Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is directed to his vehicle after speaking at the Steer N' Stein bar at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 12, 2023. BRANDON BELL/GETTY IMAGES
As the weight of legal evidence piles up against Donald Trump, the former president may be debarred by the Constitution to run again in the 2024 presidential election, a paper published by conservative legal scholars on Wednesday revealed.
What Happened: Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, Trump would be disqualified to hold office again, said William Baude of the University of Chicago and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the University of St. Thomas, co-authors of the paper that was published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that no person holding office, civil or military, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each chamber, remove such disability, it states.
In the paper, the authors argued that the section remains an enforceable part of the Constitution even now and is not limited to the Civil War, when it arose.
The legal experts also said that Section 3 is self-executing, operating as an immediate disqualification from office, without the need for additional action by Congress.
“And in particular, it disqualifies former President Donald Trump, and potentially many others, because of their participation in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 presidential election,” the co-authors said.
Why It’s Important: Commenting on the paper, John Bonifax, co-founder and President of Free Speech For People said on X, “This new law review article is a must-read for every Secr. of State + chief election official in the country.”
BREAKING: This new law review article is a must-read for every Secr. of State + chief election official in the country. As this article makes clear, they must follow the mandate of 14.3 + bar Trump from the ballot. If they do not, we will sue.@FSFP https://t.co/joF99KThho
— John Bonifaz (@JohnBonifaz) August 11, 2023
Referring to the paper, Washington D.C. based Citizens for Ethics said, “We’re preparing to enforce his constitutional disqualification.”
Despite the legal tangles, Trump is still leading in opinion polls to get the nomination for the Republican presidential primary.
Produced in association with Benzinga
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