Following the recent Supreme Court decision slapping down Colorado Secretary of State’s removal of Donald Trump from the Mile High State’s primary ballot, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold went on several media outlets, going full-metal “crazy ex-girlfriend” over the decision. On Monday, none other than Lauren Boebert (R-CO) entered stage right, to call for a recall of the Colorado official.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., led state party officials in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Jena Griswold Monday that accused her of attempting to “disenfranchise millions of Coloradans” and called the effort to bar Trump from the ballot “a stain on our Republic and an outright embarrassment.”
“With today’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to keep President Donald J. Trump on the Colorado primary ballot, it is now even more clear Coloradans should have zero faith in you to adequately protect their right to vote and oversee elections in the state of Colorado,” the letter states.
The GOP officials charge that Griswold made “a selfish political decision to rig the primary election” against Trump and declare that “all legal options” are on the table for payback, “including a formal recall effort.”
While it’s unlikely, given the state of Colorado politics today, that this will gain any traction, it’s nevertheless an effort worth making. One of the responsibilities of a Secretary of State is to act as an impartial, dispassionate manager of the state’s elections; Jena Griswold has shown herself to be utterly incapable of acting in any such capacity.
One need only look at her reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to see the truth of that. Her statements on an MSNBC interview, also on Monday, merit some unpacking.
On Monday, Griwsold said she was disappointed when the Supreme Court overturned her decision to bar Trump from the ballot in a unanimous ruling.
“My larger reaction is disappointment,” Griswold said on MSNBC. “I do believe that states should be able under our constitution to bar oath-breaking insurrectionists.”
“Ultimately, this decision leaves open the door for Congress to act to pass authorizing legislation, but we know that Congress is a nearly non-functioning body,” she added. “So ultimately, it will be up to the American voters to save our democracy in November.”
She states she was disappointed; that’s not completely unreasonable, although the one thing Jena Griswold should not be is surprised; this effort, removing Trump from a primary ballot as an “insurrectionist” was irrational and doomed to failure from the start; even the Court’s liberal troika saw the truth of that. But the second part of that sentence reveals her ignorance (or outright defiance) of the Constitution, the rule of law, and the presumption of innocence; she describes former President Trump as an “oath-breaking insurrectionist,” when he has neither broken his presidential oath nor been indicted for or convicted of insurrection under 18 U.S. Code § 2383.
One would think that a Secretary of State would be aware of the principle of presumption of innocence, and would understand that a candidate for President can’t be barred from a ballot without a conviction under 18 U.S. Code § 2383, Rebellion or insurrection.
In this matter, Jena Griswold has shown naked partisanship over adherence to the law and the Constitution. While a recall effort is unlikely to succeed, the fact remains that Jena Griswold is manifestly unfit for the office she holds, and the Colorado state government does the Colorado voters a grave disservice in leaving her in place.
