Colorado attorney Jason Murray trolled as Brett Kavanaugh 'schools him' during Trump ballot hearing

WASHINGTON, DC: Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back against attorney Jason Murray, who is arguing against Donald Trump in the Colorado ballot case, regarding the state's removal of presidential candidate Donald Trump from the ballot under the "insurrection clause".

The Colorado Supreme Court, in December 2023, banned the Republican frontrunner's candidacy from the state's primary ballot, citing his inability to hold office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

The SCOTUS heard the oral arguments in the historic case on Thursday, February 8.

How did Brett Kavanaugh put Jason Murray on the spot about insurrection charges against Trump?

According to a video clip shared on X by media personality Collin Rugg from the oral arguments, the Trump-appointed Supreme Court justice posed questions about Colorado's claims of insurrection against the former president.

"Some of the rhetoric of your position seems to suggest, unless the states can do this, no one can prevent insurrectionists from holding federal office," Kavanaugh said.

"But obviously, Congress has enacted statutes, including one still in effect, Section 2383 of Title 18, which prohibits insurrection. It's a federal criminal statute. And if you're convicted of that, you are, it says, shall be disqualified from holding any office. And so there is a federal statute on the books, but President Trump has not been charged with that. So what are we to make of that?" the justice asked Murray.

Based on live reporting by CNN, Murray argued that the federal insurrection statute predates the 14th Amendment, implying a federal conviction isn't necessary to remove Trump from the ballot.

Trump's attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, argued that the Jan 6, 2021, events could not be labeled an insurrection. "This was a riot, it was not an insurrection," Mitchell said, according to CNN. "For an insurrection, there needs to be an organized concerted effort to overthrow the government of the United States through violence."

Following the landmark hearing, the majority of the Supreme Court justices indicated their inclination to rule against the Colorado SC decision and reinstate the former president on the ballot. In addition, Trump also expressed his confidence in the hearing, stating the oral argument was a "'very beautiful process."

Internet reacts to the oral argument between Brett Kavanaugh and Jason Murray

Netizens ridiculed Murray as Kavanaugh questioned the validity of Colorado's claims to keep Trump off the ballot despite him not being charged with insurrection.

One user remarked, "The Colorado attorney is getting schooled right now. He just claimed that Trump is a threat to Democracy and people need to be protected from him."

Another user said, "As an attorney, Murray should’ve known better than to introduce such a ridiculous statement suggesting 'Trump is an insurrectionist' Justice Kavanaugh’s single reply: utterly destroyed Murray’s statement."

"The justices are absolutely destroying this lawyer. This case doesn’t stand a chance and the lawyer is well aware of it," a third user added.

A fourth user added, "Finally! He boiled it down to the real substance. Murray got clobbered."

"Epic smackdown!!" one user wrote. Another response read, "He embarrassed himself."

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