Activists File legal Challenges in Michigan, Florida, to Disqualifiy Trump as Seditionist under 14th Amendment

( Florida Phoenix) – A Highland Park resident filing a legal challenge Monday aimed at disqualifying Donald Trump from the 2024 primary and general election ballots in Michigan, claiming the former president is ineligible to serve another term because he had engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the U.S.

Robert Davis, who has frequently filed lawsuits against public officials, is urging Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to declare that under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, Trump is prohibited from appearing on the ballot next year.

The 14th Amendment is a Civil War-era addition to the Constitution. Section 3 of the amendment prevents those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. from holding office.

Davis argues that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, his repeated attempts to overturn the election, and his continued financial support for people charged in the U.S. Capitol attack amount to engaging in an insurrection or rebellion.

“It is quite clear that not only did he engage in an insurrection, but he also aided and comforted those who either pled guilty or are currently charged in the insurrection, irrespective of his conduct on Jan. 6 and his attempt to overturn the election in Michigan and elsewhere,” Davis told the Metro Times.

In the challenge, Davis points out that Trump attended a fundraising dinner for Jan. 6 defendants at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club this month

“Trump’s financial support of those individuals criminally charged in the January 6, 2023, attack on the U.S. Capitol is further evidence of Trump’s ‘aid’ and ‘comfort’ of individuals who have been deemed ‘enemies’ of the United States,” Davis wrote.

Davis’s request is one of the first in the U.S. to challenge the legality of Trump’s 2024 campaign. Last week, a tax attorney in Palm Beach County filed a challenge in Florida, also arguing that the 14th Amendment prevents Trump from running.

Davis was the only citizen permitted to intervene in a federal case that sought to impose sanctions against a team of lawyers who tried to overturn the 2020 election in Michigan. The case was successful, leading to a judge slapping the pro-Trump lawyers with sanctions in August 2021.

This story was published earlier by the Michigan Advance, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which includes the Florida Phoenix.

A version of this story first ran in the Detroit Metro Times.