Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) is responding to former President Donald Trump’s expected 2024 campaign debut with legislation barring him from ever pursuing political office.
Chastising Trump for “leading an insurrection against the United States,” Cicilline contended that Trump should be banned from office under the 14th Amendment and unveiled plans to craft a bill doing just that in a letter to House Democrats on Tuesday night.
TRUMP EXPECTED TO JUMP INTO 2024 RACE AS GOP WEIGHS DUMPING HIM FOR DESANTIS
“Tonight, Donald Trump is expected to announce his third bid for the Presidency of the United States even though he forfeited his right to ever hold federal office again for leading an insurrection against the United States,” wrote Cicilline, who led a previous impeachment against Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. “The legislation details testimony and evidence demonstrating how Donald Trump engaged in insurrection.”
In previous legal wranglings, Democratic-aligned lawyers had sought to prohibit some Republican members of Congress, such as outgoing Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), from vying for reelection using similar logic. Those legal efforts failed in court.
NEW: @davidcicilline sent a letter to House Dems tonight saying he is drafting legislation that would bar Trump from *ever* running for public office again under the 14th Amendment, due to Jan 6 riot
Cicilline seeking cosponsors – with Trump expected to launch his campaign at 9p pic.twitter.com/9aqz6qWHOt
— Ted Nesi (@TedNesi) November 16, 2022
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment precludes individuals who embarked on an insurrection against the United States from holding political office.
“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,” Section 3 reads as cited by Cicilline in the letter.
Cicilline, who was a manager for Trump’s second impeachment trial, pointed to evidence amassed from the Jan. 6 committee and other reporting as “proof” to make the case that Trump participated in an insurrection with “the intention of overturning the lawful 2020 election results.”
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Previous efforts to ban Trump from political office have failed. Trump was impeached twice, including for his ties to the Jan. 6 riots, but ultimately acquitted in the Senate. Efforts to censure him also ran into roadblocks within Congress. Republicans are expected to win a slim majority in the House and have rooted out many backers of impeachment from their ranks.
Trump teased a “very big announcement” at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, widely expected to be a presidential debut.
