Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Can Trump still run for US presidency? What to know about Colorado ruling?

Can Trump still run for US presidency? What to know about Colorado ruling?

The top court in the US state of Colorado has ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding office again over his role in the January 6, 2021 assault on the United States Capitol by his supporters. Tuesday’s verdict makes Trump the first presidential candidate in US history to be deemed ineligible for the White House under a rarely used provision of the US Constitution that bars officials who have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution after taking oath to protect it. Trump’s campaign spokesperson dubbed the verdict “flawed” and promised to “swiftly” file an appeal in the United States Supreme Court. Here is more to know about the ruling and what it means for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. What did the Colorado court rule on Donald Trump on Tuesday? A slim majority of the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the former president is ineligible to hold the US presidency and is to be disqualified from the state’s ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which bars anyone involved in insurrection or rebellion from running for federal office. “We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the Colorado Supreme Court wrote in its four-three majority decision. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us,” the Colorado justices said. “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.” This is the first time a court has ruled on the basis of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War. A lower court judge in the state previously ruled that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, amounted to insurrection but stopped short of disqualifying him, saying Section 3 does not apply to presidents. The Colorado Supreme Court paused its own ruling pending review by the US Supreme Court. The ruling was aligned with advocacy groups and activists who called for the disqualification of Trump from the presidential race following his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Multiple lawsuits have been filed across several US states in efforts to disqualify Trump from running for president in those states. Similar lawsuits have previously been dismissed by courts in Michigan, Florida and New Hampshire. The Minnesota Supreme Court has also rejected a disqualification case. However, this ruling can influence other states to invoke similar rulings in competitive states that Trump needs to win. What happened on January 6, 2021? On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to prevent the Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. This was after Trump prematurely declared victory and alleged voter fraud. In a speech on the day of the riot, Trump urged his supporters to march on the Capitol. A US Congressional committee concluded that Trump was responsible for the Capitol riots. Can Trump still run for presidency and what does it mean for the 2024 election? Even if the ruling survives Supreme Court review, it could be inconsequential to the outcome of the November 2024 election because Trump does not need to win Colorado, which is a Democratic-leaning state. Colorado has nine of the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency. Biden won the state by more than 13 percentage points in the 2020 election. But similar lawsuits could be filed in competitive states that Trump must win to prevail, and while none of those courts would be bound by the Colorado decision, judges will likely study it closely while reaching their own conclusions. How did Trump and Republicans react to Colorado’s ruling? Trump’s campaign called the court decision “undemocratic”. Trump and his allies have dubbed disqualification cases in Colorado and other states as part of a conspiracy by his political rivals to keep him out of office. “The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court,” a campaign spokesperson said. Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the “all-Democrat appointed” panel in Colorado was doing the bidding of a “[George] Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden”. Even after his absence from the Republican debates, Trump remains a frontrunner in the polls. “Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls,” he added. Despite their exasperation with Trump, US Republican leaders joined in to call the ruling undemocratic and campaign for its appeal on X. This included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running against Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. DeSantis said the US Supreme Court “should reverse” the Colorado ruling. “The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal ground,” he wrote on X, What’s next? The ruling has been placed on hold by the Colorado Supreme Court until January 4, or until a review by the US Supreme Court, which Trump said he will immediately seek. Colorado officials have said the issue needs to be settled by January 5, which is when the state prints its presidential primary ballots. It is unclear how the Supreme Court would rule, but it is dominated by a conservative majority that includes three Trump appointees, some of whom are longtime sceptics of giving courts powers that are not clearly based in legislation. That was a top concern for the dissenting justices in the 4-3 Colorado decision, who said the majority’s ruling would strip Trump of one of his most basic rights without adequate due process. “Even if we are convinced that a candidate committed horrible acts in the past – dare I say, engaged in insurrection – there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified

UK High Court sets date for Julian Assange’s final appeal challenging US extradition

UK High Court sets date for Julian Assange’s final appeal challenging US extradition

