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Norma Anderson remembers herself in front of the TV on January 6, 2021, crying as she watched a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters storm the Capitol. She says she wondered why the then-president hadn't called in the National Guard.
"I have so many years on my shoulders to remember the period of the great depression (the severe economic situation of the 1920s), the Second World War, two other wars, times of crisis or good, as well as many presidents. But I've never seen anything like what happened on January 6," says the 91-year-old who has voted for Republicans in Colorado all her life. "I realized who the culprit was right away."
Today, Ms. Anderson, the first woman to serve as majority leader of both houses of the Colorado legislature, is leading a lawsuit to remove Mr. Trump from the ballot in the state's GOP primary, relying on a constitutional provision of the 19th century, for involvement in the uprising.
Mr. Trump has appealed the decision, which is expected to be reviewed on February 8 in the US Supreme Court. Former President Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican Party nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 US presidential election. Polls by the Reuters news agency and the Ipsos company point to a possible Trump-Biden rematch.
Three other Republicans and two independents have joined Ms. Anderson in suing to disqualify Mr. Trump from the race. Mario Nicolais, a conservative attorney from suburban Denver, said the plaintiffs "were so disappointed by what happened on January 6th and what Donald Trump did that day that they said ... our country is more important and our Constitution is more important. Whoever did this cannot be allowed to run again."
The lawsuit, filed in September, is accompanied by photos of people storming the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the election results declaring Mr. Biden the winner. It details the former president's actions before, during and after the violent attack.
"President Trump was the leader of the mob and the mob was his weapon," the lawsuit states.
A return of former President Trump would mark the end of democracy, Ms. Anderson said in an interview, adding: “He wants to be king. He wants to be like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, to have complete control."
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in December, declaring Mr. Trump ineligible for the office of President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which bars anyone who "engages in sedition" from holding public office.
The case raises important questions for the Supreme Court, where the majority of justices are conservatives, three of whom were appointed by Mr. Trump. Among them are the questions: Is the section of the Constitution dealing with disqualification enforceable on its own or does it require congressional action? Does the provision apply in the case of the president?
Colorado's decision marked the first time that provision of the Constitution—section 3 of the 14th Amendment—was used to declare a presidential candidate ineligible. The provision disqualifies any "officer of the United States" who, having taken an oath to support the Constitution, afterwards engages in insurrection or rebellion against it, or assists those who have acted against the spirit of the Constitution."
Lawyers for Mr. Trump, who faces criminal charges in two separate cases involving his efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, have argued that Jan. 6 was not an uprising and that Mr. Trump was not a participant.
The Colorado lawsuit was brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group that in 2022 successfully sued to disqualify a New Mexico county official who participated in the attack under the 14th Amendment. in the Capitol. This organization is not paying the lawyers to sue Mr. Trump. They are working for free, Mr. Nicolais said.
Encouragement from the conservative side
It is significant that the lawsuit was brought by conservatives, such as these plaintiffs, Mr. Nicolais said.
Besides the fact that Democratic voters can't vote in Colorado's March 5 Republican primary, Mr. Nicolais said, if the lawsuit had been filed by Democrats, "then it could just be thrown out because it would be seen as a political thing and we didn't want that."
However, Mr. Trump and his allies have portrayed the lawsuit as partisan.
Former President Trump's spokesman, Steven Cheung, called the organization a group with ties to the Democratic Party.
"The Colorado lawsuit, and others like it, are part of a well-funded and coordinated effort by the Democratic Party to interfere in the election," Mr. Cheung said in a statement.
The other plaintiff, Krista Kafer, a conservative columnist in Denver who has spent decades involved in Republican politics, said she voted for Mr. Trump in 2020. Although she saw him personally as deserving of contempt, she was agreed with most of his policies during his four years as president and especially with the federal judges he appointed.
That all changed when Mr. Trump refused to concede defeat to Mr. Biden, making false claims of widespread vote fraud.
“Not only did he refuse to concede defeat,” Ms. Kafer said, “he then created a whole bunch of conspiracy theories full of lies and innuendo that put election workers at risk and then put Congress and members of Congress, their staff and the police in danger".
Ms. Kafer said she has thought about what might happen if legal efforts fail and Mr. Trump is elected in November.
"I worry not only for my safety, but also for the other plaintiffs," said Ms. Kafer. "Not from Trump personally. I don't think he'll show up at my door. But I have no doubt that there is a desire for revenge."
Given the high stakes, Ms. Kafer said she begged whether she should join the lawsuit.
"I didn't get an answer from above," she said, "but I felt a sense of calm that I was doing the right thing." And since then I have felt calm"./VOA
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