Josh Hawley is first US senator to say he will object to Electoral College certification



Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Wednesday became the first U.S. senator to declare his intention to object to the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6.

Hawley will object to the certification of the Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania and other states that he says failed to follow their own election laws. Hawley will also call for Congress to launch an investigation into allegations of voter fraud and other election irregularities made by President Donald Trump's campaign.

"Following both the 2004 and 2016 elections, Democrats in Congress objected during the certification of electoral votes in order to raise concerns about election integrity. They were praised by Democratic leadership and the media when they did. And they were entitled to do so. But now those of us concerned about the integrity of this election are entitled to do the same," Hawley said in a news statement.

He continued:

I cannot cote to certify the electoral college results on January 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.

For these reasons, I will follow the same practice Democrat members of Congress have in years past and object during the certification process on January 6 to raise these critical issues.
Sen @HawleyMO is the 1st GOP senator to officially say he’ll object to the electoral college certification on Jan 6: https://t.co/HyWFniBpgc
— Frank Thorp V (@Frank Thorp V)1609343695.0

By officially announcing his intention to object to the certification of Electoral College votes, Hawley has all but assured that the process will be bogged down by debate in Congress and guaranteed that Republicans will face a tough vote on whether to accept the election results.

Several Republican members of the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), have already announced they will object when Congress moves to officially certify the Electoral College votes from several contested battleground states where the Trump campaign's legal team and its allies have made allegations of election irregularities. When Hawley joins these representatives in objecting, they will trigger several hours of debate in a joint session of Congress in the House chamber.

At the end of the debate, the House and Senate will vote on whether to accept the results from Pennsylvania and other disputed states, forcing several GOP senators to choose between supporting President Trump's unproved claims of voter fraud or respecting the certified election results of these states.

​Electoral College officially confirms Joe Biden's victory despite GOP picking 'alternate' electors to challenge the results



The Electoral College convened to officially confirm the victory of former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, but the Republican Party sent its own electors in several states to challenge the results.

With 270 votes needed to win the presidential contest, Biden received 306 electoral votes while Trump received 232 electoral votes.

The official count of the electoral ballots will be conducted on Jan. 6 in a joint session in Congress.

While the official count of the Electoral College will likely end any legal challenge by the Trump campaign, Republicans are attempting to keep their chances alive by picking "alternate" electors from contested state and sending their ballots to Congress.

Joe Biden speaks

In a speech Monday evening, Biden made his case against those who questioned the outcome of the election or claimed that it was illegitimate because of voter fraud.

"This legal maneuver was an effort by elected officials in one group of states to get the Supreme Court to wipe out the vote of more than 20 million Americans in other states, and to hand the presidency to a candidate that lost the Electoral College, lost the popular vote, and lost each and every one of the states whose votes they were trying to reverse," said Biden of the lawsuit from Texas.

"It's a position so extreme, we've never seen it before," he continued. "A position that refused to respect the will of the people, refused to respect the rule of law, and refuse to honor our Constitution."

Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2021.

Here's more about the GOP challenge to the election:

Electoral College Votes To Make Biden Win Official | NBC Nightly Newswww.youtube.com

Michigan Republican loses his committee assignments after comments construed as a refusal to condemn violence



Republican leaders in the Michigan Legislature reprimanded one of their GOP colleagues Monday after he made comments that some construed to "open the door to violent behavior" as security concerns have been raised over groups promising to disrupt the Electoral College vote in the state Capitol this afternoon.

Rep. Gary Eisen (R-St. Clair Township) made the comments on a morning radio program after he was interviewed about the imminent Electoral College vote, the Detroit Free Press reported. Michigan's 16 electoral votes will be cast for former Vice President Joe Biden, who was certified as the winner of the state in the 2020 presidential election. President Donald Trump's campaign and other Republicans filed several unsuccessful legal challenges to stop the certification of the election.

Eisen said that he and others would go further by participating in an event at the Capitol to appoint an alternative set of electors for the Electoral College and, when asked, he seemingly did not rule out the possibility of violence at the event. The lawmaker described what he and others were trying to do as a "Hail Mary" for Republicans to overturn the results of the election.

State House and Senate office buildings in Lansing were closed Monday because of "credible threats of violence" reported by law enforcement officials. According to the Detroit Free Press, there have been unconfirmed reports of violent threats made against Michigan delegates to the Electoral College.

Eisen was asked about the security concerns on the radio.

"Can you assure me that this is going to be safe day in Lansing, nobody's going to get hurt?" radio host Paul Miller asked Eisen.

"No," he responded. "I don't know because what we're doing today is uncharted. It hasn't been done."

Following these comments, Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) announced that Eisen would be stripped of his committee assignments in a statement denouncing threats made against the Electoral College proceedings and accusing Eisen of opening the door to violence with his remarks.

"We have been consistent in our position on issues of violence and intimidation in politics — it is never appropriate and never acceptable. That is true of threats or suggestions of violence against Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer, Secretary (of State Jocelyn) Benson, Rep. (Cynthia) Johnson and others on the Oversight committee, Republicans, Democrats, and members of the Electoral College. That applies to threats made toward public officials, and it must also apply when the public officials open the door to violent behavior and refuse to condemn it. We must do better," Chatfield said.

"We as elected officials must be clear that violence has no place in our democratic process. We must be held to a higher standard. Because of that, Rep. Eisen has been removed from his committee assignments for the rest of the term."

Eisen responded Monday afternoon, releasing a statement that clarified he supports sending an alternate slate of delegates to the Electoral College but does not condone violence. He announced that he will not attend the event at the Capitol this afternoon.

"I regret the confusion over my comments this morning, and I want to assure everyone that those of us who are supporting an alternative slate of electors intend to do so peacefully and legally. I wanted to attend today's event to help prevent violence, not promote it. I no longer plan to go to the Capitol with that group today," Eisen said.

White House aide Stephen Miller on Monday went on Fox News and promised that "an alternative" slate of electors would be appointed by Republicans in contested battleground states where the Trump campaign argues Biden won by fraud or by an illegitimate electoral process. There is no legal precedent for recognition of an "alternate" slate of electors from any state and Congress is extremely unlikely to recognize any electors but the official ones appointed by the several states.

Earlier this month, Michigan Republicans also stripped Democratic Rep. Cynthia Johnson of her committee assignments after she issued a video warning to "Trumpers" and urged "soldiers" to "make them pay." Johnson later claimed her comments were referencing "soldiers" for "Christ" against "racism" and "misogyny" and that her video was made in response to racist threats she's received. In the video she said she wants her supporters to "hit 'em in their pocketbooks," which according to Johnson meant make those threatening her pay financially by reporting them to the authorities.