Statement from Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Colorado Republican Impeachment Resolution
Denver, April 4, 2024 - Secretary of State Jena Griswold has issued the following statement on the introduction of an impeachment resolution in the Colorado House of Representatives:
“The Colorado Republican Party continues to focus on conspiracies and political games. I will not be intimidated by this baseless proceeding. While Republican House Legislators waste taxpayer dollars to score cheap political points, I’ll be doing my job of ensuring every Colorado voter – Republican, Democratic, and Unaffiliated alike – can make their voices heard in free and fair elections.”
Background
On September 6, 2023, six Colorado Republican and Unaffiliated voters brought a lawsuit against Secretary Griswold and Donald Trump. The lawsuit, in which Secretary Griswold was a defendant in her capacity as Secretary, sought to bar Mr. Trump from the 2024 Colorado Presidential Primary ballot under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution for his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump was ineligible to appear on the Colorado 2024 Presidential Primary Ballot due to the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court simultaneously stayed that ruling, with that stay remaining in place in the event of an appeal.
As Mr. Trump and the Colorado Republican Party separately appealed the Colorado Supreme Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Trump was included as a candidate on Colorado’s 2024 Presidential Primary Ballot when Secretary Griswold certified the ballot on January 5, 2024.
On March 4, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states did not have the authority to bar federal candidates from the ballot under the provisions of the 14th Amendment without Congress first acting, thus making Mr. Trump an eligible candidate. Votes cast for Mr. Trump were counted in the March 5 Presidential Primary.
As a defendant in the case, Secretary Griswold stated throughout the proceedings that she would follow the order of the courts.
House Republicans’ resolution of impeachment is factually incorrect. Donald Trump has been found by three courts to have engaged in insurrection. He was on the Colorado Republican Presidential Primary ballot.
