2/2/24
Newsletter #555
The Crack of Dawn
On February 8 the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments regarding Donald Trump’s disqualification from running for president under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, section three. Since I have previously written on this topic, I feel obliged to follow up.
I think this is important.
Bringing the 14th Amendment, section three, to bear in the first place were two constitutional scholars, (fmr.) Judge J. Michael Luttig and Professor Lawrence Tribe, in an article in The Atlantic. As they first presented it, and it seems that nearly nobody has quite grasped, it’s not about committing insurrection against the United States; it’s about insurrection against the Constitution. Mr. Trump’s defense is that this is an issue for Congress to decide. It is not. In the United States, the body with power over constitutional issues is the Supreme Court.
I’ll attribute this next piece of information since I only have the one source, but he’s always right, the lawyer, Michael Popok, on Meidas Touch.
By my understanding, Judge Luttig has submitted an Amicus brief – which is a friend of the court submitting potentially pertinent information, which can come from anyone. Luttig has included a 50-page-plus opinion. I’m not interested enough to read it, but I’m sure it’s the most literal reading of the text possible. I also heard from Mr. Popok that there has been an Amicus brief submitted by 25 Civil War scholars, coming to the same conclusion – disqualification. Their point of view was regarding the former (and only) Confederate President Jefferson Davis potentially running for president again. And like Donald Trump, Davis was popular. But Jefferson Davis had broken his oath to the United States, and they were going to make damn certain that he was disqualified and unable to even run for president, let alone be president.
Therefore, I’m with Judge Luttig, I think the most literal reading of the Amendment disqualifies Trump from all 50 of the ballots. Section three was put there just for an occasion like this. Of course, that’s for the Supreme Court to decide.
Anyway, I don’t think anyone is paying much attention to this, and February 8 is right around the corner. I think it bears noting.
And a jolly good day to you.
Very interesting! thanking you for sharing this info.