Former Trump-era Attorney General Bill Barr described the “practical consequences” of former President Donald Trump’s ballot ouster as “chaos” during an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Barr said he disagrees with the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot in the state. He said the five-day hearing between the seven justices lacked due process and warned the consequences of this ruling would be “chaos” for future elections.
Barr disputed a piece written for The Atlantic titled, “The Colorado Supreme Court Just Gave Republicans a Chance to Save Themselves” by David Frum, who wrote the Colorado court “granted” the Republican primary candidates “a clear path to the nomination.” Barr argued the court is obligated to adhere to the rule of law and follow a set of standards.
“The practical consequences — put principles aside — the practical consequences of this ruling would be chaos, where you have, essentially there’s no standard, as you pointed out. It’s sort of mushy. Exactly what is an insurrection? What does engagement mean?” Barr said. “Now, every state is gonna make their own rules on this. Set up their own procedures, you know. Is the proof gonna be beyond a reasonable doubt? Ponderance of the evidence, clear and convincing, substantial evidence? Everyone does a different thing and knocks certain national candidates off ballots? It would be chaos.”
The former attorney general, who resigned from the Trump administration following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, said Special Counsel Jack Smith had not charged the former president with inciting an insurrection. Smith has indicted Trump with three charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. (RELATED: Turley Gives Single Reason All 9 SCOTUS Justices Should Cut Down Trump Ballot Ruling Without Any Dissenters)
Barr said he has not seen evidence to reasonably accuse Trump of inciting an insurrection.
Republican candidates challenging Trump in the primary have defended the former president against the state justices’ ruling.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called it “un-American,” and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
The Left invokes “democracy” to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse. https://t.co/D4pCzZ7FhY
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 20, 2023
The four justices who ruled in favor of the decision have all donated to Democratic candidates in the past. Chief Justice Brian Boatright dissented, arguing the state law “was not enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection.”