A federal judge in Texas, appointed by Trump, dismissed a lawsuit filed by Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert, seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory.
A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a long-shot lawsuit by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) that sought to overturn the presidential election, saying neither the congressman nor his allies have legal standing to pursue the case.
The judge’s Friday night ruling tosses out what many election law experts considered a far-fetched theory to challenge the formal mechanism by which President-elect Joe Biden will be affirmed as the winner of the race for president.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle issued an order dismissing the case because, he found, neither Gohmert nor his fellow plaintiffs have a sufficient legal stake in the process to justify the lawsuit. Kernodle was nominated to the federal bench by Trump.
The judge’s ruling comes less than 12 hours after lawyers for Gohmert filed court papers arguing that Vice President Pence has far more power than the government claims to alter the outcome of the presidential election.
It was not immediately clear if Gohmert’s legal team plans to appeal the decision.
In response to a Justice Department request to reject the suit, the Friday filing by Gohmert’s legal team accused the government of trying to “hide behind procedural arguments.” Gohmert’s lawyers contended that arguments made by the Justice Department and Congress — that the suit upends long-established procedures and that Pence is an inappropriate target for the suit — are unfounded.
“They say that the Vice President, the glorified envelope-opener in chief, has no authority to preside over anything else or to decide anything of substance or to even count the votes in those weighty envelopes. He is only the envelope-opener,” Gohmert’s filing states.
Gohmert claimed the vice president has the power to effectively pick the next president during the formal recording of electoral college votes by Congress on Wednesday. Pence oversees that ceremony and, as president of the Senate, has the power to declare Biden electors in a handful of key states invalid and instead recognize electors supporting President Trump, the filing contends.
Pence “may count elector votes certified by a state’s executive, or he can prefer a competing slate of duly qualified electors. He may ignore all electors from a certain state. That is the power bestowed upon him by the Constitution,” the filing states.
Gohmert and a number of Republicans in Arizona filed the suit in Texas, arguing that an 1887 law governing how Congress certifies presidential elections is unconstitutional. They argue that the Constitution gives the vice president discretion to determine which states’ electors are valid for choosing the president of the United States...
In a Thursday night filing, a Justice Department lawyer wrote on Pence’s behalf that the case is “a walking legal contradiction,” because Gohmert has sued Pence seeking to give Pence more power. If Gohmert and his allies want to make such a claim, the Justice Department argued, they should sue Congress, not Pence.
Trump no doubt is furious that judges he appointed are loyal to the Constitution, not to him personally. His legal team has filed dozens of lawsuits, and almost all have failed. The few that succeeded dealt with minor issues that had no bearing on the outcome of the vote. The legal theories get increasingly bizarre, but Trump’s followers are unfazed in their zeal to overturn the election results andtoassuage Trump’swounded ego.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
45 was furious that the DOJ was defending Pence.
Louie Gohmert- 100% rating from National Right to Life and Family Research Council.
Louie is a standard bearer for the GOP’s fight to make sure women aren’t treated as equal to men.
He is the stupidest member of Congress, bar none.
Cindy,
Louie Gohmert has stiff competition from Jim Jordan and incoming Senator Tommy Tuberville.
I’m a little bit jumping up and down in gleeful abandon about the Court’s high regard for their oath to the rule of law and the Constitution. CBK
So far, the courts have stayed with the law and the Constitution. The judges are not afraid of a Trump tweet. They have lifetime appointments.
Diane Sounds like the utter sanity of the writ of habeas corpus to me. CBK
How will Republican “objections” impact the electoral vote counting procedures?
Here is what my US House Representative, Brad Wenstrup (OH-02) one of the 126 who signed on to this ridiculous lawsuit, said after he signed on:
“I have heard many concerns from my constituents regarding a variety of aspects of the election. Our judicial system provides a place to raise legal challenges and seek remedy for injustice. Similar to the 2000 Presidential election, our nation won’t have a sense of finality unless these legal challenges are resolved. That is why I asked the U.S. Supreme Court, which has ultimate jurisdiction, to take up this case, so that we may bring clarity for this election and legal certainty for future elections.” https://wenstrup.house.gov/updates/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=404544
I bring this up only to see if this is the boilerplate was distributed to others among the 126 who signed on. Note also how his reasoning comes from the still controversial “hanging chad” problem in Florida and the effort of the Florida Attorney General to be the “decider.” https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-bush-v-gore-anniversary
Meanwhile Senator Hawley–so political ambitious he is using his planned objection to the election results as a fundraiser—is also hedging on his reasons for jumping on the Trump bandwagon.
Hawley: “I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on Jan. 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” “And I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden. At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections. But Congress has so far failed to act.”
He added: “For these reasons, I will follow the same practice Democrat members of Congress have in years past and object during the certification process on Jan. 6 to raise these critical issues.” Hawley also has not explicitly said that his goal in objecting to the electoral votes of some states is to change the result of the election. He said he hopes to force a debate on election integrity issues and to represent Americans who don’t currently have faith in the electoral system. Hawley also did not fully commit to actually voting against the certification of any states’ electoral votes.” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-who-praised-2004-objections-to-electoral-college-certification-now-slam-hawley
Next up, the dogs ate all of Trump’s votes.
Laura,
These “issues” are nonsense. The Trump campaign filed over 50 lawsuits about voter fraud and no court found any fraud. There were allegations but no evidence. Pennsylvania courts ruled against the claims. Conservative Republican judges ruled against them. The Supreme Court twice ruled against them. This is nothing more than a sustained campaign of lies. Trump’s base, on Twitter, insists that China stole the election, the voting machines were rigged, etc.
Diane and Catherine.
I am fully aware of the failed lawsuits, who filed them, the outcomes and the pile of lies about election fraud that Trump and his supporters are trying to pass off as if true. I have posted about the frauds more than once.
I just thought it might be of interest that Fox news is not just giving support to Hawley but signaling how Hawley will attempt to “explain” why his effort will fail, well before that happens. Hawley knows it will fail but he is ambitious. He is raising money from his stance and he seems to be thinking that Trump’s base will become his own in what appears to be a planned a bid for the presidency in 2024..
Laura Those quotes have a “said the spider to the fly” feeling about them, especially when we know that, for them and for the “base” who supports them, allegations ARE evidence, unless of course those allegations are about THEM.
Heeeeerrrrees Trumpism . . . . CBK
There is no such thing as “[the Idiot]ism.” It is the Republican (sic) Party.
GregB Presently, you cannot put a tobacco paper between Trumpism and the Republican Party. CBK
I was thinking a flea’s whisker. 😂
It was reported today that he said this on Newsmax after the verdict:
“Bottom line is, the court is saying, ‘We’re not going to touch this, you have no remedy.’ Basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you got to go to the streets and be as violent as antifa and BLM [Black Lives Matter].”
As false as the comparison to Antifa and BLM is, this is sedition and a call for violence. Gohmert should be censured, stripped of his committee assignments, and isolated from any other functions with the exception conducting of pro forma constituent services. And if there are events of violence, he should be indicted as a co-conspirator. But at a minimum, he should suffer at least the same penalty as former rep. Steve King.