Jonathan Turley warns that the Trump ballot bans are 'destructive' to U.S. system of government
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley weighs in after Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows claimed that she is prohibited under the 14th Amendment from putting former President Donald Trump on the ballot.
A Wyoming district court judge dismissed a lawsuit aiming to remove former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis from election ballots, sparking celebration from Wyoming Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray.
"I am extremely pleased with Judge Westby’s decision to dismiss Mr. Newcomb’s outrageously wrong and repugnant lawsuit to remove Donald Trump and Cynthia Lummis from the ballot in Wyoming," Gray said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital.
"I have been working to make sure that Donald Trump will be able to be on the ballot, and I am happy our motion to dismiss this lawsuit was granted. I will continue to fight against this nationwide effort in order to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure that the people of Wyoming can choose who to elect for themselves."
Retired lawyer Tim Newcomb filed a lawsuit in November, Newcomb v. Chuck Gray, with the Albany County District Court to remove Trump and Lummis from future ballots, arguing that they are "traitors" under a clause in the 14th Amendment in relation to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol.
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Republican Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray. (Wyoming Secretary of State )
In a court filing late last month, Newcomb also called on Gray to resign "for his attempt at stochastic terror against Wyoming’s Judiciary, thenapologize [sic] to the Court and its staff personnel," court filings state, according to the Cowboy State Daily.
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"Mr. Newcomb’s screed reflects the ravings of a radical left-wing mad man," Gray told the outlet last month. "Its [sic] another example of the tactics of lunatics of the radical Left with their outrageously wrong attempts at election interference."
Newcomb, in his court filings, also claimed that the District Court judge presiding over the case could face death threats if she were to side with him in the case.
Former President Donald Trump waves to the crowd on the field during halftime of the Palmetto Bowl between Clemson and South Carolina at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, on Nov. 25, 2023. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
"In candor to the Court, death threats — if the Court agrees with the Petitioner’s Verified Complaint ... against the Court, her Honor, litigants, witnesses, staff personnel and their families, will come," Newcomb’s filing states, the Cowboy State Daily reported.
Lummis also celebrated the dismissal in a comment to Fox News Digital, calling the suit "frivolous."
"Elections in Wyoming are decided by the people of the Cowboy State, and I am glad this frivolous lawsuit to remove myself and Donald Trump from future ballots was dismissed. Efforts to remove candidates from the ballot are a direct attack on the freedom of voters to choose their elected officials and undermines the integrity of our elections," Lummis told Fox News Digital on Friday.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., attends a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee nomination hearing for Michael Stanley Regan to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/Pool/Sipa USA)
Ahead of this year's election, other states are in the midst of legal battles over whether to remove Trump's name from the ballot, which Gray has repeatedly fought against. In Colorado, Gray filed an amicus curiae brief, otherwise known as a "friend of the court brief," with the Colorado Supreme Court to rectify a lower court in the state labeling Trump an "insurrectionist" in relation to the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol.
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"As chief election officials of our states, [Secretaries of State] have to stand up for the electoral process in our republic, and this is pivotal to ensuring the integrity of our elections," Gray told Fox News Digital in a phone interview last month after filing the amicus brief.
"I ran on election integrity, and that's why the people of Wyoming voted me into office. And I'm following through on that, and defending the truth here, and making sure that these outrageous, frivolous lawsuits that the radical left is bringing and trying to remove President Trump from the ballot, that they don't succeed."
A 'Vote Here' sign is seen at a voting precinct. (REUTERS/Emily Elconin)
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The Colorado Supreme Court ultimately ruled to bar Trump from the ballot, with justices writing in their opinion that Trump "incited and encouraged" the use of violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, following the 2020 presidential election.
Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling, arguing that the "Colorado Supreme Court has no authority to deny" him a place on the state's ballot.
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Maine has also barred Trump from the ballot, which the former president is appealing in state court, while efforts are underway in other states such as Illinois, Oregon and Massachusetts to remove Trump's name.
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