Washington The unprecedented Republican attempt to overthrow the presidential election has been condemned by an outpouring of current and former GOP officials who have warned that the attempt to keep doubt in the victory of Joe Biden and President Trump in office, undermining Americans’ belief in democracy. Mr. Trump has garnered support from a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 Republicans from the House to challenge the Electoral College when Congress convenes in a joint session this week to confirm the election of President Biden’s 306-232 victory.
With the introduction of mr. Praying on January 20, assured Mr. Trump’s efforts to prevent the traditional transfer of power and tear the party apart.
Despite Mr. Trump’s allegations of voter fraud insisted that government officials run the election smoothly and that there was no evidence of fraud or other problems that would change the outcome. The states have confirmed their results as fair and valid. Of the more than 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, almost all have been dismissed or abandoned. He also lost twice at the U.S. Supreme Court.
On a call announced on Sunday, it can be heard how Mr. Trump is putting Georgia officials under pressure to find more votes for him.
But some senior lawmakers, including prominent Republicans, are pushing back.
Several senators, Paul Ryan, Liz Cheney, oppose it
“The 2020 election is over,” read a statement Sunday from a dual group of ten senators, including Republican Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah.
The senators wrote that further attempts to cast doubt on the election “run counter to the clearly expressed will of the American people and only serve to undermine Americans’ confidence in the already established election results.”
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said, “The scheme by members of Congress to reject the certification of the presidential election makes a mockery of our system and who we are as Americans.”
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said in a statement that “the victory of Mr. Biden is completely legal ‘and that attempts to cast doubt on the election’ strike at the foundation of our republic ‘.
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third position of the Republic of the House, warned in a memorandum to colleagues that objections to the election college result set an extremely dangerous precedent. ‘
One of the more outspoken Conservatives in Congress, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, said he would not act on Jan. 6 against counting certified election votes. “I am grateful for what the president has achieved over the last four years, that is why I have campaigned hard for his re-election. But objecting to certified election votes will not give him a second term – it will only encourage Democrats who want to defend our system of constitutional government. ‘
Cotton said he prefers to investigate further election problems, except for the score of the certified election results.
Former Pentagon leaders speak out
Other leading former officials have also criticized the ongoing attack on election results. In a brief instruction in The Washington Post, the ten living former defense secretaries, half of whom served Republican presidents, called on Pentagon officials to make the transition to the new government “complete, cooperative and transparent.” They also claimed that attempts to involve the US military in resolving disputes over the election would take us to dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional territory.
The former defense secretaries said the time for questioning the results was over; the time has come for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and the statute. “
The unusual challenge of the presidential election, on a scale not seen since the aftermath of the civil war, clouded the opening of the new Congress and consumed its first days. The House and Senate will meet in a joint sitting on Wednesday to accept the election college, a typical routine process that is expected to be a long battle.
Mr. Trump refuses to concede, and pressure is mounting on Vice President Pence to secure the victory while presiding over a ceremonial role usually held during congressional hearings. Mr. Trump rallied in Washington on Wednesday.
The president tweeted Sunday against the election and Republicans not on his side.
Mike Gwin, spokesman for the transition officer, Mr. Mike Gwin, dismissed the senators’ efforts as a ‘stunt’ that the fact that Mr. Bids will be sworn in January 20, will not change.
House President Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues that although there is “no doubt” about the victory of Mr. Biden, their job now is to convince more of the American people to trust our democratic system. “
The effort in the Senate is led by sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., And Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Hawley defended his actions in a lengthy email to colleagues, explaining that his voters in Missouri were “loud and clear” with their belief that Mr. Biden’s defeat against Trump was unfair.
“It is my responsibility as a senator to raise their concerns,” Hawley wrote late Saturday.
Hawley intends to object to the state of Pennsylvania. But Republican state Sen. Pat Toomey criticized the attack on Pennsylvania’s electoral system, saying the results that Biden had named the winner were valid.
Cruz’s coalition of 11 Republican senators promises to reject the election college scores unless Congress launches a commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. They exploit the states where Trump has raised unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Congress is unlikely to agree to their demand.
The group formed with Cruz, which did not present any new evidence of election problems, includes senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana in. New senators in the group are Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
The meeting of the joint sitting to count the votes for the Electoral College had previously objected. In 2017, several House Democrats announced the victory of Mr. Trump challenged, but Mr. Biden, who was vice-president at the time, quickly turned them down to Mr. To achieve Trump’s victory. The protests rarely approached this intensity level.
Defining moment for GOP
The moment is decisive for the Republican Party in a post-Trump era. Both Hawley and Cruz are potential 2024 presidential candidates, confirming their alignment with Trump’s supporter base. Others are trying to create a different path for the IDP.
Pence will be closely watched as he presides over what is expected to be a lengthy showdown, depending on how many challenges he faces.
The vice president “welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections,” Pence chief of staff Marc Short said in a statement on Saturday.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell warned Republicans of such challenges, but said little when asked about them, just as he did at the Capitol when the Senate opened Sunday.
“We will deal with it on Wednesday,” he said.
But Republicans have simply said they do not intend to take part in the attempt that will fail.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said Sunday his colleagues will have the opportunity to state their case, but they must provide evidence and facts. “They have a high beam to clean,” he said.
Congress is disgusted to interfere with state-run electoral systems, a protocol that has long existed. States elect their own election officials and draft their election laws. During the coronavirus pandemic. many states have been adapted by allowing voicemail to personally mitigate the health risks of the voice. These changes and others are now being addressed by Mr. Trump and his allies challenged.
Mr. Trump, the first president to lose a re-election bid in nearly 30 years, attributed his defeat to widespread voter fraud, despite the consensus of impartial election officials and even Mr. Trump’s attorney general that there was no one.
The Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the latest challenge from representative Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and a group of voters in Arizona, which filed the case to force Pence to step out of the ceremony and the outcome of the mood to form. The appeals court sided with the federal judge, a nominated Trump, who dismissed the case.