(NewsNation) — Saying he “disqualified himself from public office” by violating the 14th amendment, a group of voters and former local and federal officials represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit to get former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot in Colorado.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Denver state district court, cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone from holding federal or state office if they took an oath, as an “officer of the United States,” to support the Constitution, and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Petitioners said Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 are an example of this, and that he violated his oath by “recruiting, inciting and encouraging a violent mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in a futile attempt to remain in office.”

“By instigating this unprecedented assault on the American constitutional order, Trump violated his oath and disqualified himself under the 14th Amendment from holding public office, including the Office of the President,” the lawsuit says. 

Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, acknowledged in a statement it is unprecedented to bring this kind of case against a former president. However, he said Jan. 6 “was an unprecedented attack” that those who wrote the 14th Amendment wanted to prevent. 

“If the very fabric of our democracy is to hold, we must ensure that the Constitution is enforced and the same people who attacked our democratic system not be put in charge of it,” Bookbinder said. “We aren’t bringing this case to make a point, we’re bringing it because it is necessary to defend our republic both today and in the future.”

Trump campaign spokesman Steve Cheung rejected these arguments, saying in a statement to NewsNation that there’s no legal basis for the effort to get the former president off the Colorado ballot, “except in the minds of those who are pushing it.”

“Joe Biden, Democrats and Never Trumpers are scared to death because they see polls showing President Trump winning in the general election,” Cheung said. 

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, is listed in the lawsuit as a respondent along with Trump. In a statement, Griswold said she looks forward to the Colorado Court’s resolution of the issue and that she’s “hopeful that this case will provide guidance to election officials on Trump’s eligibility as a candidate for office.”

Some politicians and legal experts have also floated the argument that Trump should be barred from holding elected office because of the 14th Amendment, including Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. He pointed out in an interview on MSNBC with Jen Psaki the 14th Amendment does not say someone must be convicted of insurrection — just that they participated in it.

“It’s a disqualification from holding office again, and it fits Donald Trump to a T,” Schiff, who served on a House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, said according to NewsNation partner The Hill. 

“There are prominent constitutional scholars, as well as prominent progressive scholars who believe that he should be disqualified,” Schiff added.

Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine made similar remarks in an interview with ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.

“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment, and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as is laid out in the Constitution,” Kaine said. “I think there’s a powerful argument to be made.”

Harvard law school emeritus professor and lawyer Alan Dershowitz, on the other hand, said on FOX News that using the 14th Amendment would deprive Trump of due process, and voters of their democratic say.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has not been tested often, CREW noted in their news release, although the organization successfully worked with residents of New Mexico to remove a county commissioner from office because of his role in the Jan.6 insurrection. NewsNation local affiliate KQRE reported Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was federally convicted of trespassing for illegally entering the Capitol grounds of Congress.

Trump was impeached by the House on an “incitement of insurrection” charge in 2021, but was then acquitted by the Senate. He has faced a number of legal challenges since then — most recently, he’s been indicted on state charges in Georgia based on accusations that he tried to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president was also indicted federally on charges he tried to overturn the election as well.