WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A Republican congressional candidate said Colorado’s Supreme Court justices should be arrested and tried for treason for removing Donald Trump from the primary ballot.
Trent Leisy, who refers to Trump as the “rightful President,” is running for the GOP nomination in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, currently represented by the outgoing Rep. Ken Buck (R-Windsor).
In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump is ineligible to appear on the ballot, citing the 14th Amendment’s prohibition on insurrectionists holding federal office. The case is expected to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
“Since four of the all-Democrat-appointed Colorado Supreme Court justices have decided to betray our constitution, attempt to take our rights away, and stop us from voting for Rightful President Trump even if we write-in his name, they should definitely be tried for treason in a courtroom,” Leisy told 9NEWS in an email.
Treason is punishable by death. Federal law defines treason as levying war against the United States or giving “aid and comfort” to enemies of the country.
NBC News reports the FBI is investigating a wave of violent threats against the Colorado Supreme Court justices following their ruling against Trump. Allegations of treason and suggestions of coming violence have come from several prominent figures on Colorado’s far-right, including from the chairman of the state Republican party.
Leisy is holding a Dec. 30 rally against the “four traitor Justices” at DCF Guns in Colorado Springs in partnership with the gun shop’s owner, conservative activist Joe Oltmann.
Oltmann has previously advocated for the mass execution of his political opponents. Oltmann faces a defamation lawsuit for his claim that Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems worked with Antifa to rig the 2020 election against Trump.
Oltmann, who has endorsed Leisy, holds considerable influence among Colorado conservatives. He was nominated for Governor at the 2022 Republican General Assembly by former Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville. Oltmann did not accept the nomination.
On his daily podcast and on social media postings, Oltmann has warned about the potential of coming violence and urged his followers to stock up on firearms, ammo and body armor.
“We need to revolt,” Oltmann posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Dec. 25. “2024 we take our nation back from these demons.”
John “Tig” Tiegen, a longtime Oltmann ally who leads the armed group United American Defense Force, has indicated he’ll attend Leisy and Oltmann’s rally.
“These aren’t judges, they’re tyrannical dictators!” Tiegen posted on X on Dec. 22. Tiegen added the hashtag #shakethetree, an apparent reference to Thomas Jefferson’s 1787 declaration that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.”
On Nov. 14, after two men from El Paso County were arrested on federal charges for their alleged actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, Tiegen directed similar language at FBI officials.
“You all are nothing but political hacks and the true threat to OUR Republic,” Tiegen posted on X. “Your Blood will be shed when the tree is shaken...traitors!”
On Nov. 15, Tiegen posted that the “traitors” at the FBI “can hang.”
The suggestion of coming violence and accusations of treason have also been made by Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave Williams.
Williams said on Sept. 9 that the Republican primary voters bringing a lawsuit to knock Trump off the ballot was “treasonous.”
In November, Williams suggested that violence was inevitable if Trump was removed from the ballot or “election fraud” continued.
"If they're able to successfully remove Donald Trump from the ballot, for example, or they're successfully able to keep engaging in some of the blatant election-fraud type behavior that they've done, then, pretty soon you're not going to be able to resolve your differences through the ballot box," said Williams on the Liberty Roundtable Podcast. "It will be done, you know, in a civil war, and we don't want that, no one wants a civil war. I think most of us are capable of figuring out ways to avoid those things, but there's only so much you can do if those who are in power, keep undermining free and fair elections."
Williams has repeatedly claimed, as have Leisy and Oltmann, that the 2020 election was rigged.
Williams’ election denialism even extends to Colorado’s elections. He recently told self-proclaimed white nationalist podcaster Laura Loomer that “there are no fair elections in Colorado.”
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