Despite keeping him on the presidential ballot, a Colorado judge’s ruling could still prove “devastating” for former President Donald Trump, a former solicitor general has said.
Speaking with MSNBC host Jen Psaki on Sunday afternoon, former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said that a Colorado court finding that Trump engaged in insurrection against the government after the 2020 presidential election was “the very worst decision Trump could get.”
“There’s a factual finding that the judge said, which is that Trump committed insurrection,” Katyal said of District Judge Sarah B. Wallace’s ruling. “On appeals, the factual findings get massive deference by the appeals court. It’s almost impossible to overturn a trial judge’s factual finding.”
The judge stated that the president is not an “official of the United States” which is obviously flawed. So if/when that flawed decision gets overturned on appeal, he is then off the ballot since the facts have already shown he committed insurrection. It turns out that “factual” findings of a case almost never get overturned on appeal, while “legal” findings of the case often are. In essence, this judge put him in “check” and when the legal finding is overturned it will be checkmate.