Republican Warns Trump 'Walls Are Closing in' on Being Removed From Ballot

Republican presidential candidate John Anthony Castro warned former President Donald Trump that the "walls are closing in" after the judge overseeing a lawsuit to bar Trump from Colorado's 2024 presidential ballot issued a protective order in the case.

District Judge Sarah B. Wallace issued the protective order on Friday, prohibiting parties in the case from making threatening or intimidating statements.

"I 100 percent understand everybody's concerns for the parties, the lawyers, and frankly myself and my staff based on what we've seen in other cases," Wallace said.

The order was sought by lawyers for the liberal group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is seeking to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot based on a rarely used clause of the 14th Amendment barring anyone who swore an oath to the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection" against it from running for office.

The group argues that the 14th Amendment clause applies to Trump after his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol when a mob of his supporters stormed the building to halt the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination while facing 91 criminal charges across four indictments, including two connected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, arguing that he is the victim of political "persecution." He has not been charged with insurrection or rebellion in any case.

"The walls are closing in fast MF," Castro wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday alongside an article about the protective order.

Newsweek reached out to Castro's campaign via email for comment.

Asked for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said: "Who's that?"

Trump's lawyer, Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state, said the order that was issued was not specifically directed toward the former president.

"The judge made clear that the protective order applied to everyone equally, and was not directed at President Trump," Gessler said in a statement to Newsweek. "In fact, she specifically removed some proposed language to show that she did not direct the order towards President Trump or anyone else specifically. This is nothing more than the standard order issued in similar high profile cases."

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed around the country seeking to disqualify Trump from running in 2024 based on the 14th Amendment clause. However, the case in Colorado is the first filed by a group with significant legal resources.

Castro, a Trump donor turned critic, has filed challenges in several states contending the 14th Amendment barred Trump from that state's ballot.

One Florida lawsuit has already been dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020 and faced scrutiny over a ruling she issued in a separate case charging Trump with mishandling classified documents.

"The fact that all the Trump cases keep getting assigned to Judge Cannon cannot be a coincidence," Castro previously told Newsweek.

He added: "Realistically, I'm probably just going to be pigeonholed as the anti-Trump candidate, you know, the guy that's running to try to have him declared ineligible. But another thing I'm trying to do is I'm trying to steer the debate."

Wallace has set an October 30 hearing to discuss whether Trump needs to be removed under Colorado law prohibiting candidates who don't meet qualifications for higher office from appearing on ballots.

She said she wants to give the Colorado Supreme Court as much time as possible to review the decision before the state's January 5 deadline to set its 2024 presidential primary ballot.

The issue could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never ruled on the insurrection provision in section three of the 14th Amendment.