Dem
51
GOP
49
As expected, Donald Trump has filed an appeal of the Colorado decision kicking him off that state's primary ballot.
This one is different from the Maine appeal because the Maine appeal went to the Maine Superior Court, whereas this one went to the U.S. Supreme Court. SCOTUS has already docketed the case, which just means that they will discuss whether or not to take it at their next conference. We remain convinced that they have no choice but to take it up, and in an expedited manner.
As is typical for a Trump filing, this one has a bunch of detritus that surely should not be there. Much of the filing asks the Supremes to consider the findings of fact made by the Colorado courts and/or to find that the Colorado judges applied state law incorrectly. These are, with only rare exceptions, not questions for the U.S. Supreme Court. As we note regularly, we are not lawyers, but putting that extraneous stuff in there seems to have at least three downsides, from where we sit:
Perhaps one or more of our lawyer readers will write in and explain to us how this is actually sound strategy. In any event, the briefing does bring up the substantive issues, namely: (1) Is the Fourteenth Amendment self-executing?, (2) Does the Amendment apply to a president? and (3) If the Amendment does apply, did Trump actually engage in insurrection? In the end, if the important stuff is there, then the former president is probably getting his money's worth from his lawyers.
And speaking of his lawyers, one of them—namely Alina Habba—confirmed the reporting from The New York Times' Maggie Haberman that Trump is anxious, stressed, scared, etc. about what SCOTUS might do. Speaking of the possibility of Trump being kicked off the ballot, Habba told Fox that: "That's a concern he's voiced to me, he's voiced to everybody publicly, not privately. And I can tell you that his concern is a valid one." She also said that some of the conservative justices on the Court might vote against Trump because of Democratic pressure, even if those conservative justices think the law is on Trump's side. Uh, huh.
Meanwhile, while Habba was sharing her valuable insights with the Fox crowd, two more states saw motions filed to keep Trump off their ballots in 2024. The new arrivals at the party are Illinois and Massachusetts. This does not put any Trump EVs at risk, of course. And it's not probable that either state will rule before the Supremes step in and settle this once and for all. But if SCOTUS does punt, for some reason, then those two states have a little over 100 delegates. That's a big chunk, and if any non-Trump Republican has a real shot at challenging him, it would be the result of his being kicked off the ballot in a whole bunch of blue states. If you care to track the status of things, The New York Times has a map for all your Trump-ballot-eligibility needs. (Z)