A liberal watchdog group filed a lawsuit in Colorado to try to use the Fourteenth Amendment to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot.
Although Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) is based in Washington, DC, the group filed suit Wednesday on behalf of several Colorado voters trying to keep Trump off the ballot due to his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment says public officials are not eligible to hold office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States. CREW Previously used Section 3 to remove a New Mexico county commissioner who entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 from office.
CREW president Noah Bookbinder said that the group is bringing the case because “It is necessary to defend our republic both today and in the future.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the lawsuit an “absurd conspiracy theory” and accused the organization of “stretching the law beyond recognition.”
“The people who are pursuing this absurd conspiracy theory and political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition,” Cheung told ABC News, in part, adding, “There is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said she is “hopeful” the lawsuit will shed light on Trump’s eligibility as a presidential candidate.
“I look forward to the Colorado Court’s substantive resolution of the issues, and am hopeful that this case will provide guidance to election officials on Trump’s eligibility as a candidate for office,” Griswold said in a statement.
CREW’s lawsuit is part of a growing effort nationwide to use the Fourteenth Amendment to remove Trump from the ballot.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan (R) said he is “not seeking to remove any names” from the GOP primary ballot after Charlie Kirk urged his supporters to call Scanlan’s office following reports Scanlan was weighing the idea.
Arizona’s Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced that state law prohibits the Fourteenth Amendment from being used to keep Trump off the Arizona ballot.
Further, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that challenged Trump’s presence on the ballot using the Fourteenth Amendment.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.