Liz Cheney on whether Supreme Court will rule to disqualify Trump: "We have to be prepared" to defeat him at ballot box

Washington — Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming said Sunday that she believes former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from the ballot, saying his behavior related to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol "certainly" falls under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. 

"If you look at the select committee's work, we made a criminal referral with respect to the part of the 14th Amendment that talks about providing aid and comfort to an insurrection," Cheney, who served on the congressional Jan. 6 select committee, told "Face the Nation." "I certainly believe that Donald Trump's behavior rose to that level. I believe that he ought to be disqualified from holding office in the future." 

• Transcript: Former Rep. Liz Cheney on "Face the Nation," Jan. 7, 2024

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a high-stakes decision from Colorado's top court that barred Trump from the state's primary ballot, citing the Constitution's insurrection clause. The clause bars a person who has sworn an oath to the Constitution and engages in insurrection from holding public office. 

The Colorado Supreme Court, in a divided ruling, said Trump is disqualified from serving as president because of his actions related to the Capitol riot and thus cannot appear on the state's primary ballot. Trump appealed the decision. 

"We'll see what happens in the courts," Cheney said when asked whether she thinks the Supreme Court will ultimately disqualify Trump. "In the meantime, and in any case, we have to be prepared to ensure that we can defeat him at the ballot box, which ultimately I believe we'll be able to do." 

Another case that could also land at the Supreme Court is whether Trump has presidential immunity to charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. 

Trump has been charged with four federal counts related to the alleged attempt to overturn the results of the election and has pleaded not guilty. He argues the indictment should be thrown out because it arose from actions he took while in the White House. 

A federal appeals court is weighing whether to uphold a district court's ruling that Trump is not shielded from federal prosecution for alleged crimes committed while in office. 

Cheney said "there's no basis for an assertion that the president United States is completely immune from criminal prosecution for acts in office." 

"I suspect that's what the court will hold," she said. 

She also said that it's "very important" that Trump not be able to delay the trial because voters should be able to see the evidence before the elections. 

"I think it's really important for people as they're looking at all of this litigation to recognize what Donald Trump's trying to do," Cheney said. "He's trying to suppress the evidence. He's trying to delay his trial, because he doesn't want people to see the witnesses who will testify against him. … Trump knows that the witnesses in his trial are not his political opponents. He knows that they're going to be the people who are closest to him, the people that he appointed, and he doesn't want the American people to see that evidence before they vote. They have a right to see that evidence before that vote." 

In:
• Supreme Court of the United States
• Donald Trump
• Liz Cheney

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

Twitter