Today is Oct. 31, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

A Democratic member of Congress and two law enforcement officers testified in Denver District Court on Monday about their experiences with the violent mob on Jan. 6, 2021, as a judge considers whether Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to seek the presidency again for his role in allegedly stoking the U.S. Capitol attack.

Four Republican and two unaffiliated voters in Colorado have asked Judge Sarah B. Wallace to bar the secretary of state from listing Trump on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, under the theory that he engaged in an insurrection to halt the counting of the 2020 Electoral College votes and to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.

Under the 14th Amendment, such conduct could render Trump ineligible to hold office again.

“Trump incited a violent mob to attack our Capitol, to stop the peaceful transfer of power under our Constitution,” argued Eric Olson, an attorney for the petitioners who was Colorado’s solicitor general until recently. “That mob tried to hurt and kill our elected leaders. And we are here because Trump claims, after all that, he has the right to be president again.”

On the first morning of a weeklong hearing to determine if Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on Colorado’s 2024 presidential primary ballot, the judge overseeing the case rejected Trump’s request to recuse herself over a $100 political contribution she made prior to taking the bench.

Scott Gessler, an attorney for Trump, “reluctantly” filed a motion on Saturday seeking Denver District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace’s recusal. Gessler indicated he only learned on Oct. 27 that, prior to her appointment as a judge, Wallace made a $100 contribution to the Colorado Turnout Project.

“Its website proudly proclaims that the group was formed ‘shortly after Colorado Republicans refused to condemn the political extremists who stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,'” Gessler wrote. “A contribution to the Colorado Turnout Project shows support for the view that January 6, 2021, constituted an ‘insurrection.'”

Colorado House Republican leaders on Monday called for an investigation into why Colorado’s higher education agency allegedly failed to timely report a massive data breach this summer.

In a two-page letter hand-delivered to Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser, five state representatives also urged an inquiry into why thousands potentially affected by the breach still have not yet been told individually, as the law mandates.

“I am extremely concerned that the state took so long to notify the public of this breach and the failure to contact potentially impacted individuals in a timely manner appears to be in direct violation of the law,” stated the letter from GOP leadership, a copy of which was provided to The Denver Gazette.

The letter was signed by House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, and Republican Reps. Rose Pugliese, the House assistant minority leader, Mary Bradfield of Colorado Springs, Don Wilson of Monument and Anthony Hartsook of Parker. Bradfield, Wilson and Hartsook are members of the House Education Committee.

An interim legislative committee aligned with the Colorado Youth Advisory Council reviewed six bills the latter wants to push for in next year’s session. The interim committee holds the authority to approve three that would move on to the Legislative Council, which will meet on Nov. 15 to review all bill requests from the interim groups that have been meeting throughout the summer and fall.

Already, two of the three bills the youth council-aligned committee chose are drawing objections from people allied with conservative groups Moms4Liberty, the Christian Home Educators Association and Gays against Groomers.

The Oct. 25 committee meeting pared down the wish list from the youth council from six bills to three, two of which focus on gender identity.

The John F. Kennedy Library and Harvard University Institute of Politics this week named U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse as a recipient of the 2023 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, citing the Colorado Democrat’s work to “restore hope” in democratic institutions.

The award committee, led by Jack Schlossberg – the former president’s only grandson – lauded Neguse for building bipartisan legislative coalitions and establishing service town halls, an innovation that encourages constituents to volunteer on a local project before meeting to discuss the lawmaker’s recent activities.

Neguse, the committee said, “has been a champion of servant-leadership, from the mountains of the state of Colorado to the halls of the U.S. House of Representatives.”