Banks Testimony Cited in AP, Wash Post Articles on Colorado Lawsuit to Bar Trump From the Ballot

November 10, 2023

The Associated Press,The Washington Post

William C. Banks

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy & Law

Federal

Law

U.S. Elections

United States

The Associated Press

The Washington Post

William C. Banks

William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, is testifying as a witness for a group of Colorado voters who want to bar Trump from the ballot for allegedly violating his oath to uphold the Constitution in his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The group cites a rarely used clause in the 14th Amendment, adopted just after the Civil War, that prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” against the Constitution from holding higher office.

Banks says that once the attack on the Capitol began, Trump had options he did not use. “He should respond to his constitutional responsibilities to protect the security of the United States when there’s an assault on our democratic process,” he says of Trump.

Read more in the Associated Press article, “Expert says Trump could have defended Capitol on Jan. 6 as disqualification case enters new phase” and the Washington Post article, “Colorado judge weighs if Trump incited an insurrection, can run again.”