Judge hits Trump with order banning threats and intimidation in Colorado case

A judge overseeing the Colorado lawsuit seeking to block former President Donald Trump from the ballot in that state has issued an order prohibiting threats and intimidation, reported the Associated Press on Friday.

“I 100 percent understand everybody’s concerns for the parties, the lawyers, and frankly myself and my staff based on what we’ve seen in other cases,” said District Judge Sarah B. Wallace said in issuing the protective order, which applies to both parties in the case.

The attorney representing Trump, former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, objected to the order, claiming that there is no need for it because threats are already against the law.

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The case, filed by the watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), argues the former president is ineligible for office under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states that nobody may be an officer of the United States who "shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof," unless two thirds of Congress consents to waive the prohibition.

A number of legal scholars have taken the position that this provision disqualifies Trump due to his encouragement of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including former Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, and former conservative Judge Michael Luttig. And similar challenges have been filed in a few other states, most prominently Minnesota by the group Free Speech for People.

However, this challenge faces some obstacles, including that there isn't a lot of legal precedent on how to enforce the Insurrection Clause, or whether state elections officials have authority to do so at all.