A second effort to impeach Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) for her December decision attempting to remove former Republican President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot has been defeated.
Consideration of the impeachment inquiry in the House took place just two days after the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states do not have the authority to bar presidential candidates from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
The Court determined that the Civil War era provision aimed at keeping former confederates from rising to power can only be enforced against federal candidates if Congress adopts enacting legislation pursuant to Section 5 of the same amendment.
[RELATED: SCOTUS Unanimously Rules That States Cannot Disqualify Trump from the Ballot]
Introduced by Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris), the House Order opening a second impeachment inquiry into Secretary Bellows asked lawmakers to support establishing a House Special Investigative Committee to investigate “allegations of misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance and other misconduct” that have been levied against the Secretary.
“The committee shall conduct a comprehensive review of allegations of misconduct by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows regarding her actions in and after the adjudicatory proceeding in disqualifying Donald J. Trump from inclusion on the State’s primary election ballot, including the failure to recuse herself for bias from that adjudicatory proceeding as required by the Maine Administrative Procedure Act,” the Order reads.
“This bias is evidenced by her serving as a Maine presidential elector for Joseph R. Biden in the 2020 election,” the Order continues. “The committee shall also conduct a comprehensive review of allegations of misconduct by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows regarding her unilateral disenfranchisement of voters and candidate Donald J. Trump and her willful violation of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Click Here to Read the Full Text of the House Order
“The Secretary was cautioned repeatedly that she did not have authority or jurisdiction over the 14th Amendment, over Section 3,” Rep. Michael Soboleski (R-Phillips) said on the floor of the House. “14th Amendment, Section 5 states that Congress has the jurisdiction, but that wasn’t adhered to, she didn’t listen to that.”
“Following the complete repudiation of Secretary Bellows decision making, it should be evident to this esteemed body that her judgement was flimsy at best and obstructionist at worst,” Rep. Soboleski said. “It is time this body exercised its duty to hold Secretary Bellows accountable for her reckless actions.”
Rep. James E. Thorne (R-Carmel) also spoke in support of opening an impeachment inquiry into Bellows, arguing that “people need to be accountable for their actions.”
The House defeated this second attempt to impeach Bellows over her December decision in a nearly-partisan roll call vote of 62-78.
All Democrats in the House voted against opening an impeachment inquiry alongside Independent Rep. William D. Pluecker (I-Warren) and Republican Rep. Kimberly J. Pomerleau (R-Standish).
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month, Bellows withdrew her disqualification of former President Trump, acknowledging that she did not have the authority to remove his name from the ballot.
[RELATED: Shenna Bellows Withdraws Disqualification of Trump from Maine’s Primary Following SCOTUS Ruling]
“Consistent with my oath and obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and pursuant to the Anderson decision, I hereby withdraw my determination that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid,” said Bellows.
“I instead conclude that the Anderson decision prohibits me from finding Mr. Trump’s statement that he is qualified for the presidency to be false by operation of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” she wrote. “Mr. Trump’s primary petition is therefore valid.”
“Votes cast for Mr. Trump in the March 5, 2024 presidential primary election will be counted,” Bellows concluded.
Trump won Maine’s March 5 presidential primary with 72.9 percent of the vote, representing ballots cast by 78,493 Mainers.
One can not impeach the swamp, only vote out their supporters.
Well, at least she was humiliated in front of the whole country.
We still have that going for us. 🙂
Bellows Blows
Shenna Swallows
The liberal left is willing to always push the envelope to see what they can get away with. This rebuke will slow them down but that doesn’t mean they stop pushing. It clarifies to them where the boundaries are, to what extent, and to where they can further their forward their cause. Vigilance is an absolute must when dealing with them.
Is she truly that ugly she needs to cover her face?