COLORADO’S UNPRECEDENTED RULING
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot.
This unprecedented 4-3 decision makes Colorado the first and only state to disqualify Trump from appearing on a state primary ballot. Numerous attempts in other states to remove Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment have failed.
The 14th Amendment bars certain individuals from holding public office if they have engaged in an “insurrection.”
Trump has vowed to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. His campaign called it a partisan decision aimed at blocking his White House bid.
“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Trump’s legal spokesperson Alina Hubba said the ruling “attacks the very heart of this nation’s democracy. It will not stand, and we trust that the Supreme Court will reverse this unconstitutional order.”
The Colorado high court stayed its ruling until Jan. 4, 2024, pending a likely review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
If the Supreme Court agrees to review the issue by Jan. 4, the Colorado Secretary of State will be required to continue to include Trump on the primary ballot. Otherwise, he will be removed from the primary ballot.
The decision reverses a lower court ruling that held that Trump was eligible to appear on the ballot because while he did “engage” in an “insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not apply to presidents.
But the Colorado Supreme Court was unpersuaded by both the lower court and Trump’s arguments that Section 3 did not apply to presidents.
The majority opinion acknowledged the gravity of the ruling.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. 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,” the order reads.
“We are also cognizant that we travel in uncharted territory, and that this case presents several issues of first impression.”
Trump allies were swift to defend the former president, decrying the decision as “election interference.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) led the charge, characterizing the ruling as a “thinly veiled partisan attack” and expressing confidence the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn the decision.
“Regardless of political affiliation, every citizen registered to vote should not be denied the right to support our former president and the individual who is the leader in every poll of the Republican primary,” Johnson said on X.
House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) echoed sentiments that the ruling was “unprecedented” and constituted “illegal election interference against President Trump” that will ultimately help his campaign.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) wrote on X: “Apparently democracy is when judges tell people they’re not allowed to vote for the candidate leading in the polls? This is disgraceful.”
In protest against the ruling, GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy pledged to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is allowed to be reinstated.
He urged Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Chris Christie to do the same “or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country.”
—Catherine Yang and Caden Pearson
SALE OF US STEEL FACES OPPOSITION
A growing number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have come out against the $14.9 billion acquisition of 122-year-old United States Steel Corporation by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) pledged to prevent the Japanese steelmaker from purchasing U.S. Steel, calling it “absolutely outrageous” because the material is about the country’s national and economic security.”
“I’m gonna do everything I can to block it,” Fetterman said on X. “It’s absolutely outrageous that U.S. Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company. Steel is always about security—both our national security and the economic security of our steel communities. I am committed to doing anything I can do, using my platform and my position, to block this foreign sale.”
In a video recorded from the roof of his home across from the steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, Fetterman vowed not to allow the Steelworkers to “be screwed over or left behind.” He vowed to collaborate with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) “to fight like hell to make this right.”
Fetterman told The Epoch Times that the company did not inform the union or himself before making the deal public and he interprets that lack of communication to mean the company is willing to burn bridges, and that company executives likely have golden parachutes waiting upon their exits.
Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Epoch Times he agrees with Fetterman. “I think we need to give it a very thorough look and intense scrutiny, as a potential threat to our national security,” Blumenthal said.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) joined the chorus of lawmakers voicing their opposition to the U.S. Steel acquisition, noting that he “warned of this outcome months ago.”
“Today, a critical piece of America’s defense industrial base was auctioned off to foreigners for cash,” Vance said in a statement.
Vance told The Epoch Times that does not make a lot of sense to sell one of America’s largest steel producers to a Japanese conglomerate at a time when we are reshoring America’s industrial supply chains.
In a Dec. 19 letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is also the chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that reviews foreign purchases for national security risks, Vance and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) expressed their concerns about the deal, calling it “a turning point for an icon of American industry.” They warned that it presents “dire implications” for the nation’s industrial base.
The letter also emphasized national security concerns, arguing that domestic steel production and preserving the U.S. steel sector are “vital” to the country’s national security.
In August, Cleveland-Cliffs proposed a cash-and-share bid, valuing U.S. Steel at $7.25 billion, a 43 percent premium at the time. The century-old giant rejected the offer as “unreasonable.”
The sale is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2024, pending approval by U.S. Steel’s shareholders, receipt of regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions, the company said in a statement.
But the transaction could be delayed by a regulatory review, which was suggested during the daily White House press briefing after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the sale.
“Given this could potentially be a regulatory review, I’m not going to speak to any specifics of this transaction, and will be very careful. But what I can do is speak about it more broadly,” Jean-Pierre said. “Steel workers’ commitment to protecting American manufacturing that supports family-sustaining union jobs, it’s something that the President supports.”
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) says he is concerned about the deal.
“The steel industry is an all-American industry and critical for American manufacturing,” Mr. Peters told The Epoch Times. “Just on the face of it, clearly, it’s not a positive.”
—Andrew Moran, Beth Brelje, and Joseph Lord
PROTECTING RED SEA SHIPPING
The Biden administration is kicking off a multinational security operation to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The move follows a series of attacks on vessels by Iran-backed Houthi militants since the Israel-Hamas War began on Oct. 3.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin unveiled the initiative, named Operation Prosperity Guardian, saying that the move would prove vital to preventing an international shipping crisis.
“The Red Sea is a critical waterway that has been essential to freedom of navigation and a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade,” Austin said.
“The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners, and violates international law.”
Austin said that Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, Bahrain, the Seychelles, and Spain will join the United States, and that several other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation in various capacities.
About 12 percent of the world’s trade passes through the Red Sea before going through Egypt’s Suez Canal. Several major shipping companies in recent days have diverted operations from the region, opting instead to take the lengthier route around Africa.
Austin added that the situation in the region is an “international challenge that demands collective action immediately.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- President Joe Biden discusses his economic agenda in Milwaukee.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds a rally in Phoenix. The democrat, now running as an independent, has hinted he is close to naming a running mate.
- The Senate will vote on a short-term FAA reauthorization before leaving for its holiday recess.
BOOKMARKS
A federal judge has ruled that many names linked to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public in the future. The identities of 156 people, including Epstein’s associates, will be unredacted from court documents in a matter of weeks. The Epoch Times’ Zachary Stieber has more.
CNN details an underreported development: Greyhound bus terminals are being sold off to real estate developers, accelerating the decline of intercity bus service.
U.S. Right to Know has broken a major story bearing on the U.S. government’s alleged role in the murky origins of COVID-19. New documents publicized by the organization show that American researchers kept the Pentagon from knowing they intended to carry out some high-risk research in Wuhan, China.
The Epoch Times’ Matthew Lysiak reveals that more and more Republican candidates for office are vowing to oppose the continued sale of COVID-19 vaccines and to forgo donations from Big Pharma.
Special counsel Jack Smith has attempted to time Trump’s 2020 election interference trial for March 4, the day before “Super Tuesday.” Yet, as The Epoch Times’ Petr Svab explains, many legal experts believe it will probably be delayed.
And CBS reports that a group of House Democrats are calling on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any 2020 election interference trial that reaches the high court. The anti-Thomas brigade is led by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), a lawmaker who may be best known for speculating that overpopulation could cause the island of Guam to “capsize.”
—Nathan Worcester
