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Justice Jackson Shuts Down After Trump Lawyer Explains Why ‘Insurrection’ Mania Is A Stupid Talking Point


BY: JORDAN BOYD | FEBRUARY 08, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/08/justice-jackson-shuts-down-after-trump-lawyer-explains-why-insurrection-mania-is-a-stupid-talking-point/

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

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Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson quickly abandoned her “insurrection” questioning on Thursday when former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Jonathan Mitchell pointed out that the term, although used widely by corporate media, Democrats, and Colorado’s lawyers, does not accurately describe the events of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

The exchange occurred during oral arguments for the presidential frontrunner’s challenge to the Colorado Supreme Court’s December 2023 ruling affirming Democrats’ decision to remove Trump from the Centennial State’s 2024 primary ballot.

After going back and forth with Mitchell several times about what constitutes eligibility for constitutional disqualification from holding office, Jackson pivoted to the definition of insurrection.

In a question about “the violent attempts of the petitioner’s supporters in this case to ‘halt the count’ on January 6 qualified as an insurrection as defined by Section 3,” Jackson asked Mitchell to clarify his position on whether or not Trump engaged in “insurrection” during the Capitol riot in 2021.

Jackson clearly sourced her framing from the corporate media and Democrats who, mere minutes into the 2021 Capitol riot, deemed the bedlam a criminal product of Trump.

They immediately lumped the patriotic, law-abiding citizens with concerns about the 2020 election’s legitimacy protesting in D.C. with the people who vandalized Capitol property. Big Tech weaponized this mischaracterization to justify its censorship of Trump’s social media calls for peace. President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice also adopted the sweeping insurrection accusations as its primary motivation to prosecute any and every one of its political enemies in or near the federal building that day.

“I read your opening brief to accept that those events counted as an insurrection but then your reply seemed to suggest that they were not,” Jackson said.

“We never accepted or conceded in our opening brief that this was an insurrection,” Mitchell retorted. “What we said in our opening brief was President Trump did not engage in any act that can plausibly be characterized as insurrection.”

Jackson, unsatisfied with Mitchell’s prompt rejection of her assertion, doubled down.

“So why would it not be?” Jackson pressed. “What is your argument that it’s not? Your reply brief says that it wasn’t because, I think you say, it did not involve an organized attempt to overthrow the government.”

Mitchell conceded “an organized concerted effort to overthrow the government of the United States through violence” is one of the defining factors of an insurrection but said Trump’s actions never met that standard.

“My point is that a chaotic effort to overthrow the government is not an insurrection?” Jackson asked.

“We didn’t concede that it’s an effort to overthrow the government either, Justice Jackson,” Mitchell replied. “None of these criteria were met.”

“This was a riot. It was not an insurrection,” Mitchell concluded. “The events were shameful criminal violence, all of those things, but did not qualify as insurrection as that term is used in Section Three.”

Mitchell continued but was interrupted by Jackson who hurriedly ended her questioning time.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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Oregon Democrats Ban 10 GOP Lawmakers From the Ballot for Same Action Democrats Took In Multiple States


BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | FEBRUARY 01, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/01/oregon-democrats-ban-10-gop-lawmakers-from-the-ballot-for-same-action-democrats-took-in-multiple-states/

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On Thursday, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld a decision by the state’s chief election official to ban 10 Republican state senators from the ballot this fall for walking out of the legislature to protest bills on abortion, guns, and transgenderism.

“Last year’s boycott lasted six weeks — the longest in state history — and paralyzed the legislative session, stalling hundreds of bills,” the Associated Press reported. If enough lawmakers walk out, they can deny the quorum required to legally pass legislation. Through their walkout, Oregon Republicans extracted concessions from Democrats on bills related to firearm transfers and medical procedures for abortion and transgender-identified people.

Voters approved ballot Measure 113 in 2022, which amended the state constitution to boot lawmakers from the ballot for more than 10 unexcused floor absences. Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 113 after Republican walkouts in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

“We obviously disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” said GOP Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, according to the AP. “But more importantly, we are deeply disturbed by the chilling impact this decision will have to crush dissent.”

Democrat lawmakers have also deployed walkouts to block legislation in Texas, Wisconsin, and Indiana. In 2021, Texas House Democrats staged a weeks-long walkout to prevent the passage of a Republican-sponsored election bill. Lawmakers made national headlines for launching the walkout by fleeing the state to Washington D.C., where they met with Vice President Kamala Harris. Democrats in Wisconsin and Indiana also staged legislative walkouts to delay progress on union-busting right-to-work bills.

In the last few months, Democrat U.S. House Rep. Jamal Bowman also received a slap on the wrist for pulling a fire alarm amid Democrats’ attempts to delay a vote on unfunded federal spending.

Stripping Oregon Republicans from ballot access marks the latest episode in a decades-long saga to eradicate the state’s political minority. Conservatives in Oregon have become so disillusioned by the leftist state government that activists are petitioning to redraw the state’s rural eastern counties into Idaho.

