On Thursday, John Dean, former White House attorney for President Nixon, expressed his belief that the decision by Maine to exclude former President Trump from the primary ballot is robust and likely resistant to overturning. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, concluded that Trump’s involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots violated the 14th Amendment, justifying his exclusion.
In response to the Trump campaign’s criticism, branding the decision as “election interference,” Dean defended the process, emphasizing the presence of sufficient due process and asserting that the Trump team lost based on a straightforward interpretation of the 14th Amendment. Dean, in a CNN interview, stated, “Trump’s in trouble.”
The 14th Amendment prohibits individuals who have previously sworn to support the Constitution and “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. Both Bellows in Maine and a similar decision by the Colorado Supreme Court last week concluded that Trump’s actions met this definition.
Bellows argued that Trump exploited a false narrative of election fraud to incite his supporters on January 6, fully aware of the potential for violence and, at least initially, supportive of its use by not taking timely action to prevent it.
Despite the Trump campaign’s commitment to appeal the Maine ruling, Dean expressed skepticism about the Supreme Court overturning either decision. He highlighted the challenge of circumventing the straightforward language of the amendment, questioning how strict constructionists and originalists could interpret it differently. Dean concluded, “It looks so applicable. I don’t know what they can do with it other than take [Trump] off the ballot.”