Maine’s Top Court Waiting To Rule in Trump Case Until SCOTUS Decision

(USNewsBreak.com) – Former President Donald Trump is facing multiple legal challenges to his campaign for president. Several lawmakers and officials have tried taking the step of removing him from the primary ballots, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, or the “insurrection clause.” Colorado was the first to act, and in Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removed him unilaterally in December. His legal team has appealed the case to the Maine State Supreme Court, but it hasn’t made a decision just yet. The state’s highest court decided it would not move forward with a ruling until the US Supreme Court makes a decision on a similar case in Colorado.

When Bellows removed Trump from the ballot, the former president appealed the decision. A court ruled that she had to await the Supreme Court decision on the Colorado case before Bellows could remove him. Legal experts expect the nation’s High Court to hear the Colorado case on February 8. The Supreme Court has never ruled on a similar issue, so no precedent exists.

Maine's supreme court declines to hear Trump ballot eligibility case https://t.co/77Et7qbmNa

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 25, 2024

Trump’s attorneys argue that lawmakers never considered the president an officer “under the United States” when they drafted the Amendment. Therefore, the insurrection clause wouldn’t apply to him. Additionally, they claim that January 6 wasn’t an insurrection but a riot.

The issue has sown a lot of division in the country, separating Red States from Blue States. Time is also of the essence on the matter because Maine’s primary is quickly approaching, scheduled for March 5.

At the moment, only two Republican candidates remain in competition for the nomination: Trump and former South Carolina Governor and US Ambassador Nikki Haley. After the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Trump is leading the delegate race with 32, while Haley has 17. The former president has continued to insist that Haley should drop out, much like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have done. Still, she vows that she won’t.