Yesterday, November 17, 2023, Colorado state court judge Sarah B. Wallace issued an opinion in Anderson v. Griswold, No. 2023cv32577 (filed Sept. 6, 2023), a case in which the petitioners are seeking to have Donald Trump removed from the Colorado ballot on the ground that he is disqualified from the presidency under section 3 of the 14th amendment. Judge Wallace found that “Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 through incitement,” conduct that apparently would have disqualified him under section 3 if that provision applied to him. Order at 95, ¶ 298. However, she concluded that Trump was not covered by section 3 because the presidency is neither a disqualification-triggering nor a banned office within the meaning of that provision. Order at 101, ¶ 315.
I will have more comments on Judge Wallace’s opinion in the days to come. For the moment I just want to highlight this bit of information that came out of the hearing: “Congressman Buck testified that he had asked to be placed on the January 6th Committee after then-Speaker Pelosi rejected two of the five Republican nominees, but his request was turned down by Republican Party leadership.” Order at 13, ¶ 30. The court credited this statement in its findings, noting that “Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy actively prevented the January 6th Committee from being bipartisan including when he rejected Congressman Buck’s request to be on the Committee.” Order at 24, ¶ 52.
I have not seen this information reported previously, though I may have missed it. In any event, it is of some historical interest, as well as being of possible legal relevance to the validity of the January 6 committee’s composition and the credibility of its findings.