Decision to remove Donald Trump from Colorado ballot won't stand, former White House lawyer predicts

WASHINGTON — Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot.

At the heart of the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday is a provision in the 14th Amendment. The amendment bars certain officials who have engaged in an insurrection from holding office.

The Colorado court based its decision on Trump’s actions surrounding the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It marks the first time a court has embraced a theory that the former president disqualified himself from a second term by attempting to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump is expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Cobb, a former Trump ally who has been critical of the former president in recent months, said he expects the high court to rule in favor of the 2024 Republican frontrunner. .

“I am not happy about it and previously advocated that Trump be disqualified,” Cobb told USA TODAY on Tuesday.

Cobb pointed the language of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the Civil War. The provision at issue was intended to prohibit former confederate officials from regaining power in the reconstructed United States.

One of the key questions in the case Trump faces is whether the term "officer of the United States" included in the amendment covers presidents. Cobb argued that it does not.

“The law is really clear, despite what I once believed, that Trump is not an ‘officer’ as used in that article,” Cobb said. 

The Colorado court on Tuesday interpreted the clause differently, but as 2024 approaches it's not clear whether the U.S. Supreme Court would agree with the Centennial State court's finding.

Contributing: John Fritze, USA TODAY