Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes Comments on the 14th Amendment and Donald Trump

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes

UPDATE 9/5/23: Secretary Fontes did an excellent interview with Brian Tailor Cohen in which he laid out the issues regarding disqualifications under the 14th Amendment very clearly and it’s worth a watch:

With the twice impeached, four time indicted, and found liable for sexual assault in New York former President Trump still running to reclaim the Oval Office in 2024, several Secretary of States across the country are discussing with their teams about whether there is a possibility of applying the Fourteenth Amendment to disqualify the 45th White House Occupant from state ballots next year.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is one of them.

Specifically, section three of the Fourteenth Amendment states:

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.”

The former Presidents behavior on and leading up to the Domestic Terrorist attack on the Nations Capitol January 6, per the indictments in both Washington D.C. and Atlanta, can certainly be interpreted as “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”

So potentially it can include disqualifying those Arizonans who colluded with January 6 organizers and the alternate Presidential elector scheme.

In an interview with NBC News, Secretary Fontes commented:

“We have to have a final certification of eligible candidates [for the primary ballot] by Dec. 14 for Arizona’s presidential preference election. And because this will ultimately end up in court, we are taking this very seriously. We need to run an election. We need to know who is eligible, and this is of incredible national interest. We aren’t taking a position one way or the other. If there are people who want to fight this out, they need to start swinging because I have an election to run.”

Later when asked to followup on the Secretary’s comments to NBC by Blog for Arizona, Fontes spokesperson Matt Grodsky said:

“The Secretary and his team will base their decision on established precedents and the insights of qualified experts. They are treating the matter with the utmost seriousness and seeking counsel from the appropriate individuals. There have not been any determinations.”

3 thoughts on “Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes Comments on the 14th Amendment and Donald Trump”

  1. John Government Checks Kavanagh said “there is no evidence linking Trump to taking part in insurrection or rebellion. Who says besides me? Special counsel Jack Smith says so also because he failed to charge Trump with either.”

    What did Al Capone go to prison for again?

    You claim to have been a New Jersey transit cop, but you don’t seem to know how the justice system works.

    Prosecuters pick and choose cases all day long, and then there are plea bargains….

    You can’t possibly be saying that since there was no charge, that is proof that there was no crime.

    Because that is some T4ump University level stupid.

    I worry about you, John Government Checks Kavanagh, you seem to be sundowning at an accelerated pace.

    Oh well, as long as we’re all here, let’s donate in honor of John Government Checks Kavanagh to RaicesTexasDotOrg!

    Great idea, Sharpie!

    RAICES provides free or low cost legal help to immigrants.

    Hooray!

    Public Notice – If you attended one of Professor Government Checks criminal justice classes and now realize, after reading his comments here, that he’s an idiot, and want a refund, call JGCK’s office and ask for your money back.

  2. Secretary of State Fontes was correct in not stating that he would keep Trump off the ballot because of the 14th Amendment’s insurrection and rebellion clause. However, besides the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling, it was a good call because there is no evidence linking Trump to taking part in insurrection or rebellion. Who says besides me? Special counsel Jack Smith says so also because he failed to charge Trump with either.

    To quote the N.Y. Times, “There was something noticeably absent when the special counsel, Jack Smith, unsealed an indictment this week charging former President Donald J. Trump with multiple conspiracies to overturn the 2020 election: any count that directly accused Mr. Trump of being responsible for the violence his supporters committed at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”

    The N.Y. Times reported this fact on January 3rd., so I am surprised you missed that salient point. Knowing that the special counsel has rejected the insurrection and rebellion charge, do you still stand by your 14th Amendment assertion? After all, Smith has been immersed in the evidence for a long time.

    Exactly how can you claim, “The former Presidents behavior on and leading up to the Domestic Terrorist attack on the Nations Capitol January 6, per the indictments in both Washington D.C. and Atlanta, can certainly be interpreted as “engaged in insurrection or rebellion?” The DC indictment did NOT charge insurrection or rebellion. In addition, there are NO insurrection or rebellion charges in Georgia either.

    Seems to me that keeping a candidate off the ballot without legal justification is VOTER SUPPRESSION and I know how liberals hate that.

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