re: LIVE (*now adjourned*): Supreme Court hearing case on Trump's Colorado ballot eligibility

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6 min ago
These arguments are getting hyper-technical right out of the box
BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI

The first wave of questioning is about Trump attorney Mitchell’s argument that a state can’t disqualify a candidate under Section 3, only ban someone from office — and it’s up to Congress to decide not to seat a federal official.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked Mitchell if a candidate came into an election office and said he lived out of state, could that election office bar him from the ballot?

No, Mitchell said. He later admitted this is a novel argument. “This is a one-off,” he said of the historic case.


13 min ago
First question comes from Justice Clarence Thomas
BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI

Thomas asked Mitchell whether Congress needs to pass legislation for Section 3 to work.

“It is entirely up to Congress,” Mitchell responded.

In a sign of how weird this case is, he’s citing an 1869 case decided by a then-supreme court justice who was acting as an appeal judge. There’s very little precedent here.


16 min ago
And we’re off
BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI

Arguments began with Trump’s attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, making his initial statement. “The Colorado supreme court’s decision is wrong and should be reversed for numerous, independent reasons,” Mitchell said.

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