17 GOP States Back Texas Lawsuit To Challenge Election Results In 4 States That Voted For Biden

The attorneys general of 17 states that voted for President Donald Trump in November on Wednesday publicly stated their support for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s bid to file a lawsuit challenging the results in four swing states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden.

The four states in question are Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Paxton, who has been under indictment for more than five years on allegations related to securities fraud, is unlikely to get anywhere with the proposed legal challenge, particularly as the Supreme Court indicated its disinterest in getting involved in electoral disputes — something which Trump touted and may have banked on in the initial days following the general election.

Trump and his allies have continued to promote baseless theories of widespread voter fraud and argue that the election was rigged in some fashion, though no significant evidence has been uncovered to prove such a theory. Attorney General William Barr said last week that the Justice Department has similarly failed in its efforts to find any widespread fraud.

Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs denied allegations of signature fraud on mail-in ballots.

“Texas alleges that there are 80,000 forged signatures on absentee ballots in Georgia, but they don’t bring forward a single person who this happened to. That’s because it didn’t happen,” she said.

The 17 states which indicated their support for the suit include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. However, Texas is the only state appearing on the lawsuit.

Trump celebrated the announcement from the 17 states on Twitter.

He wrote: “Wow! At least 17 States have joined Texas in the extraordinary case against the greatest Election Fraud in the history of the United States. Thank you!”

Many legal experts, in addition to the four states in question, have dismissed Paxton’s suit as wholly improbable.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Tuesday that it “is a publicity stunt, not a serious legal pleading.”

“The erosion of confidence in our democratic system isn’t attributable to the good people of Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia or Pennsylvania but rather to partisan officials, like Mr. Paxton, who place loyalty to a person over loyalty to their country,” Nessel said in a statement. “The Michigan issues raised in this complaint have already been thoroughly litigated and roundly rejected in both state and federal courts – by judges appointed from both political parties. Mr. Paxton’s actions are beneath the dignity of the office of Attorney General and the people of the great state of Texas.”

The suit specifically argues that changes made by the four states to accommodate the needs and safety of voters amidst COVID-19 created a “massive opportunity for fraud.”

The filing requests that the Supreme Court block each of those four states from voting in the Electoral College on Monday, which would effectively drop Biden below the 270 threshold to secure the presidency. Though in this hypothetical situation, Trump would similarly not have reached 270, which would, in turn, cause the election to be decided through a contingent process outlined in the 12th amendment. In this scenario, the Democrat-controlled House would determine the next president.

However, this is unlikely to occur as Paxton’s lawsuit is widely seen as frivolous, and Biden continues to be projected to easily win the Electoral College.