Republican Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and a group of other GOP figures filed a lawsuit Sunday against Vice President Mike Pence. The lawsuit focuses on Pence, who will oversee the upcoming Jan. 6 meeting of Congress to count states’ electoral votes.
The case is 6:20-cv-00660 in the Eastern District of Texas, assigned to District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle, a Trump appointee.
According to the Washington Examiner:
“Gohmert’s federal suit, which anticipates the House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win, seeks to give Pence “exclusive authority” over which votes are deemed certifiable. In his complaint, Gohmert argues that since competing sets of electors cast votes calling the election for President Trump, Pence should have the “sole discretion” to determine the legitimacy of votes, per the 12th Amendment.
Gohmert added that in the case of a contested election, the Constitution requires that Pence send the election to the House for a decision.
“Vice-President Pence determines which slate of electors’ votes count, or neither, for that State,” Gohmert’s attorneys wrote, adding, “If no candidate has a majority of 270 elector votes, then the House of Representatives (and only the House of Representatives) shall choose the President.”
Noteworthy is where the lawsuit was filed:
What Biden supporters are afraid of? One poster put it this way, “Plaintiffs ask Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump-appt’d fed judge in Texas, to find that Pence is authorized to pick pro-Trump electors on Jan. 6.”
“Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act unconstitutionally violates the Electors Clause by usurping the exclusive and plenary authority of State Legislatures to determine the manner of appointing Presidential Electors and instead gives that authority to the State’s Executive. Similarly, 3 USC § 5 makes clear that the Presidential electors of a state and their appointment by the State Executive shall be conclusive.
- This is not an abstract or hypothetical question, but a live “case or controversy” under Article III that is ripe for a declaratory judgment arising from the events of December 14, 2020, where the State of Arizona (and several others) have appointed two competing slates of electors.
and
On January 6, 2021, when Congress convenes to count the electoral votes for President and Vice-President, Plaintiff Representative Gohmert will object to the counting of the Arizona slate of electors voting for Biden and to the Biden slates from the remaining Contested States. Rep. Gohmert is entitled to have his objection determined under the Twelve Amendment and not through the unconstitutional impositions of a prior Congress by 3 U.S.C. §§ 5 and 15.
- Senators have also stated that they may object to the Biden slate of electors from the Contested States.
- This Complaint addresses a matter of urgent national concern that involves only issues of law – namely, a determination that Sections 5 and 15 of the Electoral Count Act violate the Electors Clause and/or the Twelfth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The relevant facts are not in adispute concerning the existence of a live case or controversy between Plaintiffs and Defendant, ripeness, standing, and other matters related to the justiciability of Plaintiffs’ claim.
“Vice-President Pence determines which slate of electors’ votes count, or neither, for that State,” Gohmert’s attorneys wrote, adding, “If no candidate has a majority of 270 elector votes, then the House of Representatives (and only the House of Representatives) shall choose the President.”
The media’s mockery and dismissal of this lawsuit shows how unserious they are. They are unified in the message that attempts to gain election integrity are laughable.
Rick Hasen posted the point of view of most Biden supporters and their media allies, that “it won’t work”:
Others see it differently, Bobby Lopez makes a good point:
Kari is an ex-Community Organizer who writes about Cultural Marxism, grassroots activism, music, IndyCar racing and political campaigns. @Saorsa1776
