US judge dismisses lawmaker lawsuit against Pence over electoral count
Trump has refused to concede defeat and has repeatedly falsely claimed the election was tainted by widespread fraud.
By REUTERSU.S. President Donald Trump gestures next to Vice President Mike Pence, as he holds a campaign rally at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S., November 2, 2020(photo credit: CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS)
A judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by a U.S. lawmaker from Texas and other Republicans against Vice President Mike Pence who is set to preside Wednesday over a joint session of Congress to formalize the results of the 2020 presidential election.US District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle said Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas and the slate of Republican presidential electors for the state of Arizona who filed suit Sunday lack standing to bring the legal action seeking to overturn the election of President-elect Joe Biden.A spokesman for President Donald Trump referred questions to Pence's office. A spokesman for Pence declined to comment.Trump has refused to concede defeat and has repeatedly falsely claimed the election was tainted by widespread fraud. He and his allies have lost dozens of court efforts seeking to reverse the election results.Biden beat President Donald Trump by a 306-232 margin in the Electoral College and is set to be sworn in on Jan. 20.Under the Electoral College system, "electoral votes" are allotted to states and the District of Columbia based on their congressional representation.Some Republicans have said they plan to object to the count of presidential electors next week in Congress. Reuters reported this week the effort could trigger a lengthy debate in the Senate but has virtually no chance of overturning the results.A Justice Department lawyer representing Pence on Thursday had urged Kernodle to dismiss the lawsuit saying they had sued the wrong person as they raised "a host of weighty legal issues about the manner in which the electoral votes for president are to be counted.""The Senate and the House, not the Vice President, have legal interests that are sufficiently adverse to plaintiffs to ground a case or controversy," Pence's filing said.
