Speaking with MSNBC host Jen Psaki on Sunday afternoon, former Solicitor General Neal Katyal explained that a ruling by District Judge Sarah B. Wallace on Friday may have kept Donald Trump on the Colorado ballot for now but it could blow up on him at a later date.
Katyal was quick to note that Judge Wallace agreed with the petitioners that the former president took part in an insurrection at the end of his term but used a narrow interpretation to say he is not in violation of the 14th Amendment.
According to the legal analyst, the ruling was "the very worst decision Trump could get."
'If I were to put the headline on Friday, as an appeals lawyer, it would be this is the very worst decision Donald Trump could get from the trial court," he began. "Because it's going to go on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court, perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court and there Trump is going to face extreme headwinds."
"And the reason for that is the fact — there's two parts," he continued. "There's a factual finding, that the judge said, which is Trump committed insurrection, and then there's a legal part that the 14th Amendment doesn't apply to the office of the presidency. On appeals, Jen, the factual findings get massive deference by the appeals court. It's almost impossible to overturn a trial judge's factual finding."
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"You can overturn the legal findings, because that's basically a fresh look at the legal thing and, here, this judge factually made devastating findings against Trump," he elaborated. "And then looked at this legal technicality, which is the 14th Amendment doesn't apply to the office of the president, which is so weak, even the judge themselves admitted that this would be preposterous."
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