The U.S. Supreme Court will likely issue an order Friday afternoon to announce it has accepted hearing former President Donald Trump's appeal of a Colorado Supreme Court order keeping him off the ballot, and a ruling in favor of Trump will follow quickly after that, former New Jersey Superior Judge Andrew Napolitano predicted to Newsmax.
"It is on their calendar for a private discussion amongst the members of the court for this Friday," Napolitano told Wednesday's "Wake Up America." "My guess is that they will agree, probably unanimously, that they need to hear the case, so they will issue an order sometime Friday afternoon simply saying: 'We're accepting the case; here is the schedule; here's when the briefs are due; here's when the oral arguments will be.'"
But the justices "read newspapers like the rest of us" and now the primary elections are approaching quickly, Napolitano added.
"My guess is they take the case, and they will rule quickly," he said. "They are more likely than not to overrule Colorado."
That means the court will also be setting standards for the use of the clause in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment "which has been interpreted in wildly different ways," Napolitano said.
"It seems to say that if you once took an oath to support the Constitution and then supported an insurrection then you're no longer qualified to become an officer of the United States," Napolitano said. "It doesn't mention the presidency. It doesn't mention the standards of proof necessary."
Trump has also said he will appeal the decision by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to remove his name from that state's primary ballot, and Napolitano said he agreed she took action "without any meaningful due process."
"She had an investigator present her with what all of us know from the newspapers and from watching television that there are allegations against President Trump," he said. "Has he formally been charged with an insurrection participating in insurrection? No. Has he been charged with aiding and abetting an insurrection? No. Has he been convicted of any of these insurrection-related charges? Of course not, because he hasn't even been charged with it."
And as Bellows "set her own standards of evidence," that shows the Supreme Court must issue a ruling on what the 14th Amendment means, he said.
"By doing nothing, they would be affirming Colorado and unleashing the Supreme Courts in every blue state in the union to kick him off the ballot, using their own unique standards," Napolitano warned. "The Supreme Court has said many times the Constitution can't mean different things in different states. It governs the entire nation. It's got to mean the same thing all across the board.
"It's the fundamental duty of the Supreme Court to straighten this out."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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