As the U.S. Supreme Court considers Colorado’s unprecedented move to erase former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, a powerful brief was filed in defense of the 45th president.
Conservative advocates America First Legal (AFL) and Boyden Gray PLLC filed the brief on behalf of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and 177 other concerned members of Congress.
AFL called the Colorado Supreme Court decision against Trump “erroneous” and “egregiously wrong.” It further declared the act, “if allowed to stand, [would] wreak havoc on our election system and the very fabric of our constitutional republic.”
/1🚨HISTORIC BRIEF — We just filed a brief with @BoydenGrayPLLC in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of @tedcruz @SteveScalise and 177 other members of Congress to defend Donald J. Trump’s right to remain on the Colorado ballot.
AFL is proud to represent: pic.twitter.com/1ad4xswxhH
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) January 18, 2024
The legal group argued that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the “insurrection” clause, clearly assigned the authority to Congress to authorize enforcement — not states.
Aside from blatant constitutional violations, allowing states to disallow presidential candidates would “lead to widespread de-balloting of political opponents.”
Cruz released a statement coinciding with the high court brief that minced no words in condemning Democrats for election interference.
The Texas Republican noted “the radical left consistently does what they claim their opponents are doing. While President Biden and his allies claim they are defending democracy, their supporters are working to undermine democracy by banning Biden’s likely general election opponent.”
Cruz added that the American public recognizes what Democrats are attempting and noted his belief that the high court will as well.
Scalise further argued that President Biden is conducting his reelection campaign while his “radical allies” are working to eradicate “the people’s power to choose their leaders through elections.”
He warned that if the Colorado Supreme Court action is permitted to stand, it will establish a precedent for booting future political opponents from the ballot.
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering arguments in Trump v. Anderson. The nine jurists are expected to decide whether the former president may be disqualified from Colorado’s ballot despite never being convicted — much less tried — on federal charges of “insurrection” related to Jan. 6.
Cruz, Scalise and a host of Republicans asked that justices adhere to constitutional principles and strike down the Colorado decision.
