By Peyton Sorosinski, Washington Examiner | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE
Retired Republican Judge Clark Erickson, who said former President Donald Trump’s name should be removed from the Illinois ballot ahead of the March 19 primary for inciting an insurrection, recommended Sunday that a higher court should make the decision, not the state board of elections.
The objection to Trump’s ballot eligibility was brought forth by five Illinois voters who filed a petition earlier this month seeking to remove the former president from the state’s primary ballot. Trump’s attorneys, along with the group of objectors, presented their arguments on Friday to Erickson, the hearing officer.
“[Trump] does not dispute that he knew violence was occurring at the Capitol. He understood that people were there to support him,” Erickson wrote in his 21-page recommendation. “Which makes one single piece of evidence, in this context, absolutely damning to his denial of his participation: The tweet regarding Mike Pence’s lack of courage while [Trump] knew the attacks were going on is inexplicable.”