertaining to Trump, opening the door to potential allegations of politicization, should the Court, in which three justices were appointed by Trump, rule in his favor.Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and keep his name on the primary ballot in the state of Colorado.
