Mr. Bopp, in an interview, declared the matter “probably the most frivolous case I’ve ever seen,” however allowed that what he referred to as an “unethical” exploitation of North Carolina legislation by “competent” legal professionals might pose an actual risk to Mr. Cawthorn — and by extension, to others labeled “insurrectionists” by liberal legal professionals.
“That is the true risk to our democracy,” he mentioned. “Simply by bringing the grievance, they may jeopardize a member of Congress working for re-election.”
“They’ve a number of targets,” he added. “It simply so occurs that Madison Cawthorn is the tip of the spear.”
That’s as a result of North Carolina’s election statute provides challengers a remarkably low bar to query a candidate’s constitutional {qualifications} for workplace. As soon as somebody establishes a “cheap suspicion or perception” {that a} candidate shouldn’t be certified, the burden shifts to the officeseeker to show in any other case.
If Mr. Cawthorn is labeled an “insurrectionist,” that might have broader ramifications. Different Republican Home members, equivalent to Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, face comparable accusations, however their state’s election legal guidelines current increased hurdles for challenges to their candidate {qualifications}. If one in every of their colleagues is disqualified for his function in encouraging the rioters, these hurdles may grow to be simpler to clear.
The legal professionals difficult Mr. Cawthorn’s eligibility are utilizing an modification final invoked in 1920, when Consultant Victor L. Berger, an Austrian-American socialist, was denied his seat representing Wisconsin after criticizing American involvement in World Battle I.
If nothing else, the legal professionals, together with two former justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court docket, wish to depose Mr. Cawthorn as a part of discovery to query his actions earlier than, throughout and after the assault on the Capitol.
