Texas wants to overturn millions of votes. Idaho attorney general won’t support it. - East Idaho News
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Texas wants to overturn millions of votes. Idaho attorney general won’t support it.

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BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Idaho’s attorney general won’t join a lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to stop Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin from casting their electoral votes Monday, which would effectively undo Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

That hasn’t stopped 21 other Idaho officials, including the lieutenant governor, both U.S. representatives and more than a dozen state legislators from lending their support to the effort. Gov. Brad Little announced Thursday that he would, too. All are Republicans.

The lawsuit comes from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who alleges that the four states improperly administered their elections in a way that changed the outcome of the election. Most voters in all four states voted for President-elect Joe Biden, but Paxton argues that the alleged flaws “preclude knowing who legitimately won the 2020 election.”

Attorneys general, all of whom are Republicans, from 18 other states, signed amicus briefs, a filing in which a party not directly involved in a case weighs in. President Donald Trump has also filed a motion alleging that illegal votes were cast, although no evidence of that exists on a large scale.

Officials from the states being sued say the lawsuit should be thrown out.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden did not sign on. In a statement Thursday, he said “the legally correct decision may not be the politically convenient decision,” but that his responsibility was to Idaho.

“This decision is necessary to protect Idaho’s sovereignty. As attorney general, I have significant concerns about supporting a legal argument that could result in other states litigating against legal decisions made by Idaho’s Legislature and governor,” Wasden said in a news release. “Idaho is a sovereign state and should be free to govern itself without interference from any other state. Likewise, Idaho should respect the sovereignty of its sister states.”

But Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin filed a brief, and Little said he would, too.

Several Republican legislators from Idaho, Alaska and Arizona joined McGeachin. Their brief, filed Thursday, argues that the “failure of sister states to appropriately fulfill their constitutional duties to a presidential election has materially injured the republic shared by all states.”

In a news release, McGeachin said “there is no duty more fundamental” than protecting the government.

U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher joined more than 100 other members of Congress in a similar brief.

The lawsuit argues that the states used COVID-19 as an excuse to get around their state legislatures and “unconstitutionally revise their state’s election statutes.” It asks the court to overturn the Electoral College votes of the four states, according to the Associated Press, and to delay the Electoral College vote scheduled for Monday.

Experts have called the lawsuit a “long shot” and the “craziest lawsuit.” One expert told NBC News that overturning that many votes — those 62 electoral votes represent nearly 20 million voters — would be “unthinkable.”

The Supreme Court could hear the case if at least five justices agree it should move forward. It is not clear Thursday night what would happen.

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