Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) just stepped in and threw a curveball to Joe Biden and the Dems and confirmed he is indeed planning to mount a challenge in the House to Biden’s Electoral College votes.
Congress officially certifies Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, and if one Senator joins Brooks the chambers must vote on the challenge.
A few Dem Reps tried this in 2016 but no Dem Senator joined. In 2004 the Dems tried this with just Ohio’s votes (they accused Karl Rove and Bush of fixing the software to give the win to Bush over Kerry) and Dianne Feinstein joined them but the chambers voted for Bush. Trump does not appear to have the votes in the Senate if Brooks makes this move but you can expect at least one Senator to join.
“In my judgment, if only lawful votes by eligible American citizens were cast, Donald Trump won the Electoral College by a significant margin, and Congress’s certification should reflect that,” Brooks said. “This election was stolen by the socialists engaging in extraordinary voter fraud and election theft measures.”
From Politico:
Brooks, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he has had “indirect communication” with some senators about potentially joining forces, though he declined to elaborate further. He also said he’s discussed the procedural maneuver with some members of GOP leadership, but they gave him neither a “thumbs up” nor a “thumbs down,” Brooks said.
As we noted here yesterday, one lawmaker from both the Senate and House needs to challenge the results in order to force a deliberation on the matter.
And even then, the gambit to overturn the election results in Congress is almost certain to fail, given the makeup of the House and Senate.
But Trump’s Hill allies can still cause some mischief — and force a politically toxic vote for some in the GOP. Brooks said he hasn’t had any conversations with the White House about the issue, but it’s not hard to imagine the whole thing turning into a Trump loyalty test for Republicans.
“A lot of time is being wasted in court … the Supreme Court does not have the lawful authority to determine whether to accept or reject a state’s Electoral College submissions,” Brooks said.
“Under the United States constitution and U.S. law, that is the job and duty of elected officials … And so it’s the United States Congress that is the final judge and jury of whether to accept or reject Electoral College submissions by states, and to elect who the president and vice president of the United States might be.”
