UPDATES are in comments
tRUMP was an elected official to the office of the Presidency; the highest office in the land. Once tRUMP took office he was also officially the head of the military, the chief official in that capacity, able to order from his Oval office a nuclear strike if he deemed it necessary to save face or look powerful. I consider the US lucky that did not happen. I am sure in 10 more years we will find out he did order one and was talked out of it... in a spineless former white house official tell all... written under a pseudonym.
But hey, if he was not officially an officer in the military, how did his office give him that powerful rank of highest officer, Commander in Chief? He was also a public servant, but servant is not a class ranking that he would agree to so what was he then? He also did not need to be vetted because once elected unlike any other public servant and official in office in government, he was above that… as were his family and cronies.
tRUMP was also above rules, regulations, mores and ethics; had absolute right to do what he wanted with the Justice Department and pardon anyone he liked, any way he wished (Or who sufficiently paid for an early release and or expunged conviction) including himself; act with impunity and wave a magic wand mentally to declassify secrets.
And to complete the othering and bigotry we now also find he did not take an oath of office because he is not an officer. So who held this office? Article 2, Section 1: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the term of four years…” and “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”
Who was it then who took the Oath for a faithful execution of his Office or Affirmation: – “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” tRUMP also should have been removed from office via Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
How strange that an official in such high office would be considered NOT an officer… How freaking deplorable. This judge may think she is pretty clever ruling on the inciting an insurrection part of the Constitution, but feigning ignorance in the reading of the "officer" wording that is simple and not even remotely confusing... is ludicrous. Colorado secretary of state Jena Griswold should not be required to place tRUMP on the ballot…which this ruling orders her to do, as he incited an insurrection. She is spot on that this is dangerous precedence. He was the official office holder of the office of POTUS... and this ruling sucks, showing again that the "Law" is an ass.
UPDATE 3
This was a mind boggling read. After delaying the prosecutions after the American Civil War... the politically motivated prosecutors etlal decided it wasn't worth the possibilty of losing. They waited until the public anger dissipated... shrugged their shoulder and went home! Holy shit, that better not happen agin.
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/11/what-happened-when-the-us-failed-to-prosecute-an-ex-president
Marcie Wheeler stunned me with this...news to me.
Jan 6 insurrectionist tRUMP's campaign messaged Tarrio in an encrypted communication
It is always good to read there is more evidence of tRUMP's sedition... in cahoots with the Proud Boys.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/12/06/ratifying-sedition-the-proud-boys-404b-evidence/
UPDATE 2
Sigh.... the tRUMP team are now using the judges poor decision as their own, with the added message that he said he would "preserve, protect, and defend" and not that he would "support" the Constitution. The GOP who pretend they are defenders of the Constitution should be having hairy fits by now!
Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal on Wallace's decision that Trump can remain on the ballot. Oral arguments are scheduled to begin Dec. 6. https://apnews.com/article/trump-insurrection-14th-amendment-appeal-colorado-7436a07c9d0259bba9a13136c541cf2c
UPDATE 1
As you might have noticed, I used the term official, office and officer a LOT in the main post. So does the Constitution, as I also pointed out. The one I left out is the one that is now open to interpretation:
The Constitution Amdt14.S3.1.1 Disqualification Clause
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3: No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the 14th Amendment's bar on insurrectionists holding office may be applied to current/future political candidates! ( A MAGA judge originally rules in Cawthorn’s favour, but, the appeals court said their ruling only applied to confederates, not future member now…) https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/05/24/candidates-can-be-disqualified-for-being-insurrectionists-court-rules-in-madison-cawthorn-lawsuit/?sh=6246a5e812e8
The DOJ handbook on Federal OFFICE. Officers of the United States Within the Meaning of the Appointments Clause.
“The President himself is said to “hold [an] Office,” and the Constitution provides that “[t]he executive Power shall be vested in” that office. Id. art. II, § 1, cl. 1. The President cannot carry out the executive power alone, and so the Constitution further contemplates that executive power will be delegated to officers to help the President fulfill this duty.
In law, the definition of Officer or Official means a person who holds office, by election or appointment. https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/officer-or-official
Americans should be officially pissed off that the tRUMP appointed "officers" of the highest court - SCOTUS - who can't even police themselves to be non corruptable, will decide upon the "actual " interpretation...of officer.