It’s time to disqualify Trump from future elections

Congress should have disqualified Trump from holding office again during his second impeachment trial, but he can still be disqualified by invoking the 14th Amendment. It’s bipartisan, Constitutionally justified, and necessary to prevent more insurrection.

Did Trump provoke insurrection?

Members of Congress from both parties blame Trump for the 1/6 attack on our Capitol. Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman said, “Both in his words before the attack on the Capitol and in his actions afterward, President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened on January 6.” Ohio Republican Congressman Anthony Gonzalez said “The President of the United States helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress”, joining a total of 10 Republican House Reps who voted to impeach.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President.” Republican Senator Sasse said, “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.” Republican Senator Romney said, “What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States.”

In other words, Trump is guilty as charged.

Constitutionality of the Impeachment Trial

The US Constitution explicitly allows for disqualification from future elections and appointments. If impeachment was only for removal from office, the trial would obviously be moot, but that’s just not what the Constitution says. It provides exactly two possible impeachment outcomes: “removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”

Trump was impeached while still in office and is not the first official to face a Senate impeachment trial after leaving office. The Constitutional authority to disqualify cannot be subverted by actions such as resigning just before the verdict, stalling the trial’s conclusion until the defendant’s term ends, or in this case by committing High Crimes and Misdemeanors in the final days of his term and then blocking the start of the trial until after he leaves office. The Senate has already rejected the motion to prevent the trial from proceeding. Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial is Constitutionally viable.

The House’s Article of Impeachment correctly describes how he “threatened the integrity of the democratic system” and tried to “subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election.”

Trump has undermined democracy at every turn: when he called the 2012 election a “sham”, when he tried to overturn his Iowa primary loss to Ted Cruz in February 2016, when he lied about illegal votes after losing the popular vote in November 2016, when he encouraged a premature end to counting absentee ballots in 2018 Florida elections in favor of Republicans Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, and when he withheld funding to pressure Ukraine to help his smear campaign against Joe Biden, which multiple Republicans agreed was “wrong” or “inappropriate”.

In 2020, he called the election rigged before it happened, said he won before the votes were counted, incited “stop the count” protests while election workers counted votes, fabricated widespread election fraud when it was clear he had lost, hired a legal team to spread outlandish and verifiably false allegations of voting machine tampering, spent an hour pressuring Georgian election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn its already certified and 3-times counted results, pressured the Vice President to unconstitutionally reject the States’ certified electoral college votes, and of course on 1/6 when he rallied his supporters to “stop the steal”, and sent them to the Capitol to “take back our country” where they successfully interfered with the constitutional obligation to certify the election.

Trump’s relentless attacks on democracy betrayed his oath of office and justify his conviction and disqualification.

Trump’s 1/6 speech

The fact that Trump suggested marching to the Capitol “peacefully” once in his speech that day and tweeted about peace afterward, does not absolve him of his High Crimes and Misdemeanors. His charge is not that he told the crowd to attack the Capitol, but that he “willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol.”

Far beyond a single speech, he spent months and even years lying about elections being stolen by our government and stirred up crowds to do something about it, a pattern that foreseeably leads to violence and insurrection, whether or not you toss in the word “peacefully”. By 12/1, Georgian election workers were getting harassed and receiving death threats triggered by Trump’s barrage of lies, prompting Republican Official Gabriel Sterling to accurately predict that “someone’s going to get killed.” 1/6 was just the climax of his campaign of lies. Several of the Capitol rioters said they were just doing what Trump wanted. Just look at what else Trump said in that day’s speech, one of many which ultimately incited the crowd to insurrection:

