(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Republicans' Plot to Keep Joe Biden Off of the 2024 Ballot [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-31 While left- and right-wing media outlets alike seem to have aligned on the call to keep Donald Trump off of the ballot, the push to do so will open the door to disqualifying Joe Biden. Two members of the Federalist Society, a far-right legal think tank that boasts membership from six of the nine Supreme Court judges, recently published a report calling for Donald Trump to be disqualified from office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. I recently wrote an article outlining how that this report was a poison pill designed to neutralize Congress’s power to disqualify Trump and give state officials the power to decide who and who is not allowed on the ballot. Unfortunately, with the help of legal pundits like Lawrence Tribe, the left has swallowed it whole. Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment reads: “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.” There is absolutely no question that Donald Trump can and should be removed from the ballot using Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. What is in question is how that can be accomplished. Or more specifically, for the MAGA hatted lawyers at the Federalist Society, the question is: How can we coopt the call to disqualify Trump and weaponize it against the Democrats? The answer: we give state officials the power to disqualify any presidential candidate and we conjure up an argument to use that power against Joe Biden. Enter McCarthy’s call for impeachment hearings. The Republicans know that Biden will not be impeached in the Senate. Many speculate that the impeachment hearings will be designed to distract voters from Trumps multiple court battles. It’s even more likely that the impeachment hearings will be used to create a narrative that Joe Biden has violated Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment and that he should be disqualified from running for office. The current conversations surrounding Trump and disqualification are focused on his violation of the “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” portion of the clause. Biden, though, has not staged an insurrection or rebellion. That’s Trump’s territory. What Republicans are likely to argue, though, is that Biden violated the “given aid or comfort to the enemies” part. The Republican impeachment inquiry will center on their unsubstantiated claim that Joe Biden was involved in illegal activity involving Hunter Biden and foreign business elites. According to a report released by the House Committee on Oversight: “House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today released a third bank records memorandum detailing new information obtained in the Committee’s investigation into the Biden family’s influence peddling schemes. The memorandum outlines how the Bidens and their business associates received millions from oligarchs in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine during Joe Biden’s vice presidency. After Hunter Biden received millions of dollars in payments, then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with his son’s foreign associates in Washington, D.C. Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, recently testified that then-Vice President Joe Biden was “the brand” sold to enrich the Biden family and was used to send “signals” of access, power, and influence.” The Big Lie for 2024 is that Biden gave aid and comfort to our enemies. This lie will be used to create a call for state officials in red states and even counties to remove Biden from the ballot by using Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. Red territories will move to disqualify Biden. Blue territories will move to disqualify Trump. And the far right will succeed in achieving what they failed to achieve on January 6, 2020. They will stop Biden from taking power after the election. We cannot let our desire to disqualify Trump allow us to dismantle the electoral process as we know it. We have to approach disqualification strategically, and we have to ensure that the far right’s plan keep Joe Biden off of the ballot is not allowed to succeed. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190848/-The-Republicans-Plot-to-Keep-Joe-Biden-Off-of-the-2024-Ballot Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/