Second Judicial District Judge Sarah Wallace’s succinct response to those voters stated merely that “ordering a deposition in these expedited proceedings, at this late juncture, is neither feasible nor appropriate.”
The petitioners, a group of Republicans and one politically unaffiliated voter, are represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, and they asked the court to depose Trump for the sake of preserving trial testimony. They argued that early on he had been identified as a potential witness in the case that aims to disqualify the former president from appearing on the state’s ballot in 2024. The voters allege Trump violated Section III of the Fourteenth Amendment, a constitutional provision that prohibits a person from holding office, who, in short, engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. government or gave aid and comfort to its enemies.