A Judge in the State of Michigan has cleared President Donald Trump to run for the office of the President of the United States of America. Michigan Court of Claims judge James Redford delivered the ruling on Tuesday.
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The Judge rejected an “insurrection” lawsuit brought by activists to stop the former President from contesting for the White house. A local activist group had sought to bar Trump from running for office by filling an “insurrection” lawsuit against him.
The liberal activist group Free Speech for People had claimed that Trump’s alleged role in the January 6, 2021, Capitola riot should disqualify him from campaigning for elected office.
In delivering judgement, the Judge explained that deciding if the events of January 6 represented a “rebellion or insurrection, or whether or not someone participated in it” should be deferred to Congress. He further stressed that Michigan’s electoral authorities do not have the power to remove Trump from the ballot.
Free Speech for People had invoked Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era constitutional clause stating that a person cannot run for elected office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the constitution after taking an oath to support it.
Multiple polls put President Trump in a comfortable lead over his rivals for the Republican party nomination. He has faced similar lawsuits in other states, some of which have already been thrown out by courts.
A lawsuit against Trump was dismissed by Minnesota’s Supreme Court last week, while a verdict in a similar case in Colorado is expected by Friday.
Last month, the US Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Texas Republican John Anthony Castro to bar Trump from seeking reelection in 2024 on the grounds of the 14th Amendment.
Trump is also being tried on federal conspiracy charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, making him the first former US head of state to face a federal indictment.
Elsewhere, the Republican frontrunner has federal charges hanging over him related to his handling of top-secret government documents, while he is also being sued in New York by both the city and the state.
President Trumps insists that the legal challenges against him are politically motivated, designed to derail his 2024 chances of returning to the White house.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
