Allowing Trump on Ballot Is 'Devaluing' Constitution: Watergate Prosecutor

Amid efforts from some states to remove Donald Trump from their 2024 ballot, former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks said on Saturday that allowing the former president to remain on them is "devaluing" the U.S. Constitution.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, faces legal challenges that seek to remove him from the ballot in several states, with two having already barred his name from primary voters' consideration. The lawsuits argue that Trump is ineligible to run under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars officials who have sworn an oath to the Constitution from holding office if they engaged in insurrection.

On Thursday, Maine became the second state to remove the former president from its 2024 ballot, preventing him from participating in its primary in March. Last week, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump should be barred from the state's ballot because of his alleged role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump is facing federal charges in connection to his alleged actions leading up to the riot, which followed after he addressed his supporters that day during a rally on Capitol Hill.

Trump has maintained his innocence and said that he did not engage in an insurrection, accusing those filing lawsuits against him of attempting election interference. The Colorado Republican Party has also filed an appeal against the decision, which will bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump via email for comment.

During a Saturday interview appearance on MSNBC's Velshi, Wine-Banks, a legal analyst for the network, was asked by fill-in host Charles Coleman Jr. if failing to remove Trump from the ballot "devalues" the Constitution.

"Maine has a very different law than Colorado. Colorado has a law that allows a citizen, a voter, to bring a challenge and to take it to court. The court then had a hearing, had a trial in which they had evidence on whether or not there was an insurrection on whether or not the former president had engaged in that insurrection, and concluded that he had," Wine-Banks said. "And under the clear language of the 14th Amendment, if we don't enforce that amendment we are devaluing the entire Constitution and raising a serious risk."

Wine-Banks added that if states continue challenging Trump, the GOP could be stuck with a candidate who would be barred from taking office if he should win in November.

"I just see this as a very clear case of fact and law, coming together, with no possible conclusion other than that he is not eligible to be on the ballot and he is not eligible to hold office," she said. "So you might say he could be on the primary ballot because it's up to the states and the state political parties. But why put someone on the ballot who then could not be inaugurated because he can't hold office?"

Wine-Banks continued: "That would be much worse to me, than taking him off the ballot, so that the people can choose from people who are qualified."

Wine-Banks served on the staff of special prosecutor Leon Jaworski during his time heading up the investigation into Watergate, the scandal which saw revelations about spying on Democratic opposition, ultimately end Richard Nixon's presidency in the early 1970s. Later, she was appointed general counsel for the U.S. Army by former President Jimmy Carter, serving from 1977 to 1980.