The attack on the Capitol was not a spontaneous event. It was the culmination of a multi-part scheme by Trump and his allies to use lies, intimidation, coercion and ultimately violence to keep Trump in office.
Why does that mean Trump is disqualified from office?
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection from holding state or federal office. It was put in place after the Civil War to ensure that those who rose up against the United States government would not then be put in charge of it. Many former Confederate officials did not even try to hold office because of it, and courts and legislatures disqualified others who did.
By leading an unprecedented, violent effort to subvert the Constitution and American democracy, Trump also disqualified himself under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from holding any federal or state office, including the presidency.
How do you prove Trump incited the insurrection?
Trump not only engaged in the January 6th insurrection, but was its central cause.
Here are just a few snippets backing up our argument:
How do we know that it can actually work?
Because CREW has done it before.
Last year a court in New Mexico, in a case brought by New Mexico residents represented by CREW, disqualified a county commissioner who played a role in the January 6th insurrection, including organizing and encouraging the violent mob.
Couy Griffin, a former New Mexico county commissioner who was a grassroots mobilizer for a “battle” to stop the certification process and a member of Trump’s mob on January 6th, was disqualified as a result of this lawsuit to enforce his constitutional disqualification.
Why does that mean Trump is disqualified from office?
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection from holding state or federal office. It was put in place after the Civil War to ensure that those who rose up against the United States government would not then be put in charge of it. Many former Confederate officials did not even try to hold office because of it, and courts and legislatures disqualified others who did.
By leading an unprecedented, violent effort to subvert the Constitution and American democracy, Trump also disqualified himself under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from holding any federal or state office, including the presidency.
How do you prove Trump incited the insurrection?
Trump not only engaged in the January 6th insurrection, but was its central cause.
Here are just a few snippets backing up our argument:
- Trump spread knowingly false claims of a “stolen” and “rigged” election — even after he exhausted legal challenges, his advisors told him he had lost, the states certified his loss, and there was no lawful basis to contest the election results.
- Trump’s lie that the election was stolen propelled the “Stop the Steal” movement, which tried to exert pressure on Vice President Mike Pence and Congress to unlawfully refuse to certify the presidential election results on January 6th.
- Trump summoned a violent mob of tens of thousands of his supporters — including now-convicted seditionists and members of extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — to travel to Washington, D.C. for a “wild” protest on January 6th.
- Trump incited the mob to “fight like hell” to overturn the election results by marching to the Capitol to “stop the steal,” knowing that many were armed, adorned in tactical gear, and prepared for violence. Trump failed to act for nearly three hours as his mob ransacked the United States Capitol, brutally assaulted police officers, and called for the murder of elected officials.
How do we know that it can actually work?
Because CREW has done it before.
Last year a court in New Mexico, in a case brought by New Mexico residents represented by CREW, disqualified a county commissioner who played a role in the January 6th insurrection, including organizing and encouraging the violent mob.
Couy Griffin, a former New Mexico county commissioner who was a grassroots mobilizer for a “battle” to stop the certification process and a member of Trump’s mob on January 6th, was disqualified as a result of this lawsuit to enforce his constitutional disqualification.