A Colorado state judge heard closing arguments Wednesday in a case to decide whether former President Donald Trump’s actions in early 2021 disqualify him from the state’s primary ballot under an insurrection provision in the U.S. Constitution.
Lawyers made wide-ranging arguments for about two and half hours, grappling over the ins and outs of specific language in the 14th Amendment and the extent that Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, engaged in insurrection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Challengers say Trump is barred from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, ratified in the wake of the Civil War, which includes a provision to prevent people who took an oath to support the Constitution from holding office if they have “engaged in insurrection.”
