The Supreme Court rejected the Texas lawsuit attempting to overturn the Nov. 3 presidential election results in the four battleground states won by President-elect Joe Biden. In a brief unsigned order, the justices said Texas lacked standing to pursue the case. It was the second loss for President Donald Trump in the Supreme Court this week, as the justices also turned down a request from Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday.
“The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution,” the brief order issued Friday night reads. “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.” Justice Samuel Alito added a brief statement, saying he and Justice Clarence Tomas do not believe the Supreme Court has the “discretion to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction.” Alito added that he would allow the motion to file the complaint, but “would not grant any other relief.”
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Texas’ lawsuit was filed directly to the Supreme Court and challenged the way elections were run in Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all states Biden won. The state asked the justices to allow the electors from each state to be chosen by their legislatures and ignore the results of their popular vote, notes The New York Times. The lawsuit had the support of over 100 Republican members of the House, who signed a brief that claimed the 2020 election was “riddled with an unprecedented number of serious allegations of fraud and irregularities.” Over a dozen Republican state attorneys general also filed a brief in support.
On Thursday, the four states Texas targeted filed a joint brief to stop the lawsuit. “Texas’s effort to get this Court to pick the next President has no basis in law or fact,” the brief from Pennsylvania read. “The Court should not abide this seditious abuse of the judicial process, and should send a clear and unmistakable signal that such abuse must never be replicated.” About 20 states led by Democrats also filed a brief supporting the states and calling on the Supreme Court to toss the lawsuit.
Trump and his legal team have repeatedly alleged widespread voter fraud, although there is no evidence that fraud would overturn the election result. Last week, U.S. Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that the Justice Department has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election” Earlier this week, sources told CNN there was a “sense” among Trump’s legal team that his efforts to overturn the election are coming to an end, even though Trump has signaled the opposite publicly.
