North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn's lawyer argued Tuesday in court that the Republican lawmaker cannot be pushed from the November ballot for saying former President Donald Trump's supporters should 'fight' in advance of the January 6 Capitol attack.
Lawyer James Bopp Jr., who is also representing Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in a similar lawsuit, told a panel of three judges in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, that the Constitution leaves the decision on whether someone is disqualified to serve in the U.S. Congress to members of that body, not the states.
Bopp said Cawthorn 'vigorous[ly] denies that he ever engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, the country he loves.'
North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn's lawyer argued Tuesday in court that the Republican lawmaker cannot be pushed from the November ballot for saying former President Donald Trump's supporters should 'fight' in advance of the January 6 Capitol attack
A lawsuit filed against Cawthorn by North Carolina voters suggests he should not be eligible to run for Congress over his participation in the pro-Trump rally in the run-up to the January 6 Capitol attack
'But this is not about the facts. This is about the law. This is about whether there are valid claims that are being made under Section 3 against him,' Bopp said.
That means a candidate's ultimate seating doesn't get settled until when each two-year session begins in January, Bopp said.
In the meantime, Bopp suggested, elections will work out potential conflict.
'In a democracy ... where we have the right to vote and we have the First Amendment, we leave a lot of things to the voters,' Bopp said.
But Press Millen, a Raleigh attorney representing voters who filed formal challenges of Cawthorn, countered by saying the Constitution makes clear that insurrectionists can't be members of Congress, just like teenagers or citizens of other countries.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday questioned whether a lower court got it right when it blocked a challenge of Cawthorn's candidacy by voters who cited that section of the Constitution addressing insurrection in an attempt to disqualify him.
The judges heard arguments in a lawsuit that the first-term Republican congressman filed to derail the formal challenge sent to the State Board of Elections from going forward.
U.S. District Judge Richard Myers ruled for Cawthorn in March and prevented the board from formally examining whether he should remain on ballots, and the voters appealed.
Cawthorn is one of eight candidates on the May 17 primary ballot for the 11th Congressional District.
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