More than 60 lawmakers signed onto the declaration as courts and state elections officials weigh whether the former president is eligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment.
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Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida spoke in front of a group of Republicans announcing support for his resolution declaring that former President Donald J. Trump “did not engage in insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021.
As officials across the country consider whether to bar former President Donald J. Trump from the ballot over his role in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, a contingent of House Republicans are trying to bolster his claim that he did nothing wrong.
More than 60 Republicans — led by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and Representative Elise Stefanik of New York — said on Tuesday that they had signed onto a resolution declaring that Mr. Trump “did not engage in insurrection.”
The measure aims to influence courts and state election officials who are weighing whether Mr. Trump is eligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists, an issue that is casting a cloud over the primary season and as Mr. Trump closes in on the Republican nomination. Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, is introducing a companion measure in the Senate.
“It’s not the job of the states, and especially not the job of some bureaucrats in Colorado, to make this assessment and interfere with the rights of voters to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice,” Mr. Gaetz said at a news conference, flanked by fellow Republicans.
Mr. Trump has been disqualified from the ballot in Colorado and Maine. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the former president’s appeal of the Colorado ruling, and arguments will begin Thursday.
At issue is whether Mr. Trump is in violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have taken an oath to support the Constitution from holding office if they then “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
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Source: nytimes.com
