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Donald Trump is facing a tough legal week, with three of his children having to take the stand in his New York fraud trial and two challenges to his inclusion on the ballot for the next presidential race.
Attorney and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote on Substack that this was only "the tip of the iceberg" of the legal problems brewing for the former president.
This week, a trial will begin in Denver, Colorado, to decide whether Trump should be banned from Colorado's presidential ballot in 2024 under the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists running for office. A similar case will also begin in Minnesota on Thursday.
Trump has not been charged with insurrection.
In the Colorado case, six Republican and unaffiliated voters are arguing that Trump is disqualified from serving as president again because of his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Pretrial motions by Trump to dismiss the case were defeated.
The case is based on section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states that US officials who take an oath to uphold the Constitution are disqualified from holding future office if they "engaged in insurrection" or have "given aid or comfort" to insurrectionists.
Vance said on her "Civil Discourse" Substack blog that the Denver court will have to consider whether the insurrectionist clause is still applicable.
"Section 3 does not contain any language limiting it in this way," Vance wrote.
It will also have to consider "whether the president is an 'officer of the United States' so that the law includes him in its ambit."
"The more difficult issue involves whether Trump must be criminally convicted, or at least charged with insurrection, to be disqualified under Section 3," she said, noting that a similar case will be heard by Minnesota's Supreme Court on Thursday.
"Both the Colorado and Minnesota cases were only filed in September of 2023 but ballots have to be approved far enough in advance for their printing to be complete in time for primary voting to begin. Both Colorado and Minnesota courts are moving quickly," Vance wrote.
Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump's attorney via email for comment.
Far more media attention is likely to be focused on New York, where Trump's children are expected to testify from Wednesday to Friday in the civil fraud case against the former president and the Trump Organization.
The lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses the former president and other defendants, including his companies and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, of fraudulently inflating the value of assets to obtain favorable loans and insurance deals.
Before the trial, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump and the other defendants were liable for fraud and that he would decide the monetary penalty at a later date.
As a consequence, Engoron canceled the business licenses that have enabled Trump to operate his companies in New York, but an appeals court has stayed that part of the judge's order.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the case.
This week, James plans to call Trump's sons and his daughter, Ivanka, to the witness stand. Donald Trump Jr. is expected to testify on Wednesday, Eric Trump on Thursday and Ivanka Trump on Friday.
All are expected to face tough examination by the New York Attorney General's office's lawyers on the inner workings of the Trump empire.
Trump himself is expected to take the stand the following Monday, November 6.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg," Vance wrote. "There are motions across the cases against Trump under consideration. The Manhattan district attorney's prosecution of Trump in connection with the payments to Stormy Daniels has been flying under the radar for a while, and there are issues brewing there. And still no word on a new trial-date setting in Fulton County, Georgia. So, expect more to come."
Trump is facing a trial in New York for alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, an alleged violation of campaign finance laws. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has also pleaded not guilty in Georgia to charges relating to his alleged tampering with the 2020 presidential election.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more