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s possible final legal challenge to block his extradition from Britain to the U.S. to face charges for publishing classified U.S. military documents will be held in February 2024 at the High Court in London. The upcoming hearing, scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21, will be held before two judges who will review an earlier High Court decision made by a single judge in June, when the Australian journalist was denied permission to appeal, according to a release from pro-Assange campaigners. Assange, 52, is facing 17 charges for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the Espionage Act, and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. If he is extradited to the U.S. after exhausting all his legal appeals, Assange would face trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and could be sentenced to up to 175 years in an American maximum-security prison. BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION CALLS ON US OFFICIALS TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST ASSANGE The charges were brought by the Trump administration over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of cables leaked by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning detailing war crimes committed by the U.S. government in the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, Iraq and Afghanistan. The materials also exposed instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition. WikiLeaks’ “Collateral Murder” video showing the U.S. military gunning down civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also published 13 years ago. “This hearing signals a crucial stage in Julian’s battle for justice and is the end of the line in the U.K. courts,” Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, said in the release. “This Christmas will be Julian’s 5th in a UK prison. He has gone through years of uncertainty, his mental and physical health getting worse and worse. He should be able to come home to Australia with his children and get the support he needs. I urge the Prime Minister to pull out all the stops in his efforts to end Julian’s suffering. Bring Julian home.” The announcement of a hearing date comes after multiple bipartisan efforts were made this year by lawmakers in the U.S. and Assange’s home country of Australia demanding that U.S. officials drop the charges and end their extradition requests. SQUAD AND MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE JOIN 16 LAWMAKERS CALLING ON BIDEN TO FREE ASSANGE No publisher had been charged under the Espionage Act until Assange, and many press freedom groups have said his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent intended to criminalize journalism. U.S. prosecutors and critics of Assange have argued WikiLeaks’ publication of classified material put the lives of U.S. allies at risk, but there is no evidence that publishing the documents put anyone in danger. The editors and publishers of the U.S. and European outlets that worked with Assange on the publication of excerpts from more than 250,000 documents he obtained in the Cablegate leak — The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País — wrote an open letter last year calling for the U.S. to drop the charges against Assange. Assange has been held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped. “The last four and a half years have taken the most considerable toll on Julian and his family, including our two young sons,” Assange’s wife, Stella, said in the release. The couple married while Assange was in prison. “His mental health and physical state have deteriorated significantly,” she continued. “With the myriad of evidence that has come to light since the original hearing in 2019, such as the violation of legal privilege and reports that senior U.S. officials were involved in formulating assassination plots against my husband, there is no denying that a fair trial, let alone Julian’s safety on U.S. soil, is an impossibility were he to be extradited. The persecution of this innocent journalist and publisher must end.” AUSTRALIAN DELEGATION MEETS WITH US OFFICIALS, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DEMAND JULIAN ASSANGE’S FREEDOM Assange’s lawyers have also applied to the European Court of Human Rights, which could potentially block his extradition to the U.S. Shortly after the hearing date was announced, Assange supporters called for a mass protest at the court on the days the hearing is scheduled for. The Obama administration decided not to indict Assange in 2013 over WikiLeaks’ publication of the classified cables in 2010 because it would have had to also indict journalists from major news outlets who published the same materials. Former President Obama also commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses to seven years in January 2017, and Manning, who had been imprisoned since 2010, was released later that year. But Former President Trump’s Justice Department later moved to indict Assange under the Espionage Act, and the Biden administration has continued to pursue his prosecution.

