To the editor: Nothing in Mark Z. Barabak’s column addresses the question of whether Donald Trump has the right to run for president in 2024. Barabak focuses solely on political issues, which are irrelevant, and ignores legal ones, which are relevant (and controlling here). (“Does Newsom love Trump? Not at all. But he made the right decision on ballot access,” December 28)
The issue is not the choice of the voters; it’s about whether a candidate meets specific constitutional requirements to run for president. Candidates who do not meet constitutional eligibility requirements should not appear on the ballot.
Barabak attacks Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, who supports Trump’s disqualification, as if the basis of her thinking could only be attributed to political opportunism and not sound legal reasoning. And he conveniently ignores the rigorous legal analysis of conservatives, including former federal judge J. Michael Luttig and attorney George Conway, not to mention Laurence Tribe, an eminent constitutional scholar.
If someone wanted to run for president under the age of 35, which also does not meet the constitutional requirements, would Barabak say that candidate should be put on the ballot to let the voters decide? Of course not. So how can he and Gov. Gavin Newsom credibly argue that Trump should be on the ballot?
The proper democratic outcome is for Trump to be excluded from the election, because that is what the 14th Amendment requires of those who swore an oath to defend the Constitution but participated in an insurrection.
Todd Piccus, Venice
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To the editor: Former President Trump has not been convicted of insurrection. He hasn’t even been charged with insurrection. The House impeached him for his actions on January 6, 2021, but the Senate did not convict him.
However, in Maine there is a partisan Democratic official, the secretary of state, who acts as judge and party in deciding to remove the former president from that state’s ballot.
Democrats say Trump is a threat to democracy. However, it is okay to allow a partisan Democrat to limit the choices of hundreds of thousands of voters. Talking about rigging an election.
The country is approaching a breaking point, and there is only one way to stop this madness: a quick 9-0 decision by the United States Supreme Court deeming the actions of Colorado and Maine illegal.
William R. Fado, Pacific Palisades
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To the editor: There is a history of wrong decisions in holding Trump accountable for breaking the law.
First, Congress made the wrong decision by not impeaching him in early 2020 for attempted election interference, then it chickened out by not impeaching him for attempting to overturn the election in early 2021.
Keeping Trump on the ballot would be the wrong decision on Newsom’s part if there was even a slim chance that Trump could win California.
The judicial system cannot cower by leaving the can in the way or ignore their criminal acts saying: “So what? “He’s going to lose anyway.” All eight Colorado judges (including the trial judge) who heard the ballot disqualification case agreed that Trump is an insurrectionist; They just didn’t all agree on who could get him off the ballot. Now they receive death threats.
The courts must protect our voters and public servants by removing Trump from the ballot and convicting him when necessary.
Fiona Carroll, Mission Viejo
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To the editor: Congress could end all the controversy over Trump’s status to run for president simply by voting to make him eligible again. Only a two-thirds majority is needed.
June Thompson, Los Angeles
