(RepublicanPress.org) – On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling affirming in part and reversing in part a lower court decision in Anderson v. Griswold. A majority of the seven justices affirmed the district court’s finding that former President Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection as listed in the terms of Section 3 of the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. However, it reversed the court’s finding that the US President isn’t an “officer of the United States” and ordered the Colorado secretary of State to remove Trump’s name from the upcoming primary ballot.
All four of the justices appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court by Democrats held that Trump was “disqualified from holding the office of President under Section 3.” Therefore, “it would be a wrongful act” under the state’s election statutes “to list him as a candidate on the [state’s] presidential primary ballot.”
The decision created instant controversy and an ongoing criminal probe into threats reportedly made against the liberal justices who ruled against Trump’s participation in Colorado’s 2024 Republican primary election.
Threats Made
On December 26, Fox News reported that officials from the Denver Police Department (DPD) and FBI had launched concurrent investigations into the alleged threats sent to the Colorado justices who barred Trump from the state’s primary ballot. A spokesperson for the DPD confirmed that investigators were looking into “any reports of threats or harassment” directed at those jurists with the department’s “enforcement partners” at the local, state, and federal levels.
The DPD spokesperson declined to provide additional details regarding the probe, citing “safety and privacy concerns” associated with “open investigation.” However, that individual confirmed that local police officers were “providing extra patrols” at the impacted justice’s residences and “provide additional […] support if/as requested.”
Likewise, the FBI sent a statement to media outlets like Axios confirming its involvement in the investigation. The bureau said it would “vigorously pursue investigations [involving] any threat or use of violence” committed by individuals with “extremist views” used to “justify” their behavior regardless of their particular motives.
Ballot Decision on Hold
The Colorado Supreme Court stayed its decision until January 4 to provide the former president’s legal team an opportunity to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court. That’s the final day a person’s name can be added or removed from the state’s primary ballot.
The panel’s three Republican-appointed justices dissented from the majority decision regarding Trump’s removal from the ballot. They didn’t comment on the lower court’s finding that Trump engaged in an insurrection.
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