Austin’s Soros-backed DA blasted after man charged with 7th DUI, killing 2 people released on bond

Austin’s Soros-backed DA blasted after man charged with 7th DUI, killing 2 people released on bond

Austin’s progressive district attorney is facing criticism in the community after a man who allegedly killed two while committing his 7th DUI is walking the streets after his charges and bond were reduced. Roberto Rangel, 52, was arrested last year in Travis County, Texas, for his 7th DUI that resulted in the deaths of 22-year-old Kate Garcia and 23-year-old Mark Narvaez, Fox 7 Austin reported.  Rangel, who has been sentenced to over 14 years in prison for DUIs dating to 1989, reportedly pulled out of a Chick-fil-A parking lot in Austin at 2:45 a.m. and parked his car sideways in the road. A motorcycle crashed into the parked vehicle, killing Narvaez and Garcia. Rangel was reportedly too intoxicated to participate in a sobriety test at the scene. DEFUNDED AUSTIN PD TAKES SO LONG TO RESPOND TO DUI CRASH, DRIVER SOBERS UP AND WALKS FREE: FAMILY Fox 7 Austin reported that Rangel’s charge was reduced to DWI a few months after his arrest, and his bond was reduced from $100,000 to $10,000 before he was released. Additionally, Rangel’s bond conditions were eased earlier this year, and his portable alcohol monitor was removed. “We don’t understand why he’s out,” Elida Zamora, Garcia’s mother, told Fox 7 Austin this week.  “I think that a guy like him is basically making a mockery out of our legal system,” Mark Narvaez’s father, Hector, told the outlet. News of Rangel’s release sparked intense criticism from Austin locals who say they are fed up with Garza’s progressive agenda. SOROS DA PUT MURDER CASE ON ‘BACK BURNER’ BECAUSE IT DOESN’T ‘FIT’ LIBERAL AGENDA: VICTIM’S FAMILY “A precise example of how DA Jose Garza’s policies are DIRECTLY threatening public safety,” Travis County GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak posted on X. “Imagine a DA office REDUCING charges for someone arrested for their 6th DUI.” Austin criminal defense attorney Daniel Betts, who is running as a Republican candidate against Garza for Travis County DA, told Fox News Digital that while Garza’s office did object to lowering Rangel’s bond in July, it should have pushed for a more significant charge than DWI in the first place. “Yet another example of how every day, in every way, Jose Garza works to make our community less safe,” Betts said. “While he pays lip service to victims, he fails to protect the community and uphold the law on a multiple homicide, not even bothering to attempt to indict it as anything other than a simple DWI. Travis County has been sold a bill of goods, and it’s time that the voters wake up to reality and show him the door.” An Austin Police officer who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital officers are “frustrated if not more” because this type of situation happens “day in and day out,” which continues to impact the victims of these tragedies. “Very avoidable tragedies too often caused by the prosecution side of the house. For the last three years, we have seen that side falter and fail under Jose and Delia Garza’s policies,” the officer said. “It’s time our citizens pay attention, educate themselves and vote for public safety … so they and the visitors of our great city get the public safety they deserve.” DA Garza has faced criticism in the past for how his office has handled a variety of crimes, including driving drunk. Last year, a man who pleaded guilty to driving drunk in a crash that killed his female passenger was sentenced to 10 days in jail, sparking outrage from many in the community. “Another example of Travis County prosecutors going easy on violent criminals,” the Austin Police Association, a union representing more than 1,800 Austin Police officers, tweeted in response to the sentence. “Victims lives are marginalized. Where is the justice for the families & loved ones of the victim?” Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association told Fox News Digital this situation “again proves that this district attorney has no business in office.” “He has no experience prosecuting cases, and you’ve got somebody who has been arrested for DWI seven times,” Farris said. “He should have been in prison already anyway. He was out, he was driving and he killed two people. And this district attorney has allowed this guy, they didn’t push for a high enough bar to keep this guy in jail. “This guy should have been charged with murder, not just intoxication manslaughter. He should have been charged with murder. And this guy should not be out walking the streets because he’s been arrested seven times for DWI. He’s got a problem.”  Fox News Digital reached out to Garza’s office for comment but did not receive a response. 

