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House Democrats introduce bill to bar Trump from ever holding federal office again using the 14th Amendment

December 16, 2022 | | Print Article

Forty-one House Democrats, led by Rep. David Cicilline (RI), a senior member of the House Committee on the Judiciary and a former impeachment manager, introduced a bill on Thursday that would forever bar former President Trump from holding federal office again using the 14th Amendment.

Cicilline authored the legislation. In the bill, he contends that the Jan. 6 riot was an insurrection and disqualifies Trump from holding office, according to a press release from the Democrat’s office.

Democrats are referring to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment which states, “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States … 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.”

“Donald Trump very clearly engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, with the intention of overturning the lawful and fair results of the 2020 election. You don’t get to lead a government you tried to destroy,” Cicilline wrote in the legislation.

“Even Mitch McConnell admits that Trump bears responsibility, saying on the Senate floor that ‘[t]here’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.’ The 14 Amendment makes clear that based on his past behavior, Donald Trump is disqualified from ever holding federal office again and, under Section 5, Congress has the power to pass legislation to implement this prohibition,” he railed.

Cicilline sent a letter to his fellow Democrats in November looking for co-sponsors for the bill to bar Trump from public office, according to The Hill.

Trump has announced that he is running for reelection in the 2024 presidential race. It appears that Democrats are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the former president to stop him from running again.

Cicilline’s letter was sent the same night that Trump declared his candidacy.

“Given the proof – demonstrated through the January 6th Committee Hearings, the 2021 impeachment trial, and other reporting – that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection on January 6th with the intention of overturning the lawful 2020 election results, I have drafted legislation that would prevent Donald Trump from holding public office again under the Fourteenth Amendment,” Cicilline wrote last month.

The leftist congressman said his bill “details testimony and evidence demonstrating how Donald Trump engaged in insurrection against the United States,” quoting evidence from Jan. 6 select committee hearings.

“It specifically details how Donald Trump engaged in insurrection when he helped to plan and encouraged the insurgence on January 6th despite knowing that the election results were lawful; attempted to intimidate state and federal officials when they did not support his false claims and unlawful plans; tried to manipulate Mike Pence into unlawfully refusing to certify the election results, despite Mr. Pence’s and legal advisors’ assertion that he held no such authority; and supported the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, refusing for hours to denounce or act against the mob and putting thousands of lives in danger,” the letter asserted.

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