Vote and stay in power. Special counsel jack smith wrote in the indictment, quote, the defendant widely disseminated his false claims of Election Fraud for months, despite the fact that he knew and in many cases had been informed directly that they were not true. The defendants knowingly false statements were integral to his criminal plans to defeat the federal government function, obstruct the certification and interfere with others rights to vote and have their votes counted. The indictment also mentions six alleged coconspirators. They are unnamed, but nbc news them to be rudy giuliani, attorney john eastman, attorney Sidney Powell, former Justice Department official jeffrey clark, and attorney kenneth chesbro. Sixth is unclear but is described as a political consultant who helped implement the socalled fake electors scheme. Special counsel jack smith says he wants to bring this case to trial soon. In this case, my office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested i
suggest that. is there any evidence to suggest that the presidency was what they were focused on? there is some evidence of that. there were people saying we don t want jefferson davis to be elected president and there was also one of the drafts of section 3 specifically mentioned the presidency and the vice president. but it wasn t the final enactment. right. it wasn t the final enactment, but it shows there was some concern about some people about confederate insurrectionists ascending to the presidency. we look at the historical evidence and pick the evidence we like and interpret is tan den shally because you can throw this counterveiling evidence back in our face. we wanted to focus on the text of the constitution, this was a compromised provision that was enacted in section 3. let me ask you another question about the states. you have forcefully made an argument about the states not being able to enforce section 3, so if we agree with you on that, what happens
that argument. there is some evidence to suggest that. any evidence to suggest the presidency was what they were focused on? there is some evidence of that. people saying we don t want jefferson davis to be elected president and one of the drafts of section three specifically mentioned the presidency and vice presidency. it wasn t the final inaction. it wasn t final but there was concern by some people about con federal insurrectionists ascendsing to the presidency. we didn t want to make a a history argument. the other side can come back and throw this counter evidence back in our face. we wanted to focus more on the text of the constitution. it was a compromise provision that was enacted in section three. let me ask you another question about the states because you have forcefully made an argument about the states not being able to enforce section three. so if we agree with you on that, what happens next? i thought you also wanted us to end the litigation so is
this is a historic moment for the united states supreme court and for american democracy. the justices about to consider whether donald trump is constitutionally barred from being president again. we ll hear the unprecedented arguments and the court s responses live. welcome to cnn s special live coverage of the trump ballot battle at the u.s. supreme court. i m kaitlan collins live outside the supreme court. and i m jake tapper. the nation s highest court will review this landmark case. the division by colorado s supreme court to disqualify former president trump from the 2024 ballot based on what some call the insurrectionist ban 12349th amendment to the u.s. constitution. today the nine justices, three of them nominated by trump, are poised to have the most direct impact on a presidential election since the supreme court decided bush v. gore nearly a quarter sentry ago. now among the questions before the highest court in the land today, did trump incite an insurrecti
Enforcement act of 1870, which was designed to curtail the kkk. there s an ugliness in our past that s being echoed in our current moment. we need to understand who we are and try to figure out who we aspire to be in this critical juncture in the nation s history. those who ignore the past may be condemned to relive it. i m paraphrasing. i m thinking, what do you take away as the most permanent and deep-rooted affect and impact of this? no man, no woman is above the law. that the most important figure or role in our democracy is the role of everyday, ordinary people. we also have to finally, finally root out the hate. root out the grievances and fear if we re going to get off this hamster wheel.