A lot of smart people predicted this day would never come.
This day being Thursday, when the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether to disqualify former President Donald Trump from office because of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The justices are reviewing a landmark decision from Colorado’s top court, which concluded the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” applies to Trump.
The legal theory behind the lawsuit transformed over three years from a fringe idea to a successful case heading to the highest court in the land. The litigation faced tremendously long odds, no direct precedent and a well-funded opponent – and yet still won in Colorado.
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Liberal-leaning groups planned out how to bring the 14th amendment challenges against Trump.
Test cases were run against Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Rep. Madison Cawthorn.
The Supreme Court will consider the case on Thursday.
Many experts still believe the Supreme Court, with its conservative supermajority, will resolve the matter in Trump’s favor, especially with the 2024 primaries underway.
Thursday’s high-stakes hearing is the culmination of a politically diverse array of legal scholars coalescing behind a surprisingly strong challenge against one of the most teflon politicians of our time.
They brought test cases during the 2022 midterms, to start breaking legal ground on the arcane constitutional provision that hadn’t been touched since 1919. They scoured the country for which states had laws on the books that could give them a path to a successful ballot challenge. And along the way, their controversial efforts gained some bipartisan backing, with a major boost from the House January 6 committee.
“People were saying it’s a pipe-dream fantasy,…
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