Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A high-profile effort to overturn President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory has been tossed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Friday evening, the nation’s highest court issued a short brief rejecting a lawsuit filed by Texas.
Advertisements
“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections,” the unsigned Supreme Court brief said.
Earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, filed a 154-page lawsuit against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin that made claims the four states violated the Electors Clause, Equal Protection, and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution. It calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the states’ legislatures to pick the electors, which could overturn the results of the election, and requests the Supreme Court to block the states from allowing votes from the Electoral College next week.
“The four states exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to justify ignoring federal and state election laws and unlawfully enacting last-minute changes, thus skewing the results of the 2020 General Election. The battleground states flooded their people with unlawful ballot applications and ballots while ignoring statutory requirements as to how they were received, evaluated and counted,” Paxton’s office said in a statement from Tuesday.
Advertisements
A total of 18 Republican attorneys general from other states filed briefs supporting the lawsuit and 22 states and territories filed briefs in support of the defendants. A total of 106 members of congress, all Republicans, announced support for the lawsuit. Local Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick did not sign on to support the effort.
The lawsuit only challenged states that Biden won and not those that President Donald Trump won.
Advertisements
“Texas chose not to include the State of Montana, where President Trump and other Republicans were successful in a mail ballot election conducted to reduce the impact of COVID—underscoring, of course, that this action is less about election integrity than it is about attempting to overturn the will of the electorate,” Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, filed in a brief.
“Let us be clear, Texas invites this Court to overthrow the votes of the American people and choose the next President of the United States. That Faustian invitation must be firmly rejected,” attorneys for Pennsylvania wrote in their response to the lawsuit.
On Tuesday, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jeremy Roebuck pointed out that the lawsuit had several key factual mistakes related to Pennsylvania. The mistakes include claiming Philadelphia used the Dominion voting system, leaving out details on the theft of USB drives from a Philadelphia election facility, claiming observers were not allowed to observe the counting of ballots, and that “a great number of ballots” came in after election day.
Advertisements
“The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!” Trump tweeted in response to the lawsuit being tossed.
“This whacky, bonkers lawsuit will be in the rearview mirror soon … But the damage will continue … that is something Trump is not only seizing on, but seems to take delight and glee in further dividing this nation,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a appearance on MSNBC shortly before the Supreme Court’s decision.
Advertisements
President-elect Joe Biden won approximately seven million more than Trump and is expected to be elected by the Electoral College in the coming week.
Although certified and unofficial election results have shown Biden won the election, Trump has claimed he is the real winner. His campaign and supporters have filed numerous lawsuits, but nearly all have been thrown out. Trump and his allies have also spread conspiracy theories about the election and sought to have state lawmakers overturn the results, including in Pennsylvania, according to reports.
Advertisements
There has been no evidence of widespread election fraud. Top members of Trump’s administration, including the attorney general, have stated publicly there was no major election fraud discovered.
Paxton, the Texas attorney general who led the lawsuit, has been under scrutiny after reports came out that several of his staff members resigned and he is under investigation by the FBI for corruption and abuse of power. Earlier this week, the FBI reportedly delivered a subpoena to his office. He is awaiting court for an unrelated indictment on securities fraud charges.
Advertisements
Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies
