Trump Asserts (In Court Filing) He Never Agreed To Defend The Constitution As President
Late January 2021: Kevin McCarthy told Liz Cheney he was headed to Mar-a-Lago because after Trump's coup attempt failed, Trump was "depressed" and "not eating". "They asked me to come see him."
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution concerns disqualification from holding political office. It states:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a lawsuit in Colorado to remove Donald Trump’s name from the 2024 presidential ballot. the suit claims that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, disqualifying him from running for president (or any other political office) again.
In a filing to the Colorado Supreme Court, Trump’s lawyers argue that the 14th Amendment does not apply to Trump because he never actually sworn to “support” the United States Constitution.
In an earlier ruling, a lower court judge stated that Trump had “engaged in insurrection” on January 6, 2021, but should remain on Colorado’s primary ballot as the wording of the 14th Amendment does not specifically mention preventing someone from running for the presidency. (It’s a bizarre interpretation, since it applies to a person “hold[ing] any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State” (my emphasis).)
Trump’s bargain-bin barristers state that their client did not swear an oath to “support” the Constitution. Rather, he swore to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. They also claimed that the president is not an “officer of the United States”.
Trump took the oath of office on January 20, 2017. The text of that oath is found in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution: “I do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Progressive talk show host and political commentator David Pakman calls this legal move “a linguistic technicality . . . that is of absolutely no significance”.
Does anyone in my audience believe that when you say you will “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution, that inciting an insurrection doesn’t violate that? . . . This is maybe the most absurd, pedantic, semantic way that you could come up with to defend Donald Trump’s actions related to January 6th. . . . [T]his is the epitome of a distinction without a difference. . . . And it’s a reminder of the dangers of giving this guy another four years. If [Trump is] willing to go out and make the argument through [his] lawyers that when [he] swore an oath to the presidency, [he] didn't say [he] would support the Constitution on a technicality, just imagine what [he] would be willing to do in an unrestrained four years as president . . .. Hard to imagine a more dangerous scenario.
Also:
Jennifer Little, one of Trump’s attorneys (though likely not for very much longer), told federal investigators that she warned Trump that his failing to comply with the subpoena demanding the return of classified and top-secret materials in his possession was a crime, and that Trump clearly understood it was a crime.
Trump has been caught illegally moving approximately $40 million from his business organization into his personal bank account. This is a problem because since Trump and the Trump Org. was found guilty of massive, relentless business fraud (a judge ruled a trial was unnecessary because the evidence against Trump was so extensive), he is not allowed to shift more than $5 million from any bank account without first notify Barbara S. Jones, a former federal judge currently “tasked with babysitting the Trump Organization”. Jones informed a New York state court on Wednesday that Trump failed to let her know about three cash transfers totalling $40 million.
Trump’s “Elite Strike Force” of legal a-brains is keeping busy filing batshit conspiracy theories in federal court. The most recent one claims Mike Pence is in cahoots with Joe Biden (you know, the dottering confused senile worldwide criminal mastermind who is simultaneously manipulating all four Trump trials) to take down Trump in exchange for not being prosecuted for having classified documents — even though Pence was never in any danger of being prosecuted because he fully cooperated with the investigation as soon as it began and immediately returned the documents.
Farron (Balanced) Cousins reports that Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a subpoena filed by Trump’s lawyers for a set of “missing documents” . . . that do not exist.
Donald Trump’s legal team wanted to issue subpoenas for a treasure trove of “missing documents” that they claim were not turned over to them at the start of discovery. The only problem with their request, according to Judge Tanya Chutkan, is that the “missing documents” don’t even exist. She went on to say in her ruling that Trump and his legal team don’t even dispute the fact that they received all the documents, making their request that much more confusing.
Cousins also reports on indicted former Trump lawyer John Eastman, who is presently whining that defending himself in court is really expensive. Eastman claims he’s spent close to $3.5 million (so far), crying he’s being persecuted and might have to drain his wife’s retirement fund. lol boo hoo. Eastman should try his hand at the Trumpian grifting model; perhaps he can get some minimum-wage earning MAGAs to pay his bills.
Remember back in late January 2021, when noted history scholar Kevin McCarthy, after saying Trump “bears responsibility” for the deadly Capitol insurrection, travelled to Mar-a-Lago to “kiss the ring” and shamelessly beg Mr. Trump, sir, for his forgiveness? According to Liz Cheney’s new book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and A Warning, McCarthy told Cheney the reason he went to Mar-a-Lago was because of alarming reports that Trump was “depressed” and “not eating”. Seriously. No one could make this shit up.
David Pakman offers his take:
What I’m about to tell you is the funniest thing you will hear today. . . . This is just unbelievable stuff. . . . We all know Trump’s obese, we know he lies about his weight. The concept of Trump refusing food, you know, it seems like something he very rarely does. . . . Oh the big guy’s not eating, he’s refusing his chicken nuggets and he’s refusing his Big Mac and his tortilla bowl and the entire thing. How are we going to get this guy to eat? I know. Let’s call Kevin McCarthy. Seeing Kevin McCarthy come down and make a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, that’s going to get his appetite going and Trump is going to start eating again. . . . This is just beyond parody at this point . . . Trump did eventually go back to eating. We know that for a fact.
CNN’s Jamie Gangel tells Jake Tapper that representatives for both Trump and McCarthy trashed Cheney’s book, but did not deny anything that Cheney wrote in the book. A bit of (slightly cleaned-up) transcript:
Tapper: McCarthy and Trump have responded to your reporting about what’s in Cheney’s book. I want to note that neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. McCarthy has exactly the best record when it comes to truthfulness and accuracy. But that said, what do they have to say?
Gangel: No surprise . . . A spokesman for Donald Trump said that the book belongs in the fiction section of the bookstore —
Tapper: Clever.
Gangel: — that these are nothing more than completely fabricated stories.
Tapper: Very original.
Gangel: He also earlier said Liz Cheney is a loser.
Tapper: Also original. Was that Steven Cheung?
Gangel: It was Steven Cheung.
Tapper: Because that's honestly — all of his responses are like that. He just calls the person a loser. Anyway, I’m sorry. Christmas is coming — I’m going to buy Mr. Cheung a thesaurus. Keep going.
Gangel: A spokesman for former speaker Kevin McCarthy said “For Cheney, first it was Trump Derangement Syndrome. Now it apparently it's also McCarthy Derangement Syndrome.”
Tapper: Man, these guys — apparently a writers strike when it comes to politics.
Gangel: Neither one, I would like to note, denied [Tapper makes a big gesture of pointing his finger at her; she laughs] the quotes in the book that we have reported. Kevin McCarthy did not deny that he said to Liz Cheney that Trump, two days after the election, knew that he had lost. He did not deny your favorite quote, that he went to Mar-a-Lago because Trump wasn’t eating.
The Republicans have been obsessed for years with Hunter Biden’s business dealings and more recently “in a state of tumescene” concerning enlarged photos of his (reportedly) impressive penis) for years. But they finally got their wish. Hunter Biden announced he will answer every question that the House Oversight Committee asks. He will happily give hours of public testimony.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle: “Hunter Biden said he is open to testifying publicly . . . but Republicans rejected his proposal, demanding he appear before a closed door deposition. . . . Hunter Biden is offering to publicly testify for all the world to see — why wouldn’t they want that?”
It’s quite simple, Ms. Ruhle. If Hunter Biden’s testimony is not given behind closed doors, away from the pesky media and the unwashed masses, then Republicans cannot lie about what he said afterwards — which is what happened when one of his business partners answering questions privately.