Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Removing Donald Trump from the ballot is not a question of states’ rights or federal jurisdiction. To think so is to engage in what David Hackett Fisher’s Historians’ Fallacies would call “the fallacy of question framing,” or as the blunter Donald Rumsfeld would say, “You’re asking the wrong question”.  The question is one of authority, by what authority did Maine Secretary of State Sheena Bellows bar Donald Trump from the ballot?1 The answer: none. She had no authority for her action under either the federal or state constitutions.

To Bellows and removal supporters accusation equals guilt, or “I said he’s guilty therefore he is,” an idea repugnant to the Constitution, centuries of Common Law, and justice.  It is engaging argumentum ad ignorantium by insisting that the not proven insurrection charge is valid unless proven otherwise, a notion anathema to the American system. This is her position in spite of Trump being acquitted by the Senate.2 (Is not her action double jeopardy? We shall see.). Bellows is not a lawyer, nor does she evidence any legal education or constitutional familiarity.

By invoking the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, Bellows makes this foremost a federal issue. She contends that as the amendment says “engage in insurrection, not convict” she has the authority to ban Trump. Bellows conveniently ignores Article 1 of the amendment “…nor shall any State deprive any person…. within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” Like the Queen of Hearts, Bellows would cut the accused head off without trial.  In so doing she demonstrates her ignorance of the law, the Constitution, especially the 6th Amendment guaranty of a free and fair trail, and the basics of English composition. To those who wrote the amendment, as well as to the writers of the constitution, and generations of lawyers, accusations have to be proven through the legal process, in this case in the federal courts since she cites the 14th Amendment as her authority.  

Bellows’ fantasy also violates the Maine constitution:

Article I. Section 6. Rights of persons accused. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a right to be heard by the accused and counsel to the accused, or either, at the election of the accused;

To demand the nature and cause of the accusation, and have a copy thereof;

To be confronted by the witnesses against the accused;

To have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in favor of the accused;

To have a speedy, public and impartial trial, and, except in trials by martial law or impeachment, by a jury of the vicinity. The accused shall not be compelled to furnish or give evidence against himself or herself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, property or privileges, but by judgment of that person’s peers or the law of the land.

Article 1. Section 6-A. Discrimination against persons prohibited. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, 

Article 1. Section 7. No person to answer to certain crimes but on indictment; exceptions; juries. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment [applies to state officers]…. 

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The Maine Constitution, Article IV §8, reserves impeachment authority to that state’s House of Representatives, not the Secretary of State. 

There have been no legal proceedings against Trump by Maine and the only federal proceeding for insurrection was his impeachment trial where he was acquitted. Bellows’ decision is whole cloth, or more accurately hole cloth because the hole is big enough to drive a truck through. In endeavoring to remove Trump from state ballots, to hang him at any cost, his opponents will make him a martyr and could bring about what they fear, Donald Trump raising his right hand on January 20.

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1 Jonathan Turley, The Hill, Dec. 30, 2023, “Destroying democracy to save it: Maine shows the danger of zealots in our legal system”.  https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4381802-destroying-democracy-to-save-it-maine-shows-the-danger-of-zealots-in-our-legal-system/

2 For a detailed analysis of impeachment see Raoul Berger’s Impeachment, the Constitutional Problems, Harvard Univ. Press, 1973. For his analysis of the 14th Amendment see Government by Judiciary, The Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Harvard Univ. Press, 1977. 

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William Layer

Lt. Colonel Civil Affairs, USAR (ret) served twenty-six years in the regular and reserve components of the US Army. He was civil military liaison for the 260th Military Police, DC National Guard, State Public Affairs Officer, Commander of the Public Affairs unit and a counter-drug intelligence analyst. Transferring to the 352 Civil Affairs Command as monuments and archives officer, he became the Command Public Affairs Officer in Iraq as well as liaison to local Iraqi leaders and acting Secretary to the General Staff. He was instrumental in recovering photographic artifacts of the Iraqi Royal family while in Baghdad. He was wounded in action in an ambush in Feb. 2004 for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.
In his civilian career he worked primarily in Army Public Affairs and for the Air Force as historian to the presidential wing in the early Reagan administration and later for Air Force Legislative Liaison covering congressional hearings and assisting in preparing testimony for senior leaders.
His essays and reviews have appeared in the scholarly and popular press including Asian Affairs and the Washington Times. He is co-author, with Ali Wahab, of The Iraqi Royal Family, a Collection of Photographs Recovered from The Ruins of the Zuhur Palace, 2004.
A native New Yorker, he holds a BA with honors in history from Findlay College (Ohio) and an MA in history from The Ohio State University. He is a graduate of the US Army Command & General Staff College and was graduated with distinction US Naval War College with a MA in National Security and Strategic Studies.

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