Just last year, Oregon Democrats rubber-stamped aggressive laws restricting guns and water use while expanding abortion and transgender interventions. Last year, lawmakers in the Idaho House of Representatives formally approved talks to annex disenchanted neighboring counties from Oregon.

[READ: These Americans Are So Fed Up With Portland And Sacramento They Want To Redraw State Borders]

Ballot bans have quickly become Democrats’ central campaign strategy, with former President Donald Trump disqualified as a candidate in Colorado and Maine. Challenges to Trump appearing on ballots have been filed in at least 35 states and remain unresolved in 16. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an appeal of Colorado’s court-ordered Trump removal next week.

Democrats are also working to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off primary and state ballots, fearing his effect on Joe Biden’s re-election chances.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.

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Napolitano to Newsmax: SCOTUS Must Rule Fast on 14th Amendment


By Sandy Fitzgerald    |   Friday, 29 December 2023 09:46 AM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/andrew-napolitano-ban-donald-trump/2023/12/29/id/1147586/

With states moving to ban former President Donald Trump from appearing on ballots, a quick resolution must be reached in the Supreme Court concerning the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and how it applies to the upcoming presidential primaries, former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax on Friday.

“State constitutions mean different things in different states,” Napolitano told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “All of this begs for a final — and Chief Justice [John] Roberts, if you’re listening — quick resolution so that we all know what the law is, and we all know how the 14th Amendment is going to be applied.”

Napolitano’s comments come after Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, Thursday removed Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot, citing the Constitution’s 14th Amendment Civil War-era insurrection clause.

“I was a little dumbfounded by it because this is a decision made by an appointed state official, the secretary of state, after no charges were filed, after no trial, after no hearing, after no investigation, just on the basis of which she perceived happened on Jan. 6,” said Napolitano.

“Maine, Michigan, California, Colorado, all of those states … are interpreting a clause in the U.S. Constitution and each is interpreting it differently.”

There is a principle of law, federal supremacy, which means that the U.S. Constitution can’t have different meanings in different states, he added.

“[Bellows] does have the authority to do this,” Napolitano said. “This is a defect in the system. An individual should not have this authority.”

Trump is planning to appeal the Maine case, “and there will be a hearing again, just like the hearing they had in Colorado,” said Napolitano. “It’s time for the Supreme Court to rule on the appeal of the Colorado case and set forth the standards for any disqualification based on the 14th Amendment. My opinion is that disqualification can’t happen without an allegation and a trial and proof of guilt.”

The Supreme Court’s next conference day will be on Jan. 5, Napolitano said, so by then it should be known which appeals cases will be heard.

“There are other things we’re waiting for, not the least of which applies to former President Trump, but this one they have to rule on quickly,” said Napolitano. “Ballots are usually printed in January, so I think we’re going to get a very quick decision. In my opinion, Colorado will be reversed and standards will be set down.”

Napolitano also commented on the call for documents concerning claims from House Republicans that President Joe Biden allegedly was involved in his son Hunter’s decision not to testify in a closed-door deposition.

“It rises to the level of idiocy because Hunter Biden was there,” said Napolitano. “He should have gone into the hearing, taking the oath, and invoked the Fifth Amendment. His Fifth Amendment right is profound. He’s been indicted twice. He doesn’t have to answer anything about anything involving the issues under those two indictments.”

But if Hunter’s “goofball father” told him to show up and “thumb his nose at Congress and hold a press conference outside the Capitol building is inviting a citation for contempt. …It’s terrible advice, but it’s not impeachable.”

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Sandy Fitzgerald | editorial.fitzgerald@newsmax.com

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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Colorado GOP Will Move to Caucus System If Trump Decision Stands


By Solange Reyner    |   Wednesday, 20 December 2023 12:39 PM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/us/colorado-gop-party/2023/12/20/id/1146648/

The Colorado Republican Party on Wednesday rallied around Donald Trump after the state supreme court ruled the former president was ineligible for reelection because he stoked an insurrection Jan. 6, 2021, saying it would withdraw from the primary election and move to a caucus system if the ruling stands.

“We think this is an absurd ruling and we’re going to do whatever we can to protect the rights of voters in Colorado and frankly, across the nation, if they choose Donald Trump,” Dave Williams, chair of the Colorado Republican Party, told CNN.

“But we’re going to appeal this to the United States Supreme Court. We’re a party to the case, and we’re not going to take this lying down and, if need be, we’re going to withdraw from the primary and go to a strict caucus process that would allow our voters to choose Donald Trump if they want,” he added.

A divided Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race.

The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democrat governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.

Trump has vowed to appeal the state high court’s 4-3 decision.

GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday pledged to withdraw if the disqualification of Trump is sustained.

“I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot,” Ramaswamy said in a video Tuesday.

“And I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately — or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver, which will have disastrous consequences for our country.”

Solange Reyner | editorial.reyner@newsmax.com

Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.

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