The country is awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court about whether Donald Trump can appear on a general election ballot after a finding that he violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. According to the lead investigator on the House Select Committee for the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack, Congress already did that.
Donald Trump's attorney argued before the Illinois Board of Elections that the courts have no role in enforcing the 14th Amendment law and that it should be left up to Congress.
Former Jan. 6 investigator Timothy Heaphy said that it's simply another delay tactic by Trump and his legal team.
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"A common argument in Supreme Court litigation and in proceedings of constitutional questions is essentially stay out of it, right?" explained Heaphy. "We don't have to decide this because it is a political question best adjudicated by Congress or the executive branch, not you jurists. It's interesting. It's yet another voice where the president's lawyers are saying to courts, not yet. Don't decide, don't address the merits, a pattern of trying to stay out of court, of trying to avoid the adjudication of these important issues. Whereas you have the special counsel and plaintiffs this this case saying, no, resolve this. This is important."
MSNBC host Alicia Menendez asked whether the Jan. 6 committee debated the 14th Amendment.
Heaphy explained that with a constitutional law professor like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-M.D.) on the committee, there were many conversations about the matter. Ultimately, they concluded that Trump broke the 14th Amendment.
"I believe in our ultimate findings and recommendations we make that finding, that section 3 of the 14th Amendment is implicated," he recalled. "So, it definitely was an issue. What's really interesting to me, going back to the [Judge Michael] Luttig brief, it's interesting that he is a conservative Republican. The narrative coming from the former president and his team is that this is all partisan, this is all part of some Democratic or deep state plot to prevent him from being on the ballot. But we have seen voices from conservatives, again and again. Judge Luttig being the latest, on the merits of these legal cases weighing in against the former president."
He noted that all of the witnesses interviewed were from the Trump administration, family members or officials.
"It's hard to paint it as partisan when so many of the voices, legal and otherwise, that are coming forward in support of these challenges to the former president's liberty and his eligibility are conservative Republicans," closed Heaphy.
See the full discussion in the video below or at the link here.