US: Donald Trump requests SC to overturn Colorado court ruling removing him from 2024 ballot

Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

Former US President Donald Trump has requested the US Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado state Supreme Court ruling that removed him from the state's 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist clause," CNN reported.

In the filing, Trump's attorneys wrote, "In our system of 'government of the people, by the people, [and] for the people,' Colorado's ruling is not and cannot be correct," CNN reported.

The Supreme Court is facing mounting pressure to decide whether Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, can be disqualified from holding public office. Meanwhile, the high court is involved in other matters that could affect the federal criminal case against Trump.

The former US President's appeal comes nearly a week after the Colorado GOP, which is also a party in the case filed a separate appeal and two weeks later the Colorado ruling came down. The ruling has been put on hold while appeals play out and Colorado's top election official has already made clear that Trump's name will be included on the state's primary ballot when it is certified on January 5.

Trump's appeal comes nearly a week after the Colorado GOP, which is also a party in the case, filed a separate appeal, and two weeks after the Colorado ruling came down. The ruling has been put on hold while appeals play out and Colorado's top election official has already made clear that Trump's name will be included on the state's primary ballot when it's certified on January 5 - unless the US Supreme Court gives its ruling otherwise.

Trump's legal team has stressed that the "question of eligibility" for the presidency should be determined by Congress and not the states and that the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that an insurrection occurred on January 6, 2021, and that the former US President "engaged" in the insurrection.

On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court in its decision said Trump is constitutionally ineligible to contest in 2024 as the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists holding office covers his conduct on January 6, 2021.

In the 134-page majority opinion, the Colorado judges wrote, "President Trump incited and encouraged the use of violence and lawless action to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power."

In its petition to the justices, Trump said that the speech called for peaceful protesting and included the full transcript of the speech in his filing. Trump's lawyers in the appendix filed in the court also included the full text of his speech, according to CNN report.

His attorneys wrote, "President Trump never told his supporters to enter the Capitol, either in his speech at the Ellipse or in any of his statements or communications before or during the events at the Capitol. To the contrary, his only explicit instructions called for protesting 'peacefully and patriotically,' to 'support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement,' to '[s]tay peaceful,' and to 'remain peaceful.'"

Trump has presented this argument in state and federal courts, which found that he incited violence when he told his supporters to "walk down to the Capitol" and "fight like hell" to "take back our country," the report said.

Even though the ruling from Colorado is only applicable to that state, however, US apex court's decision could settle the matter for the entire nation. Courts in several other states have also reviewed challenges to Trump's eligibility, CNN reported.

Last week, Maine's secretary of state removed Donald Trump from that state's 2024 primary ballot. Trump's legal team on Tuesday filed an appeal in the state court to overturn the decision on his removal from the 2024 primary ballot.

Oregon Supreme Court could soon give its ruling on a bid to remove Trump from that state's primary and general election ballots due to his role in the January 6 insurrection.

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