OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Members of Congress and lawyers for former President Donald Trump want the nation’s highest court to weigh in as federal cases against him mount.
In a recent post on Truth Social, Trump vehemently criticized the criminal charges he faces from Special Counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Describing the allegations as a feeble attempt by President Joe Biden to undermine his potential 2024 campaign, Trump wants the conservative majority on the court, which he helped put in place, to support his case.
“CRAZY! My political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, including D.A., A.G., and others, which require massive amounts of my time & money to adjudicate,” he wrote on the platform.
“Resources that would have gone into Ads and Rallies, will now have to be spent fighting these Radical Left Thugs in numerous courts throughout the Country. I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field. It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!” he added.
A report from Slate weighed in on the likely event that at least one or several federal cases against Trump reach the Supreme Court.
Does the Constitution bar Donald Trump from running again for the presidency?
A number of courts have been asked to decide whether the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump from a second term, given his activities on Jan. 6. The key provision is Section 3. It expressly prohibits “any person” from holding “any office” if they have sworn to uphold the Constitution “as an officer of the United States” and have subsequently “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” In Colorado, closing arguments will take place this week in a trial aimed at keeping Trump off the primary ballot.
And in a remarkably fast ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court last week held that state law does not block a political party from allowing unqualified candidates to run in its primary, and so the secretary of state could go ahead and print a Republican ballot with Trump’s name on it. The court, notably, did not rule on whether or not Trump was unqualified, saying that the question would have to wait for another day.
The Minnesota decision and the looming Colorado case will rapidly move to the Supreme Court in Washington for a decisive resolution of the meaning of the disqualification clause. Normally, the justices would take months to consider the merits of such an important issue and reach a decision only in June 2024, at the end of their present term. Nevertheless, it would be a tragic mistake for the court to delay its decision when the two cases arrive on its docket. After all, the first Republican primary is scheduled for Feb. 24. Colorado and Minnesota will be among 15 states holding a Republican primary on Super Tuesday, March 7. By the end of March, voters will have already chosen more than half the delegates to the Republican National Convention. If the court doesn’t resolve the question of Trump’s qualifications by mid-February, its passivity will predictably lead to a shattering crisis in the coming presidential election.
The article goes on to argue that a nightmare scenario can be avoided if the Supreme Court acts quickly.
“Yet, all this can be prevented—but only if the Supreme Court acts quickly. It is the only institution that can plausibly assure Americans that they all will be voting on the same two candidates when they go to the polls in November,” the report stated.