Progressive Dem who defunded Austin Police ripped for requesting police patrols at home: ‘Height of hypocrisy’

Progressive Dem who defunded Austin Police ripped for requesting police patrols at home: ‘Height of hypocrisy’

A progressive congressman associated with “The Squad” who proudly voted to defund the Austin Police Department as a city council member and blasted the department just last week for alleged racist practices is under fire after requesting a police patrol at his home from the same department.  “It’s come to our attention that Anti police king of the defund movement in Austin @GregCasar who only last week called APD an agency with racist practices has requested enhanced patrols around his house for the next week,” the Austin Police Retired Officers Association posted on X Tuesday. “We want everyone in Austin to feel safe,” the post added. “But this seems to us as the height of hypocrisy from the congressman. Maybe he should hire private security like his fellow squad members do. Sure seems like he wants the police in his neighborhood just not yours.” Casar’s request was made through the United States Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., which forwarded the request to the Austin Police Department. PROGRESSIVE ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER MOCKED AFTER ‘THIRST STRIKE’ LASTS JUST 8 HOURS: ‘WHAT A HERO’ Casar was perhaps the most vocal driver of defunding the Austin Police Department in 2020 while he was a member of the city council. It led to a police shortage and a wave of officer retirements that critics say the city has still not recovered from.  “We did it!!” Casar posted on X in August 2020. “Austin City Council just reduced APD’s budget by over $100 million *and* reinvested resources into our community’s safety and well-being.” ‘CALLOUS’ SOROS-BACKED DA SLAMMED BY NEW GOP CHALLENGER OVER PROGRESSIVE ACTIVISM: ‘HE SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED’ Additionally, Casar sent a letter last week to the Justice Department criticizing practices within the Austin Police Department, highlighting the “need for systemic reforms to the Department’s policies and practices of excessive and lethal use of force, racial discrimination, and discrimination against people with mental health conditions.” News of the request for the security detail, which was confirmed by Fox News Digital, drew immediate criticism from Austin residents on social media, many suggesting the request was an example of hypocrisy. “So @GregCasar believes APD is a racist institution that requires DOJ oversight but then requests more APD patrols around his house,” Austin personal injury attorney Adam Loewy posted on X. “Interesting juxtaposition.” “Greg Casar is a fraud,” Travis County GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak posted on X. Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, told Fox News Digital he believes Casar should receive extra protection if there are officers available to do it and there is a credible threat but added the request is the “height of hypocrisy.” AUSTIN CRIME VICTIM’S MOTHER RIPS CITY COUNCIL ‘COWARDS’ FOR DEFUNDING POLICE, TURNING CITIZENS INTO ‘TARGETS’ “A week ago, he was calling the Austin Police Department a racist department that targeted Black and brown people, and this week he’s asking the exact same department to do enhanced patrols around his house,” Farris said.  “It doesn’t matter what political party they’re in. If they ask us for our help, we will give it to them,” Farris added. “The last thing we want is something happening to them. My issue with it and the issue that most of my members are going to have with it is the fact that this guy, you know, it’s the whole squad thing, right? It’s the whole, ‘We hate the cops, we hate the cops, we hate the cops. Oh, please, come help us now.’ He is the architect. He is the architect of defund the cops in Austin. He started this whole mess.” Casar’s office told Fox News Digital it does “not comment on active security matters related to the Congressman.” “Our office has not been in communication with the Austin Police Department on this matter because these issues are handled by the United States Sergeant at Arms, who then works with U.S. Capitol Police and local law enforcement agencies.” Casar’s office pointed to a statement from U.S. House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland that said, “The Sergeant at Arms takes the safety of Members of Congress very seriously. “We ask the public and law enforcement agencies to not comment on specific security measures or active cases because doing so exposes potential vulnerabilities.”  A spokesperson for the United States Capitol Police told Fox News Digital it “does not discuss any of the potential security measures that are available to all of the members of Congress” due to “safety reasons.” An Austin Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital it is “aware of the request made by Representative Greg Casar” and is “following the same protocol and assessment we would as with all requests.” “Our agency takes all public safety concerns seriously. Our priority is having a secure and safe community for everyone to feel protected while maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive information.”

