CHARLESTON – Attorneys representing former President Donald J. Trump have filed a motion seeking to dismiss a federal lawsuit that would keep him off of West Virginia election ballots in 2024, and the West Virginia Attorney General's office filed a similar motion.
The motion was filed October 6 in federal court in the case filed by John Anthony Castro, another Republican candidate for president. Among other arguments, Castro cites a section of the 14th Amendment in saying Trump is ineligible because he “engaged in or provided ‘aid or comfort’ to an insurrection” in relation to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On October 12, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office filed a motion in the case after asking to intervene earlier this month.
In his motion, Morrisey also asks the court to dismiss the case.
"We need to protect the integrity of our elections, and frivolous lawsuits like this undermine the right of the citizens to choose who they want to represent them in every level of government," Morrisey said in a press release, adding two courts already have dismissed similar cases filed by Castro.
Morrisey's motion also says Castro's lawsuit has "no basis in either law or fact."
Castro’s case names Trump and West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner as defendants. Castro has filed similar lawsuits in other states.
The filing by Trump’s attorneys argues that Castro lacks standing.
“Plaintiff is a repeat litigant who has filed identical lawsuits in dozens of other jurisdictions across the country,” the motion states. “None have been successful.
“In a barebones complaint based on mere conclusory assertions that President Trump violated an oath to support the Constitution by engaging in insurrection, plaintiff asks the court to enter an unprecedented declaratory judgment that President Trump is constitutionally-barred from holding any elective office or appearing on 2024 primary and general election ballots in West Virginia.”
The Trump motion says Castro can’t show any substantial harm to him personally or to his presidential campaign. It also argues that the section of the 14th Amendment is not “self-executing” and that Trump’s actions didn’t fall within that section’s description of insurrection.
“Not a single prosecutor has filed an indictment against President Trump for an alleged rebellion or insurrection,” the motion states.
Castro filed his case himself. Trump is being represented by Mark Adkins, Richie Heath and Will Lorensen of Bowles Rice in Charleston. Morrisey's motion was filed by Principal Deputy Solicitor General Michael R. Williams and by Deputy AG David E. Gilbert. The case has been assigned to District Judge Irene Berger and referred to U.S. Magistrate Omar Aboulhosn.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:23-cv-00598
