2023 CO 63 - ADVANCE SHEET HEADNOTE - December 19, 2023

No. 23SA300, Anderson v. Griswold - Election Law- Fourteenth Amendment First Amendment- Political Questions- Hearsay.

In this appeal from a district court proceeding under the Colorado Election Code, supreme court considers whether former President Donald J. Trump may appear on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot in 2024. A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to theUnited States Constitution. Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. The court stays its ruling until January 4, 2024, subject to any further appellate proceedings.

[OCS: The Supreme Court upheld the District Court Findings]

The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting portions of Congress’s January 6 Report into evidence at trial.

[OCS: The fundamental legitimacy of the hyper-partisan Congressional Committee that produced the January 6 Report must be examined closely. Not only did the Committee manipulate evidence and testimony, but they denied Donald Trump his Constitutional due process rights.] 

The district court did not err in concluding that the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, constituted an “insurrection.”

[OCS: There is no compelling evidence that what occurred on January 6 was an insurrection – defined as a violent uprising against an authority or government.

Yes, there were a relatively few violent rioters among the thousands gathered to hear President Trump, and there are indications that government agents may have participated in the agitation, direction, and conduct of those who were deemed to be violent, some of which may have been acting in self-defense against an overly aggressive armed police force who fired dangerous munitions randomly into the crowd.

The idea that people who appeared to be strolling through the building taking selfies, and in some cases souvenirs, were technically incapable of challenging governmental authority.

The government was warned well before the riot and affirmatively declined President Trump's offer of National Guard personnel. A suspicious act in and of itself which has never been explained.  Like the unwarranted murder of Ashley Babbitt or the decepitve news reporting of the day.]

The district court did not err in concluding that President Trump “engaged in” that insurrection through his personal actions.

[OCS: At no time did Present Trump incite the riot, which began prior to the conclusion of his speech, or engage in prohibited conduct.]

President Trump’s speech inciting the crowd that breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not protected by the First Amendment.

[OCS: President Trump did not engage in any activity that abrogated his First Amendment rights, namely speech that incites imminent lawless action.]

Colorado GOP says it will cancel primary if Trump can’t be on ballot

The Colorado Republican Party said Tuesday that it will cancel its presidential primary and instead hold a caucus if a court ruling stands denying former President Donald Trump a place on the ballot.

The party made the vow on social media platform X hours after the state Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Trump engaged in an insurrection surrounding the 2020 election and disqualified himself from the primary next year.

The state GOP said if that ruling isn’t overturned on appeal, the party would “convert to a pure caucus system” in order to pick its nominee, thus avoiding the primary ballot issue altogether. <Source>