Republican Warns Trump 'Walls Are Closing in' on Being Removed From Ballot
By: Khaleda Rahman (Newsweek)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
PoliticsDonald Trump2024 ElectionGOPColorado
Republican presidential candidate John Anthony Castro warned former President Donald Trump that the "walls are closing in" after the judge overseeing a lawsuit to bar Trump from Colorado's 2024 presidential ballot issued a protective order in the case.
District Judge Sarah B. Wallace issued the protective order on Friday, prohibiting parties in the case from making threatening or intimidating statements.
"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," Wallace said.
The order was sought by lawyers for the liberal group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is seeking to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot based on a rarely used clause of the 14th Amendment barring anyone who swore an oath to the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection" against it from running for office.
The group argues that the 14th Amendment clause applies to Trump after his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol when a mob of his supporters stormed the building to halt the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination while facing 91 criminal charges across four indictments, including two connected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, arguing that he is the victim of political "persecution." He has not been charged with insurrection or rebellion in any case.
"The walls are closing in fast MF," Castro wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday alongside an article about the protective order.
Newsweek reached out to Castro's campaign via email for comment.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd during a campaign rally on September 25, 2023, in Summerville, South Carolina. Republican candidate John Anthony Castro warned Trump that "the walls are closing in" on him.Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Asked for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said: "Who's that?"
Trump's lawyer, Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state, said the order that was issued was not specifically directed toward the former president.
"The judge made clear that the protective order applied to everyone equally, and was not directed at President Trump," Gessler said in a statement to Newsweek . "In fact, she specifically removed some proposed language to show that she did not direct the order towards President Trump or anyone else specifically. This is nothing more than the standard order issued in similar high profile cases."
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed around the country seeking to disqualify Trump from running in 2024 based on the 14th Amendment clause. However, the case in Colorado is the first filed by a group with significant legal resources.
Castro, a Trump donor turned critic, has filed challenges in several states contending the 14th Amendment barred Trump from that state's ballot.
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One Florida lawsuit has already been dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020 and faced scrutiny over a ruling she issued in a separate case charging Trump with mishandling classified documents.
"The fact that all the Trump cases keep getting assigned to Judge Cannon cannot be a coincidence," Castro previously told Newsweek .
He added: "Realistically, I'm probably just going to be pigeonholed as the anti-Trump candidate, you know, the guy that's running to try to have him declared ineligible. But another thing I'm trying to do is I'm trying to steer the debate."
Wallace has set an October 30 hearing to discuss whether Trump needs to be removed under Colorado law prohibiting candidates who don't meet qualifications for higher office from appearing on ballots.
She said she wants to give the Colorado Supreme Court as much time as possible to review the decision before the state's January 5 deadline to set its 2024 presidential primary ballot.
The issue could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never ruled on the insurrection provision in section three of the 14th Amendment.
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I bet DeSantis would like to see him removed from ballots
I don't think even Trump's removal can help DeSantis's floundering campaign.
I'm sure he would, and he's not the only one who would like to see that happen. I just don't know how this is all going to work out. I'm sure that when the first state wins its suit to keep Trump off the ballot in that state, it will be appealed and also very likely the Supreme Court will be petitioned to review and adjudicate. This has never been attempted before and you can find "legal experts" on both sides of the issue spouting their opinions.
The other question I've not seen discussed at all in this is, what happens if SCOTUS doesn't rule in time and there are some states who keep Trump off their ballots while other states have him on. Now if Trump loses in that situation, does this open up the possibility for a constitutional crisis? Not that I want to see that can of worms opened, but I just don't know what would happen in a situation like that.
Maybe Trump supporters can just write his name in, if they can spell it.
T - R- M -P
that's how I spell it. He hasn't earned the respect of a vowel
Why not. I've already said earlier that if Trump & Biden are the two nominees in the general election, I may just get drunk and maybe write in Nixon as I'm fairly sure he couldn't do any worse than either of those two.
Now that's funny!
yes, it is...considering Nixon is dead
interesting to note that the suit to remove trump from the ballot in colorado was filed by 3 republicans and 3 independents. I wonder what the over/under is on when the magatards start trying to remove biden from klan state ballots before 2024?
... then how about states with a majority of goober dipshits that support racist and seditious autocrats, like the one you reside in.