(CN) — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to recuse herself from deciding his ballot eligibility, calling her a “biased Democrat partisan” and a “Biden supporter who is incapable of making a fair decision.”
Bellows is expected to weigh in on Trump’s ballot eligibility in Maine under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, which could preclude the former president from holding office due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
It’s a hotly contested issue in a number of state courts around the nation. The Colorado Supreme Court booted Trump from the Republican primary ballot this past week. On Wednesday, Michigan’s majority-Democrat high court elected to keep him on. But Maine’s unique process allows for the secretary of state to make the call before the courts do.
Evidently, Trump and his lawyers don’t fancy their odds at a favorable ruling from Bellows. In a four-page letter sent to the Democrat’s office Wednesday, they demanded she recuse herself from making a decision because of old tweets she posted about the Jan. 6 riot.
“President Trump requests that the secretary disqualify herself from this matter because she has already concluded that President Trump engaged in insurrection — a determination that she made well before the submission of evidence or argument in this current matter,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the letter.
They cited three tweets in particular that they claim show a “personal bias” from Bellows. Two were from Feb. 13, 2021 — the day that Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial.
“The Jan. 6 insurrection was an unlawful attempt to overthrow the results of a free and fair election,” Bellows wrote in one tweet. “Today 57 senators including King & Collins found Trump guilty. That’s short of impeachment but nevertheless an indictment. The insurrectionists failed, and democracy prevailed.”
Trump’s lawyers claim posts like this show that Bellows has “already passed judgment” on the former president’s role in the riot long before her expected ruling.
“By calling the impeachment proceedings and Senate vote an ‘indictment’ of President Trump, the secretary has exhibited a personal bias against him,” they wrote. “The secretary has bluntly stated that President Trump should have been impeached, and later called him an ‘insurrectionist’ who ‘failed.’”
Trump’s lawyers argue that he is being denied an “impartial presiding officer” expected under Maine state law. They’re requesting that Bellows appoint an “unbiased, impartial hearing officer” to handle the ruling instead of her.
“President Trump deserves a fair and impartial hearing,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Both the Maine Legislature and Maine courts demand that state administrative proceedings must be conducted fairly and with integrity.”
Trump shared the letter in a Wednesday campaign email, in which he not only chided Bellows for her “complete bias,” but attacked every effort to remove his name from the upcoming Republican primary ballot.
“Any attempt to remove President Trump’s name from the ballot is blatant election interference. It is unconstitutional, unamerican, and wrong,” Trump’s campaign wrote in the email. “Partisan, Biden-supporting Democrats cannot be allowed to erase his name from the ballot, as doing so would be a disgrace to the Constitution and a complete and total disregard for the civil rights of millions of American voters.
It remains unclear whether Bellows will acknowledge Trump’s demands. Her office declined to comment on Wednesday’s letter since the matter is pending.
Trump’s legal calendar is expected to be packed in 2024. In addition to the ongoing fights to keep his name on state ballots, Trump is battling a number of criminal indictments and civil cases.
In Georgia, Trump faces charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election in the state. He was also charged in Washington following an investigation into the Jan. 6 riot.
In Manhattan, he’s expected to field several civil cases, including another defamation claim from writer E. Jean Carroll. The former president’s lengthy civil fraud trial is set to end early next year as well, with closing arguments scheduled for Jan. 11.
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