Can Trump be disqualified? The debate over the 14th Amendment – By Henry Gass (CS Monitor) / Sept 6, 2023
David Scanlan, the New Hampshire secretary of state, had a busy end to his summer – and it wasn’t related to the August special election in Grafton County.
The subject was a different election: the 2024 presidential race and whether former U.S. President Donald Trump – the current front-runner for the Republican nomination – could be disqualified from the state ballot if his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection trigger Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The question, which conservative legal circles began raising, now is being considered in several states, including Colorado, where a lawsuit to disqualify Mr. Trump was filed Wednesday by a watchdog group, and the battlegrounds of Arizona and Michigan, where a legal challenge was filed last week.
The New Hampshire furor erupted last week when conservative talk show host Charlie Kirk falsely told listeners the state was trying to sideline Mr. Trump. Within days, Mr. Scanlan’s office had fielded hundreds of calls. Mr. Scanlan and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella met and issued a joint statement.
