by Renee Parsons
They’ve resurrected a little-remembered clause going back to the years after the Civil War to try to kick Republicans off the ballot.
As the midterm 2022 elections approach, the expectation is that, with thirty Democratic House retirements and the continued unraveling of the Biden Administration, the Dems are about to experience historic losses in both the House and Senate.
However, the evil geniuses within the Democratic party have identified the Fourteenth Amendment as a vehicle to thwart Republican dreams of achieving a massive political realignment. Therefore, it may be shortsighted to count the one-time party of Jefferson as down-and-out until the last glimmering frenzy has been extinguished.
In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was amended to add Section 3, also known as the Disqualification Clause. It holds that no member of Congress or a state legislature “shall have engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” In other words, any such official who swore to uphold the US Constitution may be banned from holding public office if engaged in what might be defined as an “insurrection” or “rebellion.”
Soon after the 2016 election, one hundred senior government staffers with links to Never Trumpers, former Obama White House, and the Open Society Foundation were organized by Marc Elias, Democratic party Super Duper Fixer and top brain trust strategist. Elias is credited with the ultimately ineffective Russiagate scandal and establishing the Transition Integrity Project before the 2020 election, which now reads like a blueprint on how to remove Trump from the White House. Elias’ efforts concede that, if the Dems cannot win with public support on the issues, they must then resort to whatever nefarious deception they can concoct.
With the Fourteenth Amendment in his back pocket, Elias has now taken the lead, promising that
Before the midterm election, we will have a serious discussion about whether individual Republican House Members are disqualified by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from serving in Congress.
While a joint session of Congress was to scrutinize and certify each state’s 2020 election results during the January 6 (J6) certification process, the “Stop the Steal” Capitol demonstration became the ideal vehicle for alleging that a violent assault was organized to stop Congress from declaring Joe Biden to be the 2020 winner.
With the 2022 election looming, the Democrats have begun a robust campaign to accuse certain House Members of Fourteenth Amendment violations. A recent mailing from the 315electionfund.org states that “Nearly 70 Republicans who participated in the January 6 attack on our Capitol are currently HOLDING elected office throughout the country.”
More ominously, Rolling Stone magazine, which once had a good reputation as an investigative journal, relied on anonymous sources who provided no facts, no evidence, and no corroborating information to accuse seven Republican House members as “insurrectionists” who planned and participated in J6: Paul Gosar (AZ), Andy Biggs (AZ), Madison Cawthorn (NC), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Lauren Boebert (CO), Mo Brooks (AL), and Louie Gohmert (TX). Former Trump Chief of Staff was also included in this insurrection charge. Of course, there is no evidence of an armed insurrection and not one person was charged with bringing a firearm to the Capitol.
Image: Madison Cawthorn (cropped) by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Undeterred by facts, a purported independent nonprofit group, Free Speech for People, which claimed to act for North Carolina constituents, filed a complaint with the North Carolina Board of Election (“NCBE”) alleging that Rep. Cawthorn must be disqualified per the Fourteenth Amendment.
Cawthorn responded with a suit against the five-member NCBE, in which he challenged the North Carolina law under which Free Speech for People asserted its challenge. Cawthorn pointed out that the law improperly forces onto the candidate the burden of proving that he is qualified to run, forcing him to prove his innocence. This, alleges Cawthorn, is unconstitutional at multiple levels. He also alleged that Section 3 is unconstitutional because the U.S. House of Representatives has the exclusive power to determine its members’ qualifications.
Rep. Jim Banks (IN) was also hit with a legal challenge seeking to remove him from the ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment. Banks is Chair of the Republican Study Group and on J6 voted against Biden’s Electoral College win. Nancy Pelosi subsequently denied Banks a place on the Democratic House J6 Investigation, the Republicans boycotted the panel. All of this led a challenger to petition that he be kicked off the ballot under the Disqualification Clause.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (CO), who attended the J6 rally, has been identified as an “insurrectionist.” A well-funded former RINO state senator is planning to challenge her in a primary contest. He could well claim that he should win the primary because Boebert is vulnerable to a Disqualification Clause attack.
Although it’s not a formal legal attack, the “insurrection” charge has been levied against Colorado State Rep. Ron Hanks who is running currently one of the Republican primary candidates to challenge Michael Bennett, the Democrat incumbent in the U.S. Senate. Thus, Bennett sent out the following email:
Proud January 6th insurrectionist and Michael’s leading Republican opponent, State Rep. Ron Hanks won a straw poll following a Republican primary debate, beating out other Republican Senate candidates. This momentum is putting a spotlight on Hanks that is drawing supporters into his campaign, so we have to act fast. Ron Hanks rallied with rioters who attempted to overthrow our democracy. His views are extreme, and he doesn’t represent Colorado’s values. He is out to undermine Democracy.
As a reminder, according to both current and former federal law enforcement officials who were familiar with the investigation, the FBI found “scant evidence of an organized plot” to overthrow certifying the 2020 election. The sources also said that far-right Trump supporters had “not centrally coordinated” events at the Capitol and “there was no grand scheme… to storm the Capitol and take hostages.”
Tellingly, the improperly constituted Congressional J6 Oversight committee has yet to hold a public hearing with bona fide testimony or facts. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel rightly says the committee represents a “Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
While the Amnesty Act of 1872 reversed most of the office-holding disqualifications in Section 3, the Elias forces will continue to try to overthrow incumbent politicians as we head to the 2022 election.
Renee Parsons served on the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, staff in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC. She can be found at reneedove3@yahoo.com
Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/02/democrats_are_using_the_14th_amendment_to_threaten_republican_candidates.html
1 comment:
inserrection?
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