“All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical left Democrats, which is what they’re doing.”
“We will never concede.”
“We will stop the steal.”
“We won [the election] by a landslide.”
“We will not let them silence your voices. We’re not going to let it happen.”
The crowd chants “Fight for Trump!” and Trump replied “Thank you.”
Trump praised his attorney Rudy Giuliani, saying “He’s got guts, he fights.” Giuliani earlier that day suggested “trial by combat“, essentially the antithesis of democracy.
“We’re going to have somebody in there that should not be in there and our country will be destroyed, and we’re not going to stand for that.”
“The weak Republicans, they’re pathetic.”
“The scam of mail-in ballots, Democrats attempted the most brazen and outrageous election theft.”
He called the acceptance of the certified election results an “egregious assault on our democracy.”
“Now we’re out here fighting.”
“When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.”
“This is the most corrupt election in the history, maybe of the world.”
“We must stop the steal and then we must ensure that such outrageous election fraud never happens again.”
“If you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

“Inevitable and ugly” consequence of Trump’s lies

During Trump’s 1/6 speech he said, “All Vice-President Pence has to do is send it back to the States to re-certify, and we become president.” Later on, as Trump was tweeting, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done”, a group of his supporters were inside the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence“. Luckily Pence and his family were escorted away just moments before the rioters arrived.

Even if there had been no violence, and whether or not he intended for there to be violence, Trump should be disqualified from office for undermining our democracy. The violence resulting from his lies only makes his disqualification that much more necessary. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick would be alive today if President Trump had not repeatedly lied about the election results. 140 police officers would not have been injured by the mob, including cracked ribs, smashed spinal discs and stab wounds. Trump supporter and Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt would still be alive if Trump had not encouraged her false belief that the election was stolen. Democracy is how we settle our disagreements peacefully, and when you undermine democracy, you undermine peace.

After all the lies and violence, it is disgusting that Trump and his allies dismiss the trial as “political theater” rather than addressing the truth of the allegations. However, it is not surprising coming from a sore loser who calls legitimate elections a “sham” and a pandemic response a “hoax“, or from Republican Congress Members who defended their colleague that called the Parkland school shooting staged and harassed its survivors. While the First Amendment protects citizens’ rights to say all kinds of vile and harmful words, it does not shield a President from accountability for impeachable misconduct and failing to uphold our democracy.

Imagine if Donald Trump is allowed to run again, or if a loyalist is allowed to appoint him as a high level official. Maybe next time Trump’s attempt to steal an election will be successful. The next time Trump fires up a crowd to cheer on the imprisonment of political opponents, maybe he will incite another kidnapping plot against a State Governor which cannot be thwarted. The next time he stirs up a mob at the Capitol and they chant “hang the Vice President”, maybe they will actually find the VP and bring him to the gallows noose erected outside the Capitol building. All of these things were attempted during Trump’s first term, but luckily there were brave Americans protecting our country from the chaos that Trump stirred up. The next time we may not be so lucky. Trump cannot be entrusted to uphold his oath in any public office.

It’s time for Congress to do the right thing

Upholding the Constitution and democracy is Congress’ sworn duty and should not be subservient to popular opinion. Convicting any President necessarily requires going against the support of those who remain in the electoral majority that elected him. Senators should convict and disqualify Trump, whether or not it’s popular, because it’s the right thing to do. That being said, most Americans support barring Trump from office.

In 2024, voters are free to select any candidate whose name appears on the ballot, but the list of options should not include the anti-democracy seditionist Donald Trump.

The Final Days of Impeachment Trial

2/12: Although our Senator Portman and Republican leader McConnell both blamed Trump for provoking the 1/6 insurrection, they both voted twice to stop the impeachment trial from proceeding on the grounds that Trump can no longer be removed from office, neglecting the reality that he can still be disqualified.

Remember that Trump was impeached on 1/13, one week before Trump was to leave office. That day Republican leader Mitch McConnell blocked the impeachment trial from starting during Trump’s presidency, saying there’s not enough time for a trial and that “January 20 is the ‘quickest’ path for any change in the occupant of the presidency,” sidestepping the fact that impeachment is also for disqualification.

Article II of the Constitution explicitly gives the Senate the sole power to issue the judgement of disqualification, but if Senate Republicans abdicate that power and responsibility, they will have effectively set the precedent of the January Exception; that a sitting President can try to steal the election for himself and provoke insurrection and avoid being subjected to Constitutional disqualification from office via impeachment, as long as he does it in January.

