According to Bloomberg, in a lawsuit filed with the court on December 27, Texas Republican Senator Louie Gohmet and 11 Arizona citizens, who were nominated by Republicans as state electors, filed a lawsuit against Vice President Mike Pence in federal court.
They recommended federal judge Jeremy Kernodle, a person appointed by Trump in eastern Texas ruled that Vice President Mike Pence had full authority and authority to decide whether electoral votes in a given state count or not.
“Mr. Pence has the authority and discretion to open and authorize the counting of electoral votes of a given state and where there are competing electoral groups or where there is opposition to any group of electors, to determine the determine which electoral votes are counted, which votes are not counted“, the petition stated.
They said that part of the Electoral College of Vote Counting Act of 1887 should be declared “unconstitutional” for contradicting amendment number 12 of the constitution.
It is not clear whether Judge Jeremy Kernodle will agree to accept the case.
Observers said, though the suit is unlikely to succeed, it puts Vice President Pence in a dilemma of confronting President Donald Trump and his fellow Republican defenders or backing a lawsuit aimed at overturning election results.
Mr. Pence is also believed to have been involved in Republican congressional efforts to reverse the election results, but avoids publicly taking sides in the matter. So far, he has not announced his decision to assume the role of presiding over the plenary session of the National Assembly on January 6 to confirm the election results or to authorize the interim president of the Senate.
According to the plan, Mr. Pence as president of the Senate will preside over the bicameral session on January 6 to count the electoral votes and announce the president’s election.
Before the Christmas break, Mr. Pence had a meeting inside the Oval Office with President Trump – who always wondered why Mr. Pence did not take this opportunity to reverse the election results. Mr. Pence and the White House aides are believed to have repeatedly explained to President Trump that his role in the upcoming election confirmation session is only procedural.
For his part, in the lawsuit, Mr. Gohmert said that he was just one of many Republican congressmen intending to challenge Biden’s electoral votes in several key states. Dozens of Republicans have said they will support the lawsuit, with at least one senator elected, Mr. Tommy Tuberville, signaled to be involved in the effort. This is part of Trump and his allies’ efforts to challenge congressional election results.
Republican Rep. Mo Brooks is urging senators to sign the complaint to suggest that Congress neutralize the results of electoral votes in key states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.