Aug. 29—CONCORD — After false claims went viral, Attorney General John Formella and Secretary of State David Scanlan on Tuesday denied they have made any decision in response to the allegation that Donald Trump could be ineligible to run for president under the provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
Corky Messner, a Wolfeboro Republican and 2020 GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, said his research suggests Trump could be disqualified because he supported an "insurrection" against the U.S. government on Jan. 6, 2021.
Messner's statements led to a false report on social media Monday that Scanlan had already decided that Trump's name could not appear on the first-in-the-nation presidential primary ballot .
"Neither the secretary of state's office nor the attorney general's office has taken any position regarding the potential applicability of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to the upcoming presidential election cycle," Formella and Scanlan said in an unusual joint statement Tuesday afternoon.
Scanlan has asked Formella and his Election Integrity Unit to look into the matter.
"The attorney general's office is now carefully reviewing the legal issues involved," the two said.
The section of the 14th Amendment in question states: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously...
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