Court battle continues to try to ban Madison Cawthorn from office

| 4:30 pm EST February 6, 2022
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United States Congressman and insurrection supporter Madison Cawthorn is in the fight of his life as he battles against those who would see him disqualified from ever running for office again. As Palmer Report has previously laid out, Cawthorn is being challenged, not by another candidate but by activists who have asked that he not be allowed to run again because of his insurrectionist past.

These activists claim that Cawthorn was involved in the January 6 insurrection — and North Carolina has rules in place that say if this is true of any candidate — that they engaged in insurrection — they can be disqualified from the ballot.

So what do you think Cawthorn might do to clear his name? Perhaps he’d argue that he is of good character and would NEVER — EVER — hurt our country. Wrong. Instead, the rotten Cawthorn is asking a federal judge to block the challenge filed by activists. His reasoning? Per Slate.com, Cawthorn is invoking his right to continue his campaign because of the Amnesty Act of 1872.

The Amnesty Act of 1872 permitted former Confederate members to still run for office. Cawthorn’s lawyers argue that “there’s nothing in the Amnesty Act that says it’s only applicable to the Civil War, and it was very broad in its terms,” says James Bopp, lawyer for Cawthorn.

So in effect, Cawthorn is arguing not that he DIDN’T take part in an insurrection but that if he did, it wouldn’t matter because the Amnesty Act would keep him from facing the consequences for his behavior.

This is an absurd argument that I sincerely hope any Judge would cackle wildly at, but this IS North Carolina, so we’ll have to see. In the meantime, it appears this situation has Cawthorn sweating. Good. Not having Cawthorn’s name on any ballot would be a gift to this country, and I hope it comes to pass.