A Maine Republican has filed notice of his intent to impeach their secretary of state, accusing her of overstepping her authority by removing Donald Trump from the state ballot and arguing that, by her rationale, Joe Biden should also be removed.
John Andrews, was elected in 2018 to the Maine House of Representatives, said on Friday he filed a request with the Maine Revisor’s Office, saying he wanted ‘to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason’s Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.’
Bellows on Thursday announced that Trump was disqualified from their state primaries for violating Section Three of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits anyone who has engaged in insurrection from holding office.
Her ruling made Maine the second state to strike Trump from the ballot, after Colorado’s Supreme Court on December 19 came to the same conclusion. Colorado’s ruling was temporarily reversed on Thursday when the Republican party filed an appeal, and the decision in both Maine and Colorado is expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court – something which Bellows said she welcomes.
Andrews said he wants to impeach Bellows ‘on the grounds that she is barring an American citizen and 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Party ballot in March.’
John Andrews, a Republican serving in Maine’s House of Representatives, on Friday filed a request to impeach the secretary of state, Shenna Bellows
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Bellows on Thursday announced that Donald Trump was not eligible to appear on their state’s ballot
Bellows argued that, under Maine law, Trump did not have to be convicted to be disqualified – merely to have engaged in insurrection. She has been receiving death threats as a consequence of her decision.
Trump’s campaign has denounced the decision and called Bellows a ‘virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat.’
Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesman, said: ‘We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter.
‘Make no mistake, these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy.’
Andrews on Friday morning told Fox News that he felt, under her rationale, Joe Biden could also be removed from the vote.
‘Under Shenna Bellows’ new standard you could argue that President Biden be barred due to section three – the giving of aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,’ he said.
‘I would argue that releasing billions to Iran and selling our strategic oil reserves to Chinese interests could qualify as that, if no convictions are required under Shenna Bellows’ new rules.
‘And that is why this is such a dangerous game that she has created.’
Andrews said that Bellows, a Democrat who tweeted in 2021 that she believed Trump had engaged in insurrection, was a partisan who was not qualified to make the decision.
‘In Maine, the people do not elect the Secretary of State, Attorney General or Treasurer,’ he said.
‘They are chosen by elected Democrat Party insiders after deals are made in the back room of State House.
‘Shenna Bellows knows that the process that put her there is extremely partisan.
‘She should know better and be going out of her way to be as neutral as possible to serve every citizen in Maine and not just registered Democrats.’
Trump’s campaign accused Bellows of attempting the ‘theft of an election’
He said her move disenfranchised 300,060 people – the number of registered Republicans in Maine.
‘That’s why she swore an oath to the Constitution and not the Democrat Party,’ he added. ‘We are still a republic, but moves like this fracture that foundation, which ultimately is the point of all this.’
Andrews praised Jared Golden, a Democrat representing Maine in Washington DC, for speaking out against Bellows’ move – despite his dislike of Trump. Golden voted to impeach Trump.
‘I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,’ said Golden on Thursday night.
‘However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.’
Bellows on Friday told CNN she stood by her decision.
‘I reviewed Section Three of the 14th Amendment very carefully and determined that Section Three of the 14th Amendment does not say ‘conviction,’ it says ‘engage,” she said.
‘And, let’s go back and keep in mind that the events of January 6, 2021, were unprecedented and tragic.
‘This was an attack, not only on the Capitol and the government officials, the former vice president, members of Congress, but an attack on the rule of law.
‘And the weight of evidence that I reviewed indicated that it was, in fact, an insurrection.
‘And Mr Trump engaged in that insurrection under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.’
Bellows thanked the security team protecting her in the wake of the death threats.
‘I was prepared for the possibility of threats, and I really appreciate law enforcement and the people around me who have been incredibly supportive of my safety and security,’ she said.
‘My safety and security is important, so is the safety and security of everyone who works with me and we have received threatening communications.’