Raskin insisted that the constitutional provision preventing those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office may prevent Trump from becoming President for a second, non-consecutive term. Losing to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump is still eligible for another White House term. Polls show him the unmistakable favorite to win the 2024 Republican nomination if he runs.
The Maryland Democrat suggested the prohibition on holding office again could also apply to some current Republican members of Congress, who, similar to Trump, are being scrutinized for their actions on Jan. 6.
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“If they're people who did participate in insurrection, or rebellion, they are constitutionally barred from holding federal or state office again,” Raskin, a member of the House select committee formed to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, told reporters.
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It's hardly a slam dunk legal case. After all, Trump in February was acquitted by the Senate of an “incitement of insurrection” impeachment charge. A bit over a year earlier, Trump's first impeachment trial saw him acquitted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from his pressure on Ukraine's president to dig up political dirt on Biden's son, Hunter. Raskin, previously a tenured constitutional law professor at American University, asserted there remains a question of whether that section of the 14th Amendment is “self-executing” and can “operate in itself” without requiring a previous conviction. “We don't have a lot of precedent,” Raskin expressed.
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“There's also another view out there that, for example, Donald Trump has already been determined to have participated in insurrection and rebellion by virtue of his impeachment by the House by majority vote, and then the determination by 57 senators that he incited violent insurrection against the union,” stated Raskin, who was a House impeachment manager.
Although Trump "wasn't convicted for the purposes of impeachment, it could be argued that a majority has established as a legislative fact that he participated in insurrection or rebellion.”
Raskin went through the “fascinating history” of the amendment, added after the Civil War, saying it was designed to “focus on the inner core of the most culpable people” rather than broadly disenfranchise anyone who participated in insurrection or rebellion by barring them from ever voting again. “The language is mandatory: shall not.”
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Using the 14th Amendment as a way to keep Trump or other members of Congress from holding office again gained steam last year after the Jan. 6 riot.
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