In the first major lawsuit to block Donald Trump from Colorado’s 2024 presidential ballot, a state judge issued a protective order prohibiting threats and intimidation in the case, according to AP.
“I 100 percent understand everybody’s concerns for the parties, the lawyers, and frankly myself and my staff based on what we’ve seen in other cases,” Denver District Judge Sarah B. Wallace said, noting that the safety of witnesses and others involved in the suit was necessary throughout the litigation.
The suit was filed by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters seeking to disqualify Trump from the primary ballot under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars certain candidates who have engaged in insurrection.
The plaintiffs argued that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, prohibits any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath…to support the Constitution of the United States” and then has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state representing Trump, opposed the order and claimed it was unnecessary because threats and intimidation are already prohibited by law, per AP.
Trump, the first former president to be charged with state or federal crimes, was indicted in August over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and an anti-democratic campaign that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. He is facing a total of four separate indictments.
Lawsuits aimed at disqualifying Trump from the 2024 ballot based on the 14th Amendment clause have been filed across the country. The Colorado case is the first filed by an organization backed with significant legal resources and is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the 14th Amendment’s insurrection provision.
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