Judge in Colorado Trump ballot ban case is a donor to Democrats

The judge in the Colorado effort to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot is reportedly a Democratic donor.

Judge Sarah Wallace has donated at least twice in recent campaigns, including to the 2022 Colorado Turnout Project and to ActBlue's 2022 campaign to support the Georgia Senate runoff election.

REVEALED: Judge in Colorado trial to remove Trump from the ballot is a Dem donor https://t.co/li9tib1OSr

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 4, 2023

"In the trial, which began on Monday, attorneys for Trump objected to Wallace’s contribution to the Colorado Turnout Project," the Post Millennial reported.

"Trump’s legal team moved to have Wallace recuse herself over the donation, because the group concerned a specific subject of the trial, the January 6 riots at the Capitol. Wallace told the team that she did not remember making the donation," it added.

New: Trump judge says she can't remember ActBlue contribution. Judge in CO Trump disqualification case made political donation through ActBlue that concerns specific issue at trial. Trump sought recusal. Now judge says she can't remember making it. https://t.co/ggLjN3NYnW

— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 31, 2023

"I do not dispute that in October 2022, prior to taking the bench, I apparently made a $100 contribution to the Colorado Turnout Project," Wallace said in the courtroom on Monday.

"That being said, prior to yesterday, I was not cognizant of this organization or its mission. It has always been my practice, whether I was entirely successful or not, to make contributions to individuals, not [political action committees]. While I have no specific memory of this contribution, it was my practice and my intention to contribute to an individual candidate, and not a PAC."

"She did not address the standard for recusal in the code of judicial conduct, which directs recusal when a judge's impartiality 'might reasonably be questioned,'" the Associated Press reported.

"The Colorado Supreme Court has held that even if a judge's involvement creates an appearance of impropriety, it will only question the outcome on appeal when there is evidence of actual bias," it noted.

The hearing, which is expected to continue in the upcoming week, is one of several controversial cases in which states are seeking to remove Trump from future ballots over claims of insurrection based on the 14th Amendment.

Trump already faces multiple cases and over 90 charges in other cases. The additional legal efforts to keep him from the ballot add another layer of attacks in his comeback bid for president in 2024.