Witness testimony wrapped up Friday in former President Donald Trump’s 14th Amendment disqualification trial in Colorado, setting the stage for an historic ruling later this month.
The weeklong trial featured testimony from legal scholars who explained the history of the amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” US Capitol Police officers who were wounded while fighting the pro-Trump mob on January 6, organizers of the Trump rally that preceded the violence, two House lawmakers and an expert on right-wing extremism.
Closing arguments are slated for November 15, and a ruling is expected soon after that.
The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, says US officials who take an oath to uphold the Constitution are banned from future office if they “engaged in insurrection.”
But the Constitution doesn’t say how to enforce the ban, and it has only been applied twice since 1919, which is why many experts view these challenges as a long shot.
What happens next?
Denver District Court Judge Sarah Wallace, who was appointed to the bench by Colorado’s sitting Democratic governor, will hear closing arguments on November 15 and issue a ruling shortly after that.
Wallace has a long list of complex legal questions to answer. Was January 6 an insurrection? Did Trump “engage” in that insurrection? Does the insurrectionist ban apply to presidents? Can she enforce that provision, or does Congress need to take action?
Throughout the week, Wallace hasn’t tipped her hand to indicate how she is leaning. She has overruled dozens of objections from Trump’s lawyers while witnesses were being questioned. And on Friday, she pushed back at a legal scholar that Trump put on the stand, after he suggested Trump’s eligibility for office should be decided by Congress and not the courts.
“Do you have examples…
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