Former DOJ spokesperson Sarah Isgur wrecked the thematic premise of today’s edition of ABC News This Week by telling George Stephanopoulos, much to his dismay, that the plain language of the 14th Amendment establishes Congress as the final enforcer of its insurrection disqualification clause.
Watch as Isgur calmly but surgically dismantles the idea that the Supreme Court will uphold an individual patchwork of state disqualifications based on 14th Amendment, Section 3 grounds:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Sarah, what’s your guess on what the Court does here?
SARAH ISGUR: I think you'll have the Supreme Court hold that he is not disqualified from being on the ballot. They'll overturn the Colorado Supreme Court.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The question is: how will they do it, though?
ISGUR: Correct. I think they'll say that, in fact, the 14th Amendment makes clear it's up to Congress. If Congress can requalify someone by a two-thirds vote, there's no timeline on that. Which means that, you know, as one of the amicus briefs has pointed out, it's really supposed to be post-elections about holding office, not running for office. And so I think they'll say it's really Congress' job. The states can't make up their own standard. Is it beyond a reasonable doubt? Is it more likely than not? Et cetera. What’s interesting to me will be whether or not the Supreme Court goes out of their way in order to get those three Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson votes, in saying, “yes, it was an insurrection and yes, he engaged in it, but it's up to Congress”.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I don't see how they can do that, Donna Brazile. If you say he engaged in insurrection, was the question I asked Nancy Pelosi, I don't see how you can escape the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment and say he's qualified to run for office.
DONNA BRAZILE: I totally agree with you, George, but I don't have a lot of faith in the Supreme Court as it is now constituted. And as you know with my experience with Bush v. Gore, I’m not going to sit up at night and start whining. Here's what I do know. Brett Kavanaugh and the Republican justices do not owe Donald Trump one thing. This notion that somehow or another he’s going to be treated unfairly? No. He should be subjected to the same laws, the same consequences, the same accountability as every other American. No one is above the law.
“It’s up to Congress” is the briefest of summations of Section 5 of the 14th Amendment, which reads, “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” And it is this brief summation which compels Stephanopoulos to huff, as he turns to former DNC Chair Donna Brazille, “I don’t see how they can do that”. “I don’t see how they can escape the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment”, Stephanopoulos goes on to say, as Isgur literally explained the plain language of the 14th Amendment. Congress is the decider.
Brazile then goes on to collaborate with the ongoing campaign to intimidate the justices of the Supreme Court, by saying that none of the GOP-appointed justices owe Trump anything. The singling out of Justice Brett Kavanaugh is creepily reminiscent of the campaign to sway him to support Roe in 2022. You’ll recall that this resulted in a gun-and-knife-and-rope-wielding madman making it all the way to Kavanaugh’s residence from California before miraculously calling 911 on himself.
The panel portion on the judicial disqualification of Donald Trump was constructed as a capper to Insurrection Week, but blew up in Stephanopoulos’ face.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on ABC News This Week With George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, January 7th, 2024:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Susan Page, so much of this election is now in the hands of the Supreme Court.
SUSAN PAGE: Yeah. That's- it’s as though that’s where the campaign is really being waged. That will determine if Trump is on the ballot in a bunch of states, not just the two states that have tried to push him off the ballot, whether he will face a trial in the spring for his actions on January 6th. So you think about Nikki Haley, and you think about the millions of dollars that have been spent and all the campaigning these candidates are doing. The action in the Supreme Court will be more crucial in determining who wins.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Julie, especially on the issue- we'll see what they end up doing on the 14th Amendment, my guess is that they want to find a way not to decide that issue, but probably even more crucial, will they rule in a way that allows the January 6th trial to go forward before the election?
JULIE PACE: It's a fascinating question and, when you take these two together, right? The question about the January 6th trial, and the 14th Amendment, you find the Supreme Court exactly where John Roberts does not want them to be. Right in the middle of politics. He has tried, desperately over the years, to remove the Court from politics- pretty unsuccessfully. And now they find themselves having to make two decisions that will really determine the future of this campaign.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Sarah, what’s your guess on what the Court does here?
SARAH ISGUR: I think you'll have the Supreme Court hold that he is not disqualified from being on the ballot. They'll overturn the Colorado Supreme Court.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The question is: how will they do it, though?
ISGUR: Correct. I think they'll say that, in fact, the 14th Amendment makes clear it's up to Congress. If Congress can requalify someone by a two-thirds vote, there's no timeline on that. Which means that, you know, as one of the amicus briefs has pointed out, it's really supposed to be post-elections about holding office, not running for office. And so I think they'll say it's really Congress' job. The states can't make up their own standard. Is it beyond a reasonable doubt? Is it more likely than not? Et cetera. What’s interesting to me will be whether or not the Supreme Court goes out of their way in order to get those three Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson votes, in saying, “yes, it was an insurrection and yes, he engaged in it, but it's up to Congress”.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I don't see how they can do that, Donna Brazile. If you say he engaged in insurrection, was the question I asked Nancy Pelosi, I don't see how you can escape the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment and say he's qualified to run for office.
DONNA BRAZILE: I totally agree with you, George, but I don't have a lot of faith in the Supreme Court as it is now constituted. And as you know with my experience with Bush v. Gore, I’m not going to sit up at night and start whining. Here's what I do know. Brett Kavanaugh and the Republican justices do not owe Donald Trump one thing. This notion that somehow or another he’s going to be treated unfairly? No. He should be subjected to the same laws, the same consequences, the same accountability as every other American. No one is above the law.
STEPHANOPOULOS: No way for John Roberts to get his wish here, is there?
PAGE: Bush v. Gore, as painful as that experience was for you, Donna Brazile, Americans generally accepted that ruling by the Supreme Court.
BRAZILE: Thanks to Al Gore who helped.
PAGE: Will that happen with the Supreme Court rulings? Will Americans accept the Supreme Court rulings as legitimate and move on, or will we see the kind of unrest that we don't want to see again?
ISGUR: This is where you're going to see John Roberts at his chiefiest, if you will, which is he's going to want this to be 9-0. You may not even see a signed opinion. This could be what we call a per curiam. Unsigned. No noted dissents, we won’t know what the vote was. He's going to work very hard for exactly that reason, to protect the institution of the Court.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Only one of many decisions they’re going to have to make. Thank you all for your time this morning. We'll be right back.
