Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
A challenge has been filed in a federal court seeking a declaratory relief on the eligibility of President Donald Trump to run in the 2024 Presidential Election.
The petitioner cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which disqualifies individuals involved in “insurrections” against the government from running for federal office.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by Lawrence A. Caplan, alleges that Trump is constitutionally prohibited from running for president again due to his alleged involvement in the January 6 “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol.
Caplan claimed he has participated in the last twelve presidential elections and is a legal resident of Florida. He is also a member of various state bars and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting that this gives him standing in the matter.
Below is a transcript from the complaint:
The facts of this case are undeniably simple. Donald J. Trump served a the 45th President of the United States having won the election in 2016 and was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. He served for four years until he lost the 2020 Presidential Election to Joseph R. Biden, Jr. who took office on January 20, 2021. President Trump chose not to appear at the inauguration of his successor. Having left for his estate in South Florida while the ceremony was taking place…
On January 6, 2021, after giving a speech to a throng on the Ellipse near the Capitol, President Trump exhorted the throng to march to the Capitol and told them that he would be right there with them. After he was finished with his speech, Trump returned to the White House and watched he later events unfold on television. As we are well aware, the throng marched on the Capitol, forced their way into the Capitol building, ransacked the rotunda area, and even made their way into several offices of representatives and senators…
Of note, President Trump had sent out a tweet the day before claiming that “January 6th will be wild”. Trump also later remarked that the insurrectionists who had breached the Capitol were “special” and that “we love you”. He also later remarked that had Vice-President Pence simply done his job and refused to certify the results of the election that everything would have been fine. Not for several hours were the National Guard called in to quell the insurrection as allegedly President Trump refused to do so and had been mesmerized by the events that were taking place on his television at the White House…
Caplan specifically invokes Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, to disqualify Trump from running for the presidency.
“The mere fact that he has been formally indicted for various felonies including insurrection against the federal government mandates that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment be triggered,” Caplan said in his complaint.
“The bottom line here is that President Trump both engaged in an insurrection and also gave aid and comfort to other individuals who were engaging in such actions, within the clear meaning of those terms as defined in Section Three of the 14th Amendment.”
“Assuming that the public record to date is accurate, and we have no evidence to the contrary, Trump is no longer eligible to seek the office of the President of the United States, or of any other state of the Union,” Caplan added.
In his conclusion, Caplan is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court to bar Donald J. Trump from participating in the 2024 Presidential race and the Florida Republican primary scheduled for next spring.
On Friday, The Gateway Pundit previously reported that New Hampshire’s Republican Secretary of State David Scanlan is seeking legal advice on potentially blocking Trump from the primary ballot.
Scanlan has reportedly received letters begging him to take action based on legal theories fueled by the Democrat-media complex that claims the Constitution gives him the power to block Trump from the ballot.
The legal theories are based on Section 3 of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment which states public officials who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the US may be disqualified from public office.
Trump has not been charged with engaging in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.
“Not being a lawyer and not wanting to make a decision in a vacuum, I will be soliciting some legal opinions on what is appropriate or not before I make any decision,” Scanlan told the Boston Globe.
“I have some in-house staff attorneys that are election experts,” Scanlan said. “I will be asking the attorney general’s office for their input. And ultimately whatever is decided is probably going to require some judicial input.”
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley called the efforts by the Democrats and the RINOs to keep Trump off the ballot as “most dangerous constitutional theory.”
“I think this is the single most dangerous constitutional theory I have seen pop up in decades,” Turley said during interview with Laura Ingraham.
“I mean, this is an argument that under the 14th Amendment, Donald Trump can be barred from running again, ever holding office in the federal government because he violated his oath. He supported an insurrection or rebellion.”
This isn’t the first time that Turley has used the word ‘dangerous’ to describe what Democrats are doing to Trump. Here he is on August 15th saying the same thing:
.@JonathanTurley on Trump GA Indictment: “It’s…dangerous. It essentially criminalizes challenges to elections.”
Sounds authoritarian. pic.twitter.com/wQ4grLy3Qz
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 15, 2023
In a recent social media post, Charlie Kirk, the Founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, weighed in on the ongoing debate over former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to run for office in 2024. He suggested a countermove if Trump is removed from 2024 ballot based on 14th Amendment.
“”Legal scholars” are arguing that local elected officials at both the state and county level have the power to unilaterally remove Trump from the ballot on the basis of the 14th Amendment—WITHOUT even so much as a conviction,” Kirk wrote.
Kirk argued that if even one “radical Secretary of State or county official” attempts to remove Trump from the ballot, the right should be “equally prepared to remove Joe Biden from the ballot
“If even one radical Secretary of State or county official attempts to remove Trump from the ballot, the right must be equally prepared to remove Joe Biden from the ballot for selling out America and accepting bribes from foreign oligarchs. Remember, under their theory, no conviction is necessary. The counter move must be swift and forceful. There sure are a lot of red counties we could take off the chessboard in 2024,” Kirk added.
NEW—”Legal scholars” are arguing that local elected officials at both the state and county level have the power to unilaterally remove Trump from the ballot on the basis of the 14th Amendment—WITHOUT even so much as a conviction.
If even one radical Secretary of State or county… pic.twitter.com/b1JMQhpKej
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 21, 2023
Trump has been indicted 4 times and is facing 91 felony counts but it’s not stopping him.
President Trump’s poll numbers continue to rise so the RINO-Democrat-Deep State establishment is throwing everything at him to prevent him from taking back the White House.
The post HERE WE GO: Florida Attorney Files Legal Challenge Claiming Trump Cannot Be on 2024 Ballot Due to Alleged Involvement in Jan 6 “Insurrection” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.