Idaho's attorney general joins at least 4 other high-profile GOP lawmakers in opposing Trump's long-shot Texas lawsuit to overturn 2020 election
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
A small group of House Republicans and Republican attorneys general have publicly disagreed with the latest election lawsuit filed by Texas' attorney general.
Republican attorneys general in Idaho, Ohio, and Georgia have declined to support the lawsuit.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah has called the lawsuit "simply madness."
A small minority of Republican lawmakers have opposed other party members' last-ditch move to undo the US presidential election and throw out votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia.
These lawmakers' dissent comes with a majority of House Republicans and 17 state attorneys general signing onto a lawsuit filed by Texas' attorney general, Ken Paxton, seeking to overturn the result.
Idaho's Republican attorney general, Lawrence Wasden, issued a statement distancing himself from Paxton's case, saying: "I am declining to join this effort. As is sometimes the case, the legally correct decision may not be the politically convenient decision. But my responsibility is to the State of Idaho and the rule of law."
This week, at least 106 Republicans in the House of Representatives submitted an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in support of the case. If the case is taken up by the Supreme Court, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has agreed to argue the case before the court.
The list of signatories is a measure of public support for President Donald Trump's dwindling effort to essentially throw out votes in the 2020 election and have GOP-led state legislatures appoint pro-Trump electors in battleground states decide the outcome.
On Wednesday, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas signaled a contrast with the Texas attorney general and Cruz. Cornyn told CNN: "I read just the summary of it, and I frankly struggle to understand the legal theory of it."
Cornyn added, "Number one, why would a state, even such a great state as Texas, have a say-so on how other states administer their elections?"
Wasden similarly said his rejection was a matter of respect for state sovereignty. Idaho's Republican Party, however, said it would sign an amicus brief in support of the Texas lawsuit.
Ohio's attorney general, Dave Yost, filed a brief with the US Supreme Court on Thursday opposing elements of the Texas lawsuit after more than 40 Ohio GOP lawmakers urged him to have Ohio join the suit.
In his brief, Yost wrote, "The relief that Texas seeks would undermine a foundational premise of our federalist system: the idea that the States are sovereigns, free to govern themselves."
Yost continued: "The courts have no more business ordering the People's representatives how to choose electors than they do ordering the People themselves how to choose their dinners." Later in the brief, however, Yost encouraged the Supreme Court to rule on whether the election changes at the state level were unconstitutional.
On Thursday, the veteran Republican Rep. Kay Granger of Texas said she did not support her state's lawsuit, telling CNN, "I'm not supporting it," later adding, "I don't think it's going to go anywhere," and calling it a "distraction."
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah called the lawsuit "simply madness."
Read more: New document shows all the details of the $908 billion bipartisan coronavirus stimulus in the works
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said he wouldn't sign on and publicly called the brief "a dangerous violation of federalism" that he said "will almost certainly fail."
Georgia's attorney general, Chris Carr, split with the Trump camp as well, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the lawsuit was "constitutionally, legally, and factually wrong." The paper reported that his public stance Wednesday was met with a fiery 15-minute phone call in which Trump asked Carr not to rally other Republicans against the suit.
Legal experts say the suit is likely to fail because of the recycling of previously thrown-out baseless claims about the election. Democratic attorneys generals from Washington, DC, and 22 states and territories filed a brief opposing Texas' effort.
Read the original article on Business Insider
