Supreme Court Turns Away Texas Election Lawsuit
The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit Friday backed by President Donald Trump – along with Nebraska’s attorney general, governor and secretary of state, as well as two members of the House of Representatives from Nebraska – seeking to overturn the presidential election result.
The lawsuit, filed by Texas, sought to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump had called the suit “the big one” after a series of unsuccessful legal challenges went before judges in state and federal courtrooms across the country.
Trump bemoaned the decision late Friday, tweeting: “The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!”
Trump insisted the nation’s highest court would adopt his baseless position that the election was the product of widespread fraud and should be overturned. But the justices emphatically disagreed. On Monday, the Electoral College met to formally elect Biden. Congress will count those results Jan. 6, and Biden will be inaugurated Jan. 20.
In a brief order, the court said Texas does not have the legal right to sue Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin because it “has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.” Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who have said previously the court does not have the authority to turn away lawsuits between states, said they would have heard Texas’ complaint. But they would not have done as Texas asked – setting aside those states’ 62 electoral votes for Biden pending resolution of the suit.
The Texas complaint repeated false, disproven and unsubstantiated accusations about the voting in four states that went for Trump’s Democratic challenger. The high court had never before been asked for such a dramatic remedy. The case inflamed already high tensions over the election.
The four states sued by Texas had called on the court to reject the case as meritless. They were backed by another 22 states and the District of Columbia. Iowa’s Republican governor prevented Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller from joining those efforts opposed to the lawsuit.
Nebraska Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Adrian Smith signed an amicus brief in support of Texas, but Rep. Don Bacon of Omaha did not. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Friday said he didn’t think the lawsuit was a political stunt, and he dismissed a question from a reporter about whether the state would’ve acted differently had Trump won as hypothetical.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said that the Supreme Court had previously recognized that the votes cast in each state affects the votes cast in other states in presidential elections.
“This means that Nebraskans – no less than citizens in other States – have a strong interest in ensuring that presidential elections comply with the Constitution,” Peterson said in a news release. “This is an important interest that my office takes very seriously.”
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said he supported the lawsuit.
“It is absolutely essential that credible claims of election irregularities be brought to light and fully investigated,” Evnen said.
A few Republicans expressed concerns about the case. Many others have remained silent even as Trump endlessly repeated claims that he lost a chance at a second term due to widespread fraud.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse was among those applauding the court.
“Since Election Night, a lot of people have been confusing voters by spinning Kenyan Birther-type, ‘Chavez rigged the election from the grave’ conspiracy theories, but 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,” Sasse said.
This report contains material from The Associated Press.
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