Complaints by Donald Trump and his allies that he should be allowed to remain on ballots in multiple states contesting his eligibility because he has been denied "due process" was dismantled by a former U.S. attorney on Saturday morning.
Speaking with host Ali Velshi, former prosecutor Barbara McQuade claimed there is a basic misunderstanding about how "due process" is applied and that the former president and his defenders have it all wrong when they complain that he has not been found to be an "insurrectionist."
"There is now this growing record of legal opinions affirming that what happened on January 6th wasn't insurrection," host Velshi prompted. "The Supreme Court, ultimately I think, is going to have to at some point or another address that particular question."
McQuade argued with the conventional wisdom about how the law arrives at a determination of insurrection.
"I think one of the things that was important about the litigation was there was a trial," she reminded the MSNBC host. "There was an actual fact-finding mission. They heard testimony from members of Congress who were there as well as experts, who reached that decision. I think it is very important for both history and for this case."
"There are those complaining that Donald Trump has been denied due process in some way," she began. "But I think they're conflating a finding of a criminal violation of insurrection, it is a crime to engage in insurrection, where you have due process rights like the right to confront your accusers, the right to testify, the right to cross-examine witnesses. But that is when one's liberty is at stake."
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"This is a civil case," she elaborated. "And so due process in this case is the kind of trial we saw with fact-finding. So I think that is what makes this solid and when the Supreme Court reviews it they do not have to do their own fact-finding. They can rely on the fact-finding that was done in Colorado."
Watch below or at the link.
MSNBC 12 23 2023 10 04 07youtu.be