Texas immigration law pushback marks latest tension between Biden administration and border states over crisis

Texas immigration law pushback marks latest tension between Biden administration and border states over crisis

The White House described a new immigration law in Texas allowing law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants as “extreme” Tuesday, igniting the latest tension between the Biden administration and states at the southern border over its handling of the migrant crisis. The new legislation, signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Monday, allows law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants, who would then face the choice to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges for illegal entry.  Migrants who don’t comply could face arrest again and more serious felony charges. A White House spokesperson derided the new law as “extreme” and argued it “will make communities in Texas less safe.”  TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT SIGNS BILL MAKING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION A STATE CRIME “Generally speaking, the federal government — not individual states — is charged with determining how and when to remove noncitizens for violating immigration laws,” the spokesperson said.  “This is certainly extreme as we see it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized Tuesday. “And it is incredibly unfortunate.” Gov. Abbott, however, said the law will “better protect Texans AND Americans from Biden’s open border policies. “ The tension between Texas and the administration was also on display Tuesday when a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the Biden administration from cutting razor wire set up by Texas earlier this year. The state had sued in October and had been rebuffed by a federal judge, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals barred the Biden administration from damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s [concertina wire] fence in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas” unless it is for a medical emergency. “[Attorney General Ken] Paxton and I will hold Biden and [DHS Secretary Aleandro] Mayorkas accountable for attacking Texas’ sovereign authority and their attempts to obstruct our border security efforts,” Abbott said in a statement. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT BLOCKS BIDEN ADMIN FROM REMOVING TEXAS’ RAZOR WIRE AT SOUTHERN BORDER  That legal battle is taking place alongside another legal battle between the Department of Justice and Texas over its deployment of buoys in the Rio Grande in Texas to stop migrants swimming across. Texas says the buoys are designed to save lives by preventing people from entering the river, but humanitarian groups and the DOJ argue the barrier poses a safety risk. “The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DOJ said in a letter to Abbott before the suit was filed. The same federal appeals court recently ruled Texas must remove 1,000 feet of the barrier, prompting Abbott to promise he will go to the Supreme Court if needed to get the barrier reinstalled. The White House has also criticized Abbott for his moves to bus migrants to “sanctuary” cities, including Chicago and New York City. Abbott has in turn accused the Biden administration of not doing its job to secure the southern border. On Tuesday, the White House attacked Abbott over what it says are “political stunts”  “We believe that Gov. Abbott’s policies and political stunts are not safe, not safe for Texas communities and our CBP, our law enforcement on the ground who are trying to do their work. It puts them in harm’s way, and they dehumanize and demonize immigrants. That’s what his political stunts do,” Jean-Pierre said. SOUTHERN BORDER HIT BY RECORD NUMBER OF MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS IN A SINGLE DAY AS THOUSANDS FLOOD INTO TEXAS But the administration has also taken heat in recent days from neighboring Arizona, where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has fumed at what she has said is a lack of action from the federal government. On Friday, after pushing President Biden to reassign the Arizona National Guard to the Lukeville port of entry, which had been besieged by a new migrant wave, she announced she was herself mobilizing the Guard. “Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” Hobbs said in a statement. “With this executive order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t. But we can’t stand alone. Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants and maintain a secure, orderly and humane border. “Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border.” The tension between the states and the federal government comes amid a new surge in migration at the border. Fox News reported this week that Monday saw a record high of migrant encounters at the southern border. Both the Tucson and Del Rio sectors had massive numbers in recent weeks. The Biden administration has said it needs funding and reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system. Lawmakers in Washington are attempting to hash out a deal for emergency supplemental funding. The White House is requesting an additional $14 billion for the border, including $1.4 billion to states and communities receiving migrants. But Republicans have said they want to see more limits on asylum and limits on the administration’s use of parole, which they see as drawing more migrants to the border. The administration has reportedly expressed openness to new expulsion authorities and additional detention, but lawmakers have said it is unlikely there will be a deal before the new year. Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.