The US Supreme Court on Friday rejected an unprecedented attempt by the state of Texas to throw out election results in four battleground states that Donald Trump lost, an effort backed by the president and more than 100 other elected Republicans.
In a brief statement explaining its decision, the court rejected the suit without a hearing, saying Texas had no standing to challenge the results in other states: “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognisable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.”
Two of the court’s most conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, said they would have supported a hearing on the case, but added in a short statement that they would “not grant other relief”.
Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska who has been at times critical of Mr Trump, said in a statement: “Every American who cares about the rule of law should take comfort that the Supreme Court — including all three of President Trump’s picks — closed the book on the nonsense.”
The Texas attorney-general, Ken Paxton, a Republican reportedly under federal investigation, had asked the US high court to dismiss more than 20m votes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, four battleground states that carried Joe Biden to victory.
The manoeuvre was supported not just by Mr Trump but also by 17 other Republican state attorneys-general and 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives, including House minority leader Kevin McCarthy.
Mr Paxton filed the lawsuit on Monday, weeks after the November 3 election and after each of the states had certified their results, asking the US high court to invoke its original jurisdiction over disputes between states and allow the case to go forward. The lawsuit sought to set aside the elections in the four states so their Republican-controlled state legislatures could decide the winner instead.
The case drew a furious reaction from the states targeted by Texas, with Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney-general, Josh Shapiro, writing in response that the case was a “seditious abuse of the judicial process”. By Friday, the public docket for the case had attracted filings that added farce to the drama as a lawyer representing the fictitious states of New California and New Nevada issued a brief in support of Texas.
The Supreme Court on Friday evening summarily dismissed the case without issuing the broader rebuke requested by Pennsylvania.
Mr Paxton called the decision “unfortunate”, adding: “I will continue to tirelessly defend the integrity and security of our elections and hold accountable those who shirk established election law for their own convenience.”
The statement by Mr Alito and Mr Thomas that they would have allowed Texas to go forward with the case was in line with their previously stated view that the Supreme Court does not have discretion in whether or not to hear litigation between states.
The lawsuit was the latest in a wide-ranging effort by Mr Trump and his allies to undo his loss in the November 3 election, including not only legal actions but attempts to publicly or privately pressure state election officials.
Though the assault has failed to reverse Mr Biden’s victory, the unsubstantiated claims of fraud have undermined faith in the US electoral system, resulted in death threats against election workers and revealed a startling willingness by elected Republicans to either explicitly support or silently tolerate the undoing of the democratic process.
Josh Kaul, the Democratic attorney-general of Wisconsin, earlier on Friday told reporters that the Texas lawsuit was a “red alert warning for our democracy” and said the arguments were “extreme and they’re anti-democratic”.
“These elected officials are attempting to have not the losing candidate but rather the voters replaced. That is the reasoning of dictatorship not democracy,” he said.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday was the second time in just a matter of days that it rejected an attempt to undo the election through the courts, underscoring the futility of Mr Trump’s legal efforts.
Dana Nessel, Michigan’s Democratic attorney-general, said in a statement after the ruling that it was a reminder “that we are a nation of laws, and though some may bend to the desire of a single individual, the courts will not”.
Around the same time as the court handed down its verdict, Mr Trump tweeted a new advert that repeated his false claims that the election was fraudulent.
Michael Gwin, a Biden spokesman, said: “President-elect Biden’s clear and commanding victory will be ratified by the Electoral College on Monday, and he will be sworn in on January 20.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2FjZTMxODU4LWMyMTAtNDBiMy04ZGFkLWY2MmNmMTM0YjQzNdIBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2FjZTMxODU4LWMyMTAtNDBiMy04ZGFkLWY2MmNmMTM0YjQzNQ?oc=5
2020-12-12 01:35:00Z
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