An effort by anti-Trump activists to knock former President Donald Trump off the Florida ballot in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot came up short.
Federal District Judge Robin Rosenberg, an Obama appointee, tossed their lawsuit ruling that the plaintiffs ― tax attorney Lawrence A. Caplan, Barry Butin, and Michael Strianese ― lacked standing.
“[The] Plaintiffs lack standing to challenge Defendant’s qualifications for seeking the Presidency, as the injuries alleged are not cognizable and not particular to them … Plaintiffs allege they will suffer injury if Defendant is allowed to run for President and prevail when he could be disqualified or removed from office … However, an individual citizen does not have standing to challenge whether another individual is qualified to hold public office,” Rosenberg wrote in her ruling.
Caplan has donated exclusively to Democrats, according to Open Secrets. Butin’s Facebook page establishes that he is a Democrat. Strianese is an animal-rights activist from Nevada.
Plaintiffs Claimed Injury If Trump is Allowed on the Ballot
Their initial petition claimed, “The bottom line here is that President Trump both engaged in an insurrection and also gave aid and comfort to other individuals who were engaging in such actions, within the clear meaning of those terms as defined in Section Three of the 14th Amendment.”
Caplan claimed that Jack Smith’s indictment makes it clear that Trump participated in an insurrection by trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election even though the words “insurrection” and “incitement” appear nowhere in the document.
Rosenberg invoked the 2008 Barack Obama birther controversy to note that a plaintiff, in that case, was tossed because they lacked standing. Similarly, a challenge to late Sen. John McCain’s place on the Republican primary ballot charging that his birth in the former Panama Canal Zone made him ineligible was tossed because the “court stated that ‘voters have no standing to complain about the participation of an ineligible candidate in an election.’”
“Further, at least two courts have concluded that citizens attempting to disqualify individuals from participating in elections or from holding office based on the January 6, 2021, events at the United States Capitol lacked standing,” Rosenberg wrote. “Plaintiffs in this case similarly lack standing and, thus, this Court lacks jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Court exercises its discretion under the Declaratory Judgment Act, along with its obligation to examine its own jurisdiction, to dismiss this case.”
Blogger: Fellow Candidates Could Sue to Kick Trump Off the Ballot
MSNBC blogger Jordan Rubin argues that another candidate in the GOP primary could sue to knock Trump off the ballot.
“My MSNBC colleague Hayes Brown observed, for example, that the relatively less MAGA-ish GOP presidential candidates Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson could (and should) file such a suit. Indeed, The New York Times reported this week on possible legal action from other Republicans ahead of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary,” Rubin wrote. “So just because this one suit from Florida was dismissed doesn’t mean Trump is eligible for office. It just means the right suit hasn’t reached the courts yet.”
Anti-Trump Effort Part of Billionaire Funded Campaign
A group called Free Speech for People sent letters to the secretaries of state across the country seeking to have Trump kicked off the ballot.
“Free Speech For People plans to challenge Trump’s eligibility for office in multiple states using state candidate eligibility challenge procedures. These procedures, which are well-known to election lawyers, specifically allow voters to challenge candidate eligibility. This ruling, based on the limited jurisdiction of the federal courts, has no impact whatsoever on Trump’s eligibility for office or Free Speech For People’s planned challenges under state candidate eligibility challenge processes that are designed for this purpose,” the group said.
The group receives funding from the Silicon Valley Foundation, which is funded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other left-of-center Silicon Valley billionaires. It also has received funding from the Tides Foundation, a group that funds Left-of-center groups and movements, and has significant financial backing from billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told MSNBC she has had talks with election officials in other states about Trump’s place on the ballot.
“We are talking with colleagues in similarly situated states … who will make a legally grounded decision, not a political one,” Benson said. “We recognize that the four of us will likely need to act in concert if we act at all. All those discussions are happening. We recognize the seriousness of this issue.”
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
From the Vault
Donald Trump May Have a New Problem: Melania Trump
Barack Obama Scolds Americans for Offering ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ During Maui Tragedy
Donald Trump Keeps Making ‘Chilling’ Threats That Could Land Him in Jail
