State Rep. John Smithee/Photo by Dusty Reins

State Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) issued a statement on Wednesday, criticizing the Colorado Supreme Court for its recent decision deeming former President Donald Trump ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot in 2024.

“I strongly disagree with the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in Anderson v. Griswold, by which four partisan democrat justices took it upon themselves to remove Donald Trump from the Colorado Republican Primary ballot,” Smithee wrote in his statement. “I applaud the three dissenting justices, also democrats, who refused to go along with the four-justice majority, by issuing a dissent.”

Smithee went on to call the move “an unprecedented frontal attack on our constitutional American democracy” and expressed concerns about the legal precedent the decision set.

“What makes the action even more egregious is that the court wrongly presumed that President Trump had participated in an ‘insurrection’ against the United States of America, even though he has never been convicted of, or even charged with, such an offense,” Smithee said. “This presumption of guilt, without due process, is a tragic disregard of one of the most important basic constitutional protections.”

Smithee, an attorney, is just the latest Republican to criticize the move by the Colorado Supreme Court. The move also comes as Smithee is set to appear on the primary ballot for re-election this March, facing Canyon resident Jamie Haynes.