CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig criticized Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ determination to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot on Thursday, arguing that Bellows based totally her ruling on “YouTube clips, news stories” and other “issues that could by no means go the bar in standard court docket.”

After Maine change into the 2nd state to bar Trump from the ballot, CNN anchor John Berman asked Honig, “The 14th Amendment, Part three says in simple textual content that when you shall have engaged in revolt, you can’t be in workplace. She takes that to mean that if she determines that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection, he can’t be on the Maine major ballot. Is it that straightforward?”

Honig replied, “No, it’s now not that simple. So, obviously Section 3 of the 14th Modification says, ‘have Interaction in insurrection, you’re out.’ We all have that. The sophisticated phase, and the place we are going to see this play out in the courts, is who will get to make a decision and via what process.”

Honig delivered that it was once “vital to notice” that Bellows’ ruling “says she’s basically following the identical criminal reasoning because the Colorado Supreme Court did ultimate week, and he or she says in her ruling if this will get struck down in Colorado, we’re out of success too. So she’s basing it on the same prison argument.”

He persisted:

Let me type of lay out the arguments either side. And by the best way, it’s worth announcing, we’re all theorizing here. We’re in legally unknown territory. The argument towards is, to start with, the 14th Amendment Part 5 says Congress has the authority to move laws to put in force this. They did, they handed the criminal legislation, and the argument is that suggests Congress, no longer the states. But most likely, and that is the argument that the Maine secretary of state and Colorado made, the states can do it too. If that’s proper, then section 2– question two is, have been the techniques, were the hearings honest? Did they comport with due process?

And I think there’s a question there with reference to what Maine did, as a result of in case you look at the hearing, and he or she small print this within the ruling, they heard from one reality witness, a law professor. She based her ruling on a lot of documents, but additionally YouTube clips, news experiences, things that might by no means cross the bar in commonplace court docket. She’s now not a legal professional, by means of the way. It’s a neatly written decision, certainly consulted with lawyers, but this is an unelected– she’s chosen with the aid of the state legislature. Chosen, elected by using the legislature, but now not democratically elected.

Later within the segment, Honig said, “I do assume the Supreme Courtroom goes to take this case. I think tonight’s ruling makes it even more probably.”

Honig – who received into a heated argument with anti-Trump legal professional George Conway on Wednesday over the subject – anticipated that the Supreme Courtroom would not “get into whether he [Trump] engaged in rebellion,” and would as an alternative rule only in line with whether the states have the facility to bar Trump from the polland, if so, whether or not they followed due process.

Watch above by way of CNN.

The publish Elie Honig Criticizes Maine Trump Ballot Ban: ‘Based totally Ruling’ on ‘YouTube Clips’ and Different ‘Things That Would Never Pass the Bar in Customary Court’ first appeared on Mediaite.