Having lost the popular vote, the Electoral College and 59 lawsuits that seek to overturn voters’ will, President Trump seems to have no options when it comes to the prospect of remaining in office after January 20. But some of the president’s most fervent supporters still see a last ray of hope: Vice President Mike Pence.
Representative Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, filed a far-fetched lawsuit against Pence on Sunday, who, by law, is expected to preside over the counting of electoral votes in Congress on January 6, when Joe Biden will be formally declared the winner of the presidential election.
Together with a group of Republicans, Gohmert is asking the court to grant Pence the sole authority to overturn Trump’s defeat in key battlefield states, rather than simply overseeing the Electoral College’s vote count.
“According to the Twelfth Amendment, Defendant Pence alone has exclusive authority and exclusive discretion to open and allow counting of electoral votes for a given state, and where there are competing voter lists, or where there is an objection to any voter list. , to determine which votes will be counted or not ”, states the action.
The case, which lawyers say has almost no chance of producing the result expected by the plaintiffs, will be heard by Texas judge Jeremy Kernodle, appointed by Trump.
Marc Elias, a Democratic lawyer specializing in elections, did not take any action after analyzing Gohmert’s attempt to allow Pence to simply choose the winner of the 2020 elections.
I usually ignore Gohmert, but I feel that some are nervous. Do not feel. This process is absurd.
I wish I could say that it is the dumbest thing Gohmert has ever done, but it is not. The real scandal is that he is still a member of Congress.https: //t.co/tGfvn9mrli
– Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 28, 2020
Still, Gohmert and his Republican co-litigants are not the only ones waiting for a miracle on January 6. A small group of Republican members of the House also plans to challenge the election results in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin – states that have certified Biden as the winner.
Along with Gohmert, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., Will attempt to overturn the election results in a dramatic last position in Congress before the final count of electoral votes.
“We have a higher role under the Constitution than the Supreme Court, than any judge in a federal court, than any judge in a state court,” Brooks told the New York Times. “What we say, goes. That is the final verdict. “
On his Twitter, conservative researcher Rasmussen Reports went so far as to quote a quote often attributed to 20th century Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, in endorsing the idea of letting Pence decide to keep his running mate in office.
Come January 6:
(Those who vote do not decide anything. Those who count the votes decide everything. – Stalin)
“On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence will receive sealed certificates containing the ballots of presidential voters.
1/4
– Rasmussen reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
“There is nothing to prevent Pence, under the authority (plenary and unappealable) vested in him as President of the Senate, to refuse to open and count the certificates of the six states in dispute,” continued Rasmussen.
It is not yet known how Pence will respond on January 6 amid challenges from some Republican lawmakers to the Electoral College outcome. The vice president has long been said to have presidential aspirations of his own, and to see him declaring Biden the winner is unlikely to please Trump’s most fervent supporters. However, a growing chorus of voices on the right is now asking Trump to admit his defeat in the elections.
Pence has maintained a relatively low profile for the past few days. Over the weekend, Pence, who is the chairman of the president’s coronavirus task force, broke the committee’s own travel guidelines when he went on a ski vacation in Vail, Colorado. The trip continued, despite the president’s refusal to sign a stimulus bill designed to help Americans suffering from the pandemic.
Hours after Pence declared the winner of the election, Pence must leave the country on a trip to Bahrain, Israel and Poland, NBC News reported.
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