Trump acquitted, but can still be disqualified by 14th Amendment

2/15/21: The Senate has voted, and a majority of Senators voted Guilty, including 7 Republicans, but those 57 did not reach a 2/3 majority needed to convict. Other Republican Senators agreed he was blameworthy, but voted to acquit primarily because he’s already out of office. After the trial, Republican Senate leader McConnell strongly condemned Trump, saying “American citizens attacked their own government … because they’d been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on earth, because he was angry and lost an election. … President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of [January 6th]. No question about it.”

The impeachment trial is now over, but Trump can still be Constitutionally disqualified for inciting insurrection by invoking the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment, Section 3 reads: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Similarly, Title 18 Section 2383 of the US Code says, “Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”

In McConnell’s condemnation of Trump, he clarified that “incite” is a “specific term from the criminal law” and used its synonym “provoke” to rebuke Trump’s actions. He explained that “by the strict criminal standard the president’s speech probably was not incitement”, pointing out the reality that Trump is unlikely to face criminal conviction for inciting insurrection. However, the 14th does not use the word “incite”, instead using “engaged in” and “given aid or comfort to”. Trump engaged in rebellion against the Constitution of the United States by calling for the process of counting legitimate votes to be stopped, which his riotous supporters successfully and temporarily accomplished. He also engaged in rebellion by pressuring Vice President Pence to unconstitutionally give the election to Trump, and then further inflaming the mob by insulting Pence for not doing his bidding.

Trump knew (or should have known) that some of his supporters were plotting to attack the Capitol. He aided these insurrectionists by promoting a rally that day where he stirred up their anger over fabricated grievances in cataclysmic terms, and directed them to march to the Capitol and take back their country with strength. Those plotters could face the full extent of criminal incitement of insurrection, and if they may therefore be considered enemies of the United States within the scope of those offenses, then Trump could be guilty of “giving aid to the enemies” in the context of the 14th Amendment. He further gave comfort to the insurrections when he said while addressing the violence at the Capitol, “Go home. We love you. You’re very special.”

Applying the 14th Section 3 may require both chambers of Congress to approve and then be upheld in court if needed. A bipartisan majority already voted that Trump is guilty of inciting insurrection, including 10 House and 7 Senate Republicans. They may be able to reproduce that majority to invoke the 14th. Republican Senator Susan Collins has already expressed support for a censure resolution to do so. Congress should continue to pursue disqualification of our reckless former President.

New developments

12/21/21: A year later, Trump planned a press conference on the first anniversary of the Capitol attack. In his announcement, he continues to lie that the 2020 election was “rigged”, and even calls election day an “insurrection”. His attacks on our democracy are incessant, which is why he must be disqualified.

2/10/22: Trump admitted his intentions to take the presidency away from the voters’ choice, saying, “Unfortunately, [Mike Pence] didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee, chaired by Ronna McDaniel, formally condemned Republicans involved in the January 6th investigations, blaming them for “efforts to destroy President Trump” and “persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Many have blasted the RNC’s resolution with pictures of the violent Capitol attack.

Some prominent Republicans are pushing back. Mike Pence said “Trump is wrong” to suggest he could have changed the election results, and that there’s “no idea more un-American”. Mitch McConnell called what happened on January 6th “a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next.” Mitt Romney went against the RNC decision, saying, “Nothing could be further from the truth than to consider the attack on the seat of democracy as legitimate political discourse.”

2/18/22: A federal judge allowed lawsuits to proceed which accuse Trump of conspiring to thwart Congress’ counting of votes. Washington Post: U.S. judge rejects Trump claim of ‘absolute immunity’ from Jan. 6 lawsuits.

3/2/22: A court filing from the January 6th commission says they have “a good-faith basis for concluding that the President [Trump] and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.” This is perhaps the first official indication that Trump himself might be guilty of a federal crime, punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

3/28/22: In a court ruling ordering the release of emails by Trump’s lawyer John Eastman, Judge David Carter made some of the most damning official statements against Trump yet:

“Dr. Eastman and President Trump launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history. Their campaign was not confined to the ivory tower—it was a coup in search of a legal theory.”

“If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution.”

“Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”

5/2/22: A grand jury will soon decide if Trump violated any election laws when he pressured Georgia’s election officials to “find” him thousands of votes long after the results were legally final. He had called Secretary of State Raffensperger about a month after the state’s “final determination of any controversy … shall be conclusive” according to federal law, and insisted numerous times that he was the real winner. Trump has been under investigation for potential criminal solicitation to commit election fraud.

6/23/22: The January 6th Committee hearing revealed that Trump had told acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, on behalf of the US Department of Justice, to:

“Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen.”

7/27/22: Justice Dept. investigating Trump’s actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe

10/19/22: Judge: Trump signed court document that knowingly included false voter fraud stats

10/30/22: Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Trump told him, “All you gotta do is say the election’s fraudulent, and you will be a superstar, you’ll be the most popular guy in America.” It’s quite similar to what Trump said to Rosen.

11/18/22: Jack Smith was appointed to Special Counsel to oversee investigations into Trump’s culpability for January 6th, as well as the confidential documents he mishandled.

Trump calls for “termination” of Constitutional rules

12/3/22: Donald Trump explicitly calls for “termination” of the Constitution’s rules, and federal and state laws, with perhaps his most seditious statement yet:

He has abandoned his oath to the Constitution and declared himself its enemy. He keeps lying about “massive & widespread fraud & deception” in order to justify shredding our founding document. He even puts “Founders” in scare quotes in seeming disrespect to them.

This echoes the kind of lawlessness he encouraged on January 6th, 2021 when he told the crowd, “When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.”

He suggests throwing out the 2020 election results, or running a new presidential election, mainly because Twitter temporarily blocked a Hunter Biden story. Remember that Donald Trump worked for the government at that time, not then-candidate Joe Biden. The content moderation practices of a private company do not amount to election fraud and cannot justify overturning a certified election. We can and should scrutinize the practices of social media company practices, but it doesn’t change the 2020 vote tallies.

I’m sure plenty of people read about Hunter’s laptop and voted for Joe Biden anyway, and it’s ridiculous to imply that one story being limited somehow makes Trump the “rightful winner”. The bottom line is that Biden got the most electoral votes, and Trump has been pushing for a coup ever since.

Days later, Trump called it “disinformation” to report what he said, but we can read with our own eyes that he literally said “the termination of all rules… even those in the Constitution” is now allowed.

This is clear gaslighting, and reminiscent of the time he said his infamous Orwellian line, “Just remember: What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” We know what you said Trump.

Bill to disqualify via the 14th and criminal referrals

12/15/22: Rep. Cicilline and 40 cosponsors invoked 14th Amendment disqualification with a bill “To provide that Donald J. Trump is ineligible to again hold the office of President of the United States or to hold any office, civil or military, under the United States.” No Representatives from Ohio cosponsored so far, although the ones who voted for Trump’s 2nd impeachment would likely approve this measure too.

12/19/22: the January 6th Committee referred Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution for (1) obstruction of an official proceeding, (2) conspiracy to defraud the United States, (3) conspiracy to make false statements, and (4) incitement or assistance of insurrection.

DOJ cracks Trump’s inner circle

3/28/23: Mike Pence is ordered to testify about what he knows about Trump’s attempted coup. This came just days after Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was ordered to testify, rejecting Trump’s executive privilege argument.

Classified documents

6/8/23: In other news, Trump has been indicted by a grand jury over his stealing of classified documents, sharing them with unauthorized people, and obstructing the federal government from recovering them.

Trump indicted on 7 charges in classified docs probe
Trump captured on tape talking about classified document he kept after leaving the White House

References

Where Senators stand on impeachment: NYTimes, WaPo

The evidence to back impeachment of Donald Trump

Time to Reconsider the 14th Amendment for Trump’s Role in the Insurrection

Congress must invoke the 14th Amendment to stop Trump from running again

Why Congress must invoke the 14th Amendment now

A Practical Path to Condemn and Disqualify Donald Trump

Here’s how the 14th Amendment could be used to prevent Trump from running again