December 9, 2020, 2:52 pm
In what is hopefully a last-ditch attempt by the Trump campaign to overturn the 2020 election, which Donald Trump has now openly called for, 17 states have joined a Texas lawsuit calling for the Supreme Court to toss out results in five states won by Joe Biden. The joining states filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit, and every one of them is considered a “red” state.
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According to Vice, the suit will demand that the results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — all swing states nabbed by Biden — be thrown out entirely. It was filed on Tuesday by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently under FBI investigation for alleged corruption.
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Although few seem to think this move will work, especially after a Trump lawsuit coming out of Pennsylvania was unceremoniously kicked back by the Supreme Court without comment, there are concerns about the precedent this could set.
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“What’s left before we get to the bottom?” tweeted feminist author Amy Siskind. “17 Republican AG’s support Paxton’s bid to overturn the will of American voters in 4 states. It obviously won’t work, but the damage to our democracy as an institution is considerable. This is sedition!”
Reuters reporter Brad Heath penned a thread explaining the basics of the suit as well as the supporting brief, remarking that it’s a whole lot of “people in glass houses casting stones.”
“It argues that allowing absentee ballots to arrive after Election Day undermines faith in democracy,” he explained. “But Kansas and Mississippi, which both signed on, also count mail-in ballots that arrive late.”
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“The brief also argues that executive officials shouldn’t be able to mess with voting rules. But Texas — the plaintiff in this case, the state they’re supporting — did that very thing. The governor used executive power to extend the early voting period, among other things.”
Essentially, Texas and supporting states are suing other states for doing the same things they did, but they now argue that those things they did hurt U.S. democracy. Heath says it would be “err, unprecedented” for the Supreme Court to allow such a thing.
Will this finally be the legal move that overturns the election for Trump? It seems unlikely after the campaign has been handed over 50 losses since the beginning of their electoral crusade, and especially considering rumors that Trump is considering flying to Mar-a-Lago for Christmas and just never leaving.
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Even multiple Republicans from often-red states have come out to say that the Texas lawsuit is garbage.
“With all due respect, the Texas Attorney General is constitutionally, legally and factually wrong about Georgia,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr in a statement.
*First Published: December 9, 2020, 2:52 pm
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