Disqualified?!

 

Not only was the former president indicted for multiple offenses under the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) by District Attorney Fani Willis in Atlanta last week, but many of those who aided and abetted his plots were as well. Thus, we now see Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mark Meadows John Eastman, and others all charged under the conspiracy clause. The 100-page indictment included 19 defendants in total. The former president now has 91 felony counts charged against him over the last few months.

Prosecutor Willis indicated she wants to try all defendants together, as many of their cases overlap. But those in the know say this will most likely not happen. Some expect that the lesser defendants might plea bargain and have their cases resolved before the actual trial dates. Willis asked for a March trial date.

(Speaking of trial dates, attorneys for DJT requested a 2026 date for the trial of the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2022 election! They attempted to make the case that the document review would take that long. Jack Smith has reviewed the relevant documents in a few short months. He requested a trial date to begin in January 2024. The Judge, in this case, noted that continued misbehavior by the defendant would move the trial date up even closer.) Stay tuned!

Perhaps at long last, the Teflon billionaire who once bragged he could get away with shooting someone in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue in New York City may now find that his misdeeds have caught up with him. We can only hope that some of these charges will be borne out and they will convict him of multiple felonies.

But, the Constitution does not prohibit a felon from becoming president, did you realize that? And I know, our judicial system presumes innocence until conviction. But, if one looks at the charges, how could he not be convicted? And defense attorneys will tell you it just takes one contrary juror to find him innocent. If every juror stands by their oaths to be impartial, as far as I can see, he should be convicted everywhere! But, as they say, time will tell.

I was also pleased to see that those who went after the two Black women poll workers, Ruby Freeman, and her daughter Shaye Moss, were included in the charges. Not only Giuliani and DJT but also those who attempted to threaten and intimidate them directly were charged.

Mark Meadows, the chief of staff who refused to testify before the January 6^th House Committee but shared his emails, was charged with election interference. It was thought that he was cooperating with the DOJ investigation by Jack Smith since he was not named as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case, however, his attempts to enter rooms where recounts were taking place and participation in the infamous call to Secretary Raffensperger, may have sealed his fate. Meadows immediately tried to ask for the case to be removed from state courts to Federal Courts as he said he was doing his White House job. However, none of his White House duties required him to monitor campaign or election activities.

Also indicted in Georgia was attorney Kenneth Cheseboro from Wisconsin, I think. He received an appointment to the DOJ after the election and was the supposed brain behind the “fake electors” schemes. According to the ABA Law Journal, earlier, he had collaborated with John Eastman to end birthright citizenship. Some say he was behind the letter that Jeffrey Clark wanted to send to the states as an attempt to delay the vote certifications. Someone uncovered video footage recently, which showed Cheseboro among the rioting crowds at the Capitol. Once he made millions in the Bitcoin market and became a conservative, Cheseboro moved to Puerto Rico, where he now lives. He was once a student and researcher for Professor Laurence Tribe (see below) but according to Tribe, Cheseboro has misinterpreted his writings in recent communications to make it appear that Tribe supported his theories. Some also think that he is one of the five unindicted co-conspirators in Jack Smith’s case against the former president.

But, many scholars are pointing to an article recently published that may do what trials cannot do, disqualify DJT from any Federal office.

In a new article for The Atlantic,  and quoted by Yahoo here: ‘retired former federal judge J. Michael Luttig and top legal scholar Laurence Tribe make the case that the Constitution includes a provision that disqualifies Donald Trump from holding public office again. Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment is also known as the “disqualification clause.” It’s only two sentences long but it could doom Trump’s bid to return to the White House. The disqualification clause “forbids the former president from holding the office of the presidency again because of his conduct in and around January 6, 2021,” says Judge Luttig. And as Tribe points out, it’s not a sanction against an individual. “The framers of the 14th Amendment took great care not to treat this as a punishment … Nobody has a right to be president without meeting the qualifications.”

Judge Luttig and Professor Tribe are both knowledgeable regarding Constitutional law. In fact, Vice President Pence consulted the Judge in the days before January 6^th when the then-president was attempting to get Pence to delay the Certifying Vote for the 2020 Election in Congress. Professor Tribe taught some of the Supreme Court Judges when they were at Harvard College. He is known throughout the country as a student and interpreter of the Constitution. They write:

“The historically unprecedented federal and state indictments of former President Donald Trump have prompted many to ask whether his conviction pursuant to any or all of these indictments would be either necessary or sufficient to deny him the office of the presidency in 2024.

Having thought long and deeply about the text, history, and purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment’s disqualification clause for much of our professional careers, both of us concluded some years ago that, in fact, a conviction would be beside the point. The disqualification clause operates independently of any such criminal proceedings and, indeed, also independently of impeachment proceedings and of congressional legislation. The clause was designed to operate directly and immediately upon those who betray their oaths to the Constitution, whether by taking up arms to overturn our government or by waging war on our government by attempting to overturn a presidential election through a bloodless coup.”

The relevant phrase is:

“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.”

Two conservative scholars, William Baude, and Michael Stokes Paulsen, both members of the Federalist Society, also spoke out recently to support the clause mentioned above and said:

“The bottom line is that Donald Trump both “engaged in” “insurrection or rebellion” and gave “aid or comfort” to others engaging in such conduct, within the original meaning of those terms as employed in Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. If the public record is accurate, the case is not even close. He is no longer eligible to the office of Presidency, or any other state or federal office covered by the Constitution.”

Our government must take this action. This clause does not make clear just who the enforcer should be. The states could be the deciders in their decisions on whether to place the name of the disgraced president on the ballot. If each Secretary of State decided that DJT had violated his solemn oath and taken actions against the United States, they could disallow his petitions to be on the ballot. Does our country have the will to do this? What might be the reaction from the members of the MAGA cult? Would we have another coup attempt?

Of course, the candidate could petition this to the Supreme Court. With luck, those members will remember they once took an oath also and decide the case as the Constitution demands.

2024 promises to be a roller coaster of a year!

Don’t get down and out about all of these things. Try to trust our Department of Justice and juries.

If all else cannot improve your mood, go see Barbie! It is a funny, campy film that showcases female empowerment and much more–Enjoy! There are many reasons it has grossed more than a Billion dollars worldwide!

“Til next week-